Frontal shot for bears

[David Gough]

Opening day of California black bear archery season is tomorrow and I'm curious if anyone has experience with frontal shots on bears? Do's, don'ts, success stories, failures, etc.

 

[Gerald Martin]

A bear’s anatomy is totally different than ungulate. Way more muscle mass up front . I would wait for a broadside.

 

[jvanhoy]

I agree with Gerald. I wouldn’t try it on a bear.

 

[David Gough]

A bear’s anatomy is totally different than ungulate. Way more muscle mass up front . I would wait for a broadside.

My thoughts too. Just curious if anyone had in the field experience.

 

[Trial153]

Shot a boar from a treestand while deer hunting, he was up wind and he lifted his front end on stump to test the wind. The shot was 22 yards the arrow went through the
Aortic cavity, into the lungs through the diaphragm. He went about 40 yards. Similar results on elk and deer with frontals while bow hunting.

 

[David Gough]

Shot a boar from a treestand while deer hunting, he was up wind and he lifted his front end on stump to test the wind. The shot was 22 yards the arrow went through the
Aortic cavity, into the lungs through the diaphragm. He went about 40 yards. Similar results on elk and deer with frontals while bow hunting.

makes sense if they expose their chest cavity like that. not sure what the results would be if they had their head down or straight on.

 

[Coop]

I would wait for a broadside shot with anything. This is just a personal opinion, though. I would much rather have an entire vital area to aim for than a softball-sized area. Don't get me wrong, I realize that sometimes it seems like you might not have a choice, but I'm going to be waiting it out.

 

[Rzrbck918]

My taxidermist who bear hunts almost exclusively actively campaigns against them. He says their heart and lungs are so low it’s too small a target to feel good about and leaves very little blood trail. However if they stand up it’s a whole other thing.

 

[dgc1963]

bear vitals are different than deer or elk look at anatomy pics, your best shot is what seems back for deer middle of the middle and just a bit forward of that is best you want both lungs and they dont go far, bear seem to run flat out till they die vs run a bit then stop like most deer and dont always bleed a lot due to fat and hair

 

[EYJONAS!]

Ive shot 2 bears front on with a rifle but a bows gonna be a different game. Wait for them to turn. I will say that both bears that got it in the chest hit the ground harder that any other bear I've taken........

 

[Sask hunter]

I find between a black animal and usually low light conditions frontal shots on bears I have a hard time seeing what’s happening. Now a quartering to or quartering away is probably my favourite. Break the shoulder on the way in or and and it knocks them off their feet and rolling around. Lots of time to hit them again

 

[pointingdogsrule]

"Only what I have been told by other archers": If they stand up then draw a line from arm pit to arm pit and aim for the center.

good luck to all
the dog

 

[Dunning Kruger]

"Only what I have been told by other archers": If they stand up then draw a line from arm pit to arm pit and aim for the center.

good luck to all
the dog

Never shot a standing bear, but i would aim a little lower than that myself. Bears vitals are a bit further back, or in the case of a standing bear, further down.

 

[David Gough]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Had an encounter with one at the top of a manzanita patch but he never showed himself.