You Tube Hunting Couple Brown Bear Gone Wrong

[K E Johnson]

To paraphrase Mark Twain, “ it is better to be thought a fool than post on YouTube and remove all doubt.”
Really curious if or how they were able to judge that bear at that range seeing what they could see. It was going to come down hill regardless.
Bears are not that easy to judge.

 

[CoElkHunter]

ive been fortunate to have been able to hunt and harvest an alaskan griz. i am glad that they owned up to all the mistakes they made, the first making the decision to fire from 470 yards. ive actually taken one animal at that range. it was a caribou up in the noatak river drainage with my 338 win mag with hand loads. ill take that shot at a caribou if i feel i can hit it cleanly, but never at dangerous game. 1)you are more likely to get in a “wounded animal” situation because the bullet doesnt hit as hard, more likely to not place the shot exactly where you intended, now you have a wounded dangerous animal to contend with. 2)isnt part of the allure of dangerous game hunting the fact you are hunting something that can turn the tables in an instant?

i am paraphrasing, but the late Peter Hathaway Capstick said it so well. “Anyone can walk up and shoot an elephant at 200 yards. Thats not real elephant hunting.”

Wow, never having hunted elephant, I wouldn't think one could reliably kill one at 200 yds.? I would think that penetration into the vitals would be an issue at that distance?

 

[double rifle newbie]

Wow, never having hunted elephant, I wouldn't think one could reliably kill one at 200 yds.? I would think that penetration into the vitals would be an issue at that distance?

capstick was just making a point as to the element and allure of DG hunting that is lost when shot from such a long distance. i happen to agree.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I always say, and y'all always jump all over me, you should not use hand loads for DG! If you are an expert fine. These stories are constant about guys who "worked up a load" and their bullets failed or guns jammed. I'll bet he never rapid fired 5 rounds before he left home.

Or shot five rounds at 475 yards from any position but a bench.

 

[sureshot375]

I always say, and y'all always jump all over me, you should not use hand loads for DG! If you are an expert fine. These stories are constant about guys who "worked up a load" and their bullets failed or guns jammed. I'll bet he never rapid fired 5 rounds before he left home.

One of my favorite parts is that he thought something froze up. He was trying to blow down the action to thaw it. It’s as if the gun could somehow spontaneously freeze despite being warmed up by the first three or four shots.

 

[Red Leg]

I was frankly pulling for the bear.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

my 2c
whats the point of shooting any game at that distance, just too much room for error, and its target shooting not hunting
my personal view in hunting is that the hunter is responsible to make the best shot possible to kill the animals as quickly as possible. if this requires getting closer then do so.
if this means quarry gets away or spots you, then thats ok, thats hunting, but taking a 50/50 shot that too far for your capabilities is just irresponsible!!!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

YouTube is full of similar bullsh*t. Just tonight while babysitting my grandkids after they were in bed, I Googled some Cape buffalo videos. Ugh! What amazes me is some of the clients who repeatedly post their awful experiences. One lardass who can't see his belt buckle without a mirror shoots his buff from the road next to the vehicle. And then does it again in another episode, both times shooting a rifle scoped with a 50x optic. Whacks the bull poorly and then takes off running after it leaving his PH to try catching up. So stupid. What's amazing is they have no clue how stupid it makes them look. Some clown wearing the prescription spotless safari hat, shorts, gators, and double yoke shirt, shoots a poor buff seven times with a 500 NE. And then standing over it he positively glows as he boasts his sloppy shooting. "Wow, it took seven shots into this buffalo to put him down for good." Plus I counted two shots that missed. WAY missed! Yeah, sometimes shit happens and maybe it has some preventative value putting it on the net, IF THE FOOLS ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR SCREWUPS. Otherwise the wrong kind of education is dispensed. But these shameless turds don't have a clue. Just a whole lot of money they must have been born into. Nobody that dumb could be a self made millionaire.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

my 2c
whats the point of shooting any game at that distance, just too much room for error, and its target shooting not hunting
my personal view in hunting is that the hunter is responsible to make the best shot possible to kill the animals as quickly as possible. if this requires getting closer then do so.
if this means quarry gets away or spots you, then thats ok, thats hunting, but taking a 50/50 shot that too far for your capabilities is just irresponsible!!!

Exactly. I have made a couple of shots over 350 yards (not with my gun though). Yeah, I got both animals. But it was just shooting. There was no hope of getting closer. So what? Go shoot something else. That gold medal black wildebeest was 370 yards and a very hard sidewind made it dicey but my PH had his rifle set up for it. Dropped him with a bullet behind the ear. Meh! It was his gun that killed it, not me. Fortunately, the African taxidermist ruined its horns. So next year I shot another one at less than a hundred yards after stalking for hours. That was challenging.

 

[Philip Glass]

Or shot five rounds at 475 yards from any position but a bench.

For sure!

 

[Philip Glass]

I follow that same rules of engagement with DG
i have seen reloads do some stuff factory made usually doesn’t do
like break a case @ the magnum belt and leave the broken part jammed in the chamber
seen crushed primers not fire
action jammed by hot loads
not good in a heated moment
also imo a rifle should be thoughly cleaned and the firing spring lubricated with Lukus gun oil ( good from -40 to 400*) , a shot of WD-40 doesn’t cut the mustard

Yea 4D-40 has few uses for me these days. There are so many better products now.

 

[Philip Glass]

Per the video at 39:40 …

“Pretty hot round, the pressure is above saami specs”

And this is from someone other than the shooter/hunter so I would be willing to bet the hunter had this 3rd party load his ammo.

So a combination of errors and irresponsible behavior.

But guys never learn! We hear this all the time.

 

[Philip Glass]

There are people that should and those that shouldn’t. This dude definitely falls into the shouldn’t category. Personally, I’ve killed a number of bear with reloads, but I am very careful and quite confident that my reloads are superior to factory loads.

View attachment 583712

On another tick in the stupid column, those folks and their gear are two trips for that plane, and yet there all the gear sits in a pile on the beach. So that dude sat there for hours waiting for the second run without even carting the first run up to camp? He needs to stay in the city and buy his food at the supermarket.

Nice! There are very few who reload and try their loads on game. I am sure you are of the very few with this experience. Most just punch paper and think speed is what kills. Push, push, push.

 

[WAB]

Nice! There are very few who reload and try their loads on game. I am sure you are of the very few with this experience. Most just punch paper and think speed is what kills. Push, push, push.

I never push for speed. I am after terminal performance, reliability and accuracy. Excess speed can have a very negative effect on all three. The bear in the photo experienced the effect of a 270 gr Swift A-Frame launched from my .375 H&H. It is a very decisive bear load, but the whiz bang guys would be disappointed in the velocity.

I have developed some very good loads with 142 gr ABLRs for my 6.5 PRC specifically for Coues deer. The higher velocity of this round really puts stress on bullet selection, specifically as regards terminal performance. I shot two bucks on our Alabama farm under more ‘controlled’ conditions to make sure I was happy with terminal performance before declaring it ready for AZ.

Bottom line, I totally respect your position as a generality, but I am quite confident that my loads meet or exceed anything I could buy over the counter.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

The people in that video should not have a hunting license. Bad decisions, bad ammo etc. just proves my point. Most hunters I know load their own ammunition for hunting and plinking, and they are very good at it. I shoot more ammunition I have loaded than I do factory ammunition, and I have seen a lot more issues with factory ammunition than I have seen with my own loads. Regardless, ammo should be checked prior to going in the field.

As responsible hunters, we owe it to the game we are hunting to conduct due diligence on our kit, ammo, and most of all, ourselves.

Safe hunting

 

[Vintageguy]

No doubt the bear was coming for payback. At that distance I would’ve thought that it was coincidence that he chose their direction but it laid that idea to rest.
Lots of people operating beyond their limits. YouTube is full of people who can’t shoot long range, can’t shoot 100 yards, and aren’t familiar with their weapon.
I’m in the hand loads only camp for game or I should say “MY HAND LOADS ONLY” camp. I’ve loaded for 40 years now and the biggest problems I see with problem hand loads are 1 not properly resizing the brass/ worn out brass. 2 improper over all cartridge lengths. 3 poorly seated primers. I have heard so many people over the years say that they needed a new mainspring due to weak primer strikes when in truth they hadn’t seated the primer fully. In this case it was instead max velocity is best approach. I’ve seen people whose guns didn’t group well due to excessive velocity for the load but I haven’t seen a blown primer in a hunting situation.
The impression I got was the shooter probably wasn’t the loader, hence the bearded guy’s take being included.
Their list of lessons learned didn’t include hand loads. He really ought to stick to factory loads or learn to do it right himself.

 

[Rare Breed]

Nice! There are very few who reload and try their loads on game. I am sure you are of the very few with this experience. Most just punch paper and think speed is what kills. Push, push, push.

Interesting. I had the exact opposite occur. My hand loads have never malfunctioned. My Federal Premium Factory loads did however. For my hand loads I do the following: 1. Never even come close to maximum loads. 2. Incredibly misticulous for each and every load. 3. Almost Zen like calm and take my time on each and every round. 4. I will load 20, shoot 5 quickly before taking the remaining 15 on a hunt

 

[Puddle]

Call me grumpy, but I seriously doubt the list of "lessons learned" will actually be learned by that mob.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I haven't watched this video. Can see no reason to feather their internet hits nest. So, who was filming this clown parade? Was there a camera crew along or just the wife?

I'm seeing so many awful African safari YouTube videos, I'm almost ready to give up. As I understand it, every time someone clicks on one of these nincompoop videos, the publisher stands to benefit financially. Of course, I shut down once it's evident the performance is a dud. But by then the damage is done. They are already getting paid. So many of the hunting videos are so obviously staged it's almost laughable. The camera is in front of the downed Cape buffalo bull as PH and client cautiously approach and PH carefully pokes it in the eye with shooting sticks. "Yep, he's dead!" Like the camera crew hadn't already established that fact before setting up in front of black death's nose? Pfft! And the corny background music! Ugh! There is one African safari outfit whose videos I enjoy very much. Nothing staged that I can tell. PH's are smooth talkers, very engaging, and informative. Really nice guys you'd want to meet. The filming is also first rate. Very clear to me that clients have been lined out off camera so everything goes like clockwork. I'm sure this outfit has its share of nincompoop clients and accidental screwups but very few make it to the internet. This is a classy outfit. Name must be withheld due to site restrictions ... which I understand completely.

 

[sgt_zim]

In more than 10 years of reloading, I've had exactly 2 failures - 2 bad Winchester primers that didn't ignite (2 different rifles, so not a firing pin issue).

Like @WAB, precision is what I'm after. In most cases, goosing loads up to the very edge, or possibly beyond SAAMI spec, doesn't increase the energy or improve the ballistic arc significantly enough to make any practical difference; it only increases the probability of a catastrophic failure.