6.5 LBC finally gets a bear " Warning graphic pictures "

[6.5 Grendel]

Well, I did not mean to shot such a small bear..but things happen. Nonetheless the 6.5 LBC did very good. It dropped on the spot. Shot was high shoulder and blew out the spine complete pass through. I was using a 120 grain PPU BTHP on top of 31.8 grains of Leverevelotion and CCI magnum primer. This load has a velocity of 2,613 fps out of the 20" BHW barrel.

[Klem]

Do you eat the meat from bears? I'm wondering why you shot it.

[tdbru]

well done 6.5 Grendel. isn't the bthp a match bullet?? or was this one designed as a hunting bullet?
-tdbru

[sundowner]

Congrats on the bear .

[Old Bob]

Do you eat the meat from bears? I'm wondering why you shot it.

Bear meat is edible but you have to treat it like pork 'cause bears can carry trichinella. I've had bear burger/sausage, ham & steaks... it's not bad. Just make sure you get the meat temp over 165 degrees F. Another thing: Make sure you trim all the fat off before you freeze it. Unlike other fats, it can turn bad even when frozen.

When I was doing Mountain Man/Fur Trade era re-creation I used to use bear oil for patch lube in my muzzleloaders.

[Klem]

Bear meat is edible but you have to treat it like pork 'cause bears can carry trichinella. I've had bear burger/sausage, ham & steaks... it's not bad. Just make sure you get the meat temp over 165 degrees F. Another thing: Make sure you trim all the fat off before you freeze it. Unlike other fats, it can turn bad even when frozen.

When I was doing Mountain Man/Fur Trade era re-creation I used to use bear oil for patch lube in my muzzleloaders.

Cool...I had to ask because the only 'bears' here are Koala bears and they are too cute to shoot (plus protected/endangered). I had an Elk burger at Cabela's in Lacey a couple of years ago and that tasted sort of bland, like beef. There was all sorts of stuffed game in a central diorama. never seen such a huge collection of outdoor gear and guns.

I read the bear population in the US is on the comeback after being hunted to endangered. I've shot my fair share for meat and pest husbandry but shooting a juvenile apex predator for the sake of a personal thrill is not my cup of tea. Each to their own.

[Old Bob]

Cool...I had to ask because the only 'bears' here are Koala bears and they are too cute to shoot (plus protected/endangered). I had an Elk burger at Cabela's in Lacey a couple of years ago and that tasted sort of bland, like beef. There was all sorts of stuffed game in a central diorama. never seen such a huge collection of outdoor gear and guns.

I read the bear population in the US is on the comeback after being hunted to endangered. I've shot my fair share for meat and pest husbandry but shooting a juvenile apex predator for the sake of a personal thrill is not my cup of tea. Each to their own.

Black bears aren't anywhere near endangered & the USFWS & other entities are trying to get the Yellowstone Grizzly off the endangered list. Bears are doing OK. Personally, even though I've had the opportunities, I've never killed a black bear. The closest I came was shooting at one that was dogging my trail when I was deer hunting. When he got inside 10 yards I put a round in front of his nose. He took off back the way he was coming. The black bear is part of the clan totem on my dad's side of the family. Wouldn't feel right shooting one unless it was a danger to me or others. I have no problem eating the meat harvested by other hunters.

Polar bears aren't doing too well. Their traditional ranges are shrinking...

[Stinky Coyote]

Congrats on the bear. Black bears are a dime a dozen in many parts of Canada also. With dual seasons spring and fall, baiting, and two tags per person at less cost than deer tags. They are more like pigs than bears imo. Not what I would call an apex predator. But we also have grizzly bears, wolves and cougars where I live. Black bears barely make the list.????

Only legal requirements for harvesting them here is to keep the hide. Although many hunt them for meat as well.

[A5BLASTER]

Congrats on the bear sir.

Wish we could hunt them here in Louisiana, but they are still on the endangered/protected list. Heck can't even defend yourself from one without getting arrested.

[Dug Silverman]

[6.5 Grendel]

Yeah I eat them here in Washington their main diet is berries,grass, and insects. Bear liver is awesome I smoke and cure it like a pig and it's amazing meat.

[6.5 Grendel]

well done 6.5 Grendel. isn't the bthp a match bullet?? or was this one designed as a hunting bullet?
-tdbru

Not sure a few guys have used the factory load of this bullet on deer and it worked well. I am using just the bullet with my handloads and getting 200 fps faster speeds. It worked very well on this bear.

[6.5 Grendel]

Cool...I had to ask because the only 'bears' here are Koala bears and they are too cute to shoot (plus protected/endangered). I had an Elk burger at Cabela's in Lacey a couple of years ago and that tasted sort of bland, like beef. There was all sorts of stuffed game in a central diorama. never seen such a huge collection of outdoor gear and guns.

I read the bear population in the US is on the comeback after being hunted to endangered. I've shot my fair share for meat and pest husbandry but shooting a juvenile apex predator for the sake of a personal thrill is not my cup of tea. Each to their own.

Well we have lion, coyotes and plenty of bear here and if we don't hunt them they will destroy the deer and elk population. Like I said I didn't mean to shoot a juvenile bear but things happen he will eat good. Some guys just shoot paper and never go actually after something that can rip you a new hole. Like you said Each to their own I suppose.

[Stinky Coyote]

Great post and it can lead down a few rabbit holes. It is a very large subject and like you i find the logical approach and treat all wildlife with a similar view. However, the general public seems to associate more with predators for a couple key reasons, one big one is that we keep them in our houses as pets (dogs/cats) and two, disney...also known as anthropomorphism.

People seem to turn a blind eye to an endangered warthog but heaven forbid someone shoot one of the 65,000 plus wolves in canada. It's almost laughable. The people have no idea how high the predator cycle is. The grizzly bears are higher than they have been since the 1800's now, cougars in every valley, wolves everywhere also. Not long ago we had an elk wintering ground that you could view 3-4000 elk, now you'd be lucky to see that number minus a zero. Between the wolves year round and the grizzly on the calves...it's bad news. But get the approval to manage them? The problem is the political/love issue greater for predators combined with how much more difficult and expensive it is to manage them vs ungulates.

Anyway, wildlife management is a very large subject that most don't realize. It's like politics or religion. If you're going to love the wildlife...love all of it the same. At least that's my view on it. You don't get to have a knew jerk reaction for a few species over others. You cannot feed these predators with your love. When they run out of food, they come into our backyards to eat and animal man conflict goes up. The whole point of wildlife management is to stabilize those up/down ungulate/predator cycles to reduce animal man conflict. So you cannot manage one without the other. Well you can...it's hardly called management though lol. It would be more aptly named 'wasted tax dollars'.

We often have bounties on wolves here, major incentives for trappers, like $1000.00 wolf programs etc. to try and get the numbers down without aerial gunning etc. because the wildlife managers hands tied behind their backs due to this unfair love for the predators vs the ungulates. We are triple the wolf numbers and double the grizzly numbers that we should have in this province, and cougars have branched out into the prairies in saskatchewan. Like this is a huge deal, but you'll never hear about it in the news. When we go spring bear hunting(black bears), we can see 10 a night just cruising logging/forestry roads. They really aren't a big deal here. Pigs.

[Klem]

I'm not losing any sleep over it and like I said, have shot my share of animals with a heartbeat. Bob's use of bear fat for wad lube is just as interesting. It reminds me of the Mountain Men hobbyists I read about. Those guys meet in a wilderness area (Rendevouz's) dressed in period costumes to relive the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Apparently there is much currency in being authentic with guys brain tanning their own hides. We don't have anything like that here and maybe the closest would be Western Action shooters who dress the part with old USA town facades as the backdrop to their shooting venues. On the occasional visit they seem to take it seriously, maybe a bit too seriously if you know what I mean. Again, each to their own.

On a trip to Switzerland I heard they shot their last bear 100 years ago, yet their country is awash with flags with the bear symbol. More recently, one drifted up from Italy and was bowled over by a train and another was shot because it was hanging around towns. They've repopulated Lynx and wolves from France and Eastern Europe however farmers are not too happy. Seems to me they should have at least a few of the predators that are symbolic of their country.

If however there are plenty of them, and there's an unselfish reason for doing it then have at it.