Neck shot on a black bear?

[TheCoachZed]

I love hunting black bears. I hate tracking them after they're shot. So, I'm always looking for a quick kill.

I've shot two so far with 12 gauge slugs through the ribs. I like the 12 gauge slug gun over bait - up that close, you're putting a lot of blunt force into the side of the bear, and in my experience, it kills them fast. I had some posts on here last year about buckshot, but went with the slug again, and it worked very well.

I was wondering, though, about neck shots. I've never tried one, but thought about trying it this year with the .223. I don't want to take a head shot, because I like to keep the skulls.

Anyone here use neck shots on bears? How do you find they work?

[fatercat]

always follow up with quick shots to heart,lungs with a couple of shots. i once neck shot a deer. we walked up and i grabed the horns as my buddy grabed the hind legs. he woke up and the dance was on. i wacked him in the neck with a very sharp knife and we both let go and ran. he is on the wall now. that was in 1970.

[chefjeff]

I"ve killed one almost straight on angling through the lower neck and going on into the body. Drop stop. Did not bust his fat neck bone. (180gr. 06]. I'd be cautious of angle.I would want something bigger than .223 though.

[Redhawk1]

Stick to shooing them through the lungs, they always die. A neck shot is not your best option.

[BIG JAKE]

Ditto

[drdougrx]

I've shot three...all heart/lung.  223....I don't know....I wouldn't......

[TheCoachZed]

Yeah, I think I'll stick with the 12 gauge slug through the ribs. It flattens them up close. If I didn't collect the skulls I'd just take a headshot with the .223, but I like to keep the skulls around. One day I plan on having a cabinet or a shelf full.

[TheCoachZed]

I've shot three...all heart/lung.  223....I don't know....I wouldn't......

I never would have thought of it either, but I heard of a feller shooting one with a .223 - and it was well over a hundred yards away. I thought it was pretty crazy, but sounded like it was a bang-flop. I guess it's all about shot placement.

[pastorp]

I killed one with a neck shot once. It stood up in a berry patch facing me and that was about all I could see. A 45-70 bullet just below the chin broke the neck but at the usual shots they present you have better options. And certainally not with a 223. The neck is very small target. Not much room for error...........

Regards,

[Casull]

I never would have thought of it either, but I heard of a feller shooting one with a .223 - and it was well over a hundred yards away. I thought it was pretty crazy

You were right.

[Bigwoods Hunter]

Hi : I am a black bear outfitter in Manitoba , Canada and was raised in black bear country since 1966. Was taught by dad at an early age, how to deal with problem bears. Manitoba is also world known for Polo Bears tours in northern Manitoba where we hunt Barron Ground Caribou . The best advice I can give you is the following. Forget the buck shot . That's why they call it buck shot. In order for a bear to inflict damage to you , he has to be close enough for you to hit him with a slug. All bear outfitters and guides are not allowed to carry anything but a shot gun with slugs. That is the law, no rifles. You can hunt with rifles, but not protect someone Else's life with a rifle. As for hunting bears, when a my clients come into camp they go through a bear 101 course before they go out hunting . In this course I tell them right off no neck shots or shoulder shots or you can be sadly disappointed. This is not the time to experiment with different shot placement . In a hunting situation, take only a broadside or quartering away shots, right close to behind the front shoulder as possible to take out the lungs. Lots of room for error. As for tracking if you did your job right it won't go far and you should be able to hear the death moan nine times out of ten. Remember a wounded bear can climb trees ,and the last thing you need is a bear falling out of a tree onto your neck,  while tracking the bear. Leave the 223 at home and if you don't have any thing else ,the shot gun with slugs is fine .
I have a video on my web site , with a women shooting a bear with a shot gun with slugs.  Russ Popp www.bigwoodshunting.com   

[snake eyes]

I agree..no neck shots.  Two years ago, standing on a drive and bear came out of the thick stuff bout 75 yards away and stopped.  Could see head and neck...hit him in neck with 338 win...took off and thankfully ran into another stander who stopped him with good shoulder shot in the brush...250 grain bullet didnt break his neck..shot was a little low and took out everything below neck bone but i think he wouldve gone a long way and not a whole lot of blood til he was down...Next time looking for the ol lung shot! 400 pound bears arent all that common where i hunt in PA.  Might not get another chance at one of them!!

[Camel 23]

I have witnessed several bears (maybe 30) in the past few years being shot with everything from bows to handguns to riffles and shotguns.  One thing I can tell you is that neck shots on bear do not kill them instantly.  A 12 gauge slug into a bear's neck at close range will kill them quickly but it sure isn't instantly.  I have never seen one shot in the neck with a 223 and I don't want to be anywhere near that bear either.  I have seen and shot several deer in the neck with different guns and that is a totally different story.  9 times out of 10 they die on the spot, but not bear.  If you want a bear to die on the spot your best bet is to put a big hole in its skull and if you aren't willing to do that you're probably going to have to track it a little ways. 

[chefjeff]

Yep,last three posts are good advice.

[pastorp]

If you actually break the neck bone (spine) you will get a instant kill. That bear will drop straight down & never move again. However if you don't sever the spine you probably won't recover the animal...........   So if he runs off after a neck shot you missed the spine.

Regards

[1911crazy]

I had something big going away from me in the very thick pines once, i was lucky if we had a 10' shot if it came our way.  I had my trusty '06 which i hunted with for eons but i bumped up to a 338win mag, with the 225gr winchester super x bullets.  I made a very close shot, like well under 25yds and it picked up the blackbear and slammed it down dead on the spot. I like the fast clean kill.  I found a 30cal perfect bullet in the bears butt from someone shooting in it its @ss probably a year or more before it was well healed over.  I also use a marlin 444s with the 265gr sp bullets for hunting in the thick wooded areas.   I'm disabled, slow moving, not good at running and on the ground not in a tree stand.  For me bigger is better and safer.  We have to choose our shots too so we can make a quick clean kill. Its fair to the aminal too so don't go under gunned. I only like hunting bear one on one, its me against him.  I've let so many smaller bears pass by and now i'm looking for that one trophy bear of a lifetime. If you don't have a shot at the kill zone let it go.

BTW;  One of our hunts got ruined by one hunter wounding a bear in the pouring rain and he tracked it over two mountains into my valley were my camp is.  We spent days in the rain looking for it.  I believe its the one i shot years later. The butt head shot it in the @ss.

[Sourdough]

Neck shots are only good if you hit the spine, period.  And there is a good chance of missing that vital area.  Heart Lung is a sure thing.  They may run, but they will die.  The last Bear I shot, (A Grizzly) I hit it through the lungs first shot, a complete pass through.  Bear turned and ran.  Second shot hit it in the lower spine as it ran away, rolling it over into some brush, and breaking the spine, rendering the rear legs useless, others could see the rear legs were not working, but I could not.  Then I could see a portion of the front shoulders and everything forward.  Brush was covering most of the shoulders, and everything behind that.  The bear was standing there looking around.  I had a clear neck shot and I took it, Bear fell instantly, I hit the spine in the neck.

I have seen archery targets that show the bone structure of Black Bears, so archers can avoid big bones.  I would recommend all Bear Hunters get a copy of that target and study it.  That will help make you a better Bear hunter, by helping you chose your shot for proper placement to make a good fast kill.  In my Hunter Safety classes I show that target and a chart we have to help kids understand where not to shoot when they go after their bear, or they are defending their life or property.

[bear55]

I go for the lungs in most everything I shoot, no matter the range.  They die.  I have seen head shots fail to many times and you track a wounded animal with half its face missing, not a good situation.  About the only time you can get an easy neck or coconut shot is when they stand up in a grain field to look at you, but again if all you see is their neck and head they aren't worth shootin, too little.  Large bears the grain comes up to their belly. Bears usually only go 50 to 200 ft. at most with lung shot (I use 7mm or 444).  Good chance if your off a little you'll spine em or take out the heart.  Working up a load for the 58 this spring as want more challenge, not allowed to bait where we hunt.   Never found bears to bleed much not like a deer so put as big a hole in them as you can.  A 223 will kill em but it might not be quick, I know of farmers who shoot them with a 22 to get them out of the grain fields, gets down to shot placement.

[jedman]

  I agree completly with Sourdough on this question.  I have seen several deer and other large game with neck wounds that walk away to die a slow and inhumane death, the spine is just to small of a target to hit .  I know there are exceptions to every situation but the heart lung area is always the largest kill area on a animal.   Jedman