Correct way to track wounded brown bear

[hlrobertson]

I am going on my first grizzly hunt this fall. The post about the guide being mauled made me wonder what are the rules regarding tracking a wounded brown bear. Is it prohibited that the client accompany the guide and dealing with a wounded bear falls entirely on the guide. Does the guide make the decision to include the client if the client is willing? What are the guide assoc. rules in this area?

hlr

[Rmouleart]

You won't have to track a wounded brown, he will be backtracking you;)
This is not a good situation, for the most part, you don't want this to happen, thats why the guide's are armed and ready to expire the bear if the client for some reason has a bad shot placement on the bear, its the guides duty to down the bear as far I knew, plus if that dame bear get away on a rage, he could go-into a village and maul a few people before someone expires him, If you do have to track a escaping bear, you usually get someone high in a tree or high ground to keep a eye on where he heading, he may circle back to you;) if not, then blood track him and be very aware that this bear can tern and attack at any time, once wounded you get a different type of bear, very angry and will kill anything in his path, depending how wounded he is of course, remember these animals have no fear of anything they are so big and know it I call them a room full of teeth LOL. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[Lawdog]

hlrobertson,

Hopefully this will not happen to you but it is something you will have to discuss with your guide BEFORE you ever start hunting.  Personally if I wound it, I am going to be going in after it.  I have taken three Brown Bears and have never had to follow one into the brush of Alaska.  This is a job that will separate the men from the boys very quickly.  Study a good bear anatomy diagram so you know where all the vitals are located will be helpful too.  Use enough gun, make your first shot count and you shouldn’t have any trouble.  Just remember that a bear can cover 40 yards faster than a world class sprinter, 2-3 seconds tops.  And they can be surprisingly quiet when they want to be.  Small groups and tight lines to you.  Lawdog
 

[Sourdough]

This is why (most) guides will not take a client with anything less than a .338mag.  I personally don't shoot the first shot to kill the bear, but to brake both shoulders at the same time.  That way he can't get into the brush.  If they do get into the brush, be prepaired.  They often double back and wait in ambush for any trackers.  Two years ago my neighbor shot a large interior Grizzly.  He used a 378 Weatherby, and knew that he had made a solid heart lung hit.  The bear got up and ran into the alders.  Being near dark, we decided to wait till the next morning to follow into this thicket.  Nest morning after breakfast we went across the river and hit his blood trail.  After about two hundred yards the bears trail doubled back to an area where he could watch his trail.  We found him dead lying with his head on his front paws, looking over the trail 15feet from the trail.  We had passed within 15 feet of him without seeing him, when we came through earlier.  If we had followed him the night before we would probably have had some serious problems.  He would have been on top of us before we could have done anything.

[ratherbefishin]

I have killed several black bears and concluded the best [ and only shot I will take] is a broadside shoulder shot.I use a 6.5x55 swede, 140 grain bullet[ high sectional density] and a broadside shoulder shot puts their nose into the dirt.A followup shot may be neccesary, but the bear is going nowhere.Lung shots will kill them alright- but I don't like tracking wounded bears into the christmas trees where you can't see 3' in front of you.