# Tracking black bear?



## rigderunner (Oct 21, 2017)

Is it common to shoot a bear and find little to no blood trail?


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 21, 2017)

Pretty common!


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 21, 2017)

The long, course hairs making up a bear's coat do a remarkable job of absorbing blood.  Having little blood to go on is not at all uncommon.  

However, the greatest blood trail I ever followed came from a bear.  I didn't have to follow it, I saw the bear crash, but I shot it straight facing me down his throat and cut his jugular.  It looked like a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie.


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## rigderunner (Oct 21, 2017)

I took a shot this morning very confident that I missed I was just wondering if it is possible to have no blood hair or fat


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 21, 2017)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> The long, course hairs making up a bear's coat do a remarkable job of absorbing blood.  Having little blood to go on is not at all uncommon.
> 
> However, the greatest blood trail I ever followed came from a bear.  I didn't have to follow it, I saw the bear crash, but I shot it straight facing me down his throat and cut his jugular.  It looked like a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie.



Wasn't that the 400 lb bear you killed a few years back? I think I remember that being on here. You had to call up the homies to get him out if I remember correctly.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 21, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> Wasn't that the 400 lb bear you killed a few years back? I think I remember that being on here. You had to call up the homies to get him out if I remember correctly.



Yes, a Muzzy Phantom penetrated him from stem to stern.


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 21, 2017)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Yes, a Muzzy Phantom penetrated him from stem to stern.



I don't know whether you have "graduated" to mechanical broadheads yet like the Rage type, but I just cannot. I fail my Muzzys before they fail me (like that time I shot a 7 pt on Wilson Shoals WMA and hit the ball of the shoulder. Other than that, my 3 or 4 blades shoot with pinpoint accuracy out of my old Bear "Charge" bow. I have a reputation for purposefully using cheap gear to avoid being a Browning, Yeti, Matthews, Orvis, Simms, Salt Life, Costa brand affiliated kind of sportsman. I cringe at what commercialism has done to hunting. I shudder away. That is probably why I still use Muzzys old fix blades and will probably never change. Stubbornness I suppose. Higher tech doesn't always mean higher wreck.


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## tree cutter 08 (Oct 21, 2017)

Shot one Monday with my smokepole at 30 yards. He ran about 40 yards, turned to bite at his shoulder and disappeared of the ridge and I ain't seen him since! Not a spec of blood nowhere. Im 99.99999% sure he took the bullet. I looked in big arches looking for blood and fanned out to 400 yards and never found a spec. First bear I've shot that didn't fall within sight or pour blood. What caliber were you shooting?


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## Rich Kaminski (Oct 22, 2017)

*Please learn to make heart shots*

I have shot quite a few different animals over the years and making a heart shot always results in either an immediate downed animal or one that doesn't travel more than 20 yards after the shot. Study the animals vitals locations before hnting them, make sure your gun and ammo shoots 1 inch groups and shoot a gun with sufficient power for the animal you are after and a gun you do not flinch from the recoil or muzzle blast. I like the 300 Win Mag, it does a great job.


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## Killinstuff (Oct 22, 2017)

I have never seen a well hit bear not bleed buckets of blood.  I have seen bears not hit well (hit high) with little to no bleed.  The hair and fat tale that keeps getting passed along isn't true.  You can hit a bald bear high and you'll have poor blood and you can shoot the hairiest bear in the wood low to center and it won't go 50 yards with blood everywhere.


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## CornStalker (Oct 22, 2017)

Killinstuff said:


> I have never seen a well hit bear not bleed buckets of blood.  I have seen bears not hit well (hit high) with little to no bleed.  The hair and fat tale that keeps getting passed along isn't true.  You can hit a bald bear high and you'll have poor blood and you can shoot the hairiest bear in the wood low to center and it won't go 50 yards with blood everywhere.



So many absolute statements these days. Just like that bear that's "hardly over 100#s". 

I'm no expert, but there's usually exceptions. I shot a bear square in the vitals (not high or low), and it was a tough blood trail. Bear went less than 100 yards though.


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## Killinstuff (Oct 22, 2017)

That's fine Corn.  I'll keep my mouth shut going forward, keep killing bears and help the other guys in camp bring their  bears in from the woods like I've been doing for 30 years. It's cool.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 22, 2017)

Somebody's got thin skin...kind of like a 100# bear.


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## goshenmountainman (Oct 22, 2017)

Double lunged one some years back, was not one spec of blood on the trail or the arrow. The bear only made it about 60 yds and died.. shot with a two blade rage, the holes were full of fat. Only blood was where he fell.


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## rigderunner (Oct 23, 2017)

Rich Kaminski said:


> I have shot quite a few different animals over the years and making a heart shot always results in either an immediate downed animal or one that doesn't travel more than 20 yards after the shot. Study the animals vitals locations before hnting them, make sure your gun and ammo shoots 1 inch groups and shoot a gun with sufficient power for the animal you are after and a gun you do not flinch from the recoil or muzzle blast. I like the 300 Win Mag, it does a great job.



 Well I shot we're the vitals are located my gun hits within 1 inch at 100 yards im very comfortable with it shot the rifle many times I just happen to pull the shot that day for some unknown reason


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## bany (Oct 24, 2017)

Just to say y’all. I have seen 2 whitetail go 200 yards with jelly for a heart and virtually no blood trail.
Of course I’ve seen plenty drop in their tracks and others with tremendous blood trails.
As bears go; my granddad killed a bear that was licking his wound. Not for the first time in the bears life, they recovered about 1/2 dozen bullets from years gone by.


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## CornStalker (Oct 26, 2017)

Killinstuff said:


> That's fine Corn.  I'll keep my mouth shut going forward, keep killing bears and help the other guys in camp bring their  bears in from the woods like I've been doing for 30 years. It's cool.



I'm just messing with you, brother!  I love all the genuine help people give and receive on this particular forum---I'm the chief receiver of knowledge these days....

There's a lot of different opinions out there in the hunting world. It's good to get different perspectives and hear about different experiences. Not necessarily right or wrong---I think it's more about how we share those. 

Keep on sharing!


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## The mtn man (Oct 29, 2017)

I read through this, and wanted to say if someone shot a bear in union county and didnt find it, pm me and ill tell you where the rotting carcass is.


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