Dave P has sucessfully hunt a black bear in Canada with a 500 fpe bigbore. According to him, he shot the bear from the tree stand at 30 yards, the slug has passed thru both shoulders, the bear ran 50 yards and collapsed. A successeful hunt! The bear weighed 150 lbs. He's probably the first person to ever taken a black bear with a bigbore airgun.

When another hunter expressed his wish to hunt a black bear with a bigbore sometimes in the future in a forum last month, there were some skeptics saying it couldn't be done, not powerful enough, too dangerous etc... I knew it could be done, it's no more dangerous than a guy with a bow and arrow. And bow and arrow have taken down all dangerous games up to Alaskan brown bear, 2000 lbs cape buffalos and 5000 lbs hippos with 90 to 120 fpe bow(you tube).

So far, bigbore airguns have taken deers, elks, wild boars, wart hogs, kudu, bisons, black bear, and a whole bunch of other biggame species. Our sport is keep getting better and better. It goes to show that powerful bigbore airgun is capable of taking almost any biggame species including dangerous games (with proper back up for safety). And don't tell me the primitive bow and arrow is more lethal than the 500 to 1000 fpe bigbores. A hard, big, heavy slug with 500 to 1000 fpe behind it WILL smash thru the massive heavy shoulders bone of animals like bears and bisons and destroyed the vitals, when as bow and and arrow would have a hard time doing the same doesn't matter how hard and sharp the blades are. The only thing going for bow and arrow is they kill by cut and hemorraging. Both weapons are deadly effective at close range. But if I were to face or hunt dangerous game, I'd rather use a powerful bigbore than a bow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2009 07:09AM by peter-n.

Hello Peter,

It's interesting to hear of big game hunts with airguns. I recall, when I first started reading and researching about big bore airguns, I ran across an often told story. I'd have to look it up for the exact details ... but the story went something like this: A Nobleman, about 250+ years ago, shot a huge Stag that weighed something like 250 pounds. The story told more details .. but ... in 1996 ... this story was told around as people discussed the possibility of shooting big game animals, especially a deer (white tail) with an airgun. At that time, the big bore examples topped out at about 100 fpe. That was the Farco shotgun from the Phil. islands. A brass reservoir gun with smooth bore barrel. Those of us making custom airguns, pushed those numbers way up, over the following years.

One of the things that's happened with our sport, is that the mystery has gone out of it ... due to actually performing the tasks which people used to endlessly debate. Could a hunter take a deer with an airgun? Could you shoot decent 50 yard accuracy with an airgun? Could you ... yeah right! ... shoot 100 yards with an airgun? Could you ever reach 500 foot pounds of muzzle energy with an airgun? Could you ever pair big bore power with accuracy? You bet - it's all become routine.

What I found was that, as I accomplished each of these tasks, the chatter about them died down and down in my vicinity. As I posted my hunt stories, I found very little chatter followed each posting. Yes - it transferred into orders, but it was a total buzz kill as far as discussion of the events around me. In other circles ... I hear ... people stroll out every day or two and shoot, film, and discuss big bore airgun varmint and big game airgun hunting. It's sort of the same mystery that prevents us from reading about my guns at the range. Whaaaahh, .... there he goes again. That's OK. I know my place. Over the fireplace mantle. Stay there. Sit. Good Boy.

You're correct in that black bear hunting is always carried out from a tree stand, over a baited area. Therefore, the biggest danger is in walking in and out of the woods before and after. These hunts are nearly always professional hunts. And, once again, you are correct in that a 500 foot pound rifle is certainly up to the task of a humane put down.

Glad your acquaintence had a good hunt. Thanks for sharing.

Gary

(Don't tell anyone ... but Jerry and I have a Boar hunt in the making). I've been working on my wild boar grunt call. Kelly just calls it ... snoring. But ... if you have to explain it ....

Peter, that's an impressive kill alright. Big bores are certainly up to it, but of course that shooter has to get it right too!

Gary, about that Boar hunt, maybe I could just pop over and join in? Only one hitch, I do need to win the Lottery this weekend...

Cheers
Neil

spectacular stuff , its interesting how the impossible soon becomes the norm , but it never detracts from the fact that its all still spectacular .

I think it's a HUGE adrenaline rush to hunt dangerous games, knowingly, they can kill or eat you back! But that's what make it so exciting! I've always dreaming of hunting the Alaskan brown bear, they can get up to 1500 lbs, lion, leopard, hippos, and tiger with firearms. Any of these animals is mean and can tear you apart and kill or eat you. It's not for the faint of heart that's for sure he..he..

As for bigbore airgun, I wouldn't mind going after bear, lion and tiger with a super powerful bigbore if it's legal and with the PH backing me up in case of a charge. Everybody opinion is different, but that's my dream. If it's could be done with archery, I don't see why it couldn't be done with powerful bigbore airgun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2009 03:17AM by peter-n.