Has anyone killed a bear with a .223?

herroprease said:
P.S. i'm asking because there is a grizzly bear running around base housing and i don't want to use my 300 win mag because of the other houses.all i have left is my .357 mag and my .223
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By this statement, I assume you are living on a military installation. If so, you shouldn't be contemplating shooting anything as you'll face NJP at a minimum for firing a weapon in housing.

If you see a bear around base housing:
- Get everyone inside immediately
- Call Military Police and let them handle it
- Period.

Do not attempt to shoot a bear in military housing unless it breaks down your door. If it does break down your door, I promise you'll want something bigger than a .223 Rem...
 
By this statement, I assume you are living on a military installation. If so, you shouldn't be contemplating shooting anything as you'll face NJP at a minimum for firing a weapon in housing.
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It wouldn't even occur to me to shoot a bear just for being near my house, and I regularly have bears near my house, in my yard, etc. On a military base, he'll probably face a state poaching charge after the military is done with him.
 
When I lived in Chistochina Ak my neighbor, Bill Barnhart, killed a very impressive brown bear with a .222. It was actually a grizzly and would have been a record holder but the Boone & Crockett people said it was too close to the coast and therefore a brownie. The rug mount was on his wall and it was HUGE. He heard it coming down his driveway and grabbed the only loaded rifle in the house, his .222 he kept by the back door for varmints. (2) shots. First one broke the bears shoulder, the second in the bears ear after he calmed down. Bill was an expert hunter and trapper and knew he could harvest the monster with the little .222 and he was right.
 
Apparently native Alaskans are very happy to use the 223 on everything. The Mini-14 and AR-15 are popular for caribou hunting among the natives.
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I've lived here for 23 years with the majority of it in the bush. You'd be hard pressed to find anything over .30-06 out here. When I lived along the Yukon River (a couple of different communities) most of the folks I knew carried Mini-14s as their boat/snomachine gun. When a good friend of mine took me down to his fish camp one time I had brought a Benelli M-1 Super 90 along loaded with Brenneke slugs. When we beached the boat at the camp he told me and one of his boys to take the guns along and sweep the camp before unloading. I grabbed the Benelli he got my attention and tossed a Mini-14 with a 40 round magazine to me instead. We went ashore and swept the camp. Finding no furry occupants we went back down to the bank. I asked him why the Mini rather than the Benelli and his reply to the effect was that it might be small, but there's a lot of them.

Down this way, on the AKPEN it's mostly .270s with .243s as general working guns.

The younger folks these days are getting into larger rifles, but the elders still think largers holes in animals wastes meat. :D
 
There is nothing on land that can't be killed with a good shot to the head with a 223.

Don't overestimate your shooting skill in a possibly frantic situation on something that will kill you.
 
In Arkansas, sadly, we have some people who poach bears while they are denned up in the winter. One sorry sort I met uses a .223. He crawls into the cave and pumps about a half dozen into their head then drags out the body. And, he leaves any cubs behind to starve and die.
Yes, you can kill bears with a .223. You can also invade Iran with a fly swatter. But, I wouldn't reccomend it.
 
Bears and .223's

In my early experiences in Alaska and Canada, the natives universally had the venerable 30.30, with a scattering of .22's. I saw lots of big game taken with both, but, also saw a lot of cripples get away to die lingering deaths. The natives, being native, were not chastised by anyone for the crippling and waste of game, sad. Point of the story is, yes, one can kill a bear with almost anything, but can also cripple a lot. A good friend, who was also a guide, had as his weapon of choice when going into the alders after a cripple, an 18" barreled Winchester Model 97 12 gauge loaded with 3" slugs. Hunting with a Remington .338 and a guide once upon a time, I asked him where to shoot a Grizzly who obviously wanted a piece of us, he said "in the shoulders and often", wanted to break it down to keep it off us. Good advice.
 
Just opinion, but there is a lot of difference between the occasional hunter and the hunter who goes out regularly--particularly subsistence hunters. Things like familiarity with the animal's behavior and anatomy, skill at stalking, lack of nervous excitement--these all play a part.

I'm pretty danged good with a rifle, but were I hunting new territory and for a new-to-me type of animal, I'd tend to go bigger rather than smaller. Just a form of insurance, the way I see it. The old "Why push your luck?" thing.
 
Having lived in Alaska for several years I can say with utmost certainty that the native Alaskans aren't impressive hunters. Just because they use .223 or .22 doesn't mean anything in my opinion. I don't see why a bear couldn't be killed by one but I don't believe that native Alaskans are the hunters we should be basing that standard off. The only native Alaskans I'm ever impressed by anymore are sober ones.
 
Just out of curiosity. is it legal to hunt big game in Alaska with a .223? We aren't allowed to here in Wa state. Do they have a minimum caliber to hunt brown bear and polar bear?
 
AFAIK, you can't legally kill polar bears period. SD and natives protecting legally-killed whales are the only two exceptions I know of.
 
Having lived in Alaska for several years I can say with utmost certainty that the native Alaskans aren't impressive hunters.
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I'm not sure about hunting, but I can attest to the fact, that on the average, they cant shoot for poop.

I was a company commander of one native company, the XO of another, and a head of the Marksmanship Unit that was responsible for marksmanship training for the Alaska National Guard.

They normal shoot lots, not good. They shoot 223 mainly because they can get the ammo from the Guard. I've seen them shoot at seals. hit some, wound some, and only recover the ones that don't sink when hit.

They also arnt to hip on taking care of their equipment. I met a guy who traveled from village to village buying up rusty guns, stripping the receivers for re-sale (I bought 6 Model 70 actions off him for $270 total).

There are exceptions, I've taken some natives to the Wilson NG Championships and they did pretty good. Took a team to Nashville for the CNGB postal match also.

But over all, they are great people, friendliest people you will ever run across.
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I remember articles from the 1960's,,,

I read a lot about hunting in Alaska when I was a kid,,,
That was when the high velocity small caliber cartridges were gaining in popularity.

If memory serves me correctly the .223 and .243 was a very common cartridges among the native Alaskans,,,
They cited cost, weight for shipping, effectiveness as being the reasons for choosing these over say a 30-06.

My father grew up on an Oklahoma dirt farm during the depression,,,
He tells me stories of hunting everything from squirrel to wild pig to deer with a .22 shorts or Long Rifles.

In his case (and I imagine the Alaskans case) it was all about stalking and proper shot placement,,,
Until his cataracts at age 66 my Pop could still beer cans at 75 yards with his 55 year old J. C. Higgins single-shot.

I have no problem believing a bear can be taken with a .223,,,
It would just take a well aimed shot to the proper spot.

I would rather have something with a bit more whang myself.

.
 
AFAIK, you can't legally kill polar bears period. SD and natives protecting legally-killed whales are the only two exceptions I know of.
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Actually natives can hunt polar bears and any other marine mammal under the subsistence rules.
 
Of course a bear can be taken with a .223 but it's a poor round to use against bear, especially coastal brown bears that can weigh in excess of 1600lbs. I've spent a lot of time in Cooper Landing, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula.....home to some of the worlds largest brown bears, and many black bears as well. This area has perhaps the largest population of both species of bears on the planet. Also home to some of the best salmon fishing on the planet too. I have never seen a guide carry a .223 for protection or for hunting bear. The vast majority of guides in this area carry a .44 magnum or larger revolvers, and for long guns they'll carry a 12 gauge loaded with 00 and slugs, or 45-70 lever actions, and many hikers carry bear spray and have wrist bells to alert any bear of an approach. Unfortunately there is no shortage of dead people who tried to get too close to a brown bear. Understand that if you surprise one of these brown bears they will be on you before you'd have a chance to even draw your weapon, and for short distances a brown bear can run about 35MPH. Carl Lewis in his prime could not possibly outrun a brown bear. Most bear attacks, including the one this week in Anchorage is the result of a person actually surprising a bear. If your hiking in bear country it's best to travel in larger groups and make plenty of noise. If a bear attacks.....DO NOT RUN. It's best to hold your ground.....as hard as that might be with a 1600lb. raging bear coming at you. At this point, it would be best to roll up into a ball on the ground and play dead. Believe me when I say bears don't want a confrontation and they will not stick around if there are people approaching. Moose are much more likely to go after humans.
 
stevelyn said:
Actually natives can hunt polar bears and any other marine mammal under the subsistence rules.
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Good to know, thanks for the correction. We don't run into many polar bears in Kodiak... ;)
 
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