Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[JustJeff]

Bear spray. That stuff will run off anything and no sticky situations with killing a bear out of season.

 

[James Miller]

Bear spray. That stuff wildgttryql run off anything and no sticky situations with killing a bear out of season.

I agree with this. Your most likely only going to get one shot with a gun before the bears on top of you. With spray you don't have to wait for a charge or other obvious sign of attack to use it. Ever been sprayed with mace or pepper spray? It sucks but I'd try it better to know ahead of time how you'll react if some of the spray comes back on the breeze and gets you to.

 

[husqvarna257]

I would bet that Black bear in the Eastern US would rather leave ya alone unless you get between a ma and cub. I had one on my deck one night as I went out fire the grill to cook steak. I was cornered with a bear 10 ft away so I decided to scream and swear at it swinging a stick the dog had left on the deck to play with. It turned around and left, noise can be good.
Got some good size oak trees yesterday. We had some 20" trees overhanging our dirt road the neighbors were worried might come down in the winter, blocked the road and dropped them and took the wood home.

 

[svk]

I’d much rather take my chances with one 20 ga slug than bear spray.

 

[woodchip rookie]

I’d much rather take my chances with one 20 ga slug than bear spray.

Thats what I was thinkin. I was also thinkin the first reply was written by a Canuckian. But I didnt want to start national border war or anything.

 

[svk]

I love the joke about how to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. It tells visitors to wear bells on their clothing and carry pepper spray.

The punchline says “black bear scat is full of berries and nuts. Grizzly bear scat is full of bells and smells like pepper”

 

[Philbert]

Cordless chainsaw . . . . .

Philbert

 

[Ted Jenkins]

A lot depends on just how far away it is from access and what I have to work with. I can see a house in one pic and a powerline in another. This suggest to me that the trees are within cable lenght. For trees I can reach with a cable, I never cut them any shorter than I can pull in one piece. A 60in dia pine would be hard to pull. I use a long cable and snatch blocks hung along the route to direct the tree the direction I want them to go. Once dragged close to the truck, then I buck to size. If I have a fel, I will load on my dump trailer in log lenghts to process once I get home. Once I helped remove some trees from around a fancy house down in Ga. ouside Atlanta. Couldnt drive around or tear up the grass. We stretched cables between trees and winched the logs into the air and then trollied them out of the back yard. A mini skyline of sorts. Homeowner was impressed as the only tracks in his lawn where our foot prints. It was a slow go job, but it paid well.

I was looking for any dumb ridiculous ideas that any body had heard of. My concepts are usually far off. I have plenty of winching capacity, but no place to set up any kind of landing above along the road. My experience say let gravity help. At this moment will be running all the wood down along the edge of the creek bed. I plan on stretching some hurricane fencing above the creek bed to keep the wood from actually going into the creek bed. Two layers of fencing can stop 500 lb rounds moving pretty fast. With the small logs that are near by will use them to use for a shallow retaining wall along the creek bed for a walk way. With a wheelbarrow can move 350 lbs of wood at a time. It looks like I can dump the wood just a few feet from a waiting pickup. I will post pics when they are available. This project likely will not start for a few weeks. I want to have some pics and videos of the process. Thanks

 

[muddstopper]

Well,I have killed black bear with my model 29, 44mag. One buddy killed one with a 22 mag, and I have a buddy that killed one with his hunting knife. I have had a bear grap my pants leg and almost drag my pants off. And had one chase a pack of dogs between me and my hunting buddy one night, right after he handed me a 22mag deringer, just in case I needed it.. I' have been up close and personal with bears a few times and I guarantee they are more scared of you than you are of them. Just dont get between a sow and her cubs.

That said, if I was in grizzly country, I would ditch the 44mag, which is actually a very poor round for even black bear, and go for buckshot over slugs.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

View attachment 662015

Cordless chainsaw . . . . . Philbert

A few years ago when I went to look at a USFS project the ranger kept telling me to check out this abandoned road for a better access. So I told my partner to drive along the main road and pick me up a half mile farther. So I grab my clipboard and camera and start walking over this old road. About ten minutes latter I am pushing my way through these bushes when one of the bushes starts pushing back. I am looking through the bushes startled seeing this brown mass of fur wondering what I am going to do. The area had been logged no sizable trees near. So I just stand there puzzled when he or she just started running down the hill moving the bushes as they went. Pepper spray seems like a good option. Thanks

 

[JustJeff]

If in the heat of the moment you shoot pepper spray at a bear and there are people or equipment in the background, it will be ok. Just saying. In bear country it’s best to make lots of noise going in and you won’t see many. If you’re bound and bent on shooting at things, a 30-30 lever is tough to beat for size, punch and manoeverability in the woods.

 

[svk]

Well,I have killed black bear with my model 29, 44mag. One buddy killed one with a 22 mag, and I have a buddy that killed one with his hunting knife. I have had a bear grap my pants leg and almost drag my pants off. And had one chase a pack of dogs between me and my hunting buddy one night, right after he handed me a 22mag deringer, just in case I needed it.. I' have been up close and personal with bears a few times and I guarantee they are more scared of you than you are of them. Just dont get between a sow and her cubs.

That said, if I was in grizzly country, I would ditch the 44mag, which is actually a very poor round for even black bear, and go for buckshot over slugs.

Agree with everything you said except that last sentence. Slugs have significantly more stopping power on heavily constructed game than buckshot.

 

[LondonNeil]

gratuitous trailer pǑrn

I preferred his home made offroad logging trailer, THAT is awesome pron

 

[muddstopper]

Agree with everything you said except that last sentence. Slugs have significantly more stopping power on heavily constructed game than buckshot.

On a bear, its all about penetration. I have a friend that fired 5-44mag rounds, from a ruger carbine, in the chest of a large black bear. He was so close the muzzel flash burnt the hair. The only thing that kept my friend from getting eatup by the bear was a dog jumped back in the fight. As the bear was crushing the dog in his mouth. my friend had time to load one more round in the carbine and stuck it to the bears head and pulled the trigger, killing the bear. I have seen 44mag rounds that penetrated the shoulder of a bear, but never break the bone and the bear keep running. It just depends on how much fat the bear has put on. I guess the fat acts like ballistic gell. Slugs in the body of a fat bear would have more kenetic engery, but will it stop a chargeing bear. No doubt the slug would penetrate deeply, but the question then becomes will you hit what your aiming at. Anything other than a center mass hit, might slow the charge, and you might even turn it, but a instant death is not guaranteed. Buckshot aimed at the face of a charging bear would most likey result in a hit or two in the head which would prove fatal, in the body not so much. I expect results similar to the 44mag, little penetration.. If the bear is not chargeing, then no need to even shoot at it. Dont approach it and it will probably walk away.

 

[nighthunter]

First proper scrounge of the season but some pics didn't load up

 

[James Miller]

I love the joke about how to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. It tells visitors to wear bells on their clothing and carry pepper spray.

The punchline says “black bear scat is full of berries and nuts. Grizzly bear scat is full of bells and smells like pepper”

In the real world your more likely to be mauled and left laying by a Grizzly then become its meal. Black bears on the other hand are most likely trying to make you a meal.

On a bear, its all about penetration. I have a friend that fired 5-44mag rounds, from a ruger carbine, in the chest of a large black bear. He was so close the muzzel flash burnt the hair. The only thing that kept my friend from getting eatup by the bear was a dog jumped back in the fight. As the bear was crushing the dog in his mouth. my friend had time to load one more round in the carbine and stuck it to the bears head and pulled the trigger, killing the bear. I have seen 44mag rounds that penetrated the shoulder of a bear, but never break the bone and the bear keep running. It just depends on how much fat the bear has put on. I guess the fat acts like ballistic gell. Slugs in the body of a fat bear would have more kenetic engery, but will it stop a chargeing bear. No doubt the slug would penetrate deeply, but the question then becomes will you hit what your aiming at. Anything other than a center mass hit, might slow the charge, and you might even turn it, but a instant death is not guaranteed. Buckshot aimed at the face of a charging bear would most likey result in a hit or two in the head which would prove fatal, in the body not so much. I expect results similar to the 44mag, little penetration.. If the bear is not chargeing, then no need to even shoot at it. Dont approach it and it will probably walk away.

Under penetration with a 44mag sounds like poor bullet choice to me. A flat tip hard cast 44 would likely go clean through your average black bear.

 

[dancan]

Chainsaw noise keep bear away , plenty of blackbear around here , never seen one while I had a chainsaw in hand lol

 

[Cody]

I would suggest just staying out of the bear's territory. Doesn't seem right that it should possibly lose it's life when in it's view, you're the threat. Having said that, first round I'm putting in is a buckhammer slug or something from Brenneke, then two loads of buckshot, and maybe a couple rounds of personal defense rounds. If it hasn't gotten the hint after the first couple shots then I suppose it put itself in that position. I'd certainly carry bear spray and maybe a cowbell though as well...

This all assuming you see the bear coming first though.

 

[LondonNeil]

IS that beech nighthunter?

I just managed a fix by collecting a car load, nothing special - prunus/cherry.

 

[muddstopper]

In the real world your more likely to be mauled and left laying by a Grizzly then become its meal. Black bears on the other hand are most likely trying to make you a meal.

Under penetration with a 44mag sounds like poor bullet choice to me. A flat tip hard cast 44 would likely go clean through your average black bear.

We found 180gr wad cutters to give the best penetration. The heavier bullets didnt perform like one would expect. I suspect not enough muzzle velocity, even when fired out of a carbine. I dont go on the big hunts anymore, but all my old hunting buddies have went to larger cartridges. 45/70, 444, even 35rem in lever action rifles. When I went to Canada and Vermont, I took a 30-06, 742rem. We dog hunted, so short rifles are preferred over the longer bolt action because of wadeing thru the brush. The largest black bears in the world have come from coastal NC. My friend I mentioned almost getting eatup by a blackbear, actually broke the world record for blackbear several years back, but then his record was broke that same day. Both bears where killed within just a few miles of each other. The record has been broken a couple times since. This was way back in the 1990's.