New Mexico Paper Patch Black Bear
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 1:29 pm
First hunt with my new to me Shiloh .45-70. Went to the Carson National Forest near Taos, New Mexico and spent 3 days chasing bears. Saw a lot of bears, ran after hounds for a total of a little over 12 miles through some crazy mountainous terrain at over 8,000ft elevation carrying a 10lb Sharps and a pack, and ended up catching up to this nice color phase guy on the last morning of the hunt after passing on a handful of smaller bears. If you’ve never hunted over hounds, the hunt is in finding a hot track, getting the dogs on it properly, hoping the bear gets tired enough to tree rather than just turning and fighting the dogs, and then hiking your keister off to get there before the bear gets a break and comes back down ornery again for another round or bolts on another merry chase to another tree or until the dogs get tired. We were in a spot where there weren’t a lot of roads, so there were some good hikes. Longest was two miles after a bear that ended up being too small for my taste. Taking the animal is potentially anticlimactic, or can be downright interesting depending on the bear, apparently. My hunting partner, who used new-fangled jacketed bullets and white powder, was charged by his wounded bear.
My bear treed about 1.5 miles up the mountain with almost 1000 feet of elevation change and the last 300 yards or so being a scramble almost on all fours to get up the hillside. We made great time—fast enough that I thought I’d probably die before I got there.
I was shooting a 480 grain paper patched bullet from an accurate mold, cast 40:1 at .442” and patched to .448” with paper mill 9# paper. The bullet shape is kind of a government nose with a .150” meplat. It was loaded over 75gr of Old “E” FFg, with a .060” card, a 3/16 lube cookie of my own making, and another .060” card. Velocity is 1280fps at the muzzle.
Shot was about 30 yards. First shot was a clean broadside double lung. I had shot number two into him about 5 seconds later for insurance, as it seemed like he was looking to come down, but on reviewing the video, he was expiring already and I didn’t need number two...however...it taught me a lot about cast bullet performance.
I put number two into the point of his shoulder, smashed the shoulder, and smashed his spine. That turned the lights out instantly, but I found that bullet just on the other side of the spine in the neck sinew. Only made about 16” of penetration, albeit breaking some bones. The softer alloy combined with a hefty impact velocity gave me a bullet expanded to well over an inch and retaining 445 of 480 grains. I’ll bump up the tin a bit going forward.
My bear treed about 1.5 miles up the mountain with almost 1000 feet of elevation change and the last 300 yards or so being a scramble almost on all fours to get up the hillside. We made great time—fast enough that I thought I’d probably die before I got there.
I was shooting a 480 grain paper patched bullet from an accurate mold, cast 40:1 at .442” and patched to .448” with paper mill 9# paper. The bullet shape is kind of a government nose with a .150” meplat. It was loaded over 75gr of Old “E” FFg, with a .060” card, a 3/16 lube cookie of my own making, and another .060” card. Velocity is 1280fps at the muzzle.
Shot was about 30 yards. First shot was a clean broadside double lung. I had shot number two into him about 5 seconds later for insurance, as it seemed like he was looking to come down, but on reviewing the video, he was expiring already and I didn’t need number two...however...it taught me a lot about cast bullet performance.
I put number two into the point of his shoulder, smashed the shoulder, and smashed his spine. That turned the lights out instantly, but I found that bullet just on the other side of the spine in the neck sinew. Only made about 16” of penetration, albeit breaking some bones. The softer alloy combined with a hefty impact velocity gave me a bullet expanded to well over an inch and retaining 445 of 480 grains. I’ll bump up the tin a bit going forward.