Many individuals underestimate the .22 Lengthy Rifle (LR) cartridge. It’s the most typical cartridge on the earth. It’s able to killing males and enormous animals. Three years in the past, AmmoLand documented 20 incidents where .22 rimfire was used to kill all three sorts of bears in North America. Black bears are the most typical, adopted by grizzly/brown bears and, often, polar bears.
For the reason that 2020 article, 4 extra incidents have been discovered the place bears have been shot and killed or so badly wounded they have been euthanized as an act of mercy. Of the 4 bears on this replace, one was a grizzly/brown bear, and the opposite three have been black bears. The occasions are listed in sequence.
The primary occasion was with a .22 caliber pistol. It was included within the AmmoLand series on defense against bears with handguns. The occasion occurred within the summer of 1962 in Montana. The incident was recounted by Allan Schallenberger, who was Chuck Jonkel’s accomplice the subsequent 12 months.
The grizzly charged and Chuck stood nonetheless ready for his helper to shoot. He regarded round and the helper was operating off with the shotgun. Chuck turned to run and tripped over a tree root and fell to the bottom. The five hundred-pound male grizzly ran as much as Chuck and stood up on his hind legs over him with the entice on a entrance paw. Chuck pulled out his .22 revolver and fired all 9 pictures in it. Some missed, some glanced off the grizzly’s cranium and one went into an eye fixed socket, killing the bear.
The following occasion issues a Florida couple who endured the eye of a persistent black bear. The bear saved making an attempt to enter their house. Juanita Brown used a .22 rifle to good impact on October 1, 2006. She fired 10 pictures, and the 332 lb bear collapsed inside six ft of the sliding glass door it had been urgent towards. From emeraldcoast.com, October 26, 2006:
“Mrs. Brown then grabbed a 22-caliber rifle from the nook to the proper aspect of the sliding glass door, the bear turned away from the door quartering to the proper, she cracked the door open and began firing on the bear,” wrote Wooden in his report.The girl then closed the door and ran to the bed room to assist her husband. The 2 later known as the sheriff’s workplace.
Wooden famous in his report that there was a smudge on the sliding glass door 17 inches down from the highest, indicating the place the bear had been standing on its hind legs, and a number of smudges on the decrease two ft of the door apparently made by the bear. It was decided by the officers that Juanita Brown fired 10 instances on the bear and hit it six instances. Three wounds have been on the proper aspect of the backbone, from the entrance shoulder alongside the neck, and the opposite three have been on the left aspect of the pinnacle and neck, on the jaw and ear and about 5 inches beneath the ear.
The third occasion additionally occurred in Florida on June 24, 2020. The Shooter was making an attempt to scare away the bear with a “warning shot.” The warning shot from the .22 broke the bear’s backbone. From clockorlando.com: June 24, 2020, Daytona Seashore, Florida
Castellano grabbed his .22 caliber rifle and fired what was meant to be a warning shot however by accident struck the bear, in response to the report.
Data present the bear collapsed to the bottom, unable to face, and dragged itself into the wooden line.
Officers mentioned they went into the woods with an FWC biologist and located the bear however decided that its again was damaged and it wouldn’t have the ability to recuperate, so it was euthanized.
The .22 caliber bullet was discovered lodged contained in the bear’s lungs, in response to the affidavit. A single shell casing was discovered on Castellano’s porch.
The final addition is a black bear, which was shot in South Carolina because it was trying to get right into a hen coop. After being shot with a .22, the bear climbed a tree, was tranquilized, fell out of the tree, and was put down. From dillonheraldonline.com: June 16, 2023
In keeping with reviews, the bear was making an attempt to get right into a hen coop and the resident informed officers that he felt he had no alternative however to shoot the bear.
After being shot with a .22, the bear climbed a tree. The S.C. Division of Pure Assets (SCDNR) was known as to tranquilize and take away the bear.
Because of being shot and accidents sustained from the 35 ft. fall from the tree, the bear needed to be put down.
It is not uncommon for bears to be shot with hen shot to sting them as a harassment method. As we’ve mentioned on AmmoLand, if the bear is simply too shut, birdshot can be fatal.
In northern Wisconsin, a taxidermist says nearly all massive bears he works on have a set of birdshot and even .22 bullets in them. If the bear has sufficient fats to stop a .22 from penetrating the physique cavity due to the angle of the shot, if the bullet is stopped by heavy bone, or if the bullet lodges in muscle, the wound is usually survivable. If a .22 bullet penetrates the belly or thoracic cavities, demise is frequent. It might take from a number of seconds to a number of days. Central nervous system hits to the mind or higher backbone tends to trigger close to instantaneous demise. With a .22, central nervous system hits should be at a good angle, hitting the right spot, or they’ll “look off” or miss the mind or higher backbone.
A single .22 LR bullet is roughly equal to a #1 buckshot, with higher penetration.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a army officer, was on the College of Wisconsin Pistol Crew for 4 years, and was first licensed to show firearms security in 1973. He taught the Arizona hid carry course for fifteen years till the purpose of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has levels in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Division of Protection after a 30 12 months profession in Military Analysis, Growth, Testing, and Analysis.
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How This Common Cartridge Can Stop Bear Attacks is written by Dean Weingarten for www.ammoland.com