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In September, I was fortunate to spot this mature boar grizzly foraging on blueberries in preparation for his long winter sleep. I stalked in as close as I dared due to the open terrain, but when I knelt to shoot him I could only see his back and hump. I waited until he turned away with his rump towards me and then crept another 20 yards closer and found a little taller tussock to take aim on. I patiently waited until the bruin turned broadside and then tripped the trigger on my 1950s vintage Winchester model 71 rifle. The Hawk 250 grain bullet struck him right behind the right shoulder, knocking the grizzly over. He feebly regained his feet and managed about another ten steps. He was probably mortally wounded with the first strike, but I delivered one more round putting the bear down for good. After all, it is one of Winchester's repeating lever action rifles so it only seemed fitting to shoot more than once. I paced off 120 steps for the distance.
While only average in length from nose to tail for an inland grizzly (7'3"), his head was long and wide easily qualifying him for Boone and Crockett. It was a good hunt at a beautiful time of year for a fine animal. Using my model 71 made it even better.
Illegitimus Non Carborundum Akā, ʻo ka poʻe hilinaʻi aku iā Iēhova, e ulu hou nō ko lākou ikaika;
E piʻi ʻēheu aku nō lākou i luna, e like me nā ʻaito;
E holo nō lākou, ʻaʻole hoʻi e māloʻeloʻe,
E hele mua nō lākou, ʻaʻole hoʻi e maʻule.
`Isaia 40:31
Thats what I call impressive. Most guys who would be able to attend such a hunt would not take the chance on an open sighted rifle and would choose some mega blaster with a 40X Nightforce scope. Not only did you do it with an open sighted rifle, you did it with an old open sighted classic rifle in a most classic caliber. Good going!-------------Sixgun
1st. Gen. Colt SAA’s, 1878 D.A.45 and a 38-55 Marlin TD
Great photo/story! I plan on using my 1936 M71 deluxe, this hunting season in Mt. Finally replaced the 1 sold 12yrs ago. This is my favorite levergun,with 99 savage 2nd.
We may not rember that Mark posted pic's of His Moose hunts in '07&'08. I printed them and have them hanging in the reloading room. He took them with a 100 year old Winchester 30-30.
Not hearing anything from Him in several years I e-mailed Him a few days ago and He responded that He would show us some pic's from this year. Congradulations on the Bear and Thanks for the post Sir. Jim in Ohio.
Congratulations!! Great bear and great story sir. Its good to see game still being taken with traditional firearms and iron sights, especially the toothy stuff. Good to see you around again. Try to make your posts more regular. I know everyone here would enjoy them.
RustyJr
Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.
Good on ya! Glad to see a classic lever caliber rub it into the hides of all the gun writers that preach that a xxx triple megamag is required. Used to love the tundra at this time of year. Roamed on it for three years many , many moons back.
Nice shooting and a beautifull trophy. Some of the younger hunters might question the .348WCF. for big bear, But us oldtimers know that Winchester designed the 71 for it . It's on my bucket list with mine. Congrats
Very pretty bear. I was hoping to hunt a bear on my way through Nome this fall, but unfortunately, things took longer than I hoped and travel was messed up by Era being shut down by FAA, so I only had a couple days in Nome each time I went through. I wanted to shoot one for a video of the Beowulf that I am working on. Still might make it back up this month. Shot some whale skulls, though.
The Model 71 is about my favorite lever action - maybe my favorite rifle all around. I'd just as soon hunt with one of mine as anything else.
I hadn't shot any large game with a lever gun since 2009. For many years, I used to shoot the family moose each season with a classic lever rifle or revolver, but my 12 year old son took an interest in being the shooter in 2010 and he has downed our moose for the past three years. However, the boy prefers my scoped Remington bolt gun in 30-06 that I use on sheep hunts- hardly a rifle worthy of this forum.
Jim from OH emailed me out of the blue earlier this week asking if I had any new hunting photos to post. He timing is excellent as I had just ended my lever gun dry spell with this bear. I specifically took my model 71 afield in case I saw a worthy grizzly. I had a desire and a need to kill one. My optimism was rewarded when I spied this boar early in the outing. During this same hunt, I was also helping my friend find a moose to fill his tag. We were both successful in our quests. He unleashed a barrage of fire from both his .375 Ruger bolt gun and a S&W model 29 to put his bull down. We both now have an annual supply of meat and a great hunt to relive until the next adventure.
dimrod, excellent photo, story and hunt! i keep going back and looking at that picture... sure is most beautiful. classic picture for sure.
question on the hawk bullet you used... obviously it performed it's job first class as evident in the picture but did the bullets pass through or were you able to recover them? did they stay together (jacket & core)? how was the terminal ballistics?
i've never had bear, how does it taste and what's a usual way to eat it? chili, stew, roast? are there such things as bear steak?
Wow! What a hunt to remember. Kudo's for having the cajones to sneek up on a griz like that, too!
Nice shootin too. You say he's AVERAGE length? He looks HUGE to me. Hey, levergun or not, if he was still moving, that's reason enough to SHOOT HIM AGAIN!
Here's a photo with a different angle. My hunting partner only took a few pictures before we skinned it. He was on a mission to shoot a moose. I've never eaten grizzly meat. From the mouths of those that have tried it, I've heard it's not too good. Even the word "awful" and worse phrases have been invoked. I left the carcass for the foxes, ravens, wolverines, and other bears to eat. Besides, I've got a freezer full of moose, dall sheep, and some of last winter's muskox. They're all very tasty. My family won't starve. There's no requirement in Alaska to salvage the meat of a brown or grizzly bear shot under a sport hunting license.
Both Hawk bullets exited the bear. I would assume the ballistics were good as it knocked the vim and vigor out of the bruin right away. I had loaded the cartridges about 6 years ago. I verified that the rifle was sighted in and went hunting. I almost used my 41 magnum revolver to shoot this bear instead of my rifle. I was torn, but thought I might not be able to get close enough as he was feeding in sparse cover. So I only packed the rifle on my stalk. I'll try the 41 next time.
The bear is only average in length for our area. A big one would measure 8-9 feet for an inland grizzly. This one placed more of his growth into his skull than body I guess. Mature boars in our region are usually dark like this one.
Neat! 
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