Whatcha Gonna Do? - Larry Weishuhn

“Gracious Bob, what happened to you?” I asked as Bob Foulkrod limped his way toward me.

“Come with me, I’m going to go buy either a short-barreled big caliber rifle or a shotgun. Gotta

find something beside the axe I’ve been using to take down wounded black bear!” Replied my

old friend, this years ago when both Foulkrod and I were members of Bass Pro’s RedHead

ProHunting Team along with Jerry Martin and Walter Parrott, when there was only one Bass

Pro store and it was in Springfield, Missouri.

“What happened? Why are you limping?” I queried.

“Ahh, one of the bowhunters in my bear camp wounded a bear. I followed the blood trail and

thought I was going to kill it with the blunt side of the axe I carried like I have done numerous

times when doing such things. I’ve dispatched several wounded bears by hitting them in the

head with my axe. This bear wasn’t quite as bad off as I thought he was. I tracked him into a

thicket then waded in close, swung at the bear’s head, but only hit him with a glancing blow.

The bear grabbed hold of my leg just below the knee and hung on. I hollered for the guys who

had followed to get another arrow into the bear, but be careful not to shoot me. Problem was

when the bear bit my leg, they ran away. The bear wouldn’t let go and I couldn’t reach the axe

I dropped when he started chewing on my leg. Ended up killing him with with my knife! Thank

goodness I had one.” Bob hesitated, “Thankfully my hunters finally came back and helped me

back to camp and to the doctor.”

“I’ll bet that hurt!” spoke I shaking my head.

“It did, but not as bad as the chewing out I got from my Dad for not carrying a shotgun to kill

wounded bears!” replied Bob with a half-smile.

A few minutes later we were in Bass Pro’s gun section where Bob selected a 7-shot, short-

barreled 12-gauge pump shotgun. “Going to alternately load buckshot and slugs. Should do the

trick.” I nodded. “Gotta call my Dad and tell him I am the proud owner of a bear-killing

shotgun!” He smiled, “Besides, Dad hid my axe!”

Some of Bob’s stories about following wounded bears when he was outfitting and guiding for

black bear came back to me years later when I followed a wounded bear on an Island off the

the coast of Alaska. I had shot the sizeable boar quartering to me, in the shoulder, with my

.375 H&H Magnum rifle. When I hit the bear, he fell off of the log he was standing on, ran over

the edge of the ridge we were on and disappeared into huge piles slash, tree trunks and limbs

left there when timber was cut on the top and sides of the ridge we were on.

There was little to do but to follow. We did; me first. I crawled, snaked between logs and limbs

toward where I could hear the bear growling, pushing my .375 H&H, safety off in front of me.

About ten or so yards into the wood-laced jungle I could see black hair. The bear was likely

facing me, but I could not initially tell for certain. If, or perhaps better when he came, we

would be essentially nose to nose. I squeezed between logs to my right hoping to get a better

angle where I might see more of the bear for a follow up shot.

From the deep guttural growls and popping sound made with his jaws he was really unhappy

about his current situation. I hoped and prayed I could get a killing shot into him before he

would be in my face, clawing and biting! Moving a bit more to my right I could see much of the

bear. He was backed against the stump of a huge tree, could retreat no farther, nor go left or

right, or, up or down. The bear, like me, was “intertwined” in between and around large limb

and logs.

I maneuvered my rifle to my shoulder, not wanting to shoot the fairly heavy recoiling .375 H&H

Mag like a pistol held with only one hand. The bear was only about eight-feet from me. I

pointed the barrel, keeping it just out of his reach with his front legs, at what I hoped was

where his neck met shoulder, whispered a prayer “Lord if you can’t help me, PLEASE don’t help

the bear!”, then pulled the trigger. Thankfully at the shot, the bear went limp! Somehow I

managed to bolt in another round. If the bear so much as quivered I was going to shoot him

again, and continue shooting until I ran out of shells or there was no movement of any kind

from the bear.

After a couple of minutes, I felt certain the bear was dead. I crawled forward, grabbed a front

paw and started pulling the bear toward me where the guide could help me drag it through the

tangle of logs and limbs.

Exciting? Actually a whole lot more than I had hoped for!

Over the years I have continued hunting black bear from New Brunswick, Canada on the East

Coast to the coastal islands of British Columbia, Canada and Alaska, south on the West Coast

down to eastern Arizona in the South. I have been fortunate in so many ways. In most cases

when I followed up wounded bears I found them dead only a short distance from where they

had been shot. Still…there have been several anxious moments when I followed wounded bears

not knowing whether they were dead or alive waiting in ambush.

I have been charged by black bear numerous times. Thankfully so far those have been false

charges. The bear stopped just at the edge of where if they crossed “that line” I would have

had to do my best to kill them.

Knowing the potential danger of tracking and following wounded bears, I have often asked

what rifle and round those who guide for bears regularly use as their “follow-up or back-up”

rifle. Some said they preferred to carry handguns, where legal, primarily .44 Mag and .454

Casull revolvers. A couple guides told me they carry 10mm (essentially .40 caliber) semi-autos

because of the number of rounds these guns hold as opposed to 5 or 6-shot revolvers. A few

also told me they prefer to carry .45 ACP semi-auto pistols.

Over the years I have taken black bear with handguns chambered in .44 Mag and .454 Casull,

shooting Hornady’s 240-grain XTP Custom loads. Both killed the bear dead quickly.

Many bear hunts these days take place over bait. Such bears are shot at close range, 50-yards

and usually much closer. In those hunting situations soon as the bear leaves the bait site there

is usually thick, dense cover. Should a bear not be dead and decide to charge, that charge

comes from mere feet or inches away rather than from yards distant. A rifle with a 26 or 24-

inch barrel in thick cover does not even make a good club regardless of what it is chambered in.

Taking this into consideration I contacted my long-time friend, outfitter, guide, seminar

speaker, outdoorsman and hunter extraordinaire, Randy Flannery. Randy owns Wilderness

Escape Outfitters and Lodge in northern Maine. Randy is known primarily for his whitetail

tracking abilities in the North Woods. He hunts and guides where quick shots, often at close

range, are the norm rather than the exception. He too runs a very successful black bear

hunting operation, where bears, big bears are hunted in thick cover over bait.

In years past I hunted black bear close to Randy’s area in far northern Maine, just below the

Canadian border. It was right next to Randy’s area that I encountered the biggest black bear I

have ever seen. It was a quite a bit larger than the 500+ pound bear I shot in Arizona several

years ago. That nearly 8-feet squared Arizona bear charged from less than 12 steps. I shot him

with a .50 muzzleloader. He was so close, the blast from the muzzleloader singed the hair on

the bear’s chest. Black bears sometimes do charge without being provoked.

I asked Randy his choice of guns, knowing he had followed up and trailed numerous big bears

not knowing whether they are dead or alive, waiting in ambush!

“My favorite follow-up gun for black bear is my Winchester Model 1894 Trapper chambered in

.444 Marlin with a 16-inch long barrel. The rifle’s barrel is short, which makes it quick handling

and easy to point in even the densest of cover. And, the .444 Marlin packs quite a wallop,

approaching 3,000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. The 265 to 335-grain flat nose bullets

hit hard and create a big wound channel! Being a lever action, it can be shot numerous times

very quickly.” Randy is someone who speaks from real experiences.

I am hunting black bear with Randy and his Wilderness Escape Outfitters

(www.wildernessescape.com) during the middle of September, 2025. We’re also selling a black

bear hunt with Randy at our DSC Summer Gala (mini-convention and fundraiser, July 17-19 at

the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, www.biggame.org) where the buyer will be in

camp with me. The package includes a Rossi R95 .45-70 Govt rifle, and bear rug taxidermy).

For that hunt I seriously thought of using a .444 Marlin, but have decided to use a Rossi R95

lever action .45-70 Govt. with a 20-inch barrel (www.rossiusa.com). I had thought seriously

about Rossi’s, R95 45-70 Trapper with its 16.5-inch barrel. But I also plan on using the R95 on a

couple of other upcoming black bear and deer hunts where shots might be as distant as 100-

yards. I’ll top my rifle with a Stealth Vision (www.stealthvision.com) red dot sight for precise

shot placement. My choice of ammo for the upcoming black bear hunt with Randy is Hornady’s

LEVERevolution 325-grain FTX.

I know this combination will do “the job” on black bear, as long as I properly place my bullet

into the vitals, which “sit” a bit forward in the body compared to deer. It is also comforting to

know if a bear needs to be followed into thick brush, Randy will be there with his .444 Marlin,

should things get “a bit western”.

I do own a .444 Marlin lever-action Marlin 444P Outfitter rifle with an 18.5-inch barrel.

Currently it is being used by one of my grandsons who occasionally guides for critters with

attitudes in thick cover where follow-up shots are close and have to be accurate and quick. He

uses Hornady’s Superformance 265-grain Jacketed Flat Nose ammo. If for some reason he

decides to not return my .444 Marlin, I will replace it with a Rossi R95 Lever Action 444 Marlin,

20-inch barrel. I strongly suspect my .444 Marlin will not be coming back to me in the near or

even distant future. I know he really likes that rifle!

If you should have to follow a wounded black bear into thick cover, what will be your choice of

rifles, caliber and round?