Hunters will go to great lengths to try to bag a grizzly big enough for the record books. They hire guides to take them deep into the northern wilderness and pack expensive rifles chambered for whopping cartridges capable of dropping bears.
But one of the largest grizzlies ever recorded was killed in 1953 with a single shot from a .22 rifle wielded by a tiny Canadian Cree grandmother named Bella Twin.
Guy Eastman of Cody has hunted numerous species all over the world, including grizzly bears in Canada. He said Bella’s accomplishment, and sheer courage, will likely never be matched.
“That’s one hell of a daring shot,” he said.
She Knew Right Were To Aim
Twin, 63 at the time, lived in the Slave Lake area of Alberta and had been hunting and trapping her entire life, so she knew bear anatomy well.
According to accounts from the time, she knew exactly where to shoot the bear — in the side of the head from just a few yards away.
Head shots on grizzlies are incredibly risky because they have such thick skulls, Eastman said. And from the front, a grizzly’s skull is sloped, so they can act as helmets and deflect bullets.
“They claim that a grizzly skull can deflect a .30-06 round from the front,” he said.
That’s why shot placement means everything, retired Forest Service and National Park Ranger Richard Jones, who lives in grizzly country west of Cody, told Cowboy State Daily.
Jones has also worked as a law enforcement firearms instructor, and said he uses Twin’s story to highlight the importance of proper shot placement.
To be clear, from all accounts from 1953 through today, Twin’s shot wasn’t lucky, it was good.
A Small Game Hunt Becomes A Grizzly Hunt
As the story goes, Twin and her partner, Dave Auger, had no intention of trying to bag a record-class grizzly when they set out on May 10, 1953, near Florida Lake in Alberta.
There were after small game, and Twin had her trusty single-shot Cooey Ace 1 rifle with her. She’d packed it many times while checking her trap lines and was known to be deadly accurate with it.
According to accounts, she had several rounds of .22 long ammunition with her. Most people who target shoot or hunt with .22s are these days used to the .22 long rifle cartridge. It’s more modern and more powerful than the old .22 long.
Before long, they spotted a huge grizzly bear approaching. It was a windy day, and Twin and Auger were behind some brush. While the bear might have scented them, it apparently never heard or saw them.
When the bear came up to within just a few yards, Twin took deliberate aim at a tiny weak point in the side of the bear’s head and fired.
The grizzly reportedly dropped instantly, stone dead, after the first shot.
But not being one to take any chances, Twin walked up to the fallen beast and put a few more rounds through the side of its head.
Set The World Record
Though she might have gone out that day to hunt rabbits, squirrels and the like, Twin had bagged a world-class grizzly.
The Boone & Crocket (B&C) big game record measuring system is considered the gold standard by hunters all over the world. B&C bear records are judged by skull size.
This bear’s skull was 16 9/16 inches long and 9 14/16 inches wide, for a total score of 26 7/16 inches. That made it the world record grizzly at the time.
The next year, the skull of a bear shot by a hunter on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, beat Twin’s score by a 3/16ths of an inch.
Twin’s grizzly is still in the B&C records books, ranking No. 21.
Skill And Courage
Eastman said Twin’s accomplishment is worthy of respect. It also highlights the knowledge and skill of Native American hunters in the northern regions.
His grandfather, Gordon Eastman, pioneered outdoor adventure filmmaking. His father, Mike Eastman, founded the Eastmans hunting media company, and Guy Eastman later took the helm.
“My grandfather filmed Natives way up north hunting polar bears with small calibers, like .22s,” he said. “They know this ‘sweet spot’ to hit them in right between the shoulder blade and the spine,” he said.
That type of hunting is not for cowards, he said.
“They bay the polar bear up with a dog, and then they get in really close and shoot them in that perfect spot,” Eastman said.
Twin apparently had similar knowledge of exactly where to shoot a grizzly, but that doesn’t make the shot any less badass, he said.
“That’s pretty gutsy to shoot a bear like that, because if you make one mistake, you’re going to have a really pissed off grizzly right there,” he said.
Accuracy Is Everything
Hunters might never stop arguing about what the perfect rifle cartridge is, but Twin’s story illustrates that precision accuracy is what really counts, Jones said.
“All the online ‘gun experts’ argue about the best calibers or guns for self-defense, and especially against bears. As a 30-plus year police firearms instructor, I’ve always said shot placement is the most important and effective aspect of stopping any attack,” he said. “Unless the central nervous system is hit, any attacker, man or beast, can continue its attack even for a few minutes. Not good.
“I say, have a gun, any gun, and hope for an instant CNS (central nervous system) effect to stop the attack. I use Bella Twin to illustrate my point.”
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
