Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Slugs on Bears

Hi: I live in bear country Griz &Blackie so i always carry my 870 12ga loaded with Brenneke slugs when fishing,camping etc. I have only shot one bear[shot lots with rifles]and he was already wounded but it put his lights out almost instantly[300lb bear]Now my question is has anyone on here hunted big bears or had to shoot one in self deffence with a 12 ga slug? I would like to read the results. Thank You for any info. Dan

This is second hand from me but I have met two guys that had to shoot brown bears with Brenneke slugs in the 12 guage. Both said the same thing that they had pass throughs and the bears died right there. One of the guys also shot one close up with 00 buck it was also DRT with a head shot.

I haven't had much luck keeping even ordinary Hornady bullets in the few grizzlies I've killed with rifles. However, a couple summers ago, this critter



came around at midnight (pictured) on the 3/4 of July. Five shots around its toenails, when it came too close to the cabin, finally convinced him to leave. A couple hours later it was back clickety-clacking on the cabin's porch. A couple more shots didn't persuade it to do more than just walk back and forth a short distance away, so I finally put one of these into its shoulders:



It loped off 30-40 yards and finally laid down, where it died after a couple of length-of-the-body shots with 45 Colt carbine (they exitted).



The slug made it sick, but it surely didn't "shock" the animal at all, slow it, or knock it off its feet. Not a great display of "tremendous power" or penetration. I'd much rather have a decent rifle, especially if a decent sized bear was involved.

Never shot a bear. But having shot a couple of deer with w/ slugs, I wouldn't pick it as my first choice for a bear.

I'll be hunting water buffalo in Belize in May with slugs (no rifles allowed there). I've killed one 1000 lb plus scrub bull with a slug, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I've killed modest sized (400#) grizzlies with a 375H&H, and it was more than was needed, but could have been useful if longrange shooting was necessary. Shotgun slug is obviously a close range weapon, but perfectly adequate for anything large except pachyderms.
Add: I refer to a hardened lead non-saboted slug with relatively high velocity as opposed to the opposite.

Calculate the SD of a slug. It is VERY low.

So is the opinion of slugs by most folks who have actually tried using them on really big bears

The only "Slug" I would think about using on a grizzly bear or black bear, are those called the Dixie Terminator. They are the real deal in a shotgun slug. You check em out and they will make a believer out of you.

Now other than that, I want at least my .338 Win mag and 275 grain Swift A Frame bullets or my .375-Wby loaded with 300 grn bullet.

I have a little more than a half-dozen DLP kills on bears out here and never had a problem with the Brennekes. The other guys haven't either. I know that PS has way the hell more experience than any of us will ever get, but I have confidence in Brennekes getting the job done at least up close.

Now there have been a few that I've investigated that were shot with regular Foster slugs. The slugs killed them, but were flattened into lead disks. The few Fosters we had in our inventory were used up in training. Any hoodlums or bears needing shot will be shot with Brennekes.

One slug to really avoid when shooting big bears is the Barnes Expander sabot from Federal. A lot of people assume because the slug is a 1-ounce Barnes that it will penetrate deeply, but it expands so widely that penetration is very limited.

When this load was introduced several gun writers were invited to hunt black bear on Vancouver Island with them. My partner shot a boar of about 300 pounds through the shoulder (yes, the "front" shoulder as opposed to the "rear" shoulder) and the Expander barely made it into the bear's chest. The bear was still alive when we followed it up and finished it off.

I was very aware of this when shooting my bear, a 400-pound 7-footer. The slug was placed just behind the shoulder, and was found on the inside of the far shoulder, where it didn't even dent the bone. It killed the bear quickly but would be pretty useless on anything but a broadside rib shot.

A lot of slugs seem intended for modest range whitetail hunting. Not the same thing as defense against a big bear I'd think.

I've shot enough deer with slugs to know that I'd rather have a rifle when a big bear is involved.

Try the Dixie slug 870gr heat treated stopping power.

If you could just launch this baby at, say 3,300 fps, you'd make quite a mess of a bear . . .

I carried these in a Winchester model 1300 Defender for about 2 years but never got a chance to try them out on a bear. I ended up switching to a pistol because the shotgun was too heavy for my hiking trips.

http://www.brennekeusa.com/cms/blackmagic.html

I don't know why anyone would want to use a shotgun when the animal can easily kill you.

A rifle is just so much better.

I'd even think a lightweight rifle like the 5 1/4 lb Remington Ti probably carries better than many of the big pistols that some people pack too.

Once you've been up close and personal with a big bear with an attitude - you realize that it's not the time to begin some ballistic experiment.

I have always been underwhelmed with the penetration of slugs - on just about anything I've ever tried them on - including bears. I can't imagine many scenarios where I'd rather use a slug over a TSX or Nosler Partition - in any accepted bear caliber.That doesn't mean I don't like a few slugs in my pocket - while hunting birds - but if it's for protection - I'd rather have a rifle.

Personally - I think I'd rather shoot a bear with a 25-05 with a 115 grain TSX - over a shotgun with a slug, if I was forced to choose between the two. Every cartridge with more power than a 25-06 - would only widen that performance gap.

Have never used them and dont know there effective range but, Dixie makes a tri-ball load w/ 3- 60 caliber hardened round balls, if You can get em delivered on target they gotta leave a mark.

Intended for the fella who can't aim a medium to big bore rifle?

Spray and pray baby!

MM, 10-4, thought the OP was lookin for the best hammer he could sling from a 12 ga.

Gunner

I think people overestimate the power of a shotgun due to the big hole in the barrel, and the healthy thump to the shoulder. In real terms, power/terminal performance is on par with the more powerful revolvers. That's not a bad thing, but a reality check.

I just don't understand giving up the power and accuracy of a rifle to take a shotgun. A medium to large bore rifle with good expanding bullets will create a fist sized wound channel clear through the biggest bear.