Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Best gun for black bear and????

they deflect equally?

Sounds nearly as tough as alders.

Good on you. Nice shot. Doesn't always go that way, right?

Who am I belittling? I simply stated that it would suck to hunt in that environment where things were that chaotic- that is not slam on the poster, merely an observation of the situation that he is stuck with. IF I had to hunt somewhere like that, I would be using a pretty dang big rifle to anchor them at the first shot, not trying to get cute with boutique calibers like I am prone to do now!

Think about it. I assume for MooseMike and the other Pennsylvanian hunters that posted about bear hunting it is probably one (if not THE highlight of their year).

If you don�t think that saying �The hunting you just described would really suck� isn�t judgmental or to follow up and say that it�s �merely an observation of the situation that he is stuck with� isn�t negative, you are truly clueless and lack all social skills.

Oh, the irony!

I think I'll start a thread, "Can I kill a black bear with a push feed rifle, shooting a standard cartridge?" Or, "Should I throw away my .260 and get a .458?"

That's nothing, I once heard a story about a "stunt shooter" who killed a grizz with a .260.

Wow, you must slow up the party every time you squat to piss.

Sweet Jesus, where do all you tools come from.

Let me know where the pile is, I guess I have a couple to throw in that too.

Seriously? Where's all this negativity coming from? Within reason, it doesn't matter what rifle you hunt with. You shoot the rifle and caliber you like. Why all the criticism of another man's choice? It's not like any of us is arguing for light beer or white wine. Now that would be worthy of criticism.

Is there a thread on the 'fire that hasn't turned into a pissing match after 4 pages? Add something constructive or STFU!

Are we talking gun or cartridge? Under what circumstances? Lots of variables but, I would suggest a bolt gun of some flavor that feeds and functions reliably and a cartridge that can reach the vitals from typical shooting angles. Was that so hard?

Now, men of Chablis, arise!

There has been lots of back and forth on what is or isn't enough gun for bear. Since you feel that your 270 isn't enough gun I tend to think you have reason within your personal experiance to feel that way. My suggestion to you is to use a rifle that YOU are sure is enough gun. I've told ya what I use and I'm SURE it is enough gun and not mearly adequate. It will take any black bear that you may encounter. Black bear can be BIG. Meet a 400, or 600 pond plus boar and your rifle will feel even smaller. Close up with 200 pound bear any rifle might feel smaller when face to face and lastly you need to find the bear after the shot. Choose wisely and whatever you choose make it one that you have no doubts about. Choose a rifle and cal that you are completely confident is up to the task rather than adequate to it. Lastly choose a rifle that will do the job when something goes a little wrong this way or that. We all know that perfect shot placement is key but as for myself I can say that I've not always achieved perfection im not perfect and then there is wind and of course lots of things that can cause deflection. Some say bear die easy, others disagree. Better to cover all of your bases just in case.

I had no problem with what he said. While our style of hunting is a lot of fun there are simply too many people in the woods and it does suck a lot of the time. Especially since we only get a 4 day rifle season and that's only since the last 2 years, before that it was a 3 day rifle season. I much prefer hunting out west where I can get some elbow room and see more than a hundred yards.

All I can say about PA is there is always the chance to shoot a 600-800 pound bear. Usually only half a dozen of those get shot in a given year though.

Well said Adirondack, another get problem as some addressed is the country one hunts..the heavy swamp country of Mich. or Canada would make following a blood trail very difficult, while in the more open country of the west it could be achieved more easily..When we hunted Canada for bear many years ago, the guide we were with complained about the numbers of bears missed..I got a shot at medium sized bear about an hour before dark..the shot was across a field maybe 175 yards..I used an 06 with 165 grain Serria HPBT..At the shot the bear ran across the field toward my side...I shot again, just before he hit the timber, but as I shot, I could see him falling..the first shot was good, but had he whirled and ran into the swamp from which he came, we might never have found him..he sure covered alot of ground in just a few seconds...As I grew older and hunted more, I began to realize many of those bear were hit, and ran..Tracking was tough due to the area, the shots usually came right at or just before dark..To me these are things we need to consider when selecting a rifle..and the bullets that go in it..

That's the thing. The fat on a bear clogs the holes up and he doesn't usually leave a great blood trail.

That's true. Of the 3 I've shot the one mentioned earlier was the only one that didn't run but the others were shot with an arrow. Even so the blood trail was light. For that reason I'd go with a bigger caliber for a dedicated bear rifle. The 338 Federal would be a good choice and it would handle the other species mentioned.

Where�s the irony in asking someone to be civil. Many posters on here due to job, family and financial constraints don�t have the good fortune to live and hunt where others of us have been blessed to. Our good fortune doesn�t give us the right to run them down.