My favorite bear (over bait) load is a Speer 400 JSP @ 1,700 ft/sec using H4198. It will print 1.5" groups at 100yds without much difficulty. I shot a 300lb+ hog in SC with this load. The bullet impacted just behind the shoulder and passed through the thick shield. The big boar ran about 100yds through the woods before it gave up the ghost. I recovered the bullet in the off-side hide. It was 90 caliber and retained almost all of its weight.
The extreme expansion is what prevented it from exiting but it sure made a big hole through a really tough animal. Since then I switched to Swift 350gr A-Frame bullets for big hogs but I still prefer the Speer for bears which aren't nearly as tough. I have yet to see a bear stop one of these 400gr JSP bullets.
For shooting whitetails I prefer the Barnes 300 TSX FN bullet at 2,000 ft/sec. A shoulder shot is immediately incapacitating and the extra velocity flattens the curve a bit. Recoil is less the my Speer 400gr load.
