I shoot a Merkel K3 Extreme in 30-06. With scope it weighs about 5 3/4lbs. For a Wyoming elk hunt in ‘21, I sighted it in using Federal 180 grain Accubonds and to be honest, they gave me a pretty good thumping every time I pulled the trigger. After that hunt, I wanted less recoil so shooting that little rifle would be fun, so I tried a box of Hornady Custom Lite 125 gr and was really surprised in the recoil. It was like shooting a .243! This past November, I shot a nice 8pt WV whitetail at about 100yds and that 125 grain bullet sure made a mess of his boiler room. Total devastation! I plan to make these reduced recoil bullets as my “go to” for all my future deer hunts. As for black bear, in my opinion, they would work just fine.
