Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Bullets for black bear?

I have used the 270 win to take 3 bears here in Montana. All with 130gr Barnes TSX. Two dropped on the spot, the other jumped off the gated logging road and rolled down hill about 30 yards before hanging up in a tree.

You shot a bear off a gate?

My experience has been a little different. Only two black bears I've shot dropped, and both didn't get up. The rest ran after being shot without dropping. Deer on the other hand have been more likely to drop and get up. I'm now more suspicious and worried about deer that drop than the ones that run off.

So of that 100+ bears how many were killed with your .220 Swift or Bill's or George's .22-250s?

I much prefer heavy for caliber bullets in something 6.5 or larger.......

Yes, a .22 Mag can work. I just like to shoot bears with something that should work when everything goes WRONG rather than something that CAN work when everything goes right.

Bear hunting in AK, I use Accubonds in a .300WM or .300WSM. In my .30-06 I use Barnes 180 gr. TTSX, and the .308 Win, my son uses we shoot 168gr. Barnes TTSX from it. I have never felt that either bullet wasn't up to the challenge on brown bear or black bear. I have yet to shoot one, but I have a buddy that has shot several black bears the last three seasons with Barnes TTSX's from a .300WM or .338WM.

I've killed five with factory Federal Premium 165gr Barnes TSX out of a .300 WSM and one with a factory 180gr Nosler Accubond out of a .338 Federal. Both rifles were Kimber Montanas. I sold the .338 Federal, which looking back, is one of the dumbest things I've ever done. That was a great little rifle!

Blue,

Happy to hear you’re going to stretch your legs and go chase some bear! One of the most fun big game animals to hunt IMHO.

Some really good advise here if you sift through the posts. I’m sure you could pick out the top three posters, and when you do, you’ll have 99% of the info needed.

Most bear kills I’ve had or been around have been off baits so our rule was to try to break a front shoulder/upper leg in addition to taking out vitals. Open hillsides not such a big deal. Consider bullet type, caliber/chambering to the expected distance. Thinner skinned bullets at high velocity can “blow up” for lack of better vocabulary at short distances....about the only thing I didn’t see stressed in previous posts. I’ve been a fan of monos, but have used other types and thete are many good ones.

Good luck!

Bob

Stay behind the shoulder and any deer bullet will work fine. Although blood trailing is harder due to fat and fur, black bears do not go as far as whitetails when shot through the boiler room.

Shot one in Maine last year with my .35 Marlin. 150 gr corloks. He went 30 yards. Quartering toward me. Put the bullet between the neck and shoulder. Traveled through 3’ of bear and was lodged Under the skin in the ribs. 488 lbs if I remember correctly
Shot another in NY a few years back that dressed 348. 7-08 with 140 gr fusions. Went 20 yards. Pick what shoots good and make sure you hit it in the right spot. Good luck in your hunt.

For the 270 I would go 150 Partitions and R26. The 7mm I would do the same or 160s with a medium burn rate powder I would give R16 and 23 a try.

Those Barnes lead free solid copper rounds look pretty good, I think they call them ttsx? Kinda spends and hard to find but if you don’t reload might be worth it. I plan on using those in my .30-06 for deer and bear.

I'm hoping to draw a Michigan tag next fall. While the weather is bad this winter I've been loading up some 30-06 with 180 grain Woodleighs. They may be a little overkill for black bear but I trust them and had a box on the shelf.

Trophy bonded Bear Claw would be good.

Going to add another to a list of very good points/observations...…….

Bear FAT...…..especially in agricultural areas...…...can be 6" - 8" thick in the late fall. It takes a GOODLY hole, or better yet PAIR of holes to get blood TO the hair, let alone THROUGH the hair.

I've used 150gr coreloks out of a 270win with no issues.

I used a .270 with a 150 gr Partition on the only Black Bear I've taken with a rifle. The vitals are a little lower and further forward than on a deer. A shot in the upper third of a bears chest could miss the lungs and hit the leg or shoulder bone.

Thanks to our traplines we can kill as many bears as we want. I have never found bears to be anything other than easy to kill. A fast opening, relatively soft bullet through the shoulders will flatten them and keep them there. One that I've used a lot is the dreaded Berger, mostly 180 7 mms. Ballistic tips, Accubonds and most any deer-centric cup and core is fine. If you want to go look for one, by all means use a mono. They are great for anything that you want to die somewhere else.

Haha, I've not read all the threads but folks suggesting premium bullets made me laugh. Bears are much softer then deer, I'm going to use a #46 longbow and wooden arrows this spring, my buddies wife shoots them with a mid-30 pound bow at her 25" draw recurve and has killed a couple truck loads of them. Accurate gun and whatever shoots decent it in will work fine.

Killing them is one thing, finding them another. Having seen the difference between the old days of cup and core and today's bullets I will not shoot them with a bullet that I do not trust to exit. But I am often in extremely thick cover. Give me an 80 grain mono in 25 caliber anyday over a Core-Lokt of any description...