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Hi all, long-time lurker here and glad to finally post something.
I am going bear hunting this year and I can use my tried and true 30-06 with 180 grain trophy copper ammo (2700 FPS) or my brand-new 6.5 creedmoor with 127 grain barnes vor-tx LR ammo (2825 FPS). Most bears are going to be under 300 lbs but I’d like them to drop as quickly as possible so I don’t have to follow them into the bush. I am going to be calling them in with distress calls so I’m not sure what size bear will show up.
Normally I’d think “go bigger” but will my 30/06 with 180 grain copper fully transfer it’s energy? This is the most accurate load for this rifle. It has worked well on elk and deer but I never saw big trauma with the deer I shot. Of course I’d like to use my brand new 6.5 creedmoor but I’ve never killed anything with it. Also I’ve never shot a bear before either so give me your advice. Which of these rifle/cartridge combinations would you choose? There is a strong argument that once you have a .30/06 you are wasting any money that is not spent on hunting. Some cartridges may come close on paper but a hunter does not operate on theory, he is living his life, his dreams and goals and savoring every second of it. A .30/06 means all concentration is on the game, the opportunity and the moment so the cartridge, any cartridge, is not a distraction some tend to build a hunt around. Having stuck my neck out again on this topic, will wade in deeper. Aussie makes an excellent point, and describes my approach to hunting. I like to hunt: not shoot, not play with cool cartridges, not build custom rifles nor fly rods. Shooting and developing loads and building cool rifles is fun and fully as legitimate and sometimes more so than hunting. None of those things are mutually exclusive, but most humans will follow one of those paths more than the others. To get to the point, each of us should figure out what he enjoys most and do it. If purely getting a bear is the goal, use enough gun and focus on the bear. If getting a bear with a custom .17 Swift is my goal (or a 10 lb. rainbow on a 2 weight fly rod I built myself), then by all means do it. I merely suggest that we be self aware enough to recognize the personal preference factor and not extrapolate our preferences onto everyone else.
Last edited by Okanagan; 08/03/20. Reason: filler while waiting for epoxy to harden
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Campfire Outfitter
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Apart from the question mark, I don’t even understand how this is a question... Same here. As many have said, either choice would work. I wouldnt think twice about shooting a black bear with a .223 and a good mono... Ditto, with one caveat... depending on where you hunt, you may factor in the difference between killing a bear and finding it once dead. Have seen them killed with .22 rimfire and a couple of .22 centerfires in the hands of confident capable hunters, all east of the coast range. My grandson killed a called black bear last evening, 25 hours ago. He has been seeking an elk load for his Tikka 30-06, and he hunted bear with it because a 180 grain Swift A-frame is the most accurate bullet he's tried in his rifle. 58 yard shot, almost broadside, bullet hit center of ribs angling back a smidge to exit at last rib. The bear went 30 yards and was dead within seconds... and was exceptionally difficult to find. Innards plugged the exit, zero blood trail found by some good trackers with him. The bear was finally found by careful search for occasional broken ferns or squirts of scat, plus some grid work, and the searchers walked past it twice inside of 6 feet without seeing it. OK, first bear, standing in the only open spot where he could see it, he likely should have broken its shoulder given the thick brush. Any hit that did not drop it on the spot, with any rifle bullet combo, would mean trailing the animal at least a few steps. I had one go 15 feet in super thick brush, surprisingly hard to find and a nervous search for it. This musing is likely more about bullet placement than caliber, but a larger exit hole to leak is usually a good thing. None of this applies where you can almost always see your boots, see ground across a ravine or canyon, go around or under vegetation without having to part it, etc. You should have seen how scratched up those men were last night by the time they found the bear and got it to a road. Having nattered all this, I'd take the one I shoot best and most confidently, and if equal, it would be the .06. A ton of overkill beats an ounce of underkill.  It may not work out so well for him if he shoots an elk in the same place. Same geographic location or same spot on the animal?  Same shot placement. ?? Took out big sections of both lungs and a chunk of liver. No elk is going to last long with that damage, I say from experience, not theory, and an elk is far more likely to leak a blood trail than a bear that tends to plug exit holes. Plus an elk has hard big hooves, way easier to track even without a blood trail than a soft padded bear foot on duff and moss. Again, spoken from experience rather than theory. Our mileage does vary, but if I had to, I'd take that hit with that bullet on every elk I could shoot at for the rest of my life. Not perfect but it would be rare to lose an elk hit there if one can track at all. Re the original topic, a friend kills elk and big bears with a .220 Swift in open forest country, while my son who hunts true rainforest moved up from his never failed 30-06 to a .338 Win mag. We do like to find what we kill  I've seen a bull hit through the rear ribs just like that run and run and run, and miles and many hours later, utterly evade the shot-maker. Who actually risked his life trying to track down the bull, because he ended up coming out the following morning, with temps in the low 20's below zero. I don't know what happened to that bull, but I do know there was a huge spray of dark blood out the exit, and he didn't even act hit. The shot was literally from 30 feet, and it was utterly botched, in my opinion. But you do you, boo.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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 Thank you! I will, as should you, and you will. I will still take 2 lungs and a chunk of liver autopsy over an unrecovered unknown bullet path, and I am one of those who has seen elk travel far with astounding wounds.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Next time this topic comes up, would one of the long timers like Brad or Ingwe please head me off and tell me not to post. My comments are a repeat and too predictable. 
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Next time this topic comes up, would one of the long timers like Brad or Ingwe please head me off and tell me not to post. My comments are a repeat and too predictable. It's ok OK. 80% of the questions on 24HR have been asked several times over the decades. And you're old.
I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,507
Campfire Tracker
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30-06 150gr TTSX
6.5 CM 120gr TTSX
Two holes, lots of damage. Shoot the one you shoot best.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611 |
Next time this topic comes up, would one of the long timers like Brad or Ingwe please head me off and tell me not to post. My comments are a repeat and too predictable. It's ok OK. 80% of the questions on 24HR have been asked several times over the decades. And you're old. Me? Old? 
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Thank you! I will, as should you, and you will. I will still take 2 lungs and a chunk of liver autopsy over an unrecovered unknown bullet path, and I am one of those who has seen elk travel far with astounding wounds. You only hit the liver if you angle that shot through the correct side of the rear ribs. It isn't a gimme, it's the luck of the draw. And I know exactly where that bullet hit and what it didn't hit, and it didn't hit the liver, because the elk would have died from a liver hit eventually. It did hit guts though, and missed lungs, so you are at best advocating for a 50/50 gut-shot animal recovery. Stay away from Montana, please. It's hard enough to find bulls as it is without giving them to the coyotes.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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I am concerned about bullets “penciling” through a pissed off mama bear if things go wrong.
My question is based towards those with experience shooting a lot of copper. My experience with my 30-06 180’s has been complete pass throughs with bull elk and deer, with less noticeable trauma on the deer.
168 TTSX fully opens quickly and most likely will pass through, I wouldn't call it penciling. If you're wanting to see more trauma try softer 180 Hornady SP or Speer hotcor flat base.
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