Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Black Bear Medicine

What do you guys tote for Black Bear hunting? Ive killed them with a 7-08, '06, 35 Whelen and 444 Marlin here in PA and with the Whelen and a 480 Ruger in Maine over bait. Also on a drive here in PA put 2 Keith style hardcasts from a 44 Mag through one that although fatally hit ran about 50yds towards the posters and was dropped by a buddy with an 06. Here in PA we have some big bears.....many killed each year over 500lbs, some over 600 with largest being 875! Biggest ive killed was 465 dressed. Primarily here we stand hunt as well as put on drives. Dogs and baiting are illegal. My longest shot on one was 90 yds with the Whelen, closest was about 15 FEET with the 44 while on a drive. Never had one I hit make it past 100yds before piling up. My old man killed one at just under 300yds with an '06 a few years back. Seen them killed with everything from a 243 up to a 375h&h.

Been my observation that blackies, even the bigger ones are not all that hard to kill. Use a bullet in your caliber of choice that is of a contruction to make it to the vitals and place your shot well and its a dead bear. Problem is that it can be difficult to blood trail one due to fat clogging holes in addition to the long hair soaking up blood. For that reason I prefer bullets that have a likelyhood to exit and therefore make 2 holes.

in the past i used a bow with hand sharpened Zwickey broadheads work just fine to kill black bears, but now with bad shoulders i inherited a Pre 64 model 70 30-06 and that will be my bear medicine this year with my handloads,probably use 180 gr. Nosler Partition bullets.

30-06 with a 168 gr TSX

I've not killed any black bears. They have become quite prolific where I hunt birds and big game, so I bought a tag this year. Could have killed 3 last fall with a handgun They were all pretty close. I'll use a handgun in 44 or 45 Colt, or a lever gun in 30-30, 44, or 444.

In Oregon and Washington you don't have to go looking for them to find them...they frequently find you. .45-70 with a larger hard cast WFN or a solid copper WFN projectile.

.44 mag, preferably larger bore like a .480Ruger with a hard cast or copper WFN as a sidearm.

I use a 30/06 with Super X 180 grain power point

Seen them die using 223, 243, 250, 257 Wthby, 270, 7mm08, 280, 308, 30/06, 300 Win, 300 RUM, 338, 35 Whelen, 375 H&H.

When hit right, they die, just like anything else.

I like a 358 Winchester with 250 gr Hornady Interlocks for shooting over bait but have shot them with several others from 30/30 to 375 H&H without issue too. I even killed one with a 22 LR back when bears were considered vermin though that was not my intent.

I'll agree that black bears aren't hard to kill if the bullet is placed properly but it seems many misplace the bullet due to not being able to pick the right spot on the bear due to the bear's coloring and fat making it difficult to recognize parts of the body. Other factors can be the lack of light as many times bears show up in the last minutes, and the good old jitters as one does not regularly see bears plus bears are one of the few animals that are potentially dangerous in most woods. They can also be so dang silent that they seem to magically appear at the bait which can be a little disconcerting.

I killed a bear last year with a 357 Maximum rifle loaded with a Accurate 270gr LFP bullet at 1800fps.

Thanks, Dinny

That sounds like an interesting bullet....

+1

Bears aren't hard to kill when you put the shot where it needs to be. Problem with bears is a vast majority don't know where to put the shoot. Specially when angles are involved. A slightly high hit on a bear and you may never find it. Bears clot up very well with their fat and that thick hair.

I would cshit a white blackbird if I saw a black bear when I was out hunting.

I’m hunting black bear for the first time this year, and I’m loading 165 accubonds out of my -06

I was exiled to Washington years ago, was there for 5 years, 4 months and 11 days, and nary a black bear came to find me.


Even here in Montana its all I can do to get one to chase me.

Any "deer rifle" with any bullet that gives an exit will qualify as a good black bear rifle. Same with handguns. But the key is to give a reasonably sized wound channel that goes clear through. If you stay away from bullets that tend to break up fast you will be fine.

I had a good size black bear briskly amble up to me from upwind as I was still hunting deer in the NEK of Vermont, back in 80-something. Maybe pushed up by another hunter.

Not interested in shooting one at the time, but the thought did cross my mind at that moment. If I had to, but not otherwise,

I froze.

It got within a few feet of me and stopped nose into the air. So close I cold have reacted over and touched it with the tip of my rifle.

It got a snoot full of my BO, Cap'n crunch breath, and Hi Karate aftershave, and tensed up like a coil.

Under the rich black fur you could see pronounced muscular groups. It was a handsome, healthy be'ah, as Vermonters would say.

After a second or two it exploded forward at incredible speed, as it got the H**L out of there at warp speed.

No time to fart dust at that point, that came later, just too amazed and awestruck by this creature of God's. .

Anyway to the OP's question, the locals use anything from .270 to .35 Remington in the common calibers. Some of the bears get pretty stout in the Green Mountain State, but they will make do with pretty much whatever they use for deer.

But if I was after 'em today, I'd take a .358W with 200 grainers and up, or an -06 with 180 grainers and up.

You should have one climbing up to your tree stand. Reminder, always bag your banana peels and tasty cake trash. At gun point, he spun around , hit the ground, ran 10 yards and look back as if to say, "that smelled pretty good". Now,20 degrees with wet pants, I would not trade the experience. What a rush ! Lycoming County Pa. about a 350 pounder.

I'll say!!! LOOOOOOOOng one too!

I have several different bears that hang around my neck of the woods. One gives me a little concern. A big black boar that simply doesn't care if I'm there or not. From a treestand I've watched him catch my wind from 80 yards away and keep feeding on acorns with no concern about the human scent. He would look into the wind occasionally and throw his nose up but he didn't leave the area. I ran into him on the ground at 20 yards and he circled around further out in front of me and layed down on a log and watched me from 40 yards. We had a staring contest for 10 minutes. He finally got up, stretched and ambled off the ridge top. This bear is definitely not scared of people. And it isn't like he's around people, this area is a chunk of several hundred thousand acres of remote public land with no homes or farms for miles and very limited access.