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Originally Posted by moosemike
Originally Posted by buttstock
I have never hunted black bears. I live on Maine.

I stayed at a bed and breakfast east of Lincoln, ME 20 years ago when I used to call on various paper mills as a chemical supplier. My normal small hotel was booked, so I stayed at the b&b out of town from Lincoln Pulp &Paper. It was owned by a Maine registered guide. It was bear hunting season.

After dinner, I was chatting with a couple of his "sports" /clients. They were from Philadelphia. One was going to use a 338 Win mag, the other had a 300 Win mag. Scopes were 3-9x or 4-12/14x(?) Leupolds. I mostly just listened to the sports tell their hunting stories. Made for an interesting evening. To them, they were on a safari of a lifetime in the deep Maine woods. They retired to their rooms after a bit, when the stories ended

The guide/owner came into the living room where I was finishing some coffee. He sat down at one of the chairs where the "sports" were sitting , and he chucked, as he was listening to their stories in the other room. He said, "If I told them the truth about tomorrow's outing, they would be disappointed. I've been baiting those bears for a month with all the old donuts, bread and cooking oil I could find. All they have to do is sit in the tree stand, and wait for a bear to show up, at a distance of less than 40 yards. All they need for a rifle is an open-sighted 30-30, and they would get a bear."

Based on that comment, I would guess any of your mentioned firearms would work fine.


I get his point and yes I own and use several 30-30's. However, if one owns these magnums (and I do) if one doesn't use them for hunts such as these what do we have them for? I own numerous guns that the Bear guide in question would approve of. But if I'm booking a Bear hunt of any type I'm taking my 300 Win Mag. I own it because I like it and I look for reasons to use it. And if the Bears within 30-30 range a 300 mag is certainly no handicap


To use a golf analogy, you can putt from the fringe or you can pitch from the fringe, but pulling out the driver for a short shot DOES have possible negatives associated with it.


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Just my own personal preference, but I would opt for the 336 in 35 Rem. That round, with 200gr CoreLokt SP just screams deep woods deer and bear.

Again, any one of your choices will do well.

Last edited by eaglemountainman; 01/16/21.

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The longest shot I have taken on a bear was 150 yards. I used a 7mm Mag. It was enough rifle. Most of my bears have been taken at less than 25 yards and a 12 gauge slug has been 100 percent effective. Now that I have a couple 45-70s I would opt for one of those with a 405 water quenched cast.


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[/quote]
I get his point and yes I own and use several 30-30's. However, if one owns these magnums (and I do) if one doesn't use them for hunts such as these what do we have them for? I own numerous guns that the Bear guide in question would approve of. But if I'm booking a Bear hunt of any type I'm taking my 300 Win Mag. I own it because I like it and I look for reasons to use it. And if the Bears within 30-30 range a 300 mag is certainly no handicap [/quote]
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I used a 338 win mag loaded with 225 gr swift A frames to take a black bear in Mi in 2019. Worked like a charm

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Ideally I'd mount the firedot on the 4570govt

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Originally Posted by badwolf
Ideally I'd mount the firedot on the 4570govt


Similar to this?


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my experience is that within reason the gun and bullet aren't that critical, my 250AI kills black bears about as well as my 358W. What my experience says is optics can be important for eastern bears over bait.

Bears can be a little wary of coming into the bait while its light, especially the ones you want to shoot. The bigger ones seem to appear right at very last light, and they are black, the kind of black that makes fine aiming challenging. I would recommend a scope with good low light performance and either a illuminated dot/ reticle that works well in the dark. If not an illuminated reticle then a heavy crosshair like a #4

To relate back to the story about the Maine guide and the 30-30, the cartridge would do fine, but the iron sight would be a disadvantage for me. I would look a for a scope like a 1.5-6x42 with an illuminated dot.


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Personally I would choose to actually hunt bears rather than shoot them over a pile of doughnuts. The rifle is far less important to me than the hunt, and baitpiles aren't hunting.


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That will work Vic

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The best deer and bear hunter I know pulled up to my camp last fall in his side x side with his hounds in the back. While talking to him I noticed the Marlin 35 carbine next to him. Covered and I mean covered in rust. He saw the look on my face. His words were. " It's responsible for over 150 bears "


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Killed one at 15 yards on a waterhole with a 50 cal muzzleloader. Killed one at 600 with a 7mmRem and 195EOL. Killed them in between with various rigs. Kill em with whatever you have but if hunting thick cover I may just use a Model 94 next.

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Is mounting a red dot on the 35 Rem an option?

Any of them will work, but if you like that 35 Rem, that would be a good way to go for low light.


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Originally Posted by Fireball2
Personally I would choose to actually hunt bears rather than shoot them over a pile of doughnuts. The rifle is far less important to me than the hunt, and baitpiles aren't hunting.



Different strokes for different folks.

The USA is a very big country with a ton of varying terrains. What works for hunting black bears in Oregon, Washington and Idaho will absolutely not work when hunting Maine, Michigan and Northern MN. The woods are just too thick and there are not ridges overlooking cut-overs where you can glass up a bear and then stalk it. Your choices are to set up on logging roads/trails and hope a bear comes by (good luck with that) or bait one in.
As has been pointed out before, just because the bait is there, doesn't mean the bears will come in or that they will come in during shooting light. It is still very much hunting.

Oh, and if it were me, I would put a good 4X scope on the .35 Rem and take that.

Last edited by HandgunHTR; 01/19/21.
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I'd go with any except the AR. But that's just me. The one I'd choose if I had to pick one would be the 45-70 with cast bullets.


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Originally Posted by colorado bob
Which one has the best glass on it? When i was baiting bears----they seemed to come in just before dark----last possible legal shooting light.


This x100. Anyone of your rifles/loads will work fine. A bright scope will make the hunt over bait.


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I’d run the 35, 35’s are cool


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350 rem. mag at 27 feet works as well.

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here in Minnesota where blacks bear live its in thick swamps and/or thick woods so we have to bait to even see a bear , we really don`t have a choice . but if i go bear hunting i did inherited a real nice Winchester pre-64 model 70 in a 30-06 , so this lowly loved 30-06 cartridge i will hand load for and will be the rifle i bear hunt with this year over a bait pile and while on the stand in a tree ,i will be thinking of my old friend Harold who gave this fine old Winchester pre 64 rifle to me .


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