Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Deer hunting in Brown Bear country with a 338-06

I might also mention a brown bear incident that happened on Kodiak Island--though not when I was hunting deer (which I did a year or two later) but when fishing. Eileen and I were fishing out of Zachar Bay Lodge in August, along with a few other guests, and the plan that day was to fish the Zachar River for both Dolly Varden and salmon. The tide was out that morning, so we had to get out of the boat over half a mile from the mouth of the river, then hike the beach to the river.

Our group included the head guide (who was also an experienced bear guide) at the head of the line of about six anglers. He carried a pump 12-gauge with heavy-duty slugs. At the rear of the line was a teenage son of the lodge owners, who was supposed to bring a rifle but forgot to bring it. We were supposed to stay in line, with no wandering.

The beach lay underneath a series of steep ridges, with a sandy "cove" between each ridge-nose. As we rounded one ridge, we saw a couple of brown bear cubs at the base--and mama almost immediately charged us, running down the slope in our direction. One of the clients was a guy with a video camera, and he immediately started walking rapidly toward the bears--in front of the guide with the shotgun. Apparently the video nitwit had no clue about bear charges--but luckily it was a bluff charge, and the shotgun guide was able to push the video guy aside (while using some strong language).

Meanwhile the cubs had headed up the base of the hill to mama, and she stopped. Eventually she turned around and escorted her cubs uphill--and the shotgun guide reamed the video guy out, also giving the rifle-less kid a few words. Then we reorganized into our line and started hiking along the beach again.

This might seem to be one of those singular, random meetings with an angry grown bear--but a couple ridges later almost exactly the same thing happened, once again: Cubs at the base of the hill, and mama charging our group. The difference this time was the video guy did NOT walk toward the bears--and in fact all of us stood very still, except for the shotgun guide, who aimed at her and talked calmly. As a result the excitement ended sooner.

Yes, we were fishing, not deer hunting--but you can run into brown bears almost any time you go wandering around Kodiak--and a few other places in Alaska, such as Phil Shoemaker's country on the Peninsula, which a biologist told him has the highest concentration of bears in the state during the summer/early fall salmon runs.

OK, now I'm somewhat confused. For years I've been reading how the lighter bullet weights in the 338 are great on big game. Would one really be poorly armed with the 210 or 225 NP hunting anywhere that grizzlies live? Would the 30cal 200 NP from a 30-06 be more effective for defense than the 338-06 with the 225? I'm considering having a 30-06 rebored to 338, but would I really be gaining anything? I do sometimes hunt where big bears live, but would prefer a better trajectory than 2400fps would provide. I don't have much experience (like any at all, actually) with monos on game. Are they the only good choice in this setting?

At short ranges (i.e., defense against an attacking bear) where impact velocities are going to be high regardless of bullet weight, with bullets of the same construction, the heavier for caliber bullet will penetrate deeper than the light for caliber bullet. At longer ranges, retained velocity will become more of a factor on penetration, and a light for caliber bullet may perform better.

I personally would want something .338 caliber and up, with bullets 250 grains and up, if hunting in an area where coming nose to nose with a grizzly/brown bear is a possibility. Which caliber to use would depend upon the expected range I'd be shooting the intended game at. Up to 200-250 yards for deer/elk/moose, the .338-06 or .35 Whelan would be fine. If I were expecting a shot up to 400 yards, I'd probably choose a case with more capacity, like a .338 Win Mag or .358 Norma Mag. 250/275/280 grain Partition/A-Frame/bonded/X-Type bullet would be what I would choose from.

My moose setup when I hunted them in grizzly territory was a 250 grain Barnes X-Bullet in a .358 Norma Mag at about 2,750 fps muzzle velocity. Through five seasons, I only ran into a grizzly once. He was maybe 50 yards away, and he casually loped off in the opposite direction once he became aware of my presence.

A better trajectory combined with plenty of penetration is where the 210 grain TTSX comes in.

That's probably what I would use if not in potentially close quarters with a brown bear.

OK, now I'm somewhat confused. For years I've been reading how the lighter bullet weights in the 338 are great on big game. Would one really be poorly armed with the 210 or 225 NP hunting anywhere that grizzlies live? Would the 30cal 200 NP from a 30-06 be more effective for defense than the 338-06 with the 225? I'm considering having a 30-06 rebored to 338, but would I really be gaining anything? I do sometimes hunt where big bears live, but would prefer a better trajectory than 2400fps would provide. I don't have much experience (like any at all, actually) with monos on game. Are they the only good choice in this setting?

Yeah, shot placement is critical--but in the case of a charging animal the bullet must be able to penetrate to the vitals, often with less-than-perfect shot placement, because by definition the animal is moving. Phil Shoemaker did this on a big brown bear with a 9mm handgun and 147-grain Buffalo Bore hard-cast bullets--but it took every shot the little handgun held, and even Phil said he would have rather used his .44 Magnum revolver--or better yet his .458 Winchester Magnum. But probably the major point is that Phil has stopped many charging bears, and not only knows where to hit them, but what's required for penetration. He thoroughly tested the 9mm load for penetration before carrying it in the field, instead of guessing how it might perform.

As I mentioned earlier, I have seen the 210-grain Partition stop inside an average whitetail--on a rear-quartering shot at "woods" range. It entered the buck (which weighed about 150 pounds field-dressed) at the rear of the ribcage on one side, and was recovered from under the hide on the front of the chest on the other side. No heavy bone was hit, if deer bones can be called "heavy" compared to an elk's or big bear's.

I also haven't found the 225 .338 Partition to penetrate much deeper than the 210--but the 250 does, the reason it was the Partition I used it on all but one of the animals I've taken with the .338 that weighed over 500 pounds, on up to an eland weighing well over 1000 pounds.

If I was going to carry my .338 to hunt deer in brown bear country (or even Montana's grizzly country, which expands ever year) and a 210-grain bullet it would be the Barnes TTSX--which penetrates deeper than the 210 Partition.

CRS, would you tell more about that green/stainless rifle on top? That looks like a thing of beauty with death written all over it. Thanks.

"I had a less than desirable experience with 210 Partitions- once - on moose (338 WM)."

What happened?

The 210 TSX will penetrate plenty. No point in giving up all that velocity and expansion by going to 250s in a 3006 case. I think the deer would run further which on Admiralty would not be a good thing.

From my experience here in the lower 48, deer run farther with the 210gr Barnes than 200gr Hornady Interlock, Ballistic Silvertip or 210gr partition.

I do not know if the 250gr partition would achieve the same results as the 200-210gr lead based bullets or not.

Original OP wants less meat damage and a bullet capable of handling a brown bear. I think that a 210gr T/TSX is the correct choice. But the deer may run a little farther.

The idea of a 338-06 is tempting, but I'm reluctant to rebore if I were completely depending on that one bullet (210ttsx) to shoot well in my rifle. Thanks for your thoughts.