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I took my very first black bear in 1972 near Stevenson, Wa. with a
6mm Remington.....close enough to the good old .243. It was about a 60 yard shot to the back of the neck as he was running away.
I have also got a couple with my .243 and my .25-06.


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Originally Posted by Big Sky
The problem is not that it won't kill a bear, it will. The biggest problem is that bears don't always go down on the spot and are difficult to track without a good blood trail. Their soft feet really don't stir things up much so unless there is snow it's hard to follow foot prints. They have very long hair and a lot of fat which clogs up the bullet wound quickly. In short: big diameter bullet equals good blood trail, small diameter bullet equals difficult if not impossible tracking situation. Make sense?


Makes too much sense for anyone who wants to hunt bear with a .243 to pay any attention to. grin

I've shot or been in on at least half a dozen black bears shot with .243 or 6mm, probably more like a dozen if I think awhile. We lost one of them that was hit at the back edge of the shoulder broadside. I was watching the bear through binos when the shooter hit it at about 90 yards, and I am sure the bear died, hit through shoulder into lungs with a 95 grain Nosler Partition. It was in heavy rain and rain forest and there was no blood trail past ten feet from the hit. I've posted on this earlier.

As anecdotal evidence favoring .243 for black bear, later the same day the same hunter with the same rifle and bullet killed a gorgeous dark chocolate black bear that dropped instantly on the spot. I've also seen bears killed with .22-250 (not to mention .22 rimfire, several bow/arrow combos and a tire iron) so .243 killing power is a given.

I'd not pick a .243 with any boolit as my first choice for hunting black bear, based on a fair amount of experience/observation. Our mileages does vary. Yet if that's all I had in hand I would hunt them with it and not feel much handicapped. I would limit my shot selection a little more than with say a .30 with heftier bullets. Go forth and ballistapply. smile

Scenar: agreed that black bears, like deer, are one of the easier animals to kill.





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Thanks again for all the input guys. Like I said, I don't really have much of a dog in this fight, as I don't even own a 243 (I know, I know), just figured I'd ask the brain trust here at the 'Fire. smile

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Scenar great point, but you look like you killed him bare handed....your shoulders look stronger than the bears!

Seriously, I'd not hesitate using an 85 TSX or perhaps a 90 Scirocco. Partitions will do, bu I'd bet the TSX weighs more when the job is done, if that counts for anything.

Right on...shot placement, would not be my choice, but it will do.

My brother shot a bear when bowhunting and the range was not close enough for sticks, the guide loaned him a Mohawk in 6mm, in that carbine bbl, you have 243 speeds no doubt. Bear went a little ways, but I think just cup/core 100 factory and not sure of placement, I think shoulder/chest, will ask for more details when I see talk to him next.

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I wouldn't want to try it on a 700 lb bear like the one just shot in Wisconsin this year.


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Back in the early 80's, a bunch of friends and I ended up with a huge bait pile of dead cattle--every scavenger species known to us showed up on that bait. And the bears showed up in droves.

At least 4 of the bears died from 243's, all of them with Sierra 100 grainers.


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Originally Posted by whelennut
I wouldn't want to try it on a 700 lb bear like the one just shot in Wisconsin this year.


Generally that's just fat--although fat can slow a bullet down too!

According to the biologists I've talked too, bears in Colorado are about the same size as bears in say, Pennsylvania. But the bears in Pennsylvania are a lot fatter in the fall and tend to weigh a lot more. A 600lb Pennsylvania bear will have the same size skeletal structure as a Colorado bear, but have 150lbs more fat than a Colorado bear.

Interestingly, bears in the Southern Rockies tend to have larger skull size than other regions, making it easier to qualify for the record books.

Casey


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That sounds about right to me, Casey. Lots of huge bears shot here weight wise, though when the skull sized is compared to other parts of the country, they often aren't much bigger than say a 250 pound bear. One of my good friends shot a 414 pound bear, and it had about a 18"-19" skull, which seemed kinda surprising. Another guy I know shot one that was over 650 pounds, though I'm unsure of the skull size. Between all the corn, wheat, and berries that the bears eat, it's no wonder they get so fat here.

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Originally Posted by Mark R Dobrenski
All will work just fine as long as the nutt behind the butt does his/her job.

Dober


Like the way you put it.

2 more cents from someone who has never shoot a bear. My 6mm Rem wouldn't be my first choice for 2 reasons. First I don't think the cartridge is adequate (I will admit I could be wrong on that point). Second I have 2 rifles that I feel are adequate.

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Interesting old thread. I'm probably going to carry my Remington 660 .243 for Black bear here in a couple weeks and I found this thread helpful. I was going to grab 100 Partitions but the 100 grain Federals I'm using penetrate so well that I can't imagine needing more.

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I've had bad luck on 5 or 6 hogs with some type of federal soft point load years ago and my brother lost a shoulder shot buck with the same rounds.

I would not hesitate on a broadside shot at a bull elk, however, with the partitions in a 243.


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[Linked Image]

Here's a nearly 600 lb'er that fell to a 243, no lack of blood either.
Kid in the pic is 240.
Not my 1st choice in caliber for BIG bears but it works

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Why chance wounding the animal with a light bullet when there are so many other calibers to choose from. I sure wouldn't use a .243 for bear hunting under any circumstances, unless life or death situation.

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Me neither. They don't recoil nearly enough to be effective.

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Originally Posted by Sakohunter264
Why chance wounding the animal with a light bullet when there are so many other calibers to choose from. I sure wouldn't use a .243 for bear hunting under any circumstances, unless life or death situation.


I have yet to see a bear in Colorado that I wouldn't use a 243 on.

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Originally Posted by starsky
Originally Posted by Sakohunter264
Why chance wounding the animal with a light bullet when there are so many other calibers to choose from. I sure wouldn't use a .243 for bear hunting under any circumstances, unless life or death situation.


I have yet to see a bear in Colorado that I wouldn't use a 243 on.



Same in WI.


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Originally Posted by Sakohunter264
Why chance wounding the animal with a light bullet when there are so many other calibers to choose from. I sure wouldn't use a .243 for bear hunting under any circumstances, unless life or death situation.



You've seen a lot of bruins killed in TX, have you? smile


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IIRC an #800 black bear was killed in pa. a while back by an amish guy using a 30-30...so why wouldn't a 243 work

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Do a search for Boxer or Big Stick (same person), and look at the bears he kills with the 223 and the 243- Then try to tell HIM a 243 win't big enough.

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I've witnessed 3 bears killed with 243's.

Use enough bullet......like a 100gr Partition......


Casey


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