Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Rifle Caliber for Black Bear

Crimson Tide:

Hound hunting?

Maverick

Black Bears are more of a medium sized game animal, with the occasional toad. Occasionally we'll see pictures of bears that are more varmint sized (grin)

That being said, tracking a wounded black bear through a clear cut or thick beach scrub sucks, so I like to pound em.

'06 with a 180 NBT, AB, NPT, or Hornady IL would slay such beasts. Could maybe be done with a yellow or green box bullet too.

I once had a 15 year old client who was hunting with me in the Chugach Mountains and he whacked a huge black bear with an '06. The male bear was positioned in a small clearing among dense alder at about 300 yards and the hit sounded good but the bear didn't go down and instead, dove into the alder brush. I followed him up and found him to be very much alive when I came upon him and finished him off with one shot from the .375 H&H magnum.

On another hunt in the Chugach, I had a client who whacked another tremendous black bear with a .375 H&H magnum at a range of about 200 yards. The hit looked good and sounded good, yet that bear dove right into the alders as well. When I came upon that bear after following him up, he was very much alive and required another round from my .375 H&H to finish him off.

In both instances bullet construction was the "demon" in the equation. Otherwise, I think both of those bears would of been dead when I came upon them.

I always thought that hunting Black Bear over bait or in thick cover would be a great reason to buy a 35 Whelen.

I used a .325wsm Say what you want but that bear never knew what hit it. straight down in a heap. Saw a guy shoot one with a 30-06 and it did good. I have also shot one in Pennsylvania with a 7mm wsm. did the job but wouldn't be my first choice for bear.

I would use my .358 Win...perfect bruin medicine IMHO.

.300 Black Bear Savage

If ever a cartridge was specifically designed for lower 48 Black Bear hunting, the .300 Savage is it. Almost have to say it "must" be fired out of a Model 99!

BTW: Round nose Core Lokts recommended

Thats low...even for ingwe

I would choose one of your 30 calibers. For strictly close range I would go with the 3006, but for longer shots I would go with one of the magnums. Factor the handling of the individual rifles to match the hunt also.

I usually carry my 350 mag, but also carry my 300 wsm or 3006. If I drive this year I will carry a 44 mag rifle which should also work well over bait. I cannot and do not hunt over bait though.

I have seen 500 lb Black Bears cleanly killed by .243 Win...just have a gun you are comfortable with and a decent bullet.

I know several PA boys that have killed black bears with
35 Remingtons. Not hard to kill, just hard to find they tell me.

Im from Pa. and have killed 5 bear in the state. I have used 7 mm mag, 150 gr ballistic and 338 wm in the 210 gr. barnes. I would tell you to use a cal. that is close to these if you can shoot the cal. and not be afraid of the recoil. Bear need knock down power so as not to have a long trail to follow and also if the bear runs any distant someone else will have your trophy that you worked so hard and long fore.

Use your 270 Ruger. I've killed 2 black bears with my 30/06--using 180 grains round nose "core-lokts".

Your namesake with a 160 gn Partition

Gunner

Centerfire.



In reference to the required mantra of placement, boolit, cartridge

I offer this .gif. I don't recall from whence it came, but is pretty informative.

So there you have it; pretty much anything larger than a .22 rimfire will do the trick when it's coupled with the right pill, as long as that pill penetrates organs in the forward portion of the bruin and expands sufficiently enough when doing so.

Anybody that tells you any whitetail deer cartridge is good enough for a bear has never been close to a big bear. 350 pounds plus, dressed of course.

They are big with large dense skeletal structure.

I own an accurate 25-06 Model 70. It is accurate using 100 grain Barnes X and 115 grain Nosler Partitions. I really like the gun. I would never use it bear hunting. If it is all you own, hunting with hounds or over bait one could head/neck shoot with it.

My bear rifle is a Savage Model 99 in the 308 caliber. It is very accurate and offers a quick second or third shot. 165 grain Accubond factory loads. You have to be aware of pass through. That bullet will blow right through a smaller bear. You have to be aware of what is behind your target.

A 270 Winchester with a premium 150 grain bullet is a good starting place to start. 7mm-08 on the short action side.

If you get the chance at a truly large bear you will be glad your 30-30 is at the house.

Oh, Art!

You are an instigator! You want me to pull out the pictures of the 8'6" Kodiak bear with the see-through bones? Is that it? You are just looking for trouble!