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

Hmmm. Really?

A good solid bullet with consideration of staying away from the shoulder unless carrying a stout caliber. Many of the previously mentioned calibers.

The bear my daughter killed with the 7mm-08 w/ 140g NP did the same bang flop as mine did with the 338 win w/225 gr.

Ruger270man: I have had good luck/results with my Remington 700 S/A with a lightweight McMillan stock - in caliber 308 Winchester.
I use the wonderful Nosler 165 grain Partition in this Rifle.
If you have a couple 270 Winchester Rifles around then that caliber works well on Black Bear as well in my experience.
The last 270 killed Black Bear I was in on took place in a high alpine Blueberry patch near the Diobsud Buttes of western Washingtons Cascade Range.
I was sitting right next to my long time friend Larry Franklin when a Blackie came out of the scrub brush and into the berry patch about 400 yards below us.
It was Larry's first Black Bear opportunity and I leaned over and began telling him the Bear was walking towards us and to let him come closer when he touched off one shot killing that Bear virtually in its tracks!
IIRC he was using the Nosler 150 grain Partitions that day.
Best of luck with whichever caliber you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I shot my first black bear with a .32 Special and was amazed at how hard he was to take off his feet. I know I emptied my gun at twenty yards before he was dead. Since then I've normally carried a .30-06 or .45-70 for bear.

Depending on range, a revolver and/or pistol makes for a pretty poor bear hunting weapon. I once had a client who hunted interior mountain grizzly with me and he shot his record book grizzly bear with a .44 handgun (revolver). However, we were within bow range and that was all the difference we needed.

IMO, one reason to use A-1 bullets is to not only not worry about bone, but to directly target bones.

Often, it is mentioned to shoot a critter in the shoulder. This can be pretty nebulous. It can mean an area of muscle, it can mean scapula, and it can mean "shoulder joint" or the point of the shoulder.

For me, a quarter-towards is the ideal position for which to shoot a bear. Bang that shoulder joint and have the bullet track into the vitals. The bear hits the ground where it's standing and dies quickly.

The .gif I posted above is pretty accurate and is worth studying.

Depending on range, a revolver and/or pistol makes for the perfect bear hunting weapon.

Precisely. That's why I added the little tale about the grizzly bear client.

Of course, Craig Medred didn't do so well with a .454 pressed against a bear's head while it was on top of him and chewing on him. So, one never knows ......

Link?

Never read that story.

I don't have the Anchorage Daily News link pertaining to Craig's misadventure with the female brown bear, but you might find it on their website by typing in his name and the event; "Craig Medred Brown Bear Attack". It was back in the early 90's - fall of 1991 or 1992.

In a nutshell, what occurred was that he surprised a bear near Russian River while hunting moose in the fall and she grabbed him. She chewed a few holes in him. So, he unlimbered the .454 and put the muzzle against her skull and pulled the trigger. She dropped Craig and took off. Troopers never did find that bear.

Well if you are sitting on bait, like I did in Maine, a Marlin 30-30 with an Aimpoint, would work very very well, I know first hand on that, for spot and stalk, something a little flatter shooting might be in order, say a 7 x 57 or something along those lines. Just one thing spring bear hunting over bait, bring plenty of bug dope, and a head net.

8 year old Pennsylvania gal,hunting with her granddad,killed her 600 plus pounder with a 243.

Art,
You're right I do have a disc. Is this the one you're looking for. --- Mel

And very open country... New Brunswick isn't! There are exceptions but mostly it's heavy forest, especially in central and northern. Depends where. (I'm a native of N.B.)

I'd get that info from the outfitter. If a bear gets away even 100 yards (depending on conditions)on the edge of darkness, it could be lost. Does the outfitter have dogs for locating a downed bear? Very important in heavy brush.

If heavy brush, I'd use something like a .45-70 or .444 Marlin. Then again, I've seen more .300's and even .338 magnums in bear camps in my neck of the woods than most anything else. Been in Ontario for the past 25 years. 99.9% of those hunters are from south of the border (that's the Canadain border, not the American one )

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

I remember another picture with the bone a bit more cleaned up than that???

But you certainly can see the knife blade behind the bone...

Photoshop!!!









heh.

As the range of suggestions in this thread demonstrates, there's no shortage of good calibers for black bears if you follow two simple rules:

- Use a stout bullet
- Put it in the right spot

I'd wager that, over time, more black bears have probably been killed with the lowly 30-30 than with any other cartridge. I killed my first one with a 30-30, in fact. I killed my last one with a .338 RCM -- not because I had to, but because I chose to.

The more one hunts large, hairy animals, the more one tends to move toward heavier calibers/cartridges that improve the odds of anchoring an animal on the spot and permitting an easier recovery. Depending on the terrain you're hunting, that can be a significant consideration.

I would if I could but I don't know how. Lucky to get the computer on. --- Mel

There's a guy who lives near Bella Coola, British Columbia and who use to feed the swans that over-winter in that area, and he used a .30-30 when killing two grizzly bears that place in the Top-10 of the B&C record book. One of those bears - the largest o the two - was killed while in a full-blown charge. So, there you go.