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

For bears over bait I would think something on the order of a .338 Federal, .35 Whelen would be the bees knees, and for spot and stalk mountain hunts anything from the .30-06 class on up would work.
The fat layer on bears can go a couple inches thick plus the heavy bone and muscle structure on big ones is impressive.
Im a fan of big heavy bullets to bust through all that so I wouldnt use less than a big 7 or .30-06.

Too much gun is better than the alternative IMHO.

I have repeatedly posted photos of a fleshed Kodiak bear scapula and an orange knife handle on a sunny day. You can see the knife handle outline clearly, through that "Impressive" bone...

I don't know why but black bears make me think .35 remington

"Normal" deer cartridges. I don't recommend the .22s and 6mms some people like on deer for use on black bears. Those can work under controlled circumstances with appropriate bullets, but if something goes wrong, elk rifles begin to look mighty fine.

Tom

And here it is again

I used a 35 Whelen on my first one wasn`t real impressed with the huge hole it left ! I have been using a 300 Savage 180gr. CoreLokts last years bear only went 20yds. My girlfriend uses a 300 Savage also her bear went 22yds. I personally don`t see why a 250 Savage or a 25/06 wouldn`t work just fine.

30

Regard to the picture, very interesting. The lower portion of the shoulder joint (not the blade) looks much heavier, is it? Also curious how thick the hide, fat layer and muscle before you get to the bone on that brownie?

That portion of the scapula (at least on deer and antelope) is fairly flexible also feels more like heavy cartiledge than bone. I havent killed a bear so Im basing my opinion on big black bears I have seen and what I have read by those who have killed them. I'm still impressed by bears. :shrug:

I dont think anyone "needs" a magnum .30, .338 etc to kill a blackie but I have seen some big ones and I wouldnt use some of the smaller deer cals like the 6mms or .25s on them out of personal preference.

Funny, those with a 6mm and smaller think it is enough... IF you pick a good bullet. Some have killed a lot of bears and find them easy to kill if hit in the right spot...

TakeEm
At quality bullet velocities and presentation there is little remarkable about bear construction. Put a good bullet in the right place and start skinning.

I agree with Art...have killed mine with a 270 or 280.They are not hard animals to kill if you hit them right.

Oh, I'm sure a 6mm cal with an 85 TSX or similar would do it when placed in the boiler room. I have a .243 and think it is a great caliber with the TSX especially. I didn't say it wasn't capable, just that it wouldn't be my first choice for bear.

Even the brown bear and Grizzly bear aren't built that tough? I have never seen either with the hide off. How thick is the average bear hide, fat layer on them compared to a large black bear? You hear so many guides up there carrying .375's, .416's etc as backup guns I am suprised to hear the big bears are not that put together. The one Alaskan guide I have ever talked to carried a 12ga with 00buck and slugs or a .375 H&H backing up archery hunters.

What do most up there use for the big bears?

I got two rifles chambered in 7mm WSM that I will be using for black bears this year and either my 300 RUM or 358 Norma Mag for brownies. I'm more worried about the snow pack and whether my snowshoes will suffice this spring with all this snow...

Bear hide is very thin compared to say moose... And fat is not much of an obstruction for a bullet. They can be very wide and that makes it interesting, but from the standpoint of a bullet, bears are not tough to get through. The bones I suspect are far more flexible than most, and that would explain why they are not terribly solid.

That would be a 25-20, which is a necked down 32-20.

Ted

Nice bear! Too bad he had to stick his tongue out for the picture. . .

Joe

Depends on what you have avaliable. Any caliber form .25 up thru .30 should do fine though I would lean to something .270 or bigger with a 150-180 gr bullet depending on caliber. Of my rifles I would probably take my 308 or my 270.

I've killed 4, I think, black bear with the .25-20. That doesn't mean I think it is ideal nor would I want to do it again. 3 were reasonably small. The big one took 13 rounds which ran the gun dry, then I had to go home and get another gun and come back. It took 4 more to finish the job. It was *not* pretty.

My great grandfather, who was supervising each time, killed literally hundreds of black bears with the .25-20 back in the days when we had a bounty on them. He also lost a lot of them. The sense of what is right and what is wrong were different in those days than these. When he really needed to kill one RIGHT NOW he switched to his .30-40 Winchester 95 slab-side. Despite the number of bears he killed with the .25-20, he didn't consider it a reliable bear killer, just inexpensive. Often his bounty bears were killed when he was out deer hunting "really early in the season" or "kind of late in the afternoon" when big rifle shots that carry might draw game warden attention.

I built a M70 Classic FWT in 358 Win for black bears and pigs.

That's more about attitude than construction.

No expert here but I have seen a few with the hides off....and the first carcass I laid eyes on was the remains that had been picked clean by eagles.It was something of a surprise to untrained eyes, and not at all what I expected.

Like Art says the bones looked more fragile,not as heavy as ungulates.Like other great predators they are light boned.

The muscles are big,ropey,thick,and the carcass looks like that of a human body builder;they look like they are built for power,speed and agility.

It isn't tough to imagine a stoutly constructed 270 or 30/06 bullet getting through them,and I know friends who have killed them with those.

My own amateur view is I'd rather blow a bigger hole in them A guy can't imagine how quickly they move through heavy cover with adrenalin up....it's sobering and my impression is they make a deer or elk look like a lumbering oaf in comparison.