I’m thinking of taking my .348 to Maine for bear come September, shooting over bait.
I have various size ammo but I’m thinking 200 grain should do the trick.
First time hunting with this rifle so recommendations are welcome.

Anything from the 200’s up will work great. The plain old 200 Hornady is a great bullet as are the other Woodleighs and similar. It should pound a bear.

Thank you!

I don’t know if a 348 will work (ha ha). A friend thought he needed a 300 ultra-Mag. He ended up shooting his bear straight down from his stand. I don’t think bullet drop was an issue.
My brother’s 348 seemed to work very well on every game animal he shot with it.

I know one thing, if I ever decide to sell it you will only see it on the fire!

Load 200gr bullets with a book load and go hunt those bears.

Thanks, Dinny

When my mother was a Maine Guide many years ago, she appreciated seeing hunters show up with open sighted lever guns. Most shots will be close in. Keep thin with the copper jackets, but heavy on weight. If you dont shock them, theyll run quite a ways on occasion. Some of these north woods Maine black bear I grew up eating, have been as big or bigger than some of the interior grizzly I've seen here in Alaska.

Some of those heavy jacket bullets will drill through without expanding. I dunno the 348 bullets, but a quick expanding 220 grainer, if available would be my choice.

Maybe even a thin jacketed 250 grainer if your outfit sees 500-700 pounders. Few years back, an Army veteran bagged a nice 699 pounder few hours south of where my mother guided:

https://www.fieldandstream.com/phot...on-tips/2012/09/us-veteran-sets-maine-s/

That’s a big one. We have a few of those roaming around Connecticut enjoying the bird seed and relative freedom from hunters. DEEP has been euthanizing problem bears for some time now, so I’ve heard.
I have seen several in the 400 pound plus range in the woods and pictures. I live 3 miles from Bradley International Airport and they are frequent visitors to Windsor Locks, Suffield and west of the airport very plentiful and hundreds of sightings and reports.

Any bullet in it would really work, they're all designed for that cartridge specifically. My first choice would probably be either the 200 Hornady or 220 Barnes.

250gr fp hawk

A lot of people favour the heavy bullets but for lighter game like black bear I favour the 200 grain bullets. 2500fps gives more shocking power and quicker kills than a 250 at 2200fps on lighter game.

That’s what I’m bringing. We leave Sunday for a week. Unfortunately our October Moose hunt to Newfoundland was rescheduled to next year.
North 61, is late may or early June a good time to visit the NWT for a little fishing? If the border is open next year we are heading to the Western U.S. and would venture North to B.C. And NWT.

Today I watched a mother and cub for an hour in and around the bait barrel. At 7 pm as I was waiting for the guide, I heard them go up a tree and likely a boar came in making noise and jung around even as I jacked out 3 bullets. the guide came in and off the bear went.

Easier to get to the Yukon from Northern BC than the NWT, and yes something will be biting at that time.

Back from Maine today and we were 0 for 4. The first three weeks at the lodge were great, 78 bears harvested.
Since Monday, only 3 taken. The lodge owner thinks the lack of beech mast and other foods bears preferred is pushing them into hibernation early.
I saw a cub and sow on Tuesday and they were pushed by a male to the safety of the trees.
I heard him making all kinds of noise in the woods and breathing hard.
Based on the camera he left at 8:15; I watched the cub from 6:10 to 7:15 when I heard them scurry up the trees.
None the less we had a good guide and experience.
We stayed at Big. Booms Northern MAINE Adventure in Portage.
Moose season opens MOnday.