First time Bear hunter. Whats your rifle?

[matt_3479]

This year me and the rest of my party didn't draw for a moose tag. We hunting in northern ontario. When i mean northern i mean theres nothing. 15 hours up north of toronto. Theres lots of moose, wolf, and black bear. This year i will be hunting Black Bear. We have a guy setting bait out in several differnt parts. We will not be sitting in trees. We will be on the ground or ATV or even pick up. The shots will be between 50-150 years. The average shot is 100 yards due to my party hunting black bear for the past 15 years. I have the option of taking my 30-30 marlin shooting 160 grain hornaday with open sights. I could also take a 30-06 remington model 742 shooting 180 grain silver tip. Most people dont like the 742 and i have never shot it yet i just received it from my uncle and it has a fixed 4 power scope. My last option that i think i will be taking is my 7mm Rem Mag shooting 160 grain accubonds using 3-9 powered scope. What do you suggest? what do you use?

[RICHARDCatdaddy]

Abrams tank.But if you dont have one,Winchester 300 MAG.

[cjg]

Remington 7600 carbine 30-06, 220 grain Nosler Partitions with a Williams peep sight and fiber optic front bead. We hunt with hounds so the range is usually pretty close and the peep is less likely to get damaged scrambling after the dogs.

[Runner]

Actually my favorite bear gun is my Mossberg Ulti-Mag 3.5 inch shotgun, using the factory "full" choke and 3.5 inch 00 buckshot. I hunt in the thick stuff (swamps) and sometimes even in standing cornfields and my average shot is 25 yards or less. Most of my hunting is done on the ground and always without hounds. I've taken around 20 bears in this fashion. There's seldom any blood-trailing involved after the shot, as it's most generally an instant kill with either a high shoulder or neck shot. I did take a bear in VT this fall using one of my rifles however, my Tikka T-3 in .25-06. That bear made it two bounds after the shot before piling up. I later took a nice VT moose with the same rifle. That animal went no further than the bear. -Runner

[moltogordo]

I've shot bears with everything from a .22-250 to a .458 Winchester Mag with cast bullets. I've taken over 50 of them in my lifetime.

What would be my preference? I'm not really an .06 fan, but I think it excells as a black bear rifle. A standard deer bullet in 150 grains, such as a Sierra Gameking or a Speer HotCor works as well as anything, and is what I would recommend. Blackies are not particularly large boned, and the 180 grain projectiles don't, in my experience, put them down as fast. A .308, .270 or 7mm of various persuasions work just as well with comparable bullets. If you want to use larger bullets for the caliber, I strongly suggest roundnoses. They open up much faster.

Although I've taken most of my bears with a .300 Weatherby, it is not needed. Bear hunting is basically a close range endeavor, and I personally think that anyone shooting a bear farther than 75 yards away is playing with fire. I'd strongly advise working as close to the bear as possible. Shot placement is everything, and promiscuous long-range shooting at any bear is the mark of an idiot.

If a bear is wounded, they can indeed be nasty. I have four aquaintances who have been mauled by gut shot bruins. I've been attacked two times, both while fishing. Both bears are dead. I used a .44 Magnum Winchester trapper with a 16" barrel, which I carry when river or stream fishing in my neck of the woods (Prince George) which is probably the bear capital of the known world. I load it with 265 grain Hornadys at about 1200 fps.

We have lots of Grizzly up here, too. I don't hunt them, but if I did I'd start with a 200 grain partition bullet and go up from there. My gun of choice would be a .338 with a 250 grain partition or Barnes X. Premium bullets are wasted on blacks, as they are not heavily built, but grizz are a different story. A .375 or .416 can be mighty comforting when traipsing through the willows creekside.

Bears make excellent chile and sausage, and the backstraps and tenderloin are great grilled. Cook 'em through, though.

[bearhunter01]

Were I hunt bear we mostly use revolvers.Most of the guys use 44mags and a few have S&W 500s.Me and my step brothe use ruger 480s.We do keep a 30-30 in the truck.98% of all bear kills is done up close and personal within 20ft or less.The one this season was more like 5ft.A wounded bear from trying to make long range shots can get dogs killed or a person.The woods we hunt in the high mountains of NC or very thick and tough to penatrate so the use of and carrying a rife thru the woods would make for a very bad day.It would be getting caught up in the bush and vines that you would be fighting it all the way making for slow going and could get your sites or scope moved and making for a bad shot which brings us back to a wounded bear