243 for black bear

[bknilvr00]

Alright, before you all jump down my craw about using such a small round for a bear and calling me names and such, here's the situation. This will be my wife's first year hunting. We got her a Savage Lady Hunter chambered in 243 last year on clearance. She's excited for deer and has shown interest in bear. Is 243 even with heavy loads, too anemic to consider? I've got a 30-30, but she struggles with iron sights. Largely I just need to know if I'll have to carry my 30-30 for heavy work, or if her gun will suffice and I can carry my AR for doing coyotes, maybe a bobcat. 

[headshot5]

Use good bullets.  Nosler partitions or accubonds etc. and you should be fine... Also make sure she has practiced shooting a bunch.  If she puts it in the right spot it'll kill a bear every time. 

Have her look over this thread...  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28214.0.html

Most of all have fun.

[D-Rock425]

My 7mm08 is not much bigger and I've killed a couple bears with it.  A good bullet and shots less than 200yds it should be just fine.  On the other hand bigger is always better and yes she said that.

[justyhntr]

My wife shot her 10 year old 300+ lbs. bear last year with a 243 at about 150 yards . Took 4 steps and dropped . Shot placement gets it done . With that said , the fat plugged the holes immediately and it bled internally , if it had been a poor shot , we would of had a tough time finding a blood trail . This year she picked up a 7mm-08 Lady hunter . 

[WAcoyotehunter]

.243 is just fine for bears.  Shoot it until it's down or out of sight(just like with any caliber).

[biggfish]

I'd try for that quartering away shot, you'd probably lose too much energy trying to punch the shoulder. As long as you slip the ribs and miss that shoulder I'd bet it would put one down.

[HvyHorn338]

As long as she is comfortable and consistent shooting the 243  it'll be just fine.  Just be reasonable with your distances and judge each situation as its handed to you. 

[jasnt]

I took this bear with my 243.it went 40 yards and done with a 105 Berger  I will use it again this year

[eliandsky]

I took this bear with my 243.it went 40 yards and done with a 105 Berger  I will use it again this year

You got lucky. Bergers disintegrate on impact on bears. My experiance any way. Since bears don't bleed like other game animals it's risky in my opinion.

Best of luck.


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[bknilvr00]

Right on! Thanks guys   

[BULLBLASTER]

I took this bear with my 243.it went 40 yards and done with a 105 Berger  I will use it again this year

You got lucky. Bergers disintegrate on impact on bears. My experiance any way. Since bears don't bleed like other game animals it's risky in my opinion.

Best of luck.


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[HvyHorn338]

 

[jasnt]

My bullet went threw and threw. You could have run following the blood trail, if it weren't for the thick hawthornes.  Begers have taken a ton of game for me and I will continue to use them. Most folks I've heard say that about bergers tend to be more shoulder buster kinda folks but I'm more a heart and lung shooter. To each his own.

[deerhunter_98520]

Partitions and don't look back 

[h20hunter]

Use a good boolit that she can hit with. She will do the rest im sure.