Long range bear cal/rifle help needed

[Oh Mah]

Why not? 

There are a lot of places in this state that are open country.A 700 yard shot is pretty common,So is a 30 yard shot. 

If this guy wants a new rifle that he can hunt bears out a little farther then great.

Unless i am missing something the op did not say he is wanting to harvest a bear at 700 yards,Has not said he harvested out to 600,Just that he has shot that far and is confident in his ability to do so.He hasn't even said he has harvested a bear yet at all,just that if he sees one out to 700 yards that he wants the right equipment to harvest it.

I would go with the .300 wsm. 

[yorketransport]

Of those 3 options I'd go with either of the 300s. Bear may not be all that hard to kill, but I've watched them take good hits and then run off and never be seen again. I watched a very nice 250# + bear take a 180gr Partition out of a 300 Win Mag to the chest at 45 yards when it stood up to look at us in a berry field. It ran off and we spent 6 hours searching for it; it was found and killed the following weekend with a hole in one lung from the week before. Similar story with a bear on the coast that took a 10ga slug at about 30 yards. That one was a quartering shot that hit one lung and the liver. We spent a total of 8 hours looking for that one before it was found and finished off. I'm not saying bear are hard to kill, but I'd rather have more gun than less no matter what I'm hunting.

As far as shooting at 700 yards, my favorite spot to bear hunt is a berry field about 650-700 yards away from my glassing point. I prefer to spot them from a distance so I can watch to see if it's a bear worth shooting or see if there's a cub around. It's hard to do that when you're working them at close range in the brush.

[MHWASH]

How many bears have you shot this far?
Why 700 yards?

First, if you don’t agree with what I want to do, then move on.

I agree. Why 700 yards? Most, not all, places bears thrive, well one would have to work hard to create that opportunity for that shot. And if you do have the opp to shoot one this far, I would want a large a caliber as possible to anchor on the spot so no trailing job if bear makes it to the brush or lost. Not flaming the op, just an opinion

Obviously you have not hunted the areas I hunt, central Idaho, and the blue mountains. We’re  almost always looking from one ridge to another. I’ve seen several bears 400 plus yards. 700 is my imposed limit because of the effort it takes to get to these spots once a shot has been taken. I’ve passed on several shots because of this reason alone.

The reason for a larger cartridge is I want a bullet with a high likely hood of a pass through. Most likely a monolithic, and something heavier than 140 grains.

[Magnum_Willys]

So many times ridge to ridge is 900-1050 it seems.   700 is sweet if it happens.  300 WSM for 700.   338 Edge for 900-1050. 

[Oh Mah]

I like how you think. 

On another note why the edge over the factory RUM? no real difference except you have to make brass for 1 and not the other.A shooter might get more from a hand loaded edge over the factory RUM but if both are hand loaded no difference..?   

[Reidus]

in a tikka 300 wsm you can change the bolt stop to make it a long action and have plenty of room to seat the longer bullets out there. 2800 fps with 200-210gr bullet shouldn't be a problem.

[konradcountry]

Why not? 

There are a lot of places in this state that are open country.A 700 yard shot is pretty common,So is a 30 yard shot. 

700 yard for bear? No way I would do that, too much energy loss at that point. Have fun watching it run away in your scope.

Yea I realize there are pictures online of 12 year olds shooting little ones with 243s. A lot of those are east coast bears.

I put a slug in the chest of one here and it acted like I hit it with a rubber bullet.

[jasnt]

Why not? 

There are a lot of places in this state that are open country.A 700 yard shot is pretty common,So is a 30 yard shot. 

700 yard for bear? No way I would do that, too much energy loss at that point. Have fun watching it run away in your scope.

Yea I realize there are pictures online of 12 year olds shooting little ones with 243s. A lot of those are east coast bears.

I put a slug in the chest of one here and it acted like I hit it with a rubber bullet.

my 243 has over 1000ft/lbs of energy at 700 yards. Granted it’s not your typical 243. Bear are not hard to kill with proper shot placement.  I’ve killed several bear with 243.  I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a bear at 700 with any of the op’s cartridges on the list or that he already owns

[MHWASH]

Why not? 

There are a lot of places in this state that are open country.A 700 yard shot is pretty common,So is a 30 yard shot. 

700 yard for bear? No way I would do that, too much energy loss at that point. Have fun watching it run away in your scope.

Yea I realize there are pictures online of 12 year olds shooting little ones with 243s. A lot of those are east coast bears.

I put a slug in the chest of one here and it acted like I hit it with a rubber bullet.

Oh look another narrow minded post. I think some of you need to go back and read my first sentence.

[h20hunter]

So it's like this......regardless of your request you will get opinions. Doesn't matter. You can roll with, ignore it, or make comments about people being ignorant, narrow minded, or whatever and basically turn people off from even commenting. Nature of an open forum.

[MHWASH]

So it's like this......regardless of your request you will get opinions. Doesn't matter. You can roll with, ignore it, or make comments about people being ignorant, narrow minded, or whatever and basically turn people off from even commenting. Nature of an open forum.

Yep, I get it. It just de-rails the conversation. It’s easy to armchair quarter back it from behind a keyboard. (Stepping off soap box)

[h20hunter]

I agree. You just gotta let it go.

[Cougartail]

The distance in which you can't put 5 holes in a 9" tin pan is when you shouldn't take the shot. Many "internet superstars" can't at 200 yards with their magnums but will never admit it.

[ribka]

The distance in which you can't put 5 holes in a 9" tin pan is when you shouldn't take the shot. Many "internet superstars" can't at 200 yards with their magnums but will never admit it.

 

Fail to see how my initial question was not pertinent. Trying to help the guy

Did not mention how experienced he was at hunting bear, how many he has shot and how much long range experience shooting he has. Based on op initial post and not answering my question I could not give advice.

I don’t think it’s ethical as sportsmen to give advice on how to wound animals.Bears can be very tough to find even with good shots.

My advice is to first shoot a lot of rounds at distances with a 308 or similar ( at least 500) over a few months. Work on range, wid calcs etc which are needed at 700 yards. Good luck as a beginner shooter practicing with sub 10 lb with scope 300 win mag or bigger with 500 plus rounds


Or can go this route -I saw a video on YouTube where a guy shot an elk at 1200 yds with a 243 so I guess a 243 might be adequate for elk. He shot 8 times and stomach shot it but he filled his tag

[h20hunter]

Don't go down that road folks.