What's your black bear caliber/bullet?

[pashok23]

300WM 210gr Berger

[hunter399]

Eld-x
Hotcor  bullets
Every caliber.

[brew]

7 mag with 160 gr partitions

 
My brother shot this for over 20 years until he shot the barrel out of his Browning A bolt, then switched to Win model 70 in 300 WinMag.

I bought my a bolt in 1992.  Haven't shot it out yet but is extremely accurate with those 160 grain partitions.  I use it almost exclusively which is kinda unfortunate cuz I have a lot of long guns but I know when I pull the trigger on her tags get notched

[BKMFR]

460 Rowland on 1911 Frame - 200 Gr Underwood. Very deadly and handy!

[MHWASH]

We have decided that the softer bullets are more efficient killers. usually rolling the bears right where they sand. We've had the hardest time finding the ones with the ABs. They do leave a good blood trail, but usually not for 75-100 yards. I know it's a small sample size, but the CM and 7-08 kills were more impressive than the larger calibers too.

Interesting, did you tend to get pass throughs with the softer bullets, or just one hole and all energy dumped in the animal?

It's been about 50/50. I'm not worried about the resulting blood trail, because these bears have gone down right there!

[Twispriver]

I've used just about everything I have.  30-30, model 99 300 savage, 30-06, 270 wsm, my bow and my muzzle loader. My dad used to like using his 25-20 back in his day.

[CaNINE]

Bears can be tough to anchor and the fur soaks up blood making tracking a little tricky. I like using heavy for caliber fragmenting bullets that do a lot of internal damage and put them through the shoulders to incapacitate movement. 

[pickardjw]

6.5 creed, 143 ELD-X.

Taking the RSS and TMK's to Idaho next spring though.

[Machias]

5 with a compound bow, 1 with a traditional bow, one with my .30-06 and one with a open sight .30-30.  All of my bears have been shot within 20 yards, bow or rifle.

[huntnnw]

Bears can be tough to anchor and the fur soaks up blood making tracking a little tricky. I like using heavy for caliber fragmenting bullets that do a lot of internal damage and put them through the shoulders to incapacitate movement.

you should not be hitting shoulders on a broadside bear lungs and heart are not in the same position as a deer or elk.

[mountainman]

Bears can be tough to anchor and the fur soaks up blood making tracking a little tricky. I like using heavy for caliber fragmenting bullets that do a lot of internal damage and put them through the shoulders to incapacitate movement.

you should not be hitting shoulders on a broadside bear lungs and heart are not in the same position as a deer or elk.

Unless, as caNINE stated, you want to incapacitate them on the spot. In the thick and steep, a “dead” bear can disappear very quickly!

[buglebuster]

I’ve shot one with a bow, 1 with a 30-30 150 gr core loct, and 1 with a .300 WM 178 gr ELDX. My go to now would be 6.5 PRC 147 gr ELDM

[CaNINE]

Bears can be tough to anchor and the fur soaks up blood making tracking a little tricky. I like using heavy for caliber fragmenting bullets that do a lot of internal damage and put them through the shoulders to incapacitate movement.

you should not be hitting shoulders on a broadside bear lungs and heart are not in the same position as a deer or elk.

Unless, as caNINE stated, you want to incapacitate them on the spot. In the thick and steep, a “dead” bear can disappear very quickly!

Exactly. I value animal recovery too much. I may lose a little meat with a front shoulder shot but my chances of recovery are greatly increased. A unrecovered bear = 100% meat loss.

[SpicyTacos]

6.5prc 143 eld-x

[dilleytech]

.308 165gr nosler accubonds. Haven't recovered a bullet yet. Haven't shot a bear over 100 yards away yet. I would like to try Barnes 130gr coppers next year maybe. See how they do.

Preferably 466gr arrows with 100gr slick trick magnums are my favorite though. Zero meat loss