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Author Topic: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?  (Read 10038 times)

Offline carpsniperg2

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #45 on: December 11, 2024, 10:21:46 AM »
The majority of my bears have been taken with 308 cal 180 accubonds.
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Offline passman65

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #46 on: December 11, 2024, 12:05:06 PM »
50 cal Smith & Wesson 600gr Steinel  :chuckle:

Offline RockScar

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #47 on: December 28, 2024, 03:31:55 PM »
Im just getting into big game hunting and picked up a 7mm rem mag. Need practice with it but confident it'll work great for bear and elk.

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Offline Okanagan

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #48 on: December 29, 2024, 08:30:01 AM »
180 Swift A-frame in .30-06 when deliberately hunting bears.

Black bears are relatively easy to kill-- and can be super hard to find once hit.  I want an exit hole to increase the chance of a blood trail from double to four times over an entry hole alone.  Soft feet, fat that plugs wound holes, a few steps in brush after being hit often means a difficult trail to follow. And no one can guarantee an instant kill on hunting shots.

My choice is based on being in on more than 60 black bears, a dozen of those killed by me.  I have used 165 Sierra Game King, 180 Nosler Partition, 180 Swift A-frame, 95 grain Nosler Partition in 6mm, 140 Sierra soft point in a 6.5 Swede.  I’ve been in on kills done with .22-250 to .375 H&H.  Experience is why I pick a medium bore or larger bullet designed to pass through from almost any angle.

The quickest kill I’ve ever seen on any animal was a black bear shot with a 6mm 95 grain Nosler Partition.  I still have that 6mm but choose the 180 A-frame in 30-06 every time if hunting bears, and cheerfully agree that it is way more than needed to kill a black bear.

Easy to kill, hard to find after the shot.  A ton of overkill beats an ounce of underkill. :)
« Last Edit: December 29, 2024, 06:15:05 PM by Okanagan »

Offline finnman

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #49 on: January 20, 2025, 02:31:50 PM »
Browning BLR in .358 Win using a 225 grain TTSX bollet.
Or my 30-06 using 165 grain Nosler partitions

Offline kselkhunter

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #50 on: January 20, 2025, 03:10:45 PM »
7mmRM - 168gr Berger VLD. 
35 Whelen - 250gr Nosler Partition
356 Winchester - 220gr Speer FP
450 Marlin - 350gr Hornady FP (I have the 405gr JFNs as well, but usually just stick to the 350gr)

If wide open country for longer shots, I pack the 7mmRM.  Mid range I pack the 35 Whelen.  Shorter range (ie thicker forests) I pack either the 356win or 450 Marlin.  The 7mmRM and 35 Whelen are suppressed, so I enjoy shooting those more.  I love carrying the 450 Marlin the most as its a Browning BLR in 18" barrel so tend to pack it more than the 356win these days.   

Offline huntnnw

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #51 on: January 20, 2025, 04:03:00 PM »
Anything your shooting a deer with is sufficient to shoot a bear. Bears ribs are are smaller than a whitetail

Offline jasnt

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #52 on: January 20, 2025, 04:11:10 PM »
My 243 has taken a good handful of black bears.  The 105gr bergers are deadly for me
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/take_action  It takes 10 seconds and it’s free. To easy to make an excuse not to make your voice heard!!!!!!

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Offline AdnaHunter

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #53 on: January 20, 2025, 08:08:18 PM »
325 wsm 200grn accubonds

Offline TeacherMan

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #54 on: January 20, 2025, 09:57:30 PM »
180 gr. 300WSM
If you shoot the first one you will never get that true trophy.

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #55 on: January 21, 2025, 08:22:37 PM »
.243 win
7-08 rem
308 win
30-30 win
444 marlin
264 win
45-70
30-06
300 win
338 win
338 edge
44 mag
454 casull

Been in on kills with everything from 22lr-375 h&h
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Offline Rat44

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #56 on: January 22, 2025, 07:37:29 AM »
I have had good luck with a 240 grain JSP in 44 Magnum.

Offline Macs B

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #57 on: January 22, 2025, 08:58:31 AM »
Two old stand bys for me when it comes to bear guns. Norma Oryx in 30-06 and the Norma Alaska in 8mm Mauser .
I usually delete my posts after two days.

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Offline bearpaw

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #58 on: January 22, 2025, 10:51:19 AM »
The key with bear is hitting vitals. Bear do not typically die from flesh wounds, they heal up from flesh wounds. With that said, I always tell my hunters to bring the rifle that they shoot the most accurately. More or less as mountainman said, I've seen just about every cartridge successfully used for bear.

My personal favorite is a 340 Wtby Mag with 165 gr TTSX at 3500 fps, low recoil (due to light bullet), flat shooting, high shock and a deadly hole all the way through. But honestly that much power isn't really needed most of the time.
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Offline dilleytech

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Re: What's your black bear caliber/bullet?
« Reply #59 on: January 31, 2025, 11:11:54 AM »
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.

The only bear I have lost was shot in the shoulder. A bear shot in the head can still roll down a hill and not be found. I would take a dead bear over a wounded bear.

 


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