Opinions wanted - Optics for bear hunting

DTM5

DTM5

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Opinions wanted please - Wondering what fellow bear hunters use for optics (including open sights) for hunting black bear over bait at ranges from 25-100m.

Looking at options to improve my setup. Cheers!
 
I have a 4 text Viper 3 to 9x by 44 or 50 can't remember which one, it's decent for those ranges, my eyes are not as good but it does what I need, irons I have no idea, my no1 mk 3 has irons I like
 
i used different optics and with no particular preference:

zeiss 1.5-6x42 german 4a
leupold vxII 3-9x40 german 4
sightron s1 3-9x40 german 4
bushnell 1.5-6x36 firefly heavy reticle

as you can see there is pattern in the reticle choice ...
 
I also chose the zeiss 1.5-6x42 german 4a for my 7mm-08 stag-10 , although not for bears over bait, she is my tree stand rifle
 
Any decent scope will be fine. I imagine I’ve killed most of my bears with a Leupold scope of some sort, but I’ve also used plenty of other brands. 2.5-8/3-9/3-10 whatever- they all work
 
I'd be playing fast and loose with the term "Bear hunter" to describe myself as one, but I did set out to set up a rifle for it this spring. Went with a Viper PST 2.5-10.
 
Leopold 1-4x is perfect , most shooters don’t realize how nice 1x is for close range, easy and super fast to use both eyes open. They are also very light, not upsetting the balance of your rifle.
 
I would go with a low power scope, but coupling one with a red dot center on the crosshairs is a good way to go for bears over bait... the shot often comes in very low light and in deep foliage, making the crosshairs tough to pick up against the bears fur... the Leupold VX-R series has some good options.
 
bearkilr said:
Kinda like sniping an unsuspecting animal at 800 yards? ;)
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Almost nothing like shooting an animal at 800 yards. For that equipment is paramount, along with a knowledge of shooting and conditions that few have. The results are far from certain, and an argument could be made that nobody should do it. Such arguments have been made before.

Shooting a baited bear (not that there's anything at all wrong with that) at 50-100 yards (and probably rested if any thought was given the process) is about the opposite. Equipment doesn't matter much; shorten the range a bit and a bow works fine. Conditions mean nothing. Only the most rudimentary of shooting skills is needed. An argument could be made that it would difficult to screw that up; though no doubt people do. If they do it probably wasn't because they had a 1-4 X, a 2-7 X, a 3-9ish or a 4.5-14 or no scope at all.
 
bearkilr said:
Kinda like sniping an unsuspecting animal at 800 yards? ;)
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I can get within 800yards of an unsuspecting animal quite easily. (I probably quite often do it accidentally and without realizing.) But it will take a lot of practice I haven't done yet for me to be reliably accurate enough to ethically attempt to shoot one.

I can certainly shoot accurately enough to shoot a bear within 100 yards without any practice, but finding a bear and getting that close is going to take me considerable effort.
 
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