.308 150 grain for black bear
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c-fmbi - there is only one way to settle this. 
I am surprised, maybe I shouldn't be, that so many people think a 150gr bullet out of a .308 is too light for black bear. IIRC in the beginning the .30-06 threw a 150gr bullet at 2700fps, and that load was used for all sorts of game. I don't even want to guess how many bears have been cleanly taken with a .30/30 and 150gr loads.
I am surprised, maybe I shouldn't be, that so many people think a 150gr bullet out of a .308 is too light for black bear. IIRC in the beginning the .30-06 threw a 150gr bullet at 2700fps, and that load was used for all sorts of game. I don't even want to guess how many bears have been cleanly taken with a .30/30 and 150gr loads.
true...I just got caught up in babbling away
...If 150's shoot good have at 'er. I've busted shoulders on large bodied mule deer with cup & core 150s out of a .30-06...you'll be fine for black bears...
OK 1899, but who's paying for the bull?
One of the biggest black bears I've ever taken was with a 243 and 90gn Speer HC.
I figure we could each pitch in $25 and have a get-together in Whitehorse this summer. After the "test" we would have a nice "1st annual CGN" Texas style outdoor grill with all the fixins like home-made baked beans prepared in cast iron dutch ovens etc.
I figure we could each pitch in $25 and have a get-together in Whitehorse this summer. After the "test" we would have a nice "1st annual CGN" Texas style outdoor grill with all the fixins like home-made baked beans prepared in cast iron dutch ovens etc.
This summer won't work for me...put it off 'til summer '14 and I'd be in
.bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
You mean back when people did more hunting and less typing?
Yes. I was actually thinking about a .308 Win for my wife, and the specific loads I was thinking about drive 150gr Partitions at about 2700 fps. I may have to reconsider my belief system.
Ok... I'll start with a response to the OP's question... your 150 grain load outta a .308 will take any blackie that ever walked the earth (regardless of size) as long as YOU do your part and put the pill through the lungs.
Now for the quotes... Doug, I agree about a bullet "between the eyes" not getting it done, but not that an LR round won't get it done... here is a story;
My dad and I were butchering a large Highland bull one November (which we normally do with a Mini-Mag solid outta one of many rifles)... but on this day, my dad grabbed his .38 S&W... and loaded FIVE bullets... I asked him what he was going to do with FIVE rounds??? He answered "well you never know" (perhaps he had a premonition)... at any rate (I should not admit this on CGN, but....) I have hunted, pretty much every game animal available in Ontario (and many others around NA), for 40+ years, hundreds of big game animals and many thousands of small game and waterfowl... but I have a hard time walking up to a domestic animal and popping it at point blank range (go figure)... our usual routine is that I stay in the house until I hear the shot, give it a couple minutes and then go and take care of the bulk of the butchering... On this occasion, I heard the shot, and then 30 seconds later another (I figured it was just insurance)... but 30 seconds later a third shot, then a fourth, then a fifth... what the heck!!! I ran around the corner expecting to see the bull standing over my father on the ground, but heard him yell out... "get me more bullets!" I ran back into the house and grabbed a handfull of bullets and back outside... there was the bull standing spraddle legged, still on the hoof... we quickly loaded another round and put it in his head and down he went... without a twitch... to satisfy our curiosity we skinned out the skull... the first five rounds formed a circle stating between the eyes and around the perimeter of the brain, maybe a 5" diameter circle... the last shot was right in the center of the circle...
I say that to say this... that even at 3 feet caliber and bullet take a backseat to placement... All of the Mini-Mag'd steers went down cleanly without a hitch (but as you point out these are not .22 Shorts... and the "right" spot is NOT between the eyes!)
powder burner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Dumped a cinnamon bear that was pushing 400 lbs. used a 140gr Winchester PowerPoint in 7mmo8. Tucked it into the boiler room at 60 yards. One shot. Dead bear. So that 150 in .308 should work. My father has shot many black bears, moose, deer with 150 power points, over the years.
You could go to 165 or 180 but I don't think it's needed.
You could go to 165 or 180 but I don't think it's needed.
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
A buddy of mine guided bear hunters for a year, and used a .270 WIN. Amazingly, he lived to tell the tales.....
- Location
- New Brunswick
I guided bear hunters for a local outfitter for five years, spring seasons 2004 to 2008. Some of the cannons that were brought into camp truly amazed me. One hunter shot a bear at a distance of about 30yds with a 45-70 and shot bit too far forward, hitting the shoulder.......we took the hunter back to camp and headed out the next morning but unfortunately did not recover the bear. The hunter thought, even after I lectured him on shot placement, that his cartridge was powerful enough to put down a bear even with a poor shot. Not so.
So I say placement, placement, placement. It means everything! The 150gr Fed ammo will certainly do the job so long as the shot placement is good.
As was mentioned in an earlier post, wait for that bear to move his front leg forward then place your shot.
So I say placement, placement, placement. It means everything! The 150gr Fed ammo will certainly do the job so long as the shot placement is good.
As was mentioned in an earlier post, wait for that bear to move his front leg forward then place your shot.
