Cougar/Bear Hunting Caliber?
- Thread starter zoarok
- Start date
7mm rem mag is my answer for everything. Realistically, anything you can point and click quickly with accuracy will work for cougar, as long as it's bigger than a 22lr.
And ya, plenty of bear have been taken with a .308
And ya, plenty of bear have been taken with a .308
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A .308 and good shot placement will work as suggested by others. I personally prefer a little more gun for bear as you never know what size bear will show up and bears are surprisingly dense for their size. I would suggest you look at a .300 WinMag as it gives you some bullet weight options down to 150gr for your cougar and 165 or 180 for bears.
Enjoy your hunt whatever you decide.
P7
gunrunner8
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, B.C.
I use 308Win for spring black bear for the last couple of years but I can see a big difference in performance between it and my former Win mod 88 in 358Win. There is no doubt in my mind that the latter one especialy loaded with Speer 220gr FP bullet was absolutly the best performer against black bears and moose as well. Majority of them just crumpled where they were standing and I never lost one b/c bullet allways left lots of blood to follow. I sold that rifle 5-6years ago and regret it ever since. I think that for this year hunting season I will build myself either LH bolt or lever action 358Win rifle to be "happy" again.
- Location
- B.C. Interior
took my cougar with a 30-30.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
While my preference is a .30/06, the .308 is a great big game cartridge, the ballistic equal of the .30/06 with bullet weights up to 168 grs, and some will say up to 180 grs. Provided its chambered in an appropriate rifle, there's little point to switching to anything else if you already have one . If your rifle is an M-14 style gas gun, it can be a good hunting rifle if you're young and tough enough to pack it around. If your rifle is a heavy barrel varmint or target rifle, that is topped with a large, high magnification, target scope, maybe you should consider a lighter - smaller outfit. The nice thing about a .308 is that it can be chambered in a small rifle like a Remington M-7 for instance or one of the small Ruger carbines, and there's no flies on a Remington 760 (7600 or 76 or whatever they call em these days). Or maybe your rifle is a handed down Savage 99 or Winchester 88, both of which are dandy hunting rifles.
For medium sized big game, a 165 gr lead core bullet is a good choice, as is a 150 gr TSX. I've been shooting heavier bullets in my .30/06, but remembering how much I liked 165 gr Hornady SPBTs backed with a case full of H-4831, I may have to revisit them.
Of course if you're just looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle and try a new cartridge, don't let any of the above dissuade you. There are plenty of cartridge choices from the quarter bores to the .460 Weatherby, and an equally bewildering selection of rifles to choose from.
For medium sized big game, a 165 gr lead core bullet is a good choice, as is a 150 gr TSX. I've been shooting heavier bullets in my .30/06, but remembering how much I liked 165 gr Hornady SPBTs backed with a case full of H-4831, I may have to revisit them.
Of course if you're just looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle and try a new cartridge, don't let any of the above dissuade you. There are plenty of cartridge choices from the quarter bores to the .460 Weatherby, and an equally bewildering selection of rifles to choose from.
3in eh..sure she felt the shot? Much recoil on that 3 incher? lol
I just took my Cougar home. At least 7 1/2 shot works satisfactory on majority of them Urban ones.
& yes, P.S. .My friend uses the same .308 for Bear & Moose.
