308 for bears
- Thread starter thehunterman
- Start date
SWEET... nice job! There's a happy young lad... my son is still working on his first bear... he's been close, but it hasn't come together yet...
How about one for the archery camp, considering the discussion on page four;
To give you an idea... I'm 6'4" and 260 lb.
I didn't mean to cast aspersions on bow hunting. My appologies if it came across that way. I was trying to get the point across that a 308 is more than most people give it credit for being. (sorry for the bad grammer there) How about this question... why wouldn't a 308 be adequate? Yes, I understand about slicing and hemorrhaging. Ft/lbs are the bullet weight in pounds, so 180 divided by 7000, times the square of the velocity in feet per second, divided by the constant 64.1infinite. All things die from trauma, whether caused by old age, disease, electrocution, poisioning, bludgeoning, drowning, starvation, suffocation, bullets or arrows or anything else. The arrow or bullet makes a wound that causes trauma that leads to death. The bullet itself won't kill your bear, but the trauma it causes will. Same with arrows, bombs, hitting it with your truck, etc...
Strange. It happens sometimes. The other day there was no picture, just a white box. Today there's a movie. Computers. Not quite like spearing suckers in Ontario, is it? Back to bats and cutlery: have you seen "office guns" on the net? Try those big paper clips with big elastics and you can shoot a pen through a pop can. Safe indoor fun. What was the original question again? Yes, a 308 is just about perfect for most things in this hemishpere. It's in the same crowd as all the other highly recommended and suitable cartridges, also with the advantages of easy-to-find and inexpensive brass and factory rolled stuff, 99 million bullets to chose from, more rifles chambered in it than you can shake two stick at, a versatile spectrum of loads. Wondering why I don't have one now.
Or for even more challenge, use a Bic pen.
Pfff; too much stick for a bear.
Sharpened popsicle stick, while only wearing a camo thong; You strangle the bear to death with the thong, and use the popsicle stick for the gutting.
well, lets keep it challenging and leave the cap on, huh?
Im game, but think spiced rum would work better for bait
Or use floss for snares. Don't discount a plywood boomerang. Use a 1 iron to work on your slice while you're hunting. Lots of plans for trebuchets on the net. (did I spell that right?) But as far as rifles go, anything from a 30-30 to the biggest thing you can foist will do.
Hunterman: you sold your 300 Mag and are contemplating a 30-06? So you are familiar with these cartridges? Why the doubt over a 308? Muzzle energy is one thing, but do we often shoot big game ten feet away? At 200 yards there's 200 foot pounds, give or take, difference between a 308, 30-06, 270, and even a 7mm Rem. If you're worried about giving up 200 ft lbs, you're under gunned to begin with, and that isn't the case here. Top loads in a 308 will reach 3000 or very near it ft lbs. When you butcher your bear you'll never be able to tell the difference which of these rifles it was shot with. Buy a 308, but more importantly, buy a nice one. Not an ugly one, but one you will be proud to display anywhere. One that you know you will have a long lasting and loving relationship with. That is more important.
Cartridges/bullets dont kill animals. Cartridge is the catalyst to the bullet which is the catalyst to the tissue damage ,bleeding and organ faliure that kills animals. Anything that can cause tissue damge bleeding and organ failure will kill. If you pop both lungs of anything it can't get oxygen to the brain which causes failure of that organ and all other organs. Its a pretty small distinction but it seems to me that people get so obsessed with projectiles and cartridges they lose sight of whats doing the killing.
I learned something new today - thanks
I have been bowhunting for close to forty years and have taken six different species of big game animals... including over thirty black bears (some over bait, most stalking food sources)... but you can't really make an energy comparison between centerfire cartridges and arrows... this would be an apple vs oranges comaprison at best... arrows (propelled by bows) kill best due to their momentum (mass X velocity) with the goal of causing the least shock possible... meaning cleanly slicing through as much vital tissue and arteries as possible, causing massive, devastating hemmorage and rapid death... bullets on the other hand are designed to expand rapidly, causing massive shock to tissue due to their energy (mass X velocity X velocity) and yes, bleeding will rsult, but it is the devastating shock and pulverized tissue that (hopefully) puts them down immediately... archery shot animals do not drop when struck (unless you missed and hit the spine or brain pan) but quickly "hemmorage-out."
In a straight energy comparison modern bowhunting equipment will generate in the neighborhood of 80 ft/lb (most would be closer to 60 ft/lb)... or roughly equivalent to a .22 LR... but don't be fooled to believe that an arrows ability to inflict lethal damage is "equivalent" to a .22 LR... An average .308 load on the other hand generates approximately 2800 ft/lb's of energy or 35 TIMES the energy of the modern hunting bow... so would this mean that it is 35 times as lethal as archery eqipment...? Certainly not (unless you are dueling at 300 yards
Your .308 with 2800 ft/lbs of energy is most certainly a potent bear hunting weapon.
My bow with its 80 ft/lbs of energy is also a potent bear hunting weapon.
Pfff; too much stick for a bear.
Sharpened popsicle stick, while only wearing a camo thong; You strangle the bear to death with the thong, and use the popsicle stick for the gutting.
hey, you guys are all a bunch of pussies. when i go polar/grizzly/brown/ kodiak bear hunting with my cooey 22, i first make sure to salt the bullet really good. i''m such a good shot that i can hit the animal from miles away with my 22, using only iron sites to make the hunt fair.
the salt on the bullet is to stop the meat/hide from spoiling by the time i get to the animal after i've shot it.
i used 30/30 all the time and have 4 bear down with it, used shotgun slugs,375h+h and now im going to also use a 308,just got an sps tac acc-sd . go for it!!!!will be shooting a handload 180 gr round nose .presently shooting 175 smk for target.ex used to use a 243 on bears and did quite well . bears are not hard to kill when hit right , just take your time on the shot
powder burner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Did the same thing tis year with the same gun, but 7mm08. Except it only went 9 yards.... J/K
