Black Bear - tough as stink!

[doc25]

I think the problem is the difference in size of bears. You can find a 100lb bear up to a 400+ pound bear. Smaller ones are basically deer sized game larger ones are smaller than elk or moose so some form of expanding bullet would be required. Personally i think any form of non expanding bullet would be an extremely poor choice other than lead. I shot one with 308 and he dropped on the spot. Autopsy revealed I shot him right thought the spine.

12 g slugs are somewhere around 70 cal don't have one next to me to verify, without any deformation. I've recovered a 300 gr 45 cal xtp from a deer that was expanded to about 75 cal, so from that I conclude the slug is close to max expanded 45 cal before it enters the animal and would be a good choice. In conclusion a hit with a 243 is more effective than the miss with a 12 g. Shot placement will be the deciding factor.

 

[rednekhuntr]

I'm no expert, but I've shot several black bears (usually during deer season). I shot most of them with a .308 with 180 gr federal blue box. Once with a 30-30 and 170 gr silver tips. In my experience they react pretty much like a whitetail. Sometimes they pile right up, sometimes they run a hundred yards or so. My father dropped a fairly big one, close to 300 lbs with one shot from a 44-40.
My point is, there's nothing magical or bullet proof about black bears. Shoot them in the heart or lungs and they die pretty quick

 

[Kevin M.]

Fascinating, never would have thought that these tough animals would recover from some of the shots they recovered from before going down for good...

 

[fiddler]

Most of the shots are fatal, its what happens in the 30 seconds after you shoot them that becomes critical. I prefer to fire a round or two above their head to get rid of them, rather than have another confrontation.

 

[skit]

220 gr hornady round nose at 20 feet from 3006 works pretty well. Bang, thud,!

 

[Eagleye]

I was involved in Bear control in orchard country for a couple of years, so have shot a large number of Blackies.
Cannot remember losing any, but most shots were less than 100M.

Most I shot with 30-06 and either the 165 or 180 Nosler Partition. Most dropped within 40 yards, but a few went considerably further.
I like a bullet that is likely to exit, since an entry hole will not bleed much on these animals.

Bears do react differently....you can never be absolutely sure of their reaction to a shot.

As has been pointed out, they vary in size a lot, as well. A 100 lb "teen" is much different that a 400+ lb mature boar.

I favor a shot that will get the lungs plus one shoulder, if possible. Makes it a bit harder for the bear to run out of sight.

I have been an opportunist when hunting elk, moose or deer, and always carry a Bear Tag, just in case. The result: Bears being
shot with everything from the 6mm Remington [100 Partition], right up to and including the 338 Win Mag [210 Partition]

I would suggest that any decent bullet from 6.5mm up should do just fine to take a Blackie.......placement being very important, as usual.

Regards, Dave.

 

[bigborefan]

Ive been hunting black bears for the past 33 years consecutively. While I hunt them every year, I don't shoot one every year -- I choose the ones I want to shoot, and I've probably taken my fair share from a couple of "trophy" quality bears to some 2 - 3 year olds for meat.

In my experience nothing beats a .45-70 using FN 400 -405grs at about 1800 to 2000 fps, or a hard-cast FN 465gr at 1900. That Hornady 500gr DGX is WAY too tough for bear and it's meplat isn't wide enough as a FP. Not enough energy released into the bear. A WFT (wide-flat-tip) in .44 or .45-cal will flatten a bear! I wonder how I know that? No CNS hits involved, just lung shots. They are flattened on the spot!

Load some 400gr Barnes FP or 405 Rem at 1800 to 2000 fps in your .458 Win Mag or Lott and give those a try, if you hit 'em through the lungs they'll NOT be running off 100 yds, I guarantee!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

 

[mathil]

Where's the most interesting man in the world gif? I don't always agree with bearkilr, but when I do I do it on CGN.

Great, I have coke all over my screen now...

 

[Wrong Way]

Ive been hunting black bears for the past 33 years consecutively. While I hunt them every year, I don't shoot one every year -- I choose the ones I want to shoot, and I've probably taken my fair share from a couple of "trophy" quality bears to some 2 - 3 year olds for meat.

In my experience nothing beats a .45-70 using FN 400 -405grs at about 1800 to 2000 fps, or a hard-cast FN 465gr at 1900. That Hornady 500gr DGX is WAY too tough for bear and it's meplat isn't wide enough as a FP. Not enough energy released into the bear. A WFT (wide-flat-tip) in .44 or .45-cal will flatten a bear! I wonder how I know that? No CNS hits involved, just lung shots. They are flattened on the spot!

Load some 400gr Barnes FP or 405 Rem at 1800 to 2000 fps in your .458 Win Mag or Lott and give those a try, if you hit 'em through the lungs they'll NOT be running off 100 yds, I guarantee!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

This mirrors my experience....even though I'm throwing lighter bullets (240 gr @ 1700 fps) with the .44 mag, I've never had a bear not go down FAST.

 

[doublelung]

I've had them run off out of sight after being shot by a 7x57, 300 Winchester magnum, 7.62 Russian, 30-06 and 243.

I have been unable to recover firmly hit bears with the 300 (one) and the 7.62 (two) and also one with the 243. In fact, there are some misses that may have been wounding shots too, one with a 270 that I recall now.

Wow!!! Time to give it up man..... Either you're not looking hard enough or your a terrible shot.... Either way you should do something other than hunting..

 

[c-fbmi]

I have shot them with everything from arrows and 243s right up to my 375, and I have never found them to be particularly hard to kill or tough, certainly don't have the will to live like a grizzly...........Through my evolution of blackie killing I have narrowed my caliber choice to one when specifically heading out for bears..........the 350 Rem Mag is the bear killingest cartridge I have ever used on blackies and I have probably killed more than a dozen with it alone. This last bear this year was the first one I have ever had run anywhere, but that was my fault as I hit him a touch low, he made about 40 mtrs before piling up, and he was busted up bad...........As 'Looky noted I took another one about 2 weeks earlier at about 8 ft with the 350 and he was instant dead..........it's all great fun, I just love killing black bears, it starts the year off right !!

 

[Yukidaruma]

I have shot the majority of my black bears with archery tackle and 50 yards would be about the farthest one needed to be tracked, the only one I ever shot with a rifle I took with a .300 WIN MAG using a 180gr Partion. I did not feel that I needed that much gun but had bought a Browning A-Bolt with the BOSS system the first year they came out and decided to give it a whirl on my spring bear hunt. I had a nice six footer come into the bait decided to take it, and like a good bow hunter put my sights on the spot for a double lung shot. When I pulled the trigger that bear bolted and made it 150 yards into a tamarack swamp and was laying in a foot of water!

I should have been aiming at the shoulder with this rig most likely would have been a two foot tracking job instead!!!...also if I had shot it with the bow it would have made Pope and Young as it scored 19.5 inches!!!