spring bear: sks or 12ga slugs

safehunter

safehunter

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I could use some advice from experienced hunters. Unfortunately for me, I have two choices for getting my first spring bear, my sks, or my smoothbore winchester 2200. In a perfect world, I`d have a nice 30-06 or 308 rifle with optics to get the job done. Perhaps for next fall or 2015 after I`m done paying for this years christmas.

SKS: pros are ammo is cheap so I can practice lots at the range so I feel my accuracy would be good to 100 yards even with the iron sights and my shot placement would be on target. Cons are low power and lack of hunting ammo, although I`ve found some Hornady's SST bullets and Prvi Partizan soft point online. That low muzzle energy bothers me though.

12 gauge slug: pros would be the knock down power of 1oz or 1 1/8oz slug. The obvious con would be accuracy as I don`t think I`d be much good past 50 yards with the bead sight. May not be that big an issue if I`m sitting over bait but I won`t get the rounds down the range as much as I would with the sks.

I have enough coin to get a case of either 7.62 or 12 gauge to practice over the winter but not both without incurring the wrath of the missus. If you had to choose between these two usable but imperfect solutions which would you go with? Or should I put the whole dream on hold until I can spare the handful of brown bills to buy an accurate hunting rifle?
 
If your hunting over bait your shot shouldn't be over 30 yards max so a 12 gauge with slugs would work great. I've shot deer with soft point 7.62x39 without great results. It's like comparing a train hitting to a mosquito bite. Haha
 
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I agree , go with the 12 ga......SKS could do the job if you are a good shot as they are close to the 30-30 Winchester , but the 12 will have more knock down power . As they say , one shot , one kill....
 
A little more split than I would like, but I`m going to `score` a case of slugs and see how it goes at the range.
I may look into the red dot. I`m a bit loath to get it drilled and tapped and I`m not to sure about saddle mounts.
 
Take the SKS, and the 12 guage for backup :)

If you shoot a bear with the SKS and have to track, take the 12 guage! We never go in the bush without a 12 guage and when tracking a wounded animal, well nasty things can happen, We make sure gun is loaded with slugs and 000 buck shot :)
 
electricjesus said:
this.

If you can practice with a SKS more, go with it. It would be my personal pick of the two as well. Those that say no to the SKS are the same type that would only hunt a deer with a .whatever-the-#### magnum cartridge
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I say no to the SKS, because I guided bear hunters for 20+ years... an SKS is an inherently inaccurate weapon and its ballistics leave little margin for error... Yes, it can work, but not as well as a 12 gauge slug. I had a few sports show up with SKS's... I did my best to persuade most of them to use an "in house" gun on their hunt, most conceded, some wish they had... in particular one fella who shot a particularly large boar three times and we lost the trail after a miserable 5 mile trail through the nastiest country that dang bear could find... As the guy who ended up tracking 300+ wounded bears on my hands and knees with a mini-mag in my teeth, I have developed an opinion on which weapons have PROVEN to be effective... this is not am armchair, online ballistic calculator based opinion, but one that comes from the experience of hunting, tracking and dressing hundreds of bears.

OP, saddle mounts work great. If you go ahead with the saddle mounted red dot, you will find that at typical baited bear ranges it is very accurate and lethal... be sure to practice and get well sighted in... remember to breath when your bear is coming in... and squeeze.

P.S - electricjesus... every one of my 40+ bears was taken with archery equipment, I don't even own a magnum.
 
I have shot more than a few bears with both of these cartridges over the years. And either firearm will do.

If you can shoot the shotgun accurately enough to kill the bear, then use it. Simply more effective killing power. PERIOD!

The 7.62x39 does and has killed bears very well. But unless you reload and/or use a quality bullet designed properly for biggame, its not worth the chance.

I have shot a few bears with the 7.62X39, but it was with .308,150 grain sierras. In a Ruger M77 rifle as well.

One thing to concider, if you are shooting a bear with open sights, and the ambient light isnt the greatest, make sure your sights are colored to give you contrast. I have made my sights white just for bear hunting a few times.

Good luck and have lots of fun!
 
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The 7.62X39 when loaded with one of the better 150 gr cup and core bullets or with 130 gr TTSXs puts the SKS in the .30/30 class, and a lot of black bears adorn walls as a result of being hit with a .30/30 slug. I wouldn't choose to go after a bear with an SKS loaded with 125 gr cup-n-core bullets though (which I see pretty much repeats what dthunter says). While the 12 bore hits harder, when you see a bear 150 yards down a power-line, it might mean a missed opportunity if you carry a shotgun. Yes I know there are 500 pound black bears, so if you have an SKS when you shoot one, shoot twice. Apparently an SKS can do that quickly.
 
Boomer said:
The 7.62X39 when loaded with one of the better 150 gr cup and core bullets or with 130 gr TTSXs puts the SKS in the .30/30 class, and a lot of black bears adorn walls as a result of being hit with a .30/30 slug. I wouldn't choose to go after a bear with an SKS loaded with 125 gr cup-n-core bullets though (which I see pretty much repeats what dthunter says). While the 12 bore hits harder, when you see a bear 150 yards down a power-line, it might mean a missed opportunity if you carry a shotgun. Yes I know there are 500 pound black bears, so if you have an SKS when you shoot one, shoot twice. Apparently an SKS can do that quickly.
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If you have to shoot twice with the SKS, you might as well empty the magazine for all the good rounds 2 thru 5 will do...

As a point of clarification (some folks think the the term "SKS"and "7.62X39" are synonymous)... My recommendation was to not use the "SKS"... I was not speaking about the 7.62X39 cartridge, which I shoot with 150 grain .308 loads propelled by Varget out of single shot guns... Yes, the 7.62X39 "can" get it done, but preferably launched from a more accurate platform than an SKS... Even so, there are better calibers to use on bears...
 
Good hunting ammo for the 7.62 x 39 isn’t cheap and I would suggest you reload if you are hunting with it. The SKS is not an accurate gun I would suggest for hunting. Don’t get me wrong I have seen some accurate SKS’s but most are not. They are fun to shoot with inexpensive ammo and that would be it. There are some good models of firearms in the 7.62 x 39 cartridge but you own an SKS and not them.
Use your shotgun as you are shooting from a tree stand and will be fairly close. If you practice and are accurate one good shot is all you will need.
 
hoytcanon said:
If you have to shoot twice with the SKS, you might as well empty the magazine for all the good rounds 2 thru 5 will do...

As a point of clarification (some folks think the the term "SKS"and "7.62X39" are synonymous)... My recommendation was to not use the "SKS"... I was not speaking about the 7.62X39 cartridge, which I shoot with 150 grain .308 loads propelled by Varget out of single shot guns... Yes, the 7.62X39 "can" get it done, but preferably launched from a more accurate platform than an SKS... Even so, there are better calibers to use on bears...
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A fellow here iced a moose with a Ruger 77 in 7.62X39 so with the right bullet the little carbine ought to work, but what do I know, my idea of a serious bear gun is a .375 or a .458! I would assume a hunter shoots his rifle enough to know if he has a reasonable expectation of making a killing shot at any given range long before he takes it afield, but you're point is well taken; a battle carbine that is meant to dominate a gunfight over pistol ranges, might not be the ideal big game rifle. Having said that, we make such a big deal over rifle accuracy, yet the hunters I've seen who can keep their first round within 2 minutes of their aiming point under field conditions are the exception to the rule. Even an SKS is more accurate than a smooth bore slug gun, and will usually hold 4 MOA with decent ammo. That's good enough if you have a 12" target, and can shoot up to the rifle. Of course shooting up to the accuracy potential of an SKS is a challenge given their typically poor triggers, short sight radius, and the difficulty in finding a quality scope attachment.
 
Go with the shotgun. Bears can be a tad grumpy in the Spring - they're hungry, some have cubs & depending on where you are they might be having a bit of trouble getting 'unplugged' if you're out at the very start of the Season (I know... a bit gross, but it happens...). It's not just your 'set up' shot you need to be prepared for. Sometimes the bear decides the time and the place.....to stop a bear head-on, where you have no boiler-room shot, you need a little more than an SKS round.
 
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