Black bear round

[eaglesnester]

I live and hunt in north central interior of B.C. Canada. Up here the black bears can get big depending on what gene pool they hale from. I hunt them with either my 308 Norma Mag using a 200gr Speer Spz. (el cheapo bullet) or with my 300 Weatherby mag using 190 or 210 Berger VLDes. Some folks up here use the 06 with 168 to 180 grain or the 7mm Mag with 170grain I do believe. Yes the 308 with the grain weights you mentioned will work just fine up untill the time you come across a huge grizz with a serious attitude problem. The 308 will feel like a BB gun in your hands and you are faced with your worse nightmare. Now down in the lower 48 the chanches of running into a bad g bear are slim to none, up here it is an entirely different story.

Cheers&Tighter Groups: Eaglesnester

 

[winmag]

Im actually looking into buying a 308 on an AR platform, just for bear hunting in the brush. ive killed bears with a Ruger 44mag pistol/ and multiple kills with 270wsm and a30-06.
Same ol rule of thumb, use what youd use for deer, or a little bigger if it makes you feel more comfy.
how far you plan on shootin? that may come into play in determining if your 308 will be up to the task.
Killin bears isnt that tough. Getting between mamma and her cubs,...well, now you gotta keep a level head, and hope you dont have to shoot your way out. even in this situation i wouldnt feel too under gunned with a fast handeling 308.

 

[Chas1]

If you do your job, the 308 will do it's job just fine. I personally prefer my 06. As far as the 300wm it's more than enough but, why deal with the xtra recoil.

 

[X-man]

I live on Vancouver Island...Up here the stupid things are pests.
They are readily available long range targets here and I plan on shooting a couple this spring with my heavy gun and 300SMK's.

Black bears are no tougher than a deer....May be less so....Grizzly they are not.
A 25-06 or 270 is more than enough gun, but I prefer to smash the crap out of them.

IMHO the more important thing is getting an exit hole so you can easily track down one that walks out of sight.....Be sure it will head for the ugliest sh1t hole on the planet...You wont like pulling it out of there...Unlike deer there is nothing to grab on to!
Hence the reason I like to smash them.

The 300win with a 200Accubond is a great LR blackie cartridge, but I am normally packing my light 338 Edge...('cause I can).
If you don't like the recoil of a 300 I would have a hard look at a 7mag.

Bullet placement can be tough in poor light..Your first time nerves wont help either!
Good optics help here.
Take your time.

 

[wasgas]

I have not shot a bear yet, but have seen some on their own as small as 60lbs and two others that were huge, one of which I would estimate to be 500lbs and not want to shoot him with anything less that a 338. I think alot of it depends on where you are hunting and the cover that is there. I would not want to be looking for a big bear that was only injured in thick cover. I would not plan to use the minimum required but use the maximum you were comfortable with for the area you are hunting.

Here is one of the best articles I have seen on bullet choices for black bears.

Cabela's -- Guidebook Story

 

[JUDD]

bears are no fun to track...been there done that...

Use a gun you feel you can make the shot with...a big gun is useless if you can't make the shot.

I've killed them with .243
I've tracked them hit by a 45/70

a .308 is fine just be calm and make the shot count

 

[Chas1]

Good read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[X-man]

I suppose I should add that if you are being guided (given the costs involved) the added insurance of more horsepower can't hurt.

I see guys from the USA up here every year....I think they pay somewhere around $10,000.00 for 2 nice black bears....Which quite frankly blows my mind....Considering I hunt the same area they do.

 

[jasonprox700]

Im actually looking into buying a 308 on an AR platform, just for bear hunting in the brush. ive killed bears with a Ruger 44mag pistol/ and multiple kills with 270wsm and a30-06.
Same ol rule of thumb, use what youd use for deer, or a little bigger if it makes you feel more comfy.
how far you plan on shootin? that may come into play in determining if your 308 will be up to the task.
Killin bears isnt that tough. Getting between mamma and her cubs,...well, now you gotta keep a level head, and hope you dont have to shoot your way out. even in this situation i wouldnt feel too under gunned with a fast handeling 308.

I have a bear hunt in Idaho this fall and I plan on using my .308 AP4. I use it for deer, and it is fast handling.

Another one would be a .458 SOCOM (in an AR15 platform). It has about the same ballistics as a .45-70 with a 300 grain bullet.

 

[alaska]

My son uses a Old Browning BLR in 308 Win. with Norma 180gr SP and 42.0 of Reloader 15 for his Bait Gun here in Alaska.

gun)

 

[sp6x6]

I like to hit them with a follow up shot if lr, I dont like tracken hurt bears. Taken 3 of my better bruins w/ stick and string. Missed one once with my bow, and I HEARD HIM rustling in the alder patch and woofin, went in after him, I THINK he THOUGHT i MIGHTBE a grizz crashin around, anyway he went up a big old fir about 3-4 across, HIS BAD made a pin cushion out of him, dam near landed on me on way down

 

[264junkie]

It is big enough to bust down the shoulder on a black bear and still make it to the boiler room.

Second that!

 

[eaglesnester]

I would like to believe that when hunting any kind of bear, you would use the biggest caliber that you can shoot accurately. . I would prefer to use a .300 winmag or at a minimum .30-06. Considering that black bear are not that large when compared to other bears, coupled with the fact that I currently only have one rifle, can you reasonably expect a one shot clean kill on black bear with a .308?

Simple answer: Yes, any 180-200gr hunting bullet will sufice. You do not need a premium hunting bullet by the way. Most of the stuff that the manufactures hype about their super bullets is just that hype. Speer SPZ will kill a bear just as dead as a Barnes or a Bear Claw.

 

[matt_3479]

Yes. My neighbor at my cottage shoots a 264. win mag and he has taken two black bears. One field dressed out to 475lbs believing it to weigh around 600 live and the other weighed 621 lbs. Both were 1 shot kill through the boiler room. first one went 50 yards, and the second went 100 yards. but both went down.

308. win is plenty. I use a 7mm rem mag but i have had two guides tell my that they dont suggest a 7mm or smaller due to too many bears been injured. Luckily im currently buying a 300. wsm