which rifle should i use for spring bear?

[35 Whelen]

This is an interesting thread, and some of the recommendations that have been listed seam so much more appropriate to hunt an 800lb grizzly than to actually hunt blackies............???
The honest true is that having been responsible for quite a pile of Black Bear getting skun out over the last 40 years , before folks started weighing bears with the guts in [last 15 years or so] we always weighed them field dressed, back in the day a 250lber was a very nice bear , I guess they call them 325/50s nowadays, but the facts are that it certainly doesn't take a big caliber or special bullet to kill a black bear.???? About any caliber with a decent [Remington Corelokt ??? Win PowerPoint, Fed HiShock] all down at the local Walmart will knock a black bear silly out of a common 270/30/06 sorta firearm.
I must be lost on this one as for every true Blackie that weighes 400 there are hundreds of them that wont tip the scales at 250 with the guts in a pile. There have been thousands of 200lb bears killed with 30/30s ???
I think this new modern day perception that we need magnum rifles and premium bullets to dispatch animals that don't have a body weight of even 300lbs is really turning into a streach ?????
Don't wanta rock the boat, but after rereading this thread, I am floored that folks think a 200lb black bear needs the sorta horsepower to knock over.
Here in Maine the kill around 5000 bears a year from memory and I think I saw where the AVG sized bear was like 170lbs, so I know we all hear a lot of rumble about 400lb ones; but they are sorta like 35" Mule Deer , not many guys have ever gotten one. [Even with the guts in] I would feel totally comfortable hunting any Black Bear in North America, with my .270 and standard old bullets from the local Dicks Sporting Goods store................ jm2cw

 

[DrMike]

Actually, I'm quite comfortable with my 257 Bob or my 260 Rem or my 6.5 Creedmoor. However, I have the other rifles and they need exercised. So...

 

[35 Whelen]

Lol, fair enough Mike. Its just that every client that calls us nowadays is instantly talking about 300RUMs/ 416s or 45/70 with heavy loads??? And all that kinda talk, and when I tell them it isn't going to take ANY more to kill a 200lb Black Bear than it does to kill a 200lb Buck Deer, I think it sorta ruins it for them........................ people have always been sorta scared of bears and I notice more shaking with bear hunters than all the rest combined. Everyone is over gunned anymore; and I would say the avg hunter is showing up here with exactly what you would want for a 1000 lb Brown Bear , we try to get them as big a bear as we can, but the truth of it really is that it still takes a hell of a big bear to weigh 250lbs with guts out of it, they will square around 6.5' when they are that big and I see tons of pictures of them included with storys in magazines that are boasted as weighing 3/400lbs and it is obvious to me the are 200lb bears,
Problem with all this is a 200lb bear, with a big magnum poorly hit; shooting a bonded heavy jacketed bullet; is not going to absorb nearly the shock it would, if you simply hit it with your .257 Bob, with a bullet that basically just makes it thru to the other side transferring ALL of the energy of that bullet; into the said bear.............. :?
I realize all this is all old news, to you Mike; But from what I am hearing on the other end of the phone line, of guys wanting to shoot bears, there is a lot of very mixed up fellas, thinking that big guns, and heavy bullets, are completely nessasary to kill these 200/300lb animals. :?
:arrow: I bet there has never been a Black Bear in BC that could stand getting whacked with your .257 hit in the right place Mike. :wink:
Gosh, I used to shoot them; years ago with a .38 Special !!! [Alhough sometimes it did take more than one shot !] :mrgreen:
We had a hunter take a big Blackie here last fall with us, he simply used his deer rifle; a 6.5x55 from a stand over bait , 65 yards using 156 gr bullets, ONE shot right where the neck meats the shoulder , exactly where I told him to shoot it , it poleaxe him instantly , no drama, lites out instant kill, after we dressed him out; it weighed 335 lb. No problem Houston.......
The other hunter in camp shot his 3 times with a .450 Marlin and it wasn't found until the next morning , hit twice in the bum, after the initial shot in the guts............... he claims it "knocked it down every time he hit it " but still managed to drag it self off into the alders, it dressed 175lbs. He isn't a good listener, and I had asked him to just use his 30/06 but he wanted a "bigger gun" something that shot "heavier" bullets................ :roll:

 

[Europe]

Earle, if you will go back and look at my first post on this thread I also said I did not remember the black bears in America being that big.

But this thread is getting to serious, so let me just say, bigger is not always better.

Dr Mike, should I say--pun intended or no pun intended after the above sentence, in an effort to lighten things up.

 

[DrMike]

I've taken black bears with everything from a 280 Rem to a 35 Whelen. I usually chose the rifle used on the basis of what had been shot the least and needed to be blooded on a particular day.

I surely agree with you that it doesn't take much to drop a bruin, even a big bruin, if the shot is placed right. The first bear I ever shot was also one of the biggest--just a shade under 7 foot. He dropped at the shot and never twitched. That afternoon, I shot a little meat bear--five shots, each one a killing shot through the heart/lungs. The first shot anchored her passing just under the spine. Nevertheless, I continued hitting her until I finally walked up and delivered the coup de grâce.

I also agree that most people have genuine difficulty judging the size of bears. Gil and I took a local physician hunting one fall. His six-foot bear taped around four and a half feet. We told him it was a small bear, but he insisted that it was bigger than it was. I've watched ground shrinkage destroy many large bears, transforming them from six foot bears to four footers as they hit the ground. I'm actually growing somewhat fussy in my dotage, holding out for bears that are near six foot. Now, watch me go out and tag a two-year-old this weekend.

April, size isn't everything. Knowing how to use your equipment looms large in how effective it is. :roll:

 

[SJB358]

I'm in Mikes camp. I shoot what I want but I'd be just fine taking a 243 or 25-06 with good Bullets after bear.

 

[Polaris]

This thread reminds me of my "neighborhood." Neighbor A gets a bigger truck then neighbor B, so neighbor B puts down money on a new 3/4 ton. Pretty soon, neighbor A gets a 1 ton. They both pull an aluminum boat 80 miles to a cabin, possibly a 2 place ATV trailer, and wouldn't know what trailer brakes and a 5th wheel plate are for, but they sure like their trucks. Hell, it's their time and money, have fun boys!

I still drive my rusty half ton and sometimes pull too much trailer with it. :grin: