Under the medium bore posts we saw who liked what for deer. How about taking a moment and letting us all know what you like for bears...ALL bears (black, brown, grizz), that you or someone you know has hunted.

Include hunt scenario, distance, cover, whatever you want. If your story is boring, go ahead and embelish a little...it's ok, it's a man thing.

I have never been bear hunting but if I ever go I guess I would feel comfortable using my 338WM Tikka Whitetail Hunter with a premium bullet, maybe X's. That sucker kicks a little, weights about 7.5 lbs scoped but I still like shooting it and its accurate enough.

weatherby mark 5 in ss .340 and 250 gr. n.p. bullets. kill anything in n. america.

I haven't hunted Brown or Grizz, but for black bear I've used the 30-06 twice.

I will never hunt bear but I like to dream...so I would take my cz 550 in .416 Rigby with custom composite stock and leupold 2.5x compact in warne mounts and I would use the woodleigh 410 gr SN !!

Black Bear: Ruger MKII in 35 Wheelen with 225gr A Frames
Brown: 340 Weatherby with 250gr Nosler Partitions.
jorge

I currantly pack a .358 STA into Bear country. I load it with 270 grain North Fork bullets going 2900 fps. I previously have packed a .300 Win mag and a .340 Wby mag, the former a 200 grain Nosler Partition at 2900, the later a 250 grain Partition Gold at 2950 fps. Good shooting.

I've never hunted bears either but if I did here's what I'd choose out of my battery:

Black Bear: .338-06
Brown Bear: .375 H&H Mag

-Bob F.

I find I can't go wrong with my Savage 116FSS in .338 WinMag loaded with either 225gr. Aframes or X bullets. Had great luck with my .416 Taylor this year as well using 350gr. MagTips at 2450 fps. With any combination so far I have yet to recover a bullet and every shot has broken bones.

If I ever get a chance it will be with my Remington 700 BDL SS 300WM with Nosler Partitions not sure on what weight bullets.



My cousin and I talked about it a lot when we were young he bought a 300 Weatherby Mag Mark IV for his dream BEAR hunt.

Baited or driven black bear Marlin 1895 in 45/70
No experience with brown bears but would use Win m70 in 375 H&H (which would be just fine for any black bear as well)

I've shot my 3 black bears with a Remington 7600 35 Whelen w/200gr. Hornady's, a Knight DISC 50 cal. using a 300gr. Swift A-Frame and an Interarms Mark X 375/338(Chatfield-Taylor) using a 270gr. Hornady SP. All of them worked great. My favorite for black bears is the 375/338. I know it's on the large size but I'd rather have too much gun than not enough gun. If I were to use one gun to cover all bears...black, brown or polar, I would choose either my 416 Taylor with a good 350gr. or 400gr. bullet or my 375/338 with a good 270gr. or 300gr. bullet.


Craig

I've hunted Black Bear in Grizzly country with a .308 win, .280 rem's, 300 WM's, 338 WM, and 375 H&H. I would pack any for the BB but the 338 shooting 250gr partitions might just be the ticket in Grizzly country.

Chuck

I'm thinking I would take my 338-06 loaded with 225 TSX or 250 Partitions for either blacks or Griz. Browns I think a 375 H&H with 300 Part.

I've killed 17 black bear over bait, behind dogs and spot and stalk. I have used three rifle in .358 cal. .250 speer/43.5grns of old AA2015br/ vel 2350 in my BLR.None required tracking !
I've shot 13 more with various other calibers, 06.,.308,7x57, .300 win, .35 Rem.,.350 rem mag., .357 mag. revolver. .50 cal ML and archery gear and a 45-70. I've seen many more shot with other calibers.
For me, the BLR .358 with 2x7 lupy and #4 crosswire has been best. I killed a huge bear with it June 5th in Manitoba
dropped on the spot, like most shot with the .358 and other .35cal rifles.
Ive seen many small & larger cal magnums fail because they simply punch through or blow up on the surface.
When a young man inColorado, I guided bear hunters with dogs and bait. If I had to track one very far,I carried a 1/2 mag. Marlin in .35 Rem or a .44 mag revolver, the Marlin was better.

Forgot, in brown or griz country. You can't get too big a rifle.I liked the Marlin in .450 Alaskan or a .35/348 in a win.71 and a.350 rem mag because they are used peap sights and they were fast to get in action. the .450 seemed to work best.

My favorite bear rifles.....

I shot my first black bear in Alberta with a pre-64 Model 70 Featherweight in .270 Win. with handloaded 130 gr. Nosler Partitions at a range of about 200 yds. At the shot the bear dropped, let out a bawl, and that was that.

For several years I always hunted bears with a custom Model 70 in .300 Win. Mag. built by Glen Pearce of Casa Grande, AZ. I hunted grizzly (unsuccessfully) in Alaska with this rifle, as well as black bears in Oregon and Arizona. One of my all time favorite rifles for any sort of hunting.

Another favorite of mine is a custom Model 70 in .375 H&H, built by D'Arcy Echols & Co. of Millville, Utah. I used this rifle in B.C. for grizzly and black bear with my good friend and outfitter, the late Bob Fontana, and we actually managed to call in a fine silvertip boar with an elk calf call and I shot him at point-blank range with this .375. It's been a lucky gun in all respects for me.

Another real favorite is another Echols-built custom Model 70, this one in .416 Remington, that I used in SE Alaska with outfitter Jimmy Rosenbruch to take my best black bear to date. I'll also use this rifle when I hunt with the Rosenbruchs again for brown and black bear in 2006.

AD

I have hunted black bear but never gotten one, the last two years I had tags and took a little time away from being outsmarted by the deer to look around for a ba'r. I was carrying my Sears FN mauser in 270 Winchester with 130g Hornady Light Magnum ammo. I felt it would be fine for the not too big bears we get here. But I won't use it again this year, it is sans scope as it is my "truck" gun (although it doesn't spend much time in a truck).

My first choice for blacks out of the safe would be the 35 whelen improved loaded with 225 grain Northforks. If I were going for Browns I would take my 375 or my 458 Lott if it were done.

Red

For black bear and shots up to 100 yards (stand hunting, brushy areas-like PA.) I use a Marlin lever action in 45/70 and .50 Alsakan.
For spot and stalk where I could shoot farther than 100 yards -- .338 WM or 300 H+H.

For Grizz, Brown bears---.338 WM, 375 H+H or 458WM, which ever I am in the mood to use.

Gents,

My bear rifle is a Winchester M70 Classic, stainless, chambered in 416 Taylor. It wears a Leupold 2.5-8x VariX-III in QR rings with iron back up sights. My favorite bullet for this rifle is North Forks 370gr .416 softs.

Shot one 7ft black bear at 170 yards, and it dropped like a rock. Twitched a bit, but never tried to get up. Also made the back-up shot on a 7ft brown bear after it was hit with a 338 Win Mag. I'm sure it would have died after the first shot, but it stayed on it's feet and started towards the treeline. The 416 Taylor shot ended that nonsense.

I have killed six black bears with my Browning Composite Stainless Stalker in 338 Win Mag. I use Remington 225gr Core-Lokt bullets. The range of shots from 70-200 yards. When I chase coastal brownies, I will use my Winchester Model 70 SuperGrade in 375H&H.
Jeff in Texas

I have shot two black bears with a .338 using 210 gr NP and it knocked them dead fast. I have been lugging my .378 Wby around looking for a brown bear to shoot for a while now but I have not shot one yet...I use 260 and 300 NP, 250 and 300 gr SAF, and 300 gr X bullets in my 378. We will try again in September.

I've shot 2 Grizzlies with a 300 Weatherby. The first was shot at about 275 yards, 180 grain Nosler, and was dead at the shot with a busted shoulder and a broken back.

The second was shot with a different 300 Weatherby. This one was a bigger bear and required 2 shots.

I've since sold that rifle and now have what I consider to be the perfect Grizzly rifle. Winchester Model 70 Classic, SS, in 338 Win Mag. I prefer 250 grain Noslers, excellent expansion with complete penetration at any angle.

I'm hoping to go again in 2006. That will be my 4th Grizzly hunt. My last one was a great hunt but unsuccessful.

9.3x62, 285 grs roundnose bullet.
That one is going with me on my sheep scouting trips anyway. It never killed a bear, but I reckon it'll do in a pinch.

Frans

Whatever rifle I happen to have sitting in my lap when I come across a nice bear.

The only caliber I've ever used to kill a bear was a .338 using 200 grain ballistic tips (average 200 lb blackie), but anything from .243 on up will do for these relatively soft targets.

For the larger, browner species of ursus, I would think that a .338 with, say, Partitions, would be a good combination of accuracy, shootability, and power.

I've only been the once so far, but the SE AK boar I shot with my 7 mag did a sort of backflip at the shot, and that was that. My buddy who hosted me said that they're not tough to kill, provided the shot placement is proper. I tore his heart in two, so I guess that qualified.

Leighton

For Maine, NH, and Penn. where I hunt mainly deer it would be the same rifle I hunt deer with. Mostly it has been a M700 Classic in .350 Remington Magnum with 225 grain Nosler Petitions @ 2650 fps. That being said I did pick up a 600 Carbine last year and it just may replace the 700. If going up north for Brown Bear it would be the same gun but maybe an increase to a 250 grain bullet.
Distance really doesn't matter. If the shots were going to be long then the rifle would probably wear a 3.5-10 Shepherd. If short a 1.5-5 or 1.75-6 Leupold.

.358 Your post about using the 250 grain Speer is very interesting. I and my friend who is a very serious BB hunter may try them. Too bad no one will make a short light bolt gun in .358 Winchester. Would be the perfect BB rifle especially from a tree stand...Bob

I have killed black bear or seen black bear killed with a .270, 7RM, 300WSM 300 WM, 338 WM,30-06 and 375 H&H.

I have seem mybuddy nail a coastal grizzly with a 7RM with 160gr X bullets through both shoulders, and I backed him up with a 300gr NP from my 375 in the pelvis. Taht bear went NOWHERE.

The only real difference I have seen was witht he 375 H&H. It FLATTENED the 2 black bears, so quickly that I thought I had missed.

I don't think that a cartride that big is neccesary to hunt black bears, but they have ahabit of running away and dying in most objectionable spots. (Here in Coastal BC) So I really like the anchoring factor with a bigger gun, I suppose.

It's not neccesary, though. Any 30-06 with a good bullet will drop a grizzly. Just put it in the right place...

Funny that you said that about nobody making a short lite bolt gun in 358 win. Would be real good for bear and elk hunters. I'm going to get mine next week, Ruger ultra lite that was a .308 just being blued now. You would think that one of the big company's like Remington or ruger that make compact bolts would add one.I just tried remingtons new 673 and found that it was bulky and heavy. A model seven in the bigger cals. that they offer would be great for back country hunters.

Lots of different opinions, which is why I guess they make so many different calibers and types of bullets. Aren't any wrong responses here from what I've seen.

Hunted black bear last year in AK with my 7 MM Rem Mag chambered with Fed Premium 160 NP. Won't do that again.

Now I have a Ruger in 375 H&H chambering Fed Premium 300 grain TBBC. Will use this for ALL my bear (and larger) hunting. Brownies 05 in AK and Elk 05 in Idaho. As with any animal that is dangerous, it is very important to inflict trauma into the animal with the first shot. The bigger the caliber the more foregiving a less than perfectly placed shot is.

The better the ability of the shooter to place the bullet exactly where he wants it the smaller caliber of gun you can hunt with. If you could shoot the eyes of a bear at 200 yards, why wouldn't you hunt with a 270?

I even hunt, infrequently, whitetails with the 375 H&H dropping down to a 260 NP in Fed Premium. That really puts a hurtin on those whitetails.

bbruce,who did the work on your rifle ? I'm going to do the same soon as I can find an old bbl action at a decent price,I'm goingto make it a 22" bbl instead of the 20" I've been using. Unless I can come up with Rem classic in.350 rem mag.I had two of these and let them get away ! I get real stupid at times with gun trades.

The gunsmith that s converting my rifle is Lou Laberge in Charlot Vermont. Seem to be a real nice guy and comes recommended by 2 of my friends. I'll be able to comment more next week as I'll have the rifle back.

I have never had the opportunity to hunt brown/grizzly bears, but if I did, I would use my Sako 375 H&H. I do, however hunt black bear and for that I use my Sako 358 Win. with great results. Lou

>Hunted black bear last year in AK with my 7 MM >Rem Mag chambered with Fed Premium 160 NP. Won't >do that again.

Sniff, sniff...I smell a story. What gives?

Leighton

There is a story, but suffice to say way too long to write about. The shortened version is what I said about the more gun you have the more foregiving the shot placement can be. We had good blood and trailed my bear for over 2 hours, when it jumped the "waterfall" and headed into some really nasty cover, I said enough was enough. I am fully convinced that had I hit that bear with my 375 we would have found the bear. We are sure the bear died, however my lack of placement with the little 160 grain NP didn't inflict sufficient trauma to put him down. The 300 grain bullet I believe would have.

One thing about hunting bear in AK, it gets in your blood real fast and is almost addictive in nature. Bar none, hunting in AK is as good as it gets.

Uh oh. Hope you've got your asbestos suit handy.

Leighton

Have taken black bear with a .41Magnum Ruger several times around home in NW Montana as targets of opportunity. Have been approached closely in the Bob Marshall wilderness and up around Wapiti, Wyoming by grizzly when I had nothing but a handgun with me. The first time it was a .41Magnum. The second time it was a .475Linebaugh and I felt a little more confident. If I were to go looking for brown and grizzlies, I'd take my .411/.416Remington or Ruger in .416Rigby.

Losing a bear really sucks, but it does happen. As long as the tag was punched, and the hunt over, then no problem.

I've taken black bears with the 44 mag (300 gr. Nosler JHP), 243 Win (100 gr. Partition), 30-06 (180 gr. Trophy Bonded) and 450 Marlin (350 gr. Hornady). So long as the bullet went through the heart/lungs, none of them went further than 50 years. I do like the 450 Marlin for thick cover; it leaves a nice exit hole.

Pete