Nice bear.......Great rifle, in THE classic caliber, for medium game. Grant.

I have used the 140g Swift A-frame on game up to a big Yukon moose. No problems. I thought better of shooting a big grizzly close to nasty cover though. I would not hesitate to use the .270 on anything but Brown Bear if you can wait for the right shot.

upper limit? Moose less than 200 yards with 150 or 160 Partition.

I have 3.

I have only hunted in Africa but have shot Eland all the way down to Duiker with the 270 and had no problems, make sure of your shot and you will get your buck.

Flip

SHUMBA, yep, that's a nice 'lope and good shot! I know all about those 'lopes up there in Lassen County. I and my partner were drawn (after many years applying) in 1981. Lassen County Unit Four, at that time. Don't know how the boundaries are drawn now, but we hunted north and east of Ravendale and Madeline, out to the Nevada line.

I killed a nice 14 inch buck, with wide "diggers" and will take a couple of digital pictures of the mount. My shot with my .280 Remington (my favorite caliber), was 215 yards +/-, paced over nearly flat land, and my only cover was some short sage grass. Crawled through it to get within range of a small herd, hoping all the time a rattlesnake wouldn't hit me on the nose.

Looks as if we've hunted some of the same spots. Flying B Ranch is a good outfit, too, although I haven't hunted there. Know a couple people who have and endorsed it.

Good luck. L.W.

Leanwolf,

I was hunting just North/West of Tehachapi, CA on the opening day of deer season 2002. It is about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles and east of Bakersfield. I think it is Zone D14. I was on a Wilderness Unlimited ranch which is a membership deal that you can join to get access to private ranches.

It was mid-afternoon and I was hiking in to a spot where I had spotted deer earlier in the morning. I was moving pretty quietly/carefully when I spotted movement up ahead and a bit downhill from me. As soon as I spotted the bear, he took another step and stopped. I think he smelled me. When he stopped, he was totally obscured by a tree branch halfway between us and I could not see him at all! I knew where he was and I waited. He took a cautious step or two forward and I shot him in the chest. He kind of went crazy swatting at the wound and he turned broadside. Thats when I put shot #2 thru the lungs and he fell over. He let out a roar and put his head down. I walked up to him and he was dead. Both bullets exited. It was a hell of a lot of work getting (dragging) him close enough to an old road that I could get me jeep to. Great hunt though.

That is why I always buy the California Bear Tag (about $20.00) when I go hunting.

Tim

Shumba, thanks for the info and the story. I know just about where you were hunting, give or take a few miles. I lived in Los Angeles for 36 years, and from 1969 through 1998, owned a vacation home up in a very small resort area called Panorama Heights, north of Posey, surrounded by the Sequoia Nat'l. Forest. Hunted deer and bear all over the Sierra, and surrounding areas. Northern and north eastern Calif., too.

I, too, always carried a bear tag. I remember when they were $1.00 each. I killed my first bear, a 250 pounder with my .280 Rem., north of the Eel River, in Shasta County. I was deer hunting, as you, and saw this Blackie about 90 yards out, feeding on some Manzanita berries. He went down with one shot, 160 grains Nosler Partition, through and through.

The second Blackie was shot on a guided hunt in Tulare County, treed by the outfitter's dogs. Killed him at about 20 yards with my S&W 57 .41 Magnum. 210 grains Sierra JHP, my handload.

There were, when we moved from Calif. in 1997, certainly a whole lot of bears there. I hear there still are. We had them in our tiny community, and I had friends up at Camp Nelson whose cabins were raided by Black bears. What a mess they made!

Good hunting. L.W.

LW,

If you have hunted North Eastern California, maybe you have spotted a couple of these.



I drew an antelope tag this year for Lassen Period 2. I shot this 14.5" antelope about a 40 minute drive up Hwy 395 from Susanville. It was a great hunt and my dad (in the photo) came along with me.

I had to shoot this guy from 310 yards (lasered) away due to the fact that there was almost ZERO cover. I inserted a small red arrow to indicated where I was when I took the shot. We got into those lava rocks, the only cover, just before the sun came over the horizon. Shot this antelope about 45 minutes later.

By the way, a couple of years back, I hunted the middle fork of the Salmon River out of the Flying B Ranch. Took a nice 6x6 bull on my first day and a decent black bear on my 2nd day. The bear was barely 200 lbs. but had a great coat. I usually visit the ranch about each year in June. Idaho has some beautiful country.

Tim

bigchast1:
My "go to" rifle for sheep & caribou is my Ruger .270 Win. Although I understand a lot of people use 130 gr. bullets, I prefer 150's. In the past, I've always used Partitions but I've had such good accuracy with Northforks in my .338 that I'm thinking of trying them in the .270.
Personally, I'd say your .270 would be good on animals up to & including moose (maybe under 150 - 200 yds. for them)and well placed. A friend of mine has shot several grizzlies with his but I'd really prefer something heavier for grizzlies and definitely would not use it on Browns. You should have little problem on blacks. Also, in my experience, the largest powered scope you should need for big game would be a 2-7x variable. I can't see the need for anything larger but that's me.

Assuming you'll reload, I found Rldr-22 to be the most accurate powder. I just couldn't get the consistancy with the more commonly used powders such as the 4831's and 4350's. At any rate, that's it in a nutshell & hope some of this will be useful to you. Good luck, Bear in Fairbanks

My best friend has been using the same .270 probably the last 25 years. He's taken a moose and several elk, many deer, and a few antelope. The bears are where I'd be hesitant for sure! I'm not a big fan of it for even elk and moose but for bears unless it's a black bear I'd go big.