Situation: Hunting deer or elk in big bear country, or hunting bear. Using a 300WinMag.

Question: Would it make sense to have a Woodleigh type roundnose solid at the bottom of the magazine?

For the deer/elk hunting I'd probably be using 180gr Partititions and maybe a 200 or 220gr Partition for the bear. But if things got ugly, would that last solid improve my chances to save my ass?

If you did not kill the charging beast with the first three or 4 partitions, the solid would probably never be fired, and you would be SOL.

Having never been charged by a bear, I have no first hand experience. I give my opinion freely, and it is probably worth what you paid for it.

cwilson

Chances are you would never get to use it. Two or three shots, MAYBE, are all you are going to get. Lawdog

I'm unfamiliar with the recommended procedure of self-defense. Would it be better to have a few solids in a buttstock ammo carrier instead of at the bottom of the mag? I'm just thinking about the chance that I get too close to a big hungry bear while deer/elk/moose hunting. I'm not asking about a charge scenario, since at that point I'll be shooting whatever I happen to have.

I can just see myself making eye contact and wishing for max firepower. At that point, in those tense moments before the bear decides to approach or even charge, would slipping a solid into the chamber make a difference?

Naw a good soft point well do just fine. I rather have the shocking power the the soild.

The only time a solid would be benificial on soft skinned NA game would be a wounded animal going directly away from you...but it is mostly illegal to use solids on game in the USA....

The solid is better suited for Cape Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant...thats where it shines.

IMO you are better off using whatever bullet you went to hunt with.

First off-a altercation with a bear IMO is gonna be a one or two round fight at most--there will not be time to be switching ammo.

Secondly-to stop a bruin in a DO or DIE situation calls for a spine or brain shot-and IMO the majority of the bullets out there for deer and elk will work just fine in such a situation.

Lastly in terms of using a solid,IMO again, I feel that the bullets out there that most use for elk will penetrate just fine should one be in the position to shoot at a bruin that is going away. And that would obviously be after you had already gotten a round into said bruin first and right b4 he was about to chomp your butt!

I do a fair bit of guiding between Montana to Mexico-I spend quite a bit of time looking at bears here in Montana. On most years I'll look at between 50-70 of them. Two years ago in the spring I had a bruin (blackie) come at me in very thick brush from 9'--one shot from a .25/06 just under the chin ended that potential scrap in a hurry. To me a fight with a bruin is about shot placement and not about firepower or solid bullets.

Just my thoughts-----good question though.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

Gonzo
Just use a 180 or 200gr. Nosler Partition. A Nosler Partition in the proper caliber and weight is never a wrong choice, and in truth it just might be the best choice. Good expansion, close or far, and up close the front of the bullet might "blow off" but the rear portion penetrates very deep. The only Nosler Partitions I have recovered have been ones shot onto the front of an animal facing me, or my wife. In those cases the bullet was recovered in the rear ham.

Never met an elk yet that I would tussle a grizzly over. Stay smart and follow the rules for bear country. An ounce of prevention will do you as well as any bullet in your magazine. Watch your horse...he will let you know about bear long before you will see or hear them. my $.02

swede

Quite frequently here in Wyoming we read of hunters who are charged and only get off one hurried shot. Often it is a "shoot from the hip" type of shot too.

A friend of mine hunting over on Pacific creek a few years ago dumped a 375 H&H into a bear which charged from 75 yards. The bear was zig-zaging between trees and my friend could not get off a aimed shot until the bear was 12 feet away. The shot was a killing shot. It entered between the shoulder and the neck and went into the bottom of the lungs and the top of the heart.

The bear hit him like a linebacker and knocked him into a downfall which he slid along, scraping his face. The bear backed off and as my friend rolled over he tried to chamber another round in the 375. The bear came at him again and bit him through the shoulder, shook him violently causing him to drop the rifle, and flipped him over the log like a doll. Then the hunter drew a 44mag. The bear then slapped him with its right paw across the face. Thank God the bear had broken his middle claw as that part of the paw went right across his eyes. The other claws cut to the skull. The bear began to walk away and my friend noticed when he looked at the bear he could see the bear but also could see his crotch. His one eye had been popped out of its socket. The bear left him alone, wandered off and later died.

Other members of the hunting party had heard the shot and came to his rescue. The horses would have nothing to do with him so they took him to an open meadow, one hunter rode out to a cabin they owned and called the hospital in Jackson for a medivac.

My friend has recovered fairly well but still has problems with his eyes tearing constantly.

But then, we also hear of one shot instant kills on bears but typically they are fewer in number that stories like the one above.

I don't know about the regulations anywhere else, but where I'm from, which happens to be Colorado it is illegal to use a solid for big game. The regs specifically state the ammo must be expanding bullets. With that said, I've never had a game warden check the bullets I was carrying.

Mac