The best place to shoot a black bear is: #1 under the arm when raised, #2 thru the shoulder.
#3 Thru the heart. #4 Where is the heart is it under the shoulder or down some. #5 Thru his lungs. When he is faceing you: #1 thru the heart and brake his spine. #2 Thru one lung. #3 Don't shoot. ????What do you guys think. Are these good places to shoot a bear?

jro45

Most black bears shot on stand are shot in quite poor light. A black bear has a very poorly defined shoulder and leg area (where they meet -particularly in big bears) because of the fur, of course, and also because a bear rarely gives you a clear picture of where to aim. The chest shot is not usually a good area because the chest slopes away sharply (and with his head down, he is hiding some of it) A Mohawk Indian guide in New Brunswick gave me what proved to be the best aiming advice. A bear's shoulder "bulges". You will see it. (It's what makes a truly big bear look like John Wayne as he comes along, that shoulder swinging walk) If a shot on the point of the shoulder is available, fine. Otherwise hold behind the shoulder - but make sure to hold fairly high behind the shoulder. Then you will get the lungs even if the heart is missed. BTW, bears don't take a bullet that well. I've seen deer go better after a hit. There are two schools of thought about what to do after a bear is hit (just like for deer) and runs off. Stay put and let him stop running and "freeze up" or go after him immediately. If you follow the latter idea - just remember that he is a bear and you don't want to suddenly run into him in near darkness. It really can spoil your day!

I need to study some bear anatomy...

Thanks gerry375.Sounds like good information. But suppose the only shot you get is a standing faceing you shot. I'll be shooting a powerful rifle. The 300 RUM.

jro45

If he is facing you he will be bound to lift his head every few seconds and then a chest shot is fine - holding high.( frankly, you may not get a fully facing shot very often because he will be bound to see your movement as you bring up the rifle. he doesn't have the eyesight of an eagle but he sees a heck of a lot better than most people suppose. (On stand and in poor light I always waited until he turned his head away even for side shots as most of mine were.

The 300 RUM will be more than enough. This is a soft skinned animal.(My own rifle was a 7mm Mauser using a 164 gr. bullet. The loads were made up for me by a reloading service of Hornady) I had a guide tell me once that it was his impression that the 300 Win. Mag "zipped through"- meaning that not enough shock was generated. That's pure second hand info and I don't stand behind it but thought you might want to know. The comments of others who have used the 300 Win. Mag and similar might be helpful here. A lot of blacks are shot with 30-30s, 35 Rem. In Canada where I hunted bear the locals almost invariably swore by the 303 -and used it on moose regularly - a lot bigger animal. Your 300 RUM will be more than ample - even on those huge Manitoba blacks. (Out there they consider a 300 lb black to be almost only half grown! 400-500 lb blacks are quite usual apparently. In Eastern Ontario, a 300lb black is a very respectable bear. In my own state of NY, a 300 lb black would be almost regarded as a "monster". Since I belong to the "break bones" school of big game hunting, I would think that a shoulder shot with your 300 RUM should almost certainly mean that you can start making out the game tag! Good Luck to you where ever you go.

I´ll be using a 8x60S with a 220gr bullet. I haven´t decided on a bullet yet but sounds like a soft one would be good. I looked at my retrieved bullets "collection" last night and found I had the best expansion with Hornadays soft points -and this in three calibers: .444 Marlin, .375 H&H and 30-06.

Then a shoulder shot it is. Thanks gerry375. Im from N.Y. but live in DE. a long time.

I have been in on many bear kills as both the hunter and to help other people take their bears.We generally use heart,lung shots but we have shot bears facing us.In that situation,I aim for where the throat meets the chest.

jro45:

Just checked in and see where Stubblejumper who is from Alberta Province (Can)advises you to shoot in a face on shot where throat joins chest. This tells me he is giving you good advice and knows about black bears. (Hold high) (They have some pretty big bears in Alberta -which is not exactly a nice suburb of Toronto! (THat joke is for Stubblejumper!)

It is very important if you are hunting on stand to get rid of any idea that you are shooting "fish in a barrel". You will have to be like a statue and move very cautiously when the bear appears-if he does. (BTW,I assume that any "stand" hunting will be done while you are on the ground with your back to a tree. (Tree stands are beneath my contempt) You can jump up and put in a second shot -and walk up some distance even if the bear isn't in sight. Remember he's a bear with claws and teeth! So don't chase him too far into the dark! Get the hounds to find him. Hopefully, you will drop him on the spot! Good Hunting!

I have shot quite a few black bears in the last few years (got 2 this year). It seems to me that most of the bears I shot with the 30-06 180 grainers that if I didn't hit them in the shoulder and break some big bones they almost all ran off. This year my buddy did a perfect double lunger on a black bear with a 7mm weatherby 160 grain partition it went behind the shoulder through both lungs and out the other side. That bear took off like a rocket it ran for at least 70 yards before piling up. Then about an hour later I hammered one with my .338 shooting 250 partitions in the shoulder and you would have thought that I shot that on with a rocket. I know it's comparing apples to oranges for gun type on that occasion but just a couple of examples for yah.

Schmaus

Cewe:

You mentioned three of the most favorite calibers that this now retired hunter carried! (I would add a fourth - the 7mm Mauser but that's neither here nor there)

I inclined to the 444 Marlin in later years of bear hunting. I hasten to say that I never shot a bear with the 444 Marlin. However I leaned to it for a reason I heard about in deer hunting before I was 18. (and I'm 75 today) "The bigger the bullet hole, the bigger the blood trail". I never bought it as a teenager using a 30-06 with 180 gr, bullets but as I got older I did see the usefulness of giving the trailing hounds some real blood to follow! Blame poorer marksmanship on my part but the 444 Marlin is a pretty big bullet! The 30-06 is a caliber of my youth and military service and I think it's great! But stand hunting for black bear is often in very bad light and the 30-06, if it doesn't kill then and there (without hitting bones) may go through with very little of a blood hole. The 375 H&H was my rifle in Africa for my one and only trip there -and dropped a Cape buffalo at about 35 yards who was dead on his feet. I mean it. How good the 375 H&H might be on a thin skinned animal like a black bear I just don't know. I heard a Canadian guide remark that it was his impression that a 300 Win. Mag. simply "zipped through"a bear. He meant that there was no hydrostatic shock built up by the bullet if it didn't hit bones. I have no idea whether he was right. I do know that blacks are commonly killed by 30-30s and 35 Rem. -to take two examples of slow moving bullets. If you are going to hunt by spot and stalk, I might use the 30-06. ( Perhaps a long shot?) If on stand, I would go with the 444 Marlin. (Those big cartridges will give you a feeling of comfort when the sun begins to go down!)

I actually sold my .444 because I could never learn to work the lever well enough, I shortstroked it every third shot which was annoying. I´ve killed a lot of game with the 30-06 but needed a new toy and bought a .375 H&H. At the moment I´m very pleased with my 9.3x62 and my 6,5x55 -great calibers. I have a .416 Rigby that I´ve used once on plains game in SA (haven´t done any DG yet -maybe in -07?). The 8x60S is quite similar to the 30-06 and should be good on bear and elk size game.

I think I pretty much found the guns I like now but the .375 has been gathering dust this season so I might trade it off. I just don´t like having guns sitting around not working!

Trading guns is part of this hobby, the only one I really regret selling was a .222 Rem Mag, a nice Sako that had awsome accuracy! Never shot any game with it though so out it went...would have been great for roe deer which are now becoming common around where I live.

Thanks for the info

Cewe:

A man's choice of guns is always his own. I do wonder if you decided to get rid of the 444 because you practiced "rapid" lever action movement on a rifle range. The lever action requires a steady, deliberate movement (to crank in the next round) It isn't a very good rapid fire weapon. I think it works better than a bolt action so far as not losing a sight picture in working the action. Neither can match a semi-auto for rapid fire. I come of an old school - Make the first shot be the killing shot. The second shot is only"insurance". Just my thoughts.

Gerry: You probably have a point there -I might have seen to many Westerns. One problem was working the action, quite another problem was that the gun was very small in size and I´m quite big. If they made a lever action in XXXL it would suit me better. Killed some dear with it but just never made friends with it.

The first shot should be the only shot but every now and then one needs that second shot...on bad days even a third shot.

Merry Christmas!

Cewe:

Merry Christmas to and to yours!

Gerry,

Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year!

All thru the house not a creature was creapen not even a mouse It was the night before
christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

JRO45:

And, of course, to the guy who started this thread - A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Cewe:

What! You missed not only a first shot -but also a second shot? And you have the audacity to stand there and say you also have missed a third shot? Of course, I, being a real experienced hunter never had that experience! ( My father (and I was born in 1930) despised my using a pump shotgun on birds. He felt that if the bird survived two shots from me -that it deserved to get away)

Gerry: I never said I missed the third shot! And I didn´t say that it was a Texas heart shot either -running but the distance wasn´t far.

A friend taught me to cycle a bolt quickly and the teaching stuck.

AND -a Happy New Year!

I guess the topic has been beat to death but for my two bits worth I like to try and hit both shoulder blades if possible. A bear facing you should be hit dead centre of chest.A cannon is not required for black bear. The 300 RUM is way too much gun. The old '06 is perfect. Cheers and Happy Holidays