In Aug me and a buddy are going Black Bear hunting again. I would like a big bear. I'll be using my 338 RUM shooting 210 Nosler Partitions.

We'll be up in Ontario about half way up. Up were the big ones are at. What do you think?

I think that you will do well with that caliber as it is more than adaquate. Also, take some pics to post here, and tell us how it went.

I think you are very well armed!

I like the cartridge but why wouldn't you use a 250gr bullet instead of the 210gr? The bigger 250gr bullet(s) will have superior sectional density and ballistic coefficient.

I usually prefer to gut and skin my bears, after I shoot them.
Grizz

When I had my 338 RUM it preferred the 210 partition to the heavier bullets. I would use the 210. Its still a partition!

Ontario has a August bear hunt?

Starts August 15th for us here.

Good to hear! At least you get to start early, to somewhat make up for the lost spring season BS...

Ours runs Sept 1-end of November or so..

Thank you Grizzly. When I read that, I thought I was probably the only person who'd think that choice was a bit of overkill. Bears in CENTRAL Ontario don't tend to be that big, at least not where I'm used to hunting (Cochrane). Sometimes you get one in the 400-500 category but most are smaller. Last year, a late frost destroyed the blueberry crop and we had SKINNY ASSED bears when we hunted opening day in August. I took a Marlin .35 Remington, but ended up using a .45-70 Marlin Guide Gun which proved to be almost a "field dresser" as well. A couple years back I took my .300 Win Mag and shot a 325 pounder quartering away. The shot was behind the show shoulder and right through the off shoulder. I could've put a volleyball inside the hole that off side had when the shoulder and blade were extracted by the bullet.

Bears are thin skinned animals and if, like me, you want to break them down, your choice will certainly break them down. If you're comfortable shooting it and like the round, then dead is dead regardless. I'd just caution you on the damage possible with that big a round.

......I can think of only one round that would be as completely useful for all big game hunting around the world , That is the 358 STA ......
I say he is perfectly armed , because hunting isn,t about always using a new toy , but rather using the best tool that you enjoy using ... And doing good work with it ...

People laugh about me hunting deer with a 416 or 458 , .but I can shoot them as well as I shoot anything .....And when the chips fall down I,m not worried about my shooting because I,m totally familiar with my rifle ...

I have a barrel that I took off a long action that I am still trying to decide on wether to have it bored to 338 for the 338 RUM or 358 for the 358 STA ????? ZAPPERS with major up close smash ...

Well, George is right about bears not getting too big, 400 to 450 is normal in the Canadian Shield in my experience.

But bears are unpredictable creatures, so I would always go for something that will work when the sh!t hits the fan. I normally reach for a .300 or a .338, I don't mind the recoil all that much and they hit like the hammer of Thor on them bears. I've done it with a .303 and 7mm-08, but I just plain like the bigger boomers more.

In the RUM, I'd prefer 250gr bullets for general usage, but I've used the 210gr as well in a .338 Win that worked just fine and offered a better trajectory. Hunting in Shield areas one can find themselves standing on a ledge 400 yards away from their trophy, so I think it's generally better to overgun than undergun.

There's a thread on the African forum in which Ray Atkinson says he's never seen any difference between the terminal performance of the 210gr Nosler versus the 250gr Nosler.

For years I split the difference and used 225gr Noslers. Recently I went to the 250gr Nosler Part, but I have made another switch and it's to the 250gr Hornady IL.

Reason I've gone to the Hornady is I do not think there will be a hill-of-beans difference between it and the Nosler and it's a fraction of the cost. A box of 100 Hornadys is $45 while the Noslers cost the same for a box of 50.

So my thinking is the 250gr Hornady IL is the way to go.

overkill? Naw. Bears are fun to hunt and fun to shoot, So use whatever turns you on. I've killed bears with everythign from the 30-30 to 375 Ruger and everything in between, and am currently using a 223 with 53gr TSX bullets...

But I gotta say, nothing slaps them as hard (that I have seen) as a 375 ...H&H or 375 Ruger . I've never shot one with a 458, though.

Use what you like, and if you have a pet 338 RUM, and want to try it out, then go for it. just don't lose your ammo.

It's not unusual that I speak before thinking so thanks to you guys, I'll just have to eat a bit of crow. As an alien hunter, I'm with an outfitter hunting over bait at less than 50 yards. We never hunt clearcuts or berry patches, so a saddle gun is OK for that. Still, If I hunted like you guys are speaking, the .338RemMag we had with us last year would have been up front. I wouldn't think of shooting at anything over 100 yards with that .45-70 and like some of you stated, I don't mind the thump of a good long range rifle.

Capstick always wrote about shooting rockchucks with a .375 H&H. Now in a T-shirt, that's a bit sporty for me, but I'd still use the .300 Mag because, as these guys say, I'm comfortable with it and I know where the crosshairs cross -long distance is the next best thing to being there.

No need to eat crow, I've used the Guide Gun in .45-70 for bears over baits, it's about perfect for that style of hunting, where shots are more like 100 feet instead of 100 yards. Hits like a truck. I'm just used to hunting the rocky open terrain as I know it better than the backwoods, I've been hiking the open areas for years. The shield region is pretty much my favorite part of the world, to be honest

What is the Canadian Shield area ?????

gumboot458 the Canadian Shield is a vast area of granite/bedrock that extends all across the top of Canada from the NW Territories (Nunavut), it ranges on a sort of diagonal line to the SE. The NE corner of Alberta, the top of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and then damn near half of Ontario and Qubec are covered by this unique geographic structure. The rock in the Canadian Shield has been aged as the oldest sedimentary rock in N.A. (perhaps the world?).

If you ever see video of the NWT or northern Quebec, where the caribou are moving across rolling hills of scoured rock, stunted pine and lichen, then you are seeing the Canadian Shield. All of the exposed rock has been gouged be glaciers in the past.

It continues right across to Labrador. The island of Newfoundland is pretty much all exactly the same type of structure. It is called "the Rock"...

quote:

Originally posted by Gatehouse:
Ontario has a August bear hunt?

Yes Ontario has a Aug. bear hunt. It goes til the end of Sept I think.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatehouse:
But I gotta say, nothing slaps them as hard (that I have seen) as a 375 ...H&H or 375 Ruger . I've never shot one with a 458, though.

Guess you've never seen one hit with a 375 Rem Ultra Mag then because the difference in performance is unbelievably mind boggling.

You can't even begin to compare the difference it is so great.