Hi!
What calibers and what bullets do you use for bear hunting?. I have heard that you have to use very hard premium bullets to get deep penetration..?
Here in sweden were I live in my "hunting team" were we hunt moose one man was lucky 2 years ago.. he got a bear.. a big brown bear the living weight was around 280kg. And he shot it in the spine with his .338win mag loaded with 250 grain torphy bonded bullets. And I can just say that the bear was fat.. I would not trust in a 6,5x55 or 308win to shot such a bear in the shoulder.
So please tell me your expirence of your bear hunts.. how penetration did you got? did the bear go far after being shot?
//Overkill

And sorry for my bad english!

Your English is just fine.

I used Trophy Bonded Bear Claws in my .338 Win Mag and have been very pleased with them. My bear was at a lasered 232 yards, hit behind the shoulder, spun around and ran less than ten yards. I also shot two blacktail deer (a left and a right at 50-75 yds) and they dropped in their tracks.

Shot you a PM as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Overkill from sweden:
Hi!
What calibers and what bullets do you use for bear hunting?. I have heard that you have to use very hard premium bullets to get deep penetration..?
Here in sweden were I live in my "hunting team" were we hunt moose one man was lucky 2 years ago.. he got a bear.. a big brown bear the living weight was around 280kg. And he shot it in the spine with his .338win mag loaded with 250 grain torphy bonded bullets. And I can just say that the bear was fat.. I would not trust in a 6,5x55 or 308win to shot such a bear in the shoulder.
So please tell me your expirence of your bear hunts.. how penetration did you got? did the bear go far after being shot?
//Overkill

The 250-grain Partition is the most widely used in Alaska for general hunting (moose, bear, etc). The 250-grain A-Frame is a tougher bullet that is more suited for hunting the bigger bears around. The 275-grain A-Frame should be even better when used within 200 yards.

I would prefer a 225-grain Barnes Triple-Shock to a 225-grain TBBC. The 250-grain Triple-Shock should be perfect for the big Alaska bears.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that most of these bullets are very tough, so pass-through on large game is more common than not. It means that you can't forget what's behind the animal before you pull the trigger.

oK.. So the nosler did got apart.. that it was i mean.. that you have to use a tough bullet.
If you shot a bear in the shoulder and hit the shoulder bone.. with a bad bullet (soft easy expanding bullet) it will not cause a fast kill.
And a high speed light weight soft bullet will be the "worst case" bulletfor big bears.
Please tell me more from your bear hunting stories bear hunters..

badger matt/ I am happy for you.. that you shot a bear. It is unusual here in sweden..!
//OK

My hunting buddies and me have had very good luck with the Nosler partitions in our 300 win mags. I have seen the 180gr partitions kill more big game than any other bullet. I am trying out the 180gr TSX this year because I think it might do better with bigger bears.

I like the Nosler partition 286gr in my 9.3x62, 270gr tsx and 300gr nosler in my 375 H&H, and 405gr kodiak bonded in my 45/70.

I shot 2 blackies with partitions (35whelen and a 300winny) both bullets came apart. dead is dead, I achieved what I was after. that being said the other bears I shot were with barnes x's. I'll stick with the barnes. I like seeing a good sized exit hole.

If they run off, a big hole bleeds pretty good.

For my 338 I use 225 grain x's, 30 cals I use 180gr x's and for the whelen will be 225gr x's.

The nosler is designed to come apart, it generally retains 60% of its original weight. The front part mushrooms and the core punches thru. I have found a few bullets in moose and they have all looked just like the pictures in the nosler advertisements. I also think the 180 tsx is probably a better choice for really deep penetration on the big bears.

overkill,

I favor many calibers but carry my 1895G quite often. As for shooting bears of which the Interior Grizz is greatly numbered I use Beartooths .460dia./425grn. WLNGC with 52grns. of H322.

Had one incident in a spring hunt when a great bear was so close I about stumbled on him stood up to me--shot him with those hardcast center of chest and dropped him. Exited out the spine and quite a large hole. Pretty exciting moment.

Have used my .375 RUM with Barnes 270's on Grizz and generally does not take more than two shots, of course the second is for the "possum" motive they have been known for.

I have some of those 30/240 Woodleighs that Phil Shoemaker gave me back in the spring but have not been able to take a bear with them yet. Using that bullet in a .30-338 and in the .30-06, have not heard anything of Phil by the way. Wonder how he is doing.

Have taken grizz even with my .30-30AI shooting the 170Partitions and 180grn hardcast too. Living the way I do enables me to not just carry what I want but able to do what most dream of or so it seems.

good day,

i like nosler partitions. kills critters dead, reliably.

Old-style Nosler Partition that were fisished on a screw machine. I find them extremely accurate and retains more weight than the new noslers. The last bullet I recovered from a Brown retained 228 grs of the 250 gr and had mushroomed perfectly.

In 27 years of guiding Brown Bear hunters I have both used or seen used virtually every bullet manufactured. I recommend Nosler Partitions, Trophy Bondeds, North Fork, Barnes X, Swifts, Woodleighs, the new Hornady Interbonds and Kodiaks (that are manufactured here in Alaska)
Bear hunting correctly and ethically done is a close range affair so heavy for caliber bullets are no handicap. I recommend hunters bring a .338 Win but anything from a 30-06 on up will get the job done. By the way the 240 gr Woodleigh 30 caliber bullets are wonderful and certainly up the performance of the 30-06 as a big bear rifle.

How far does the bears go after you shot them? Does they charge??
//Overkill

It depends on where you hit them. Lung shot bears typically travel less than 100 meters. they also don't usually charge when initially shot - although they can - but when cornered when wounded usually will.

With my bear I used Nosler Partition 200 gr and shot it in the heart. It was dead when it hit the ground.

I only use barnes triple shocks anymore. I load them for my .300 wsm and and reload the .270 grain triple shocks for my .375 ultra mag. They are SUPER accurate out of my ultra. Hole touching hole at 100 yards. I won't use anything else now after seeing how they perform. Used them in Africa last summer and in AK, and they are flawless.

Just got back from Alaska days ago. Shot a brown bear and a black bear, both large.
I used a 375 H&H and the 300 grain Swift A-Frame.
Two shots into the black bear at 100 yards and one bullet recovered.
Three shots into the Brown bear at 40 yards and one bullet recovered.

I also seen a large brown shot with a .338 win mag and a 275 Swift A-Frame.

I seen several bear black and brown shot with a 416 Rigby and the 410 grain Woodleigh Soft Nose. Devastating to say the least. It crumbles bears and no, none were spine shot, and all stoped in their tracks, albiet pissed off...spinning and biting but not running.

I'm a big fan of the Swift A-Frames after seeing the huge exit wounds on my brown bear from this spring.

Overkill
Failsafes are [My experience] the best bullet I've used..Grizz,Sheep,Elk,Stags,Panzer Tanks..
AK

I took my Brown Bear with a 200 grain Nosler Partition, great results from a .300 Winny, a one shot kill head-on with the Bear standing facing me. If I were going tomorrow I would have a North Fork heavy for caliber bullet in the rifle I would be packing and at the moment it would be the 270 grainer from one of my .358 STA's. Good shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by akrange:
Panzer Tanks..
AK

OK I call BS on that one.

I'd go with Barnes X or Swift A-Frames. I've used both in my .375 H&H with good results.Triple Shocks are damn accurate.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray:
It means that you can't forget what's behind the animal before you pull the trigger.

That is the rule no matter what!

It is also seldom a problem in the wilds of Alaska.
Also, unless it's a late spring hunt and they are breeding, (or fighting) I can virtually guarantee that if there are two bears close enough together, that a bullet passing through might hit another, neither one is a trophy boar.
I personally prefer using bullets that normally give complete penetration because if I need to take a less than ideal shot I can get the bullet into the vitals. Also, two holes - especially exit holes - bleed more than one.

i just got back from the Kampchatka peninsula, and used an 06 with a 200 gn nosler, at about 2750 fps, hit my bear behind the shoulder from a pretty acute angle as it was facing away from me. it took 2 ribs out, making about a 4 inch hole , took out a large chunck of the left lobe of the liver ...about the size of my fist, into the lungs, make a fair hole in the middle lobe of the left lung and exited through the left shoulder blade....not bad for a bullet that fragments!!!!! bear went 50 m and was dead when we got to him
phil...have you shot anything with those 240 gn woodleighs
daniel