Guns and ammo for bear

Great tip! Thanks Nick

I use a .30.30 with the cheapest bullets I can buy found out the hard way when this weekend my bear I shot got a way on me. I have taken bears in the past with no problems until now and do not like the feeling. Just wondering what kind of guns and ammo the rest of you guys use

I would think at such a close range, I am assuming <40 yards, anything slow and heavy would do. A 30-30 should be plenty really. I have a friend who uses a .45-70, which is quite large, and in my opinion excessive at times. Although, its hard to have too much for bear. As soft skinned/boned as they are, they don’t go down terrible easy either.
Since you asked for a gun/ammo, I would use a 12 gauge with a red dot and some heavy duty slugs. I shoot a 12 with federal barnes expanders at 100+ on deer with no issues.

The two guys I bear hunt with use .45.70 they knock them dead the one my cousin shot this week fell 5 yards from the bait station

I believe it. I forgot to mention that I shot a black bear in Alaska with a .270 WIN, nothing fancy at all. It was a very large bear, but didn’t make it 30 yards. I’m not going to beat this to death, but we all know the importance of shot placement. Bear are one of those animals where it is difficult to “pick a spot” behind their shoulders because of their dark color. Mix that with low light conditions, and you have a wounded bear. Before my hunt I was told to aim high on the shoulder, just below the back. This is all just my opinion and I have only shot one bear, but that is exactly what I experienced.

Bears are not tough to kill like a whitetail. You just need to wait for the leg closest to you, to be foward and aim for the opposite leg. When i shoot em with my bow they dont go farther then 30 yards

If you are worried about hitting that front should any high powered 30 cal rifle will work

I shot my bear a few weeks back with a 12ga slug…bear ran 15yds and folded.

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I shot my bear with a 12ga slug…

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X2!!!

Make a big hole!!! Some bear guides I know won’t take archery guys… Most of the bear guys I know say at close range why anything else… Shot placement always paramount and with a bear a lot of extra fat can plug a hole making tracking interesting… Just sayin’…

Mark

Rage 2 blade.

I saw first hand what the Rage 2 blade will do. One shot was mediocre got one lung and nicked the heart. Bear went 100 yeards. The 2nd shot was perfect, bear went 13 yards. I’m a believer!

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I believe it. I forgot to mention that I shot a black bear in Alaska with a .270 WIN, nothing fancy at all. It was a very large bear, but didn’t make it 30 yards. I’m not going to beat this to death, but we all know the importance of shot placement. Bear are one of those animals where it is difficult to “pick a spot” behind their shoulders because of their dark color. Mix that with low light conditions, and you have a wounded bear. Before my hunt I was told to aim high on the shoulder, just below the back. This is all just my opinion and I have only shot one bear, but that is exactly what I experienced.

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Regarding the higher shot, this is exactly what I experienced, but mostly because I was 16 feet up in a tree. With that shot angle at close range, you need to drive down through both lungs by being a bit high.

That’s actually not a bow-stand for Jonny, as most of his bow-only stands are much shorter, thus giving the hunter a better angle at the bears vitals; much of which are covered at steep angles by that armor-plated shoulder blade.

As for broadhead vs. bullet, I think bullets just give you a bit more room for error with low-light as Hook mentioned.

Joel

The quartering away shot for archery is a very good option for bear.
In the low light it is tough to tell when a bear reaches forward with that close shoulder. When you hit the shoulder blade with archery equipment you have a wounded bear……….. Not good. At the very best you will get 1 lung and that is a very bad deal.
Most ladderstands put the seat at 15 feet up and 15 yards away from a bait brings the shoulder into play.
Now you bring that bear in at a slight quartering away angle and you get the chance to take out both lungs and the heart. It gives you lots of arrow penetration and destruction. However you may not end up with a exit wound. If you hit the quartering away shot you catch both lungs and can hit the far shoulder but you get no exit wound. Thus the importance of paying attention to detail as the bear leaves the scene.
If you can lower the shot angle from a ladderstand you improve the broadside shot. Even low poundage bows can get pass thru’s on a bear if they hit just below the shoulder or the shoulder blade is moved forward.
The ease of setup with ladder stands is a huge advantage. It would be really easy to cut 2 or 3 feet off the ladder to improve the shot angle.
I was lucky enough to hunt with an experienced bear hunter via archery this season and his bait was setup for the quartering away shot. He uses a double ladder stand on the bait and the shot angles work out best for the quartering away shot. That is his preffered shot.
Here is some evidence to it’s effectiveness.

I was a very lucky guy to get the opportunity to take such a magical animal.

#253 lbs dressed – nice boar.
Good luck to all the bear hunters still hard at it. You have got to love the cooler weather that has moved in.

Steve

Congrats Steve! Nice bear, and it looks like a great shot. Great words of wisdom in that post as well!

Joel

Thanks Joel.

Nice Bear