Good caliber for black bear hunting?

[church]

.460 rowland if legal. If not legal then .510 kodiak express.

 

[Hawkeye]

A friend just did that earlier this Spring. He took a 12 G shotgun and anchored a Black Bear with a Brenneke slug. I'd imagine a shotgun was not hard to get into Canada.

 

[flashpuppy]

Why not a .500 S&W with one o those huge 800gr bullets?

 

[Slawburger]

Marlin .444 would be a nice stablemate for the Marlin 45-70.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Years ago, my step-dad, on the advice of a real-life Canadian hunting guide, bought himself a Winchester '94 in .30-30 for his scheduled/booked guided black bear hunt.

Never got to GO hunting due to the guide quitting on him after he was already UP there...

But a .30-30 is plenty.

No need to go "over kill" on black bear. Generally speaking, they're not huge animals.

-J-

 

[armedindy]

since im assuming youre not likely to eat the bear...i say go as big as you can

 

[TAT7]

Ok, I'll be the practical one here.....depends on the landscape you are going to be hunting. If you are hunting open areas were longer shots can be had, then I would choose the 25-06 for its power, flat bullet trajectory (less bullet drop to worry about in the field, don't want to hurt hurt the bear), and weight savings. If closer then I would use something like a 358 hoosier, 458 socom, 12G, or the like.

 

[sempreobie]

I went on my black bear hunt in 97' in northern Ontario. I intended all along to use my bow and arrow, but took my 12 gauge just in case. After the 1st hunt, having the 12 gauge secured next to me, and not seeing any bears I decided I was comfortable enough to leave the firearm in the guide vehicle the 2nd day and just wear my Ka-Bar. This after seeing a medium sized bear run off while getting my gear in order at the drop zone. Within an hour, I saw a total of 5 bears at this location and the 5th one was the keeper. I was so glad I stuck with the archery, as it made the hunt much more exciting. Having said that, even with the danger aspect involved in this type of hunt (example seen here: Bear attempts smell attack on hunter - YouTube), my heart has never beat harder than when bow hunting big bucks.

PS, if I would have been allowed to have a hand gun with me, I definitely would have but that was not an option.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Keep in mind, OP, that depending on which province you're going to be in, they may have slightly different game laws.

Some I found for Alberta: no shotguns of greater than 10ga,

For big game: Nothing less than .23 caliber and no shotguns smaller than .410 bore., 5 rd mag capacity limit (would be 5+1 when hunting), etc.

General Regulations

 

[1911ly]

Man, you're on a 45-70 craze right now! lol.

Yeah. I need therapy.

 

[roadrunner681]

Yeah. I need therapy.

well of course you need more ammo!

 

[Ebrueckmann]

Ill look into the gun laws in each provence. We would be flying into Manitoba and they into Saskatchewan to do the actual hunting. Has anyone been way up north and know anything about the size of the bears? Sempreobie I would also love to take a big black gear with my bow. Do you remember what your draw weight was when you took the bear? I think mines currently set at ~60 lbs.

 

[sempreobie]

Ill look into the gun laws in each provence. We would be flying into Manitoba and they into Saskatchewan to do the actual hunting. Has anyone been way up north and know anything about the size of the bears? Sempreobie I would also love to take a big black gear with my bow. Do you remember what your draw weight was when you took the bear? I think mines currently set at ~60 lbs.

Not sure what size the bears are in that area. In northern Ontario, near Lake Abitibi, I was told a good size boar could weigh up to 350-400lbs in the fall and come out in the spring at around 150-250lbs. The draw weight was 70lbs.

 

[1911ly]

well of course you need more ammo!

I got 40 rounds I haven't even used yet! :-P

 

[1911ly]

I will ask Bobby where in Canada he got his bear and what size it was. And BTW bear is pretty good eating.

 

[.45 Dave]

A .30-30 is plenty for a black bear. But what is really important is shot placement! I would study some diagrams on the bears anatomy and where to hit it to put down before I ever tried going after a bear. I understand that they take getting shot personally and are very likely to ask you face to face just why you pulled the trigger if you don't take it down immediately.

 

[genehopkins]

If you put the bullet (or arrow) where it belongs it really doesn't take a large calibre to down the black bear. Hit him quarter away angle behind the front leg ( I use archery equipment) and aim for opposite front leg. I have taken 5 bear and they don't go far. But hit them wrong and they go forever, and many times don't die at all. Study the anatomy of a bear. National Bowhunter Education Foundatioon has nice material. NBEF.org

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Turnagain Arm trail closed after hiker kills charging bear | Anchorage | ADN.com

 

[loony1]

.458 Socom

 

[BuckCreek]

I recently found out that my father wants to take me on a black bear hunting trip in northern canada. He asked me to find him a marlin 45-70 for him to use on the trip which got me thinking about what new toy I want for the trip. Any ideas? I was thinking about building an AR with a .458 upper.

You would want to check to see if this would be legal there, but here is a link to an article about converting an AR to 450 Bushmaster using a Bushmaster upper. .450 Bushmaster Bear - AR Hunting - Outdoor Guide - Military.com Entertainment

He goes into detail on how effective the round was that hit the bear. Sounds like it would definitely do the job.