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Black Bear Hunting Gun?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 67409
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JRT said:
I stand corrected. I always thought they were bricks.
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I have the 'original' wood stocked, blued finish 16" bbl model. It really is a nice, handy, do-it-all rifle. Currently has open sights, but I've got a 2-7x long eye relief 'scout scope' for it, and have also tried a red-dot sight, and traditional 4-16x variable scope mounted over the receiver. Shot it off-hand, from bags, and from sling swivel-mounted bipod. I think it's a very versatile gun. YMMV. If anyone gets one, immediately find some of the polymer 3, 5, and 10-round mags. The steel ten rounder that comes with it is fugly and clunky.
 
Your going to be chasing after dogs up mountainsides and swamps, crashing into all sorts of shit. With dogs, the shooting should be relatively close and controlled once the bear is treed.

Any good 30 caliber deer gun would do with heavier bullets, I'd lean towards a larger bore, 35 rem, or up to including the Marlin big bore 45-70 levers, like the Guide gun, and SBL someone posted, or new Henry X or Marlin Black guns which seem perfect for this sort of thing.

I'd choose lighter weight, short barrel, durable and open sights if I was dog hunting.

Bait hunting Ruger makes a Predator model in .308 with an 18 inch barrel, its cheap (paid like 320 on Grabagun for mine) , light and tough. and you'll just need a very moderately priced optic because bait shots are close in as well. I put a new 100 dollar Vortex Diamondback on mine that I got from KTP for half price. It's like 6.5 pounds, shoots MOA and quickly became the rifle I pick up all the time to hunt deer with.
 
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When I went a couple years ago, I took my 12 ga with slugs and also carried a .357 revolver. The dog trainer carried a trapper model 30-30 Winchester in a scabbard strapped to his back so he could move quick through the woods. That year they got a couple with the 30-30. Last year they shot a big one with the 30-30 It fell out of the tree wounded and started to attack the dogs before running off. I would go with .44 mag or 45-70
 
grey said:
Where I grew up in Pa, no one had any special bear guns as said above. Same as the deer gun. 30.06, .308, .270, some .35 rem were the standards. There were a few .44 revolver hunters but not many. Not that slugs wouldn't work and probably work very well but no one used them since it's not a shotgun only state
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My neighbor does bear every year. He has many rifles, but uses a rifled barrel 12 gauge for bear. He gets one almost every year. He used to use his 30-30 but got the rifled slug 870 just for bear. It’s all about beater guns for the woods!

I know nothing of bear hunting but I would recommend a suppressed 300 blackout SBR, just because, ear drums matter.
 
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StevieP said:
I have the 'original' wood stocked, blued finish 16" bbl model. It really is a nice, handy, do-it-all rifle. Currently has open sights, but I've got a 2-7x long eye relief 'scout scope' for it, and have also tried a red-dot sight, and traditional 4-16x variable scope mounted over the receiver. Shot it off-hand, from bags, and from sling swivel-mounted bipod. I think it's a very versatile gun. YMMV. If anyone gets one, immediately find some of the polymer 3, 5, and 10-round mags. The steel ten rounder that comes with it is fugly and clunky.
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I’m a huge scout rifle fan. I have 2 Steyr Scout rifles. One in the Jeff Cooper configuration and one with a scope over the ejector. I love those rifles. Mostly I love the whole scout concept.
 
I've got 2 bears with a .50 cal muzzleloader using 300 grain .45 sabot over 100 grains of powder. Just wait for the right shot.
 
BlackwaterFence said:
When I went a couple years ago, I took my 12 ga with slugs and also carried a .357 revolver. The dog trainer carried a trapper model 30-30 Winchester in a scabbard strapped to his back so he could move quick through the woods. That year they got a couple with the 30-30. Last year they shot a big one with the 30-30 It fell out of the tree wounded and started to attack the dogs before running off. I would go with .44 mag or 45-70
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What did you dislike about the slug gun when you went? My comfort level with a shotgun is like 9/10, but 0/10 with lever action.
 
C. Stockwell said:
What did you dislike about the slug gun when you went? My comfort level with a shotgun is like 9/10, but 0/10 with lever action.
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If you can run a shotgun, you can run a lever gun! Try one, they’re fun!! I grew up with my dad making me watch old westerns.....cowboys and Indians! Nothing more American than a lever gun....well I guess an AR....
 
C. Stockwell said:
Also, NH's hunting abstract is very wide open: a gun bigger than .22LR and .410 or a bow or a crossbow. Semi auto rifles are limited to five rounds:

http://www.eregulations.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/19NHHD_LR3.pdf
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A .308 or 12ga is good as long as its legal in NH which it sounds like it is. If i were using a pistol im sort of torn between 10mm/.44/.357 depending on practical circumstance; if you already have another gun in one of those calibers just use that. It will be fine. Probably.
 
robjax said:
Marlin Model 1895SBL chambered in .45-70 Government should work....


Marlin-Model-1895SBL-jurassic-world



www.armoryblog.com

Marlin 1895 Lever Action From Jurassic World | Armory Blog

What gun did Chris Pratt use in Jurassic World you ask?
www.armoryblog.com www.armoryblog.com
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My first CF rifle was a Marlin "Zane Gray Century" in .45/70. Got it at age 14 and foolishly sold it just before I went into the military.
 
308rifleman said:
My first CF rifle was a Marlin "Zane Gray Century" in .45/70. Got it at age 14 and foolishly sold it just before I went into the military.
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ouch. I want to get one of these... The only lever gun I have is a Win 94AE in 30/30. May parents gave that to me for Christmas in the 1980s. Not a bad gift. But this would be a good second lever gun. It should make some noise at the range.
 
PATRON said:
I know that,but what kind of sport is it.The dogs find the bear keep at bay while you shoot it.
You might as well give the dogs a gun,and let them shoot it for you.
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Down south dogs tree raccoons and squirrels as a common practice for hunting those animals. No big deal.

Imo.....it's no different than a pointer holding a grouse while you move up and get ready......then the pointer flushes it for you. Sure they bird has a "chance" if you miss but the difference imo is negligable.

Use of dogs to hunt bear is a sticky subject for Maine hunters. They had a ballot box initiative up there a few years ago to ban dogs and bait for bear. Some facts .....beer hunters not using bait or dogs have a single digit success rate.....way less than 10% success if you don't use bait or dogs. The Maine biologists came out against that initiative.......because they wanted hunter success rate to be higher for the population control.

Just some facts/thoughts.
 
NorthShore said:
I thought the same thing but was invited on a hunt and went not knowing what to expect but a week away and some good laughs. I traveled to the Selsway/BitterRoot National Forest in Idaho.

First off... for context, this is a remote wilderness hunt and it’s like stepping in to a time machine as you only have what you bring.

The dogs, which were all hounds just take off. They pick up a scent and gone. The guide has a transmitter that he follows. I hiked up and down mountains all friggen day long 6a-6p. The bears only stay in a tree for a while, rest and then run again. It’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Did I get a bear - nope. Did the dogs tree one for me - yes. It was too small but more importantly I was too exhausted to haul the meat all the way back to camp.

The next two days I sat on bait waiting for bear. I had a few opportunities but let them pass. I knew what I was looking for and wasn’t going to bag a 70lb juvenile.

I had the best time but chasing dogs isn’t easy and IMO a young mans game. I have done my fair share of hiking and field humping in the Army but chasing dogs is completely different.
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Hunting bears with dogs is no different than hunting raccoon or squirrel with dogs.....a common practice in the south.
 
whacko said:
Down south dogs tree raccoons and squirrels as a common practice for hunting those animals. No big deal.

Imo.....it's no different than a pointer holding a grouse while you move up and get ready......then the pointer flushes it for you. Sure they bird has a "chance" if you miss but the difference imo is negligable.

Use of dogs to hunt bear is a sticky subject for Maine hunters. They had a ballot box initiative up there a few years ago to ban dogs and bait for bear. Some facts .....beer hunters not using bait or dogs have a single digit success rate.....way less than 10% success if you don't use bait or dogs. The Maine biologists came out against that initiative.......because they wanted hunter success rate to be higher for the population control.

Just some facts/thoughts.
Click to expand...

If your hunting for BEER requires dogs and bait, you are looking in the wrong places buddy. [cheers]
 
xjma99 said:
My neighbor does bear every year. He has many rifles, but uses a rifled barrel 12 gauge for bear. He gets one almost every year. He used to use his 30-30 but got the rifled slug 870 just for bear. It’s all about beater guns for the woods!

I know nothing of bear hunting but I would recommend a suppressed 300 blackout SBR, just because, ear drums matter.
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Been hunting a long long time. Have my hearing tested at work every year. No hearing loss detected. I never wear ear pro when hunting.

Was in the driver's seat of a hmmwv in Iraq in 2003......another pax fired a few shots with his m4 from inside the vehicle. My ears rang for about 24 hours. No hearing loss. Also spent a few crazy minutes firing an m2 back then......no ear pro of course .....same thing......ears rang for a day.....I have tinnitus (permanent ringing) now but no detectable hearing loss.

My point.....firing a shot when hunting is not going to automatically cause hearing loss. If it did there would millions of hunters running around with hearing aids.
 

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