The Right Gun - Bear Hunting Tips
June 26th, 2008 at 9:48 pm (Bear Hunting Tips, Rifles)
I recently read an article on a hunting site (Chifuti Safaris) by Craig Boddington about the choice in rifle caliber for a given animal. He mentioned the desire for owning another rifle as one of the motivating factors in rifle selection. For example, if you were hunting cape buffalo and wanted a BIG gun like say a .500 Jeffrey, Mr Boddington’s thought was to get it. You might ever only shoot one shot at an animal from the big .500 but it would work well on the buffalo and it would be your gun and souvenir of a wonderful hunt.
What about big coastal black bears like the ones we’ll be seeing in September on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Which gun is best? Should you get a special gun for the job or just take the old ‘06?
I have my preferences and some experience. I don’t think bears are extremely hard to kill but they can be a nightmare to nail to the ground. Since bears can get lost in the thick undergrowth fast or turn hostil quickly I like big heavy bullets. Fast is pretty good but a 7mm or .280 remington, to me, is an elk gun. Elk never chew on you. I prefer the 30 caliber magnums or bigger.
Near Yakatat Alaska one fall my guide and I put eight .338 bullets in a big brown bear finally stopping him at 5-10 paces. Once that adrenaline gets going in a big bear, look out and keep shooting.
Some of the new short calibers are intriguing but I guess I’m still a .30 caliber magnum guy, for the big bears.
Micah, my daughter, shot a good black bear a few years ago and hit him fatal. However it was 4 shots later with him getting pretty close, that stopped him for good. She was using a .280 remington. That’s a great gun, just not beefy.
I’m glad there are lots of choices out there because I like being a gun owner. Hopefully this fall I can try out my .338 Winchester Magnum on a huge black bear. When I do I hope the guy next to me has an equally lethal weapon.
Joe Oldford said,
November 21, 2008 at 9:58 am
I read your article on the experience of hunting brown bears with a .338 Winchester Magnum. As stated, “After shooting eight times, the bear finally dropped”, I was curious on what type of ammunition was being used. I have heard, from numerous of sources, that a .338WM with the “right” bullet will put down cape buffalo with one round. This was stated by Jim Carmichael, a writer employed by Outdoor Life magazine, in an article on how he killed two cape buffalo with “two” shots. So, it can be done!