muzzleloard for black bear

[brownhaired monarch]

how do you guys feel about using a 50 cal muzzleloader for black bear at a bait station 25 yard shot. any suggestions will be appreciated, thank you.

[sabotloader]

brownhaired monarch

how do you guys feel about using a 50 cal muzzleloader for black bear at a bait station 25 yard shot. any suggestions will be appreciated

I know several people here in Idaho that use 50 cal ML on black bear pretty regularly. Most of them are using a 300 grain or heavier bullet. If you can use copper clad bullets- I would say a Nosler partition or a Barnes would do a heck of a job. personally,I would use a 260 grain Nosler Partition without hesitation at the range you are suggesting.

Just my thoughts....

[frontier gander]

If it were me, i'd use my .54 flintlock

300+ grain bullet should do the job. I know Roger Raglin likes using a 400+ grain conical when he used to shoot blackpowder. I think its worth the extra bullet to put it down right in the spot.

[Gotbuck]

You lucky dog. I have always wanted to try that. What type of gun are you using? At 25 yds you will have no problem. I shoot the 250gr Shockwaves with 100gr of Pyro and have great results out to 100 yds. You can use any type of bullet, the bigger the better just read your manual on loading and projectile type and you can't go wrong. I haveread guys shooting bear are using big conicals with 80gr of loose powder. Let us know if you score. Where are you hunting at? In the winter or spring? I would love to get to New Brunswick someday as this is the mother load on black bear hunting. Good luck.

[sabotloader]

brownhaired monarch

FG is right about one thing - if you are using a sidehammer percusion shooting patched round balls - go the 54 cal route

If you are shooting conicals - get some 460 grain Bull Shops

[cayugad]

I know a person that hunts them over baits with a .50 caliber loaded with a roundball. He claims he waits until they stretch that front leg forward, tucks that ball right through both lungs, they run off, lay down, moan a little and expire. He is kind of a old nut case, but he is a good bear hunter. Whether I would recommend that, I do not know. I am sure it would kill the animal if the ball was placed right, but you are not using a lot of stopping power. What kind of .50 caliber rifle you have? I am sure a good load can be suggested.

I hunted bearwith a .54 caliber loaded with 90 grains of Goex 2f and a roundball for a couple days and then hunted them with a .54 caliber and some 300 grain R.E.A.L. conicals a few days. I also used a .62 caliber smoothbore with a roundball one afternoon. I do want to say, with a muzzleloader I never found the bear I wanted. I had one very large one that was my target bear and I think that big boar was coming in after dark. One afternoon/evening walking out, I could hear some good grunting behind me. That really makes you pucker a little... Knowing the bear was close and waited for you to leave.

One day while ina ground blind, I had a sow and cub come in that got me a little nervous because momma was eating and one of the cubs walked right up to the blind. All I could think of was if he spots me and lets out a howl, it could get real exciting quick. Even though sows are protected, I was ready to rock and roll with the Renegade. I also carried a Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum revolver with me.

A fellow this year took one with a .50 caliber loaded with a250 grain Shockwave and 100 grains of Pyrodex RS. It died on the bait pile and never took a step. He was seven feet up in a tree stand. The bear was 25 yards out on bait. He said he touched the trigger, and when the smoke cleared it lay there. It only went 220 pounds field dressed but was sure a pretty animal.

So now that I beat around the bush like I normally do, yes.. a .50 caliber muzzleloader is more then able to take a black bear over bait.

[greatplains]

I'm sure a .50 cal bullet of most any type at 25 yards placed right will dispatch a black bear effectively. I don't know that they are any tougher than any other big game of similar size. Just the fact they havecanine teeth and claws that makes it different from our perspective.

I hunted them with a muzzleloader a few years ago here in CO, ended up in thick oak brush patch about 20 yards from a cinammon colored bear feeding on acorns. I'd see his paws reach up and pull down the oak brush to get the acorns and could hear him chomping away, and wouldget aview of his (her?) head once in a while. Huge adrenaline rush at first, then it drug on for probably 10 minutes or so andI settled down enoughto probably have made asteady shot. The game ended with us eye to eye at about 15 yards, at which point hevanished instantly, no time for a shot. Didn't need to shoot at that point anyway, plenty of thrillshad been had.

I was using a .54 cal with great plains bullets, had no worriesaboutdroppinga bear if I did my part. Good luck!

[Ridge Runner]

I've been in on harvesting alot of bears, and I'll tell ya, they can't take a good hit nearly as well as a deer, so any deer load will dispatch ole blackie at that range.
RR

[brownhaired monarch]

Thanks for the info. It willbe of lots of help...accually my 13 year old son is the one who has the kill tag for norther Wisconsin. He had a choic between a 243 short mag and a in-line 50 cal. omega muzzleloader with 348 grain bullets and a 100 grains of powder. I figured that this would work good for bear because when we use a muzzleloader for whitetails...it puts a nice hole in them...with 245 grain bullets.

Thanks again

[lemoyne]

I have taken two, one of them was over 600# both with PRB 54 cal. 120 gr RS they only went 30 yds [approxmate] two with bow [most fun] 7 with HP rifle. Would like to take one with pistole some day.
I have two suggestions for you , #1 is to get a vitals drawing and study it the vitals are located a bit different than a deer,# 2 the SW or Speer gold dot through both lungs, as to weight the 300 is hard to beat if your gun likes to shoot it accurate; Placement of the shot is the most important. Check this out. Lee
http://www.theidahosportsman.com/bear%20anatomy.pdf