I' ve been fortunate enough to kill several bears before, but with a 30-30, 30-06, 44 mag, and 45-70. I was just looking for a new deer rifle for hunting over fields, and was going to look at a 243. I know it is enough for deer, but sometimes I see bears, and was wondering if it could handle them as well. It sounds like a 120 gr. SP would be just fine out to 150 yds.

As for neck shots, yes they do work, but be sure to use a large caliber when doing so. You' ll need to hit the spine for an immediate kill, and if you happen to hit the jugulars, then the bigger the hole, the better. A list of acceptable callibers for shooting a bear in the neck would include 44 Mag, 444 Marlin, 45-70 Govt., 50 cal muzzleloader.

Oh, and thanks for the info. about the 243 guys.