A lot of folks say bears are easy to kill, even with small calibers, as long as shot placement is good. BUT....shot placement on a bear is tricky. They look like a black blob, at all angles. Ask a guide, a lot of bears have been shot "behind the shoulder" but are actually hit too far back. Also, the difference between a small bear and a HUGE bear could be 800 pounds. I would rather have enough gun for the biggest bear I could possibly see than have an adequate gun for the smallest.