Originally Posted by
Oldtimr
You should be able to kill a bear with iron sights and 50 to 60 yards easily, unless you have a problem with your eyes. I have never heard of a bear charging a person who shot it, bear charges are generally because a person walked up on a bear and surprised it. I would leave the bow at home, most archery bears, not all but most are killed over bait where the distance can be controlled and having a bear at 50 yards is not a difficult shot whereas with a bow, it is an iffy shot and since you seem a bit afraid of bears from your post, I would stick to the rifle sans the scope if you can't afford a new one. You can also check around at gun shops for a used scope, they can be had for low prices.
Thanks for your answer. That's what I thought. I mean I know people have done the whole black bear hunt with bow and arrow without baiting, but it seems like quite a long stretch, and too much of a challenge for a first timer. With my current bow setup I would be limited to 30 yards. 40 yards maybe, 50 yards would be a lucky shot for me. I'll get out with the rifle to the range and get some practice with the iron sights. I used to hunt squirrels with iron sights (headshots) for the extra challenge, but of course that was a .22. I have to go and check how I do with the bigger gun.
I am not necessarily "afraid" of black bears. I am just not even used to seeing them much. I've only seen black bears twice, 3 years ago while camping, and they were very far. Also this past turkey season I had an extremely close encounter with a large black bear very early around 4 AM, he was about just 15-20 yards away from me, and was as surprised to see me as I was. Ran away when I yelled at him, but it did leave a little fear on me.
Should I try hunting from a stand? or would spot and stalk would be more productive?