Originally Posted by mrbb

well sorry to hear of the new hardships, they can happen to any of us,

I will add this, a .243 can surely kill a bear if you still wanted to use what you have, just pick a good heavy solid bullet known to work on bears and well, since hunting over bait, odds are you will have plenty of time to make a GOOD shot

JUST SAYING, not telling you to use it if your not confident in it!

and again, NO one says you have to SHOOT anything when hunting, you can always go out and enjoy the time a field and use it as gaining experience!
I hunted bears for years knowing I wouldn;t shoot one(and I had many times had bears in front of me and let them walk)
got a lot of clack from hunting buddies for doing this, but I just had NO intention or desire at the time to shoot one, but I did highly enjoy being out there and helping them get there bears!
and I know many of my friends over the yrs have given me credit for getting them on bears, and cannot tell you how many I helped get out of the woods once dead too(that part I DON"T miss HAHA)

so, just cause you don't have the RIGHT gun, doesn't mean you cannot still enjoy the hunt, and time a field and gaining e experience, as IN hunting season, animals patterns change and get altered as pressure starts up, so being OUT there IN hunting season, gets you experience on seeing WHO hunts where, and what and how the animals react to the NEW presence of hunters, and this can ONLY be learned while being out there IN hunting season
JUST again, be safe, and know the laws, MOST states require a LEGAL hunting lic and TAG if your carrying a weapon or HELPING others par take in the hunt
I hope your issue get's resolves sooner than later I can all too well understand things like this that pop up and add strain to a already stressful life

I will also add, that as hunting season gets closer, most ALL large hunting stores start to run some GREAT specials and sales on hunting rifles, many can be had with a scope and all for about 30 bucks in many GREAT larger calibers than your .243, if that is what you want! JUST saying, NOT telling to spend past your budget!!