Hello everyone, I plan on going on my first black bear hunt this fall and was wondering what would be a good bear gun and what type of bullet would be best. I use a 7mm-08 for deer hunting but wouldn't mind getting a new gun just for bears. < a man can never have to many guns> . Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

BP

I'd think a .35 Whelen would do nicely for blackies if you wanted to be a little different. Of course, if you wanted to be plain, the 30-06 would work too (Ihave both )

I have killed several blackies. And just about any rifle with a well placed shot will do. With your rifle the heavier the bullet the better. However, I shot a six footer last year with my Rem. 6mm at 55 yds. And he dropped in his tracks. When I go back to alaska I am going to buy a Marlin 444. Or something similar to that. You know what they say, Bigger is Better. And you didn't mention, but if you are hunting with a guide some of them require a minimum caliber. So check with them. Hope your season goes well. If there are any other questions I can help you with just give me a shout.

45-70. Marlin

.30-06

30-06 does the job nice, but if you get the 30-06, you don't need anything else, which is sad.

If you wanted to do something cool, get the Remington 673 in .350 Remington Magnum, that would be cool.

it may be a cool rifle, but buying ammo will be a pain. you can buy .30-06 ammo anywhere.

Your 7mm-08 oughta work just great.

But... if you have to have another rifle (), I'll be the killjoy & bring up the dubious science of caliber spacing. A .30-'06 would be a superb choice, but it's not all that much different than your current setup. Maybe check out the .35 Whelen, as KonaBoy suggested, or .358 Win., or .338-'06, or .338 Federal, or... something bigger than .30 cal.

Naturally, there's always .338 Win Mag, but that's lots more than you'd need for blackies, & you're looking at substantially more recoil, muzzle blast, & ammo expense. Then again, none of the calibers I mentioned above would be exactly "cheap" on the ammo expense scale, owing to their less thanwidespread popularity.

Another thing to consider is range: the calibers above would be good 200-ish yard cartridges (generally speaking, folks!). So, if you want a "reach way out there" setup, then you'll likely be looking at a magnum of some kind if you're going with a larger diameter bullet.

Good Luck,

FC

I have taken people out here in Maine for year. All of the above work just great. Howeb am a huge fan of .50 cal muzzleloaders. They make a big hole and people know they have one shot, make it count. Sometime haveing big guns gives a hunter a false sense, and then rush shots thinking that any shot with a big gun will do the trick. As many of you know bears have a smaller kill zone than deer and it sits more forward than a deer. Nothing beats a well placd shot. I would rather see a hunter with a 30-30 that puts one one the button, than a poor shot with a cannon.

my advice is make a big hole and make it count.

Thank you for all of the replies as I really appreciate them. I know my 7mm 08 would be good enough but for some reason I like useing differant rifles for differant game. <crazy I know but this way I make sure all my guns get used each year >.
So with that being said I use my .257 roberts for yotes, .243 for doe season, 7mm 08 for bucks, and a .204 for pest smaller than yotes.
For a bear gun I have thought about afew of guns. A marlin .444 < i need a lever gun > a 12 ga with a rifled slug barrel, and maybe even a .260 remington though that may be a little on the light side. I know I will never shoot over 50 to 75 yards at the most in the areas I will be hunting in.

BP