emsruss

Hey Folks, I am new to front end loaders and have learned so much just in the past 4 nites that I have been reading the message boards ! My wife thinks I have an internet girlfriend since I have been on the computer so much lately.Thanks for answering most of my questions before I even ask them.
I do have a question though, does anyone hunt Bear with a M/L ? I have a 45 and have some 460 grn bullets comming from No Excuses ( recomended by some of you) Will this will take a bear out ? Is this too large of a bullet for a cow elk ?[&:]Russ

Mark whiz

I don't think you CAN have too big of a bullet for larger game. The No Excuses ought to serve you well for deer & anything bigger than that.

Might be pretty rough on Varmints though.

cayugad

seeing you have a .45 caliber I would for sure go with the No Excuse bullets. I think the bigger the chunk of lead you can throw through them and do damage, the better the chance you have of getting your animal. Besides, these things shoot great out of my Black Diamond although mine is a .50 caliber.

kevin1

Anybody willing to hunt something that considers them a food item with a single shot gun has bigger ones that I'll ever have ! [&:]

Triple Se7en

I agree with Kevin! The only way I'd hunt bear is with a reliable, big-bore non-muzzleloader pistola" as a backup. As a matter of fact, where I hunt in the public forests of Northern Lower Michigan, I bring a backup even when deer hunting with my muzzleloader. I would not even trust a pack of hungry coyotes or accidently walking into an animal den or covering. I did this once with a porcupine... he chased me 1/2 way around the Huron National Forest. You don't want your body to meet a porcupine.... believe me!

UncleNorby

Give me a break. We aren't talking grizzlies are we? Plenty of folks hunt black bears with BP guns.

The only question I'd have is does your rifle stabilize that slug well enough? It's pretty long at .45 cal. and 460 grains. As long as it shoots well, more power to ya. On the elk question, It may be "too much" bullet if you have to shoot a ways, depending on the powder charge you can put behind that bullet. Just find out how much the bullet or your shoulder can stand, and see if you get acceptable trajectory for the distance you expect to shoot.

skeeter 7MM

When I first got my rem 50 cal inline I bought it in the winter, so when spring bear came that year I dropped my regular spring bear outfit - Martin Bow in lieu of my new toy. Loaded with 105 gr. of pyrodex, #10 cap and 240 gr Hornady XTP off to the woods I went. I ended up taking a 6 1/2 foot blackie at 40 yards through the lungs. On impact it bowled him and he scampered no more than 50 yards before I heard the tell tale sign - death moan. So IMO a BP is easily suited to handle black bears, with a well placed shot their is never a need for back up!

Hidden Hunter

Im with Uncle Norby. Black Bear's tend not to be Aggressive. I have Crawled on Hands and Knees, looking for a Bear, that Took TWo Shot's from another Hunter, from a 30-30. This Place was as Thick as Undiluted Cream of Mushroom Soup. The only way to Get through it, was Crawl. Anyway long Story short. I Crawled appox, 100-120 Yards, through this Mess, and Jumped the Severly Wouldnd Bear, at a Distrance of less than 40 Yards. He ran down into a Creek Bottom, and took to a Tree for Refuge. The Kid Got his Bear ! And I felt as Safe as a, Gopher in his Burrow. I dont think I would do this with the Canadian Blacks However. Your 460 NE , out of your .45, Should work Wonderfully. Ill be after them this year myself, with a NE 460, but out of a .50 Caliber, and No Back Up ! Mabey Im foolish, but ive never encountered a Angry Enough to Attack , YET!

cayugad

I live in black bear country. People who think black bear are not aggressive are very lucky they never met the wrong animal. I will admit the majority of bear you encounter will run off when they spot you. I have had a few close encounters myself, and they did run off. The trouble is there is always a chance this might not happen. Remember, a bear is a wild animal and there is no telling how that animal will react to you, especially if the animal is wounded.

I have no doubt that a muzzleloader will take a bear. I have hunted bear with muzzleloader although I was never lucky enough to find one that I wanted to test the theory of whether the muzzleloader would dispatch the animal. I will admit that when I hunted bear with the muzzleloader I also had a Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum with me.

I think the big thing with bear or any animal for that matter is shot placement. You have to make that first (and in most cases your only) count. It must be placed where it will do the deed as fast as possible.

RWeber

I can only go by the 400 or so I've taken cubs from and tagged, never seen any sign of aggression, young males are more aggressive towards a prey species like a small man, but again have never had a problem ever.

in the 32 years of shooting bears and taking other to them I have never found bears particularly hard to drop when shot int eh right place. I do have friends who run them and they tell other stories, I have to assume that a bear wound up and excited is harder to put down than a docile feeding one based on that info.

as far as the bullet, it is fine. shoot the bear forward of where you think you need to, most bear hunters shoot too far back. An accurate load is the most important element. If I listened to everyone that told me I couldn't kill a * fill in the blank* with my flintlock I'd still be game less.

I always tell people if I can kill it with a bow I can kill it with my flinter. plain and simple.