bear season starts next week and we hunt by doing drives through some REALLY nasty mountain laurel and rhododendron...hands and knees crawling type deals...

my only center fire suited for bear is my mauser in 3006 with a 3-9x40..its heavy and long and i really dont wanna be beating up a scope in that stuff...i could make a quick shot easily with it..but rather have the speed and compact size of my shotgun..its lighter, smaller, and faster handling...much more suited for driving and point blank range shooting when a bear takes out after i kick it in the butt...

im thinking of carrying my mossberg 590 12ga...

i can shot slugs out to 50yds pretty much point of aim with the bead...

but was wondering what you guys recommend for it for accuracy and stopping power...PA bears can run 100-800lbs...i need stopping power...and want accuracy so when i throw up the bead i know where that slugs going...

thoughts?? comments? anything? bad choice to take the 590?? 95% of my deer have been killed at 30 or so yards...id almost feel comfortable SITTING on drives with the 590 so long as i got an accurate load...

Best-shootings slugs I've used in my smoothbore have been Federal Tru-balls.

IMO brenekke slugs are a better choice than foster style slugs(rem. slugger etc) brennekkes are solid and use much harder lead than fosters which are shaped like a badmitten birdie(hollow inside) they flatten out into a lead donut and somtimes dont exit the deer.

I do best with Winchester foster slugs, the cheap ones that are $9 for 15 slugs at Walmart. I never had any penetration problems with them, all exited except for one. The one that didn't exit was shot at 75 yards and he was angling towards me. I broke his left shoulder, then the slug travelled the length of the body then broke the rear right femur and it stopped just under the skin of the right rear leg. After all that bone crushing the slug was still in one piece an it weighed over 90% of the original weight. I shot another at the same distance that was boadside. It broke both shoulders and the spine, before exiting. It continued on and passed through a 3-4" white birch then it made a hole in the dirt. We spent about 20 minutes digging but we never found it. Those slugs are plenty strong enough for bear, good luck hunting.

thanx guys! i appreciate it...

the more i think about it, the more i think im gunna pick up a few boxes and see what shoots well for me and then go buy a few boxes of it to hunt...

the rhododendron i'll be hunting in is literally like a jungle gym...well over your head..your honestly climbing through it, under it, over it, plus tree tops, hemlock stands, mountain laurel upto my waist or chest...shots will be close and quick...and i can just see the scope on my rifle getting knocked wayyyy off and me missing a bear due to it...

ive actually never fired slugs from my 590..but fired them through alot of other similarly setup shotguns and im REAL confident to 50yds...every one shot point of aim at 50yds no problem with a bead..i shot well with just a bead so that doesnt worry me...i think between the scope issue, and the fact that i can bring it up fast and make accurate shots makes this a no brainer when im pushing...

just talked to a buddy too that i'll be hunting with and he says we usually jump in the trucks after a drive and hit the next woods..so if im not pushing the next drive i can grab the rifle and go sit on my stump...

Dixie Slugs

I've tried every basic type of slug made out of my WW1300 smooth bore and I've only found one that actually could hit something with out to 100 yards and grouping nicely.. FEDERAL TRU-BALL, end of story...Gander had them on sale for about a buck and a half last week, guess how many 5 packs I bought.. YOUR RIGHT, all the store had in stock.. I've never found one that shoots better consistently the TRU-BALLS..and they hit really hard, harder then most and they recoil worse also........

pretty kick ass slugs but i believe theyre meant to be used in rifled barrels. if i ever gun hunt in nj again id like to try the strike 3's. (3 .68cal balls!)

awesome guys! thanx alot! sounds like i really need to shoot the truballs for sure...read a ton of good reviews on them online as well...

just gotta hope they shoot where my bead is pointed! thats my only worry is it not shooting point of aim...but i'll spend a couple bucks on a few boxes of slugs and see...i'll be shooting within the next few days...

i hope to find atleast tru-ball and KOs...

not real worried about anything over 50-75yds tops..if i get shooting with the slug gun, its likely to be point blank snap shootin at a bear a few feet away...

but heck, if i get something that shoots well at 50-75yds, i might even use it when im sitting on drives in thicker areas...i dont wanna sound like i'll be spraying and praying, but i wont hesitate to keep shootin till its down if i get a shot...i rather have the pump gun over the bolt action...just depends where i hunt..but i dont think i'll need a scoped rifle for many spots i'll be sitting...bear like cover...i plan to be sitting right in it or on the edge when im sitting on drives..im pretty good about strategically placing myself when i sit on drives..just gotta think about how a critter hat is being pushed is going to act...

i can just see the game warden lookin at me now when i got a m590 with speedfeed stock and side saddle in my hand....no way im filling the whole tube...thats just too much weight..probably carry 10rds..6 in the side saddle, in the stock..load the 6 from the side saddle and leave the 4 in the stock for the weight to reduce a little recoil for followups...that way when i grab the rifle on the next push my vest aint full of slugs and 3006 rounds..

just hope i find something that shoots where i aim...thats the big concern..but past expirience tells me the all should shoot more than adequetly close...

I might be taking the stoeger2000 stuffed w/ brenekke black magics, myself on opening day. I was scouting out a piece of overlooked public land, near my house this morning. I was walking down the path and noticed a patch of marsh thicket about an acre in size, only about 350yds from the parking area. I decided to walk around it to see if there was any good sign going in and out. when I got about 1/2 way around it, I heard some twigs snap and a HUGE black bear came lumbering out of the thicket about 30yds in front of me! I froze and he just stopped and looked at me, but I could see the sun was in his face and he didnt seem like he knew what I was, I yelled "get outta here bear" and waved my can of bear spray at him. he looked at me for another few seconds and slowly trotted away up the hill, stopping and looking back at me a couple times. I dont know why I didnt bring my bow w/ me if I did, Id be dragging a P&Y bear out of the woods right now. I emmediatly started looking for a good tree to hang my climber on opening day, saturday, and marked it on my GPS. I was gonna bring my 7-08 but now Im not sure