When in Newfoundland a few years ago, one of the guys in camp shot a 400+ black bear. Broadsided 200 yards away thru both lungs, 300Winmag. That thing the guide said, was pulling himself in the black spruce. Well, they lost it. Some guides I see there won't go after a Black bear until days have passed. Well, they started smelling it. It made its way 200 yards into the black spruce. Thats a tough animal.

Boy I think I have heard it all ...one of the easiest animals to kill in the woods with hundred's of thousands shot prior to the magnum craze with 30/30's and all sorts of woods cartridges and now all of a sudden a 243 won't do the trick. If I were packing a 243 and hunting deer and happened to have a black bear tag...I wouldn't waste a nanosecond ..put the bullet where it needs to go and he drops dead simple as that. That said I would use a well built bullet and that would apply to the deer also. More than enough energy and velocity to do one in on the cartridge side...

Well, you may be right oldelk, I can't say I have ever killed one. Just didn't get that message while up in newfoundland from the guides.

BC the newfie bears are probably tougher and from reports I have heard are quite a bit larger then your average black bear you would find on the continental US with some exceptions. They are a relatively easy animal to bring down giving up the ghost quickly... A careful shot and you shouldn't worry about a thing.. After skinning one and seeing their exposed muscles you will be in awe just muscle upon muscle.

DM, how can you say that you killed a 500 lb. bear with the .243 in one sentence, and then say it's not good enough for large deer in the next?
I'm not a bear hunter, so I don't know for sure, but I had a friend that killed a couple of large blackies and he said they were tough kills even with a 7MM mag.
I do think that the .243/6MM's are excellent for whitetails though!

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A 243 will kill a bear but I don't think anyone would consider it an ideal bear rifle. Killing a bear while deer hunting is different than deliberately hunting bear. IMO if you're serious about bear hunting then a larger caliber is need. I strongly believe that when hunting bears a 308 cal rifle is minimum. Bear hunting with hounds or over bait gives you a close range shot. I would rather have a 30-30 or 35Rem than a 243. Spot and Stalk hunting requires something with a little more range, like a 308 or 30-06. I usually still hunt bears and sometimes hunt them behind hounds. When I do, I use a 338-06 or a 308. I'm not saying that a hundred other rounds won't kill bears but I know what I feel comfortable with.

"If", you read my WHOLE post, i told you EXACTLY how!!! Here it is again!!!

"In my opinion the 6mm's are too small for big deer and the bears because there's no margin for error. I'd choose something a little bigger if possible."

BTW, i've also shot quite a few deer with my .243 win, and my opinion "stands" on why i feel something a little bigger would be better!!!

Drilling Man

I say you should buy a 30-06 and downgrade your 243 to be your varmit gun. good luck!

I couldn`t agree more.Then you could hunt every big game animal in the states.