Choice for bear?
 

I currently own a 30/06 and an 8mm/06. I have been invited to go to Virginia next year and participate in a mixed hunt with deer and bear in the mix.
I have never taken a bear or even taken a shot at a bear. Those of you with bear-killing experience, and especially those of you familiar with Virgina bruins......I have a couple questions for you....
I assumed that my 8mm/06 would be potent enough medicine for the black bears in Virgina, but have been given an opportunity to buy the requisite accessories to turn my Savage 30/06 into a 35 Whelen (Adams & Bennett barrell, go-no-go gauges, wrench). The price is decent (around $150.00) but I'm thinking with good handloaded bullets my 8mm/06 is sufficient...
Your thoughts? Should I save my $$?

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Save your $$$ The 35Whelen would make an excellent bear rifle, but your 30-06 and/or your 8mm will also handle 'em.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

If i had an 8mm-06 loaded with 200 grain Nosler partitions i'd not be afraid to hunt and take any bear that walks the face of this earth!!! And i'm talking about black, brown or even Polar bears!!!

I've harvested a lot of big game with 8mm 200 NP's loaded to MV of 2,350 fps out of my 8x57jrs.

I feel the same way about the 30-06 with the same weight NP's!!! They really work well with good penetration!!!

Drilling Man

RE: Choice for bear?
 

30/06 and 180 noslers sound good to me. GOOD LUCK!

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Though i do have a hankering for the Whelen everyone is correct... the '06 will handle a blackbear without an issue... heck a 270 winchester or 280 remington won't have an issue... loaded with a good bullet taht will stay together and achieve adequate penetration and expansion...

Never have shot one with a rifle.... but i have taken one iwth my bow and hopefully will have the opportunity to once again this fall... i carry the Blackhawk in 45 Colt or the 12 ga for backup...

Jamie

RE: Choice for bear?
 

ALRIGHT a topic I can get into... My choice is BUD LIGHT with Coors Light closely in second.

Oh you said beArs? Sorry I mis-understood. ;) Anything that will kill a whitetail will kill a blackie under 400#s. A 180 30/06 will do anything a 8/06 will do, just stick with quality bullets. My pick would be the Federal Premium Vital Shok 180 Triple Shock Barnes, that things THE perfect load for the ol 06 if you ask me...
RA

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I appreciate and respect your replies. You are all saying what I felt, but without personal bear experience I wanted to defer to those who know. You do realize this makes it harder to build a case for the
Whelen though!! ;)

Keep you opinions and load preferences coming.
Thanks

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I recently did the switch barrel on my 112. It's not that hard. Either gun will do the job quite well. Look at it this way, do the Whelen and if you ever get the opportunity for something bigger your already set.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

The only bear I ever shot was an old boar that dropped like a bag of rocks with one hit from a .32 Special at 15 ft. Everything you've got will do better than that, but that bear wouldn't have been any deader in any shorter time.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I've killed four Virginia bears with my 338-06, like your 8mm-06 or a 35 Whelan it's probably more gun than is really needed. Most of the guys I hunt bears with use either a 30-06 or 308 with 180gr bullets. If you are hunting with hounds, which is very common, expect a close range shot.

Bears with a dressed weight of 300 lbs plus are becoming more common every year so use a good bullet like a partition regardless of the gun you pick.
The bottom line is take the gun you want to use because both will work very well.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I'd use the 8mm on bear and the .30-06 on deer.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Take whatever gun you have more confidence in between the 8mm and the 30-06. Either one would do the job,

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Hey popeye,

One time i lay in the grass and let a pretty good brown bear walk up to about 30 yards from me. He stopped and looked to one side as i put the cross hairs of my 338-06 on his left front shoulder and let a 275 grain Speer go!! He droped as the bullet angled from corner to corner and exited his right rear quarter.

Even with a broken shoulder he instantly was on his feet and turned to run straight away. My second shot hit just under his tail and went up into his back takeing out about a foot of back bone exiting out through the top on the hide!!! That anchored him permently!!!

Those 275 Speers are a pretty good bullet, too bad Speer quit makeing them!!! I pushed them 2,350 fps at the muzzle and found them to really penetrate well even on the biggest animials.

Anyway, i just thought i'd share that with you....

Drilling Man

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Any of the cartridges listed are way more then enough for any Black bear that walks this earth. Choose the rifle you like the best in this case.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I've been hunting deer/bear in Virginia for 20 years.... all these guys are totally on the mark. The 30-06 is all the gun you need... the 8mm-06 will work fine too!

I take either my 30-06 or 35 Whelen..... both are more than are necessary! Heck, I have a buddy that took a nice big bear (by Virginia standards) about 10 years ago with a 7X57 Mauser.

Good luck! Round about, where are you going?

RE: Choice for bear?
 

I've shot two bears in Idaho with a 30-06, 165 gr. Noslers. I have a couple of boxes of some Federal ammo loaded with those bullets so that's what I use. They were both one shot kills, one at about 75 yds. the other at around 140 yds.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Well you guy's are helping to a great degree..... Look's like I'll plan on taking my 8mm/06 for the main rifle with my 30/06 as my back-up second rifle.
For those of you with experience hunting in that region..(looks like there's a few of you) ...during November in Virginia (like from Nov 19th to the 30th) what other types of species besides deer and bear will I have available to me...just in case I need to pack along another weapon, like a shotgun. Are there turkeys? Bobcats?
Thanks for all replies...I really appreciate the experience here. Now I can drop a couple bucks on some boxes of premium bullets for reloading.
Keep your bear comments coming if you have any..
thanks
John

RE: Choice for bear?
 

8mm/06,

Go to the Virginia Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries website. Lots of good current info on species, limit and seasons. I think the website is address is www.dgif.virginia.gov Anyway, Virginia has a rather complicated sytem based on regions and indivual counties within a region as well as wether you are hunting public or private land. Please read carefully. National Forest lands(mountains) in Rockingham, Augusta, Shenadoah and Page counties are normally the best areas if tagging a bear is your top priority. Good Luck.

Almost forgot to mention that bear season using a rifle normally opens the Monday prior to Thanksgiving and runs thru December.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

DM,

I've never used anything heavier than 225gr Nosler in my 338-06 and that was when I was still experimenting with different loads. The last few years I've used 210gr Nosler's for everything. Something about those big bullets you just gotta love :D

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Your 30:06 is more than enough for bear. A quality 180 gr. or better bullet will drop a bear in his tracks.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

The 8mm-06 with a 200 grain partition!

RE: Choice for bear?
 

What you've got will work fine on black bears. Use a tough bullet so it can break bone and still deliver a killing blow down deep. Most bears you meet in the woods won't be any bigger than the deer but every now and then a big bruin will show up that will scare the heck out of you. Trust me there is a world of difference between a 150 pound bear and and a 350+ pound beast. It's when you meet one of the big ones that you really want the extra lead to counter big pile of mussle, tooth and claw coming your way.

RE: Choice for bear?
 

Myself personally would use either my 270win wint 150gr bullets or my 7.62X 54mm with my yellow tipped high ocktaine military surplus bullets, if these or my 44mag ruger don't work I could always borrow my brother's late father's (Vietnam sniper/gun smith) custom 7mm rem mag built on a sako action, a custom stock and a lathed barrel.