Black Bear Loads
 

I am going on a black bear hunt this spring. The hunt will be a week-long guided adventure via boat in Prince William Sound, Alaska. I have never hunted black bears before, so I am pretty excited about it.

I have a Remington 700 that was rebarreled in .338-06 several years ago, and I have worked up several loads for this rifle using 200gr Balistic Tips and 250gr Grand Slams. Both loads will group under an inch at 200 yards. I am also planning to work up a load using Nosler's 225 grain Accubond bullet. Of the three .338 caliber bullets I've chosen, I think the the two heavier bullets would be a better choice for black bear.

But I am curious, does anyone have experience using the .338cal. 200 BT's on large game? Do they hold together well, or are they rather explosive like many of the smaller caliber Balistic Tips?


Second Question:
I have a 30-06 that I am planning to take along as a back-up gun. In the past, my 30-06 has been used for deer hunting with 165gr bullets, so I would like to work up some bear loads using 180-200gr bullets. I am thinking about trying the Barnes 180gr X-Bullet and the Nosler 200gr Accubond. Does anyone have any good 30-06 loads using these bullets? Any other .30 caliber bullets/loads you'd recommend for black bear?

Thanks,
Dan

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

30cal 170gr NP

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

You mean you aint gonna use a magnum! Some a" these guys think you shouldn't shoot a barn rat without a 300 xmx(er) something, ha-ha! But laying all jokes aside , most of the bonded bullets, barns, failsafes and nosler partitions, should work great. Just don't use light for caliber bullets in what ever you choose.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

54 gr of Imr 4350 with a 180 gr partition work well in my 06. This should be a great load for bear. It completely knocked over a 200 lb boar on a full run for me.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

There are a lot of good bullets for bear hunting with these calibers: Speer Grand Slam, Trophy Bonded, Partitions, Accubonds, Sciroccos, Swift A-Frames, and Barnes X - probably forgot a few others. Ballistic Tips and Gamekings, however,would be at the bottom of my list for this application.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

I'd go for the 225gr AccuBond if it was me, going by the choices you listed.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

If i was you, i'd work up one load for each gun and stick with it! Doing so will let you learn where that gun/load shoots and you will be a better game shot with it.

For Alaska, in my .338-06 i settled on 250 Nosler pattitions, and in my 30-06's, my one load for everything is the 200 Nosler partition. The .338/250 Gran Slams i used broke up on heavy bone, and for me that's unaceptable so i quit them. Perhaps they are better these days, but i have no reason to experiment with them (again) as the NP's are the finest all around bullet ever devised!!!

I used these guns and loads all over Alaska includeing Prince William Sound, (includeing for bear) and that's what i'd use today too.

Drilling Man

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

I agree. The Partition just works. Best bullet design out there. There are some other good choices but if my gun shoots Partitions, thats probably what I will be using. I think the Accubond would be m,y next choice, I just have not used them yet.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

For Alaska I'd stay with the 250 gr grand slams, plenty of bullet for whatever you may come across. Talking to a gent at the range the other day who was shootinga 225 gr ballistic tips from his 35 whelen, when I asked about performance he said he used this load on a moose hunt. Recovered the bullet in the shoulder on the far side of a quartering away shot at 150 yds, recovered bullet weighed 165 gr. He was sure to point out that the wound channel was just utter devastation.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

I once killed two 300+ pound blackies in Galena Bay, just out of Valdez in Prince William Sound, with a .270 Win. loaded with 150-grain Nosler Partiton bullets. One shot per bear. There is NO DOUBT at all that any of the bullets you listed above, except for possibly the Ballistic Tip, will do a very good job killing black bears-even the very biggest blackie in all of Alaska!


When I lived in Fairbanks, there was a local doctor's wife there who used her .270 and the 150-grain Nosler Partition bullet to kill large polar bears! (This was before the Endangered Species Act.)

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

I agree with Eldequello-----Black bears just are't that hard to kill. A well-placed shot with MOST calibers suited to deer - sized game and up should do the trick well. Not recommending 24 & 25 cal. here. I've taken several nice bear, including one georgous cinnamon, with .338 cal. 200gr. bullets. Never went very far. Here in PA., there are plenty taken with 30/30's and '06's. Put the shot in the boiler room, and it's yours.

RE: Black Bear Loads
 

The more I have read about black bears, since making my original post, is that they don't seem to require monster calibers to put down. It seems the general concensus here is same. What got we wondering was a video I watched about hunting coastal bears, both blacks and browns. The video is called, "Hunting Alaska's Coastal Giants, with Glacier Guides, Inc." In the video, the outfitter recommended using "the biggest caliber you can comfortably shoot, with a .375 being the minimum." The guides carried either a .416 Rem Mag or a .458 Win Mag, which seems like overkill to me. Maybe they recommend such large rifles because they can encounter black or brown bear, and they want to have enough gun for the big browns? This is all I can figure. Anyway, thanks for getting me straight with regards to black bears.

I will take the loads I have already developed for my .338-06. I know they are accurate and after reading your comments, I am confident they will do the job. I recently shot some Hornady 180gr Interbonds in my .30-06, and they seem to shoot well, so I will take some of these along too.

This hunt will be a bit unique. There will be four of us in the group, and many of the other hunters have asked if they can use my rifles, so they don't have to transport theirs on the airplane. Without the need to check a rifle case, they can bring more gear and (hopefully) take the bear meat back with them. I think this is a good idea, and it is a great opportunity to use different bullets/loads on the same hunt to evaluate their performances. I am really looking forward to it, and I will be sure to post results and pictures of our hunt.

Thanks again,
Dan