I have taken black bear with my rifle and crossbow. This fall I am considering using my shotgun. It has a rifled barrel and low power scope. For the folks that have taken bear with a shotgun, what slug did you use and how were the on game results
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I have taken black bear with my rifle and crossbow. This fall I am considering using my shotgun. It has a rifled barrel and low power scope. For the folks that have taken bear with a shotgun, what slug did you use and how were the on game results
I've only shot one with slugs. 2 3/4 challenger at about 40 yards. Works about the same as a .444. Big hole right through it.
Depends on the ammo IMHO.Quote:
Originally Posted by huntnmachine
Solid lead will be NP-but i am not sure about those plastic tipped slugs.
Yet-bullet placement may wash that concern away..........
Just my 2 cents.
I haven’t tried it.
On paper it looks like a short range (<40y). On a 200lb + bear. For me.
What’s the right caliber for bears? The heaviest you can shoot. Less recovery problems.
Pretty much the same results as with a muzzle loader. Heart/lung ribcage shot just behind the armpit and they only went 40-80yds on the two I've shot using plain Jane 1oz Winchester slugs in 12 ga. You don't need a fancy ballistic $15 slug to make an accurate 25-35yd shot! I imagine it would be a nasty mess if you hit major bones and got bad fragmentation while using a partition slug. I'd stick with solid slugs. Challengers are also good shooters in any gun I've shot them out of. If I wasn't assured of a good broadside lung shot then I wouldn't take the shot.
I’ve taken 2 with slugs. Hornandy sst from my rifled barrel. Both about 50yds away. One dropped in his tracks other made it about 10 yards.
For close over bait hunting I think they are the best option. Lots of knockdown but not the high velocity meat damage of a rifle
But bears aren’t hard to kill. Anything with a good shot is effective
Couple buddies of mine both hunt black bear with Federal Trophy copper 12ga sabot with their rifled barrel shotgun exclusively and the result is devastating usually dropped within 30 yards and saw one dropped within 10 feet they swear by it.
We have found Challenger 12 ga. rifled slugs to be a great choice for bear or deer. They are priced right and usually available and they pack a punch when on target. Your other choice is a 12 ga. sabot type ammo for use in your fully rifled barrel. I'm still using up my supply of Barnes Xpanders 12 ga. from Federal but Remington's Accutip work pretty good too. Very accurate with devastating knockdown power especially if you are reaching out (100 yards plus ?) for your target but they are not cheap pricewise.
Btw; It is not recommended to use Rifled Slugs in a Fully Rifled Barrel !
Our group exclusively hunt Bears with our crossbows.
I use the same set-up for Bear and Deer.
In my experience harvesting 7 bears with my crossbow they go down much faster than deer. This is probably due to Bears are not built for speed like deer. You double lung a bear and they are down in less than 20. :)
Any slug designed for deer will do the job efficiently.
My boys and I all use the same brand only with 3" magnums and Hastings Paradox rifled barrels on Rem 870's and 11-87's. They pack one heck of a whallop out to 80 yds. Bears don't go far at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by spcamno
No kidding lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by trimmer21
I myself never use slug on bear not that I don't think they won't do the job (actually took a doe at 230 yards several years ago with my A bolt slug with 2.75 accutip) but just trying to preserve my accutips down to few boxes left and they are more pricey than my other rifle ammo per round hence the reason otherwise I will not hesitate to use it on bear for the type of our hunting (over bait).
Agreed. I have taken 12 bears in the last 12 years and the furthest any of them have gone is 30 yards. Most were with the 35 Whelen and the furthest any of those have gone was 12 yards and my guess is a slug would produce similar results. The only one that went further was the largest and taken with my Matrix 380 and it only went 30 yards. So long and short Terry is find a slug (any slug) that groups and pretty sure your bear will go down in close proximity.Quote:
Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter
You guys still hunting BF area? Probs gonna hunt the south shore of Nip but if I have time would like to do a combo Abitibi walleye bear trip.
Thanks everyone for your input. I have taken deer using Hornady SST sabots with good results so that's probably what I will use
Joe, yes Burks Falls
Species - if you are on Abitibi this fall, maybe take a walk along the south shoreline and see if you can find the pair of gitch I left on shore in October, 1987. I doubt anything has gone near them. I cut them off with a Buck knife after the good Lord intervened and I managed to make it safely to shore in the surf, after a three hour crossing. They are on the clay beach on the tip of a small gravel/clay island that is about 200meters NW of the mouth of the Ghost River.