Slugs for black bear

[huntnmachine]

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

[werner.reiche]

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.

[gbk]

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

Depends on the ammo IMHO.

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.

[glen]

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.

[Fenelon]

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.

[FishHog]

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

[spcamno]

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.

[longpointer]

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 !

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

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.

[trimmer21]

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.

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.