[smokemaker]

My hunting buddy and I have decided to go after black bear this fall in the Adirondacks of NY. I'm taking my T/C Omega in .50, using 300 grain Hornady SST-ML's and 130 grains of Hogden's 777 powder, which is more than enough for blackies (or anything else in North America). My buddy is going to bring either his Omega, or his 1187 slug gun. My question is about my backup gun. It's a Dan Wesson .357 using handloaded 150 grain hard cast bullets and HS-7 for 1350fps. Is it enough for a 200-250 pound bruin? I've never hunted bear before and have heard a thousand conflicting stories about bear toughness.
Thanks, Jeff

[Art Eatman]

Most likely, from what folks here have said in previous threads about this. The main thing is your own skill at shot placement, and your ability to remain cool when the need arises.

Art

[mete]

A heavy hard cast bullet is the way to go but a 44mag is about twice as effective as a 357. I read comments by a guide who has shot or seen shot hundreds of bear with various handguns....He comments that to be really effective you should have big bore ,10mm( not 40S&W) 41mag or bigger. The 44mag will work fine. But make your first shot count , then you won't need a backup.

[HARLEYCOLT]

Over on Glocktalk.com there's a guy who killed a 400# black bear with a G29 :what: using Hornaday 180gr factory load:D

[Sunray]

A back up gun? No offense, but if you can't drop a black bear with a 300 grain bullet you need to practice more. You don't need a back up gun. If you hit a black bear in the boiler room with a 300 grain bullet, it'll drop like a ton of bricks. Practice with your T/C off hand at 100 yards shooting at a 9" pie plate until you can hit it every time and you can leave the extra weight at home.

[smokemaker]

I can hit the 9" saucer at 100 yards every time, offhand, but misses do happen sometimes, for whatever reason. I just wanted some sort of repeating backup just in case. These threads just love to analyze what a hunter did wrong when he nearly or truly gets worked over by any type of critter that might get a hold of him when the feces contacts the rotating air mover, and I like to be prepared for the worst.

And whenever a dude gets chewed on some by a bear, the first question is amost always "Where/What was his backup??"

[mete]

Black bears rarely attack for any reason. If you don't get a good hit with that first shot it's going to take off , probably for the nearest swamp. You'll have a hard time finding it unless there's a good blood trail. When you're in the thick stuff a good revolver is handier than a rifle but get a 44 mag.

[Ardent]

I'll second Sunray's opinion, a fellow Canadian I noticed. When I saw the title I scoffed, you don't need a "backup" when hunting blackbear. Seems to me that Canadians always have a different take on bear hunting and bears in general than Americans. Not necessarily anything wrong with that, just a funny thing I've noticed.

Ardent

[twoblink]

The main thing is your own skill at shot placement

And that of your backup friend !! :neener:

Seriously, placement is the key.. And staying calm..

[twoblink]

The main thing is your own skill at shot placement

And that of your backup friend !! :neener:

Seriously, placement is the key.. And staying calm..

And also, who runs faster, you or your huntin' buddy?? :evil:

I'm just kidding. Don't do something stupid like trying to outrun the bear. They have a 35mph groundspeed, you are going to lose on a footrace. Remain calm, and have a backup plan.

[smokemaker]

Thanks twoblink, for understanding the concept. I can run faster, by the way. :neener:

And as for the fearless canucks, if I hunt in Canada, I'll just let the bear chew my leg while I reload the muzzleloader, but here in the USA, I carry a backup even if I'm just going for a hike in the woods, so it isn't so much about bear, but rather: "Lets just say I'm hunting bear, and the 1 in a bazillion chance arises that I get attacked, is this gun I usually tote about enough?":banghead: Hope I clarified that, eh?

[HARLEYCOLT]

If you do have to run from the bear run downhill :what: their short front legs will fold up and they tumble right past you then you run uphill until they justabout catch you, then run back down hill:D

Bears can run faster going uphill because their legs will pull them uphill;)

[JShirley]

I reckon the Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared". There are worse slogans.

John

[Sunray]

"...Canadians always have a different take on bear hunting and bears in general..." That's because our bears are big cuddly creatures that don't go around trying to eat people. They don't Stateside either. Bears don't like the smell of people and will avoid us given the chance. People smell of one thing to a bear. Trouble.

[smokemaker]

J Shirley gets it too.

[/QUOTE]Bears don't like the smell of people and will avoid us given the chance[/QUOTE]

Sometimes they're not given the chance

The only bear in my direct neck of the woods is very people friendly... he's trying to sell me Labatts, but I'm a Molson drinker.:rolleyes:

And I don't plan on running from a bear... downhill or up

[H&Hhunter]

Hey I hadn't heard the run downhill thing in a coons age. And by the way it's just not a good idea to run from a bear uphill or downhill. It just don't matter a bear is faster than you.

I've seen a bear running from hounds down a hill that would make most olympic skiers woozy. he didn't seem to be having much trouble with it at all. In fact he was flat out hauling the mail. The ole downhill bear thing is a buch of bunk!;)

My brother was swated by a black bear 3 years ago. I guess if the bear had been a Canadian it would have been more polite eh?

He didn't get hurtb to bad about 30 or so stitches in the face. This was in the same area where a black bear had killed and partially eaten a 96 year old women just a month or so before and also in the same general vicinity of the Philmont boysout ranch where several boyscouts had been attacked that summer.

The problem with all of these bears is that they had become a little to friendly around people. Camp bears are the most dangerous kind.

I've never heard of a black bear charging and getting a hunter. I have had one come into a cow call and act like a little bad boy at close range after he discovered that his meal wasn't the real deal. But he just fell over dead right after that. Something about lead poisioning. Even with that one isoloated incident in mind i don't consider black bears as dangerous game animals. They are for the most part pretty shy and docile.

Ardent do you do any bear hunting up in BC. What a great area for big blackies!!!!!I absoloutly love western Canda, scenic overkill.:)