Calling All Western Hunters: Advice Please!!

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Grumpy_old_Fart said:
Black bear are one species I will not attempt a shot at range, as their first instinct is to roll downhill into puckerbrush and disappear. I'm not into following a wounded bear into blackberry jungles, and we have loads of those.
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I had to follow a wounded bear into the brush last fall. And the shot was close. It was quartering away from me, and I think I just kind of shot center of mass rather than placing it more in the front quarters. So I gut shot it in other words. It was exciting doing that for sure! Anyhow, shots can go bad at any range, let alone long range.
 
Speaking of that, my usual hunting load in the .308 is a 150gr Sierra game king. Works great on deer.
I want something tougher for this, and in the get what you can world we live in these days I decided on Barnes ttsx and nosler partitions. Both 150gr. After I load them I’ll make the determination based on what shoots better from my gun. But just for fun, and since the .308 will probably serve a backup role anyway, how does the group feel about these options for this purpose?
 
Ugly Sauce said:
I had to follow a wounded bear into the brush last fall. And the shot was close. It was quartering away from me, and I think I just kind of shot center of mass rather than placing it more in the front quarters. So I gut shot it in other words. It was exciting doing that for sure! Anyhow, shots can go bad at any range, let alone long range.
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Hope you got to finish the job, that has to be a miserable experience for both the hunter and the bear. Nothing worse than wounding an animal from any distance.
 
South Prairie Jim said:
Hope you got to finish the job, that has to be a miserable experience for both the hunter and the bear. Nothing worse than wounding an animal from any distance.
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Oh yeah, ran out of blood trail but I took a guess as to it's direction and caught up. I saw it through the thick brush sitting up and took a careful shot, and it dropped, but it was a clean miss, the brush deflected my ball. Expecting it to die I waited, but it's still thrashing around, so I took another shot when it was kind of sitting up again, same thing clean miss. !! I thought it was super bear. Then I finally walked right up and put one through the heart and out the spine. Best pepperonie sticks I've ever had, the the clearest cleanest bear oil/grease I've ever seen.
DSC07387.JPG
 
Courtgreene, I also use the gameking 165 grain .308 for deer, and I agree that they are great for deer. The partition is a good round, and I switched to 180 grain nosler partitions for elk. You might also see how your rifle likes the 165/180 grain rounds.
 
I graduated from Rifle High School. Pretty familiar with that area - or at least I used to be.... I think a .308 would work fine. A 300 WSM maybe better. While you might see a bear 500-600 yards away, I wouldn't take that shot. I can't imagine being able to walk that far in a straight line for that distance. Coming from NC, you should probably consider the elevation. You'll start out at 6000 feet and go up from there and it won't be gradual. If you walk 500 yards, you'll probably go up and down a couple times.
 
The last elk I shot was a cow at 275 yds with a .308 Nosler Partition 165gr. I had shot her in the liver and she stood there, hunched up, for what seemed like forever but never took a step and finally laid down.
I did have to finish her when I got up to her.
 
mokin said:
I graduated from Rifle High School. Pretty familiar with that area - or at least I used to be.... I think a .308 would work fine. A 300 WSM maybe better. While you might see a bear 500-600 yards away, I wouldn't take that shot. I can't imagine being able to walk that far in a straight line for that distance. Coming from NC, you should probably consider the elevation. You'll start out at 6000 feet and go up from there and it won't be gradual. If you walk 500 yards, you'll probably go up and down a couple times.
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Thanks. Good advice. We are allowing two days for elevation acclimating. Also, I live in the smokies so will be hiking under loads with the pack I’m taking on the trip (if it happens) to prepare. I know that does nothing for elevation but I think it will help on overall fitness for what promises to be a pretty grueling trip (which I actually enjoy: the physical challenge).
 
MutinousDoug said:
The last elk I shot was a cow at 275 yds with a .308 Nosler Partition 165gr. I had shot her in the liver and she stood there, hunched up, for what seemed like forever but never took a step and finally laid down.
I did have to finish her when I got up to her.
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165 seems to be a nice weight in .308". I've only shot one cougar and one deer with the Hornady 165 BTSP, but performance was perfect. Didn't blow any big holes in the cougar's hide at close range, (called it in, didn't shoot it out of a tree with dogs barking at it) and the bullet recovered from the deer on the off side under the hide at 125 yards was picture perfect expansion/mushroom. Something to be said for a 165 I believe.
 
courtgreene said:
Thanks. Good advice. We are allowing two days for elevation acclimating. Also, I live in the smokies so will be hiking under loads with the pack I’m taking on the trip (if it happens) to prepare. I know that does nothing for elevation but I think it will help on overall fitness for what promises to be a pretty grueling trip (which I actually enjoy: the physical challenge).
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Hiking anywhere with your gear, at any elevation, will absolutely increase your overall fitness, positively, and just as importantly condition you to your gear, which involves whole other muscle groups. I wouldn't say it does nothing for elevation. It will also fine tune your gear so that it will be as comfortable as possible. Discomfort will increase fatigue. Don't just load up a pack with weight, outfit it with the exact "stuff" you will be carrying while hunting. (and don't forget first aid and plenty of options for fire starting)
 
courtgreene said:
Thanks. Good advice. We are allowing two days for elevation acclimating. Also, I live in the smokies so will be hiking under loads with the pack I’m taking on the trip (if it happens) to prepare. I know that does nothing for elevation but I think it will help on overall fitness for what promises to be a pretty grueling trip (which I actually enjoy: the physical challenge).
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Unlike shooting rifles at 500 yards, hiking at elevation is something I have quite a bit of experience with. IMO you're on the right track hiking hills under load. Less oxygen just means your heart and lungs have to work harder. And when it comes to the aerobic respiration of hiking, a higher level of fitness will help offset the elevation gain. The two days of acclimatization will certainly help avoid altitude sickness though, and that's smart if you're going to be anywhere near 10,000'.

As far as drawing a tag goes, my understanding is that some areas have almost been throwing bear tags at hunters in recent years. I also think there's a little priority given to out of state hunters, because of the additional revenue that comes with that.

Good luck!
 
600 yards is a LOOOOOOONG shot. Yes, they do happen, but they are not the norm.
I have seen several "hunters" swear to have 400-600 yard shots and they are 200-250 yards.

I had a stand where the shots were at a measured 300-450 yards. A 7mmRemMag with a Leupold 3-9x40, zeroed at 350 yards.

After finding an accurate load, my shooting was off-hand at an 8" gong at 300 yards. 40 rounds a month.
In the field, any type of rest made for a confident shot.

Hunted that stand for 5 years and took 12 deer.
450 yards is a long shot.

12x should do. I would prefer 16x or even 20.
Practice is key. Good ammo paramount. Range finder mandatory. Know your ballistics, trajectories, bullet, rifle, and skill.
 
I think that bear populations tend to get high in some areas because many hunters just are not interested in taking a black bear. It's expensive to have the meat made into good pepperoni, most people don't like plain bear meat or steaks and roast. Preserving the hide is either very expensive or very labor intensive, most hunters are not going to process their own hide. If it's not done right away, the hair will slip resulting in an incredible waste and total loss.

So yeah, bear tags usually not too expensive or hard to get, in areas with lots of bears. In Washington State, we have this "combination tag/license" thing where you have to choose different....combinations...of tags, bear tag usually included whether you want one or not. Most hunters have no intention of using the bear tag because of the expense and trouble of processing a bear. But the game dept. still gets their $$$$ for it! Dang!
 
courtgreene said:
Speaking of that, my usual hunting load in the .308 is a 150gr Sierra game king. Works great on deer.
I want something tougher for this, and in the get what you can world we live in these days I decided on Barnes ttsx and nosler partitions. Both 150gr. After I load them I’ll make the determination based on what shoots better from my gun. But just for fun, and since the .308 will probably serve a backup role anyway, how does the group feel about these options for this purpose?
Click to expand...
Not a fan of monos at ranges you're talking, need to impact at high speed to get them to open, h&h brought up accubonds, that's a good place to start for sure, I'll add scirocco 2s, and fed TLRs
 
Well, after testing, we have a decision. The .308 backup gun grouped exceedingly well with the ttsx at max load. No pressure signs. IMR 4064. The gun did not have much love for the partitions. Sometimes we must let our rifles decide for us. The main rifle's new scope is now sighted to 100, and I'll move that to 200 when I find a place to do so (I have land, I just have to have time to get out there and shoot on it). So, rifle-wise, we are ready.

Overall trip update, my backpack, tent, and sleeping bag have arrived. Footprint and game bags are on their way. Water filtration device also in hand. All that's left for now is to wait and see if I'm drawn, and according to many, odds are high. After that I can get more stuff, but before draw results I only wanted to spend on things I'd use for other purposes.

Conditioning has begun, climbed a mountain under the weight of a different backpack yesterday.

Now we wait...
 
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