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Looking for advice on Black Bear Ammo

cb750

cb750

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Nov 18, 2017
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I have gotten lucky and received an invite for a baited black bear hunt in Ontario. I am a guest with a group of retired guys. They all have rifles that they hunt with. I don't have a rifle of a high enough calibre currently and won't by the time we head up. Sounds like archery is not an option. A lot of the other forums I looked at were nothing but a similar question then people being idiots for 3 pages and a complete waste of time.

So here are my questions: Has anyone used a rifled slug barrel and sabot slug on bear? If so what ranges? Was it effective? Would you be completely happy to continue using them or would you prefer a rifle?
 
12 ga with 1 or 1-1/2 oz Foster style slug as they have the same bore as the guage. Sabbot's are usually .50 cal.
The big chunks of lead open up a bigger hole in the fat layer to hopefully give a better blood trail. All the bears I've harvested with this set up went less than 50 yrs with shots to the chest, and had an easy trail to follow.
Also the lead is soft and will not harm your rifling..you may have to deep clean the bore eventually, but no harm has been done to my Ithaca Deerslayer after many many rounds of slugs through its rifles barrel.
 
Interesting. What distances are you shooting at?
 
A 12 ga with slugs is more than capable of cleaning taking a black bear. That set up is used as grizzly protection. The question is having a gun like the Ithaca deer slayer or other rifled barrels that are accurate at the range you will be shooting. Do you have a muzzle loader? A 50 cal muzzle loader carries enough energy as well, at least to 100yds. Most deer rifles have enough energy and penetration with the correct bullets to pass through a broadside animal the size of an average black bear. Moose are killed with 270 Winchester every year. Research a little and talk with the other hunters in your group. I would assume since it is over bait the shots would be at shorter distances. You probably have access to a weapon that will be adequate to hunt bears a bait range.
 
Not sure what rifle calibers you currently have. Black bear will fall to about anything a deer will. Accuracy is more important than caliber and I would be comfortable with anything 243 and above with the right bullet. I’m not familiar with Ontario’s regulations so they may have a minimum caliber restriction. To answer your question a little more direct yes a saboted 12 gauge slug will kill anything in North America. I wouldn’t use them on brown or polar bears but black shouldn’t be any problem. Remington and Winchester make some 375*grain bonded slugs that I would use. I would stay away from the hollow based rifled slugs because they over expand on a deers shoulder. You are also talking about a bait station so you should have time to get a good quartering away shot allowing you to shred the lungs and break the off shoulder. Most stands are around 50 yards from the bait so you should be fine. Is there a reason why archery equipment is out of the question?
 
I have a Tikka T3 .243 right now. Everyone I have spoken to says .270 minimum and up. I tried to leverage this into .300 win mag version of the T3 but since I already spent 1500 between a bow and an AR this year it was summarily dismissed.

No I don't have a muzzle loader. I have shot the Hornady SST sabot slug accurately to 100 yds at the range. Those actual rounds look a lot like some.50 cal muzzle loader rods I have seen.

I agree, thinking it's over bait and in central Ontario it's hard to see 100 yds let alone shoot that far. I'm not sure why archery is a no go with this group. I hope to get some more answers in the coming weeks.
 
Haha, I definitely would have tried to squeeze in the new rifle too! The Hornady SST is great whitetail ammo but the FTX bullet is on the fragile side. It will probably work but I would recommend a call to Hornady before assumed anything. There is a large selection of quality slugs available now. If the FTX is a no go with a little research and a trip to the range you should not have any problem finding a more solid slug your shotgun will shoot well. Good luck be safe and take pics.
 
Oh and I shot mine last year with a 300wm, winchester ballistic silver tips. Dead in its tracks, heart shot. Heart was pulverized. My favorite caliber. Also have a t3 lite in 300wsm.
 
Well of nothing else this thread has made me jealous. Lol. I plan to take so.e good pics I have been told these harvested 7 bear at their spot in the past. They just started baiting and bear hit their bait the first night it was out. So I am cautiously optimistic as I haven't heard how many years they went to get those 7. Lol.
 
Deltahuntr said:
Haha, I definitely would have tried to squeeze in the new rifle too! The Hornady SST is great whitetail ammo but the FTX bullet is on the fragile side. It will probably work but I would recommend a call to Hornady before assumed anything. There is a large selection of quality slugs available now. If the FTX is a no go with a little research and a trip to the range you should not have any problem finding a more solid slug your shotgun will shoot well. Good luck be safe and take pics.
Click to expand...
This is great info. I would never have thought the round might be too fragile.
Thank you.
 
A 30-30 has killed more bear(and deer for that matter) than you can shake a stick at! That is a old saying from my childhood don't know if any of y'all have heard that one! But in any case the 30-30 is more than adequate! And the slugs are as well!
 
Recurveaholic said:
A 30-30 has killed more bear(and deer for that matter) than you can shake a stick at! That is a old saying from my childhood don't know if any of y'all have heard that one! But in any case the 30-30 is more than adequate! And the slugs are as well!
Click to expand...

Yep took my AK black bear with a 30-30. He only stumbled less than 20 yards, death moaned, and died.
 
Great but a 30-30 won't be an option for me on this trip yet. I may have to bide my time and let the fact that this is a hassle year wear on the mrs. So this time next year she will be more agreeable.
 
cb750 said:
I have gotten lucky and received an invite for a baited black bear hunt in Ontario. I am a guest with a group of retired guys. They all have rifles that they hunt with. I don't have a rifle of a high enough calibre currently and won't by the time we head up. Sounds like archery is not an option. A lot of the other forums I looked at were nothing but a similar question then people being idiots for 3 pages and a complete waste of time.

So here are my questions: Has anyone used a rifled slug barrel and sabot slug on bear? If so what ranges? Was it effective? Would you be completely happy to continue using them or would you prefer a rifle?
Click to expand...
Sorry, now that I have a chance to actually read your original post :)

I have a slug gun set up to hunt bear. It's my 12 gauge ithaca deerslayer with a rifled barrel. I'm shooting remington accutips. While a well placed shot will put the bear down quickly, I want to have those extra 2 shells to put the bear down ASAP (we live in a highly populated area). I find bear shot placement to be tricky. If you're aiming right behind the front leg it can drastically change where you hit in the vitals depending on the position of the leg. After hitting my bear further back than I would have liked I learned that I should aim behind the front leg when the leg is forward rather than back. I will limit myself to about 50 yards with this setup. There are anywhere from 150-500 bears killed in our state every year and I would guess the majority of them have been taken with a slug gun.
 
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