.45 cal for black bear

[Elnathan]

I believe 'em. People do crazy things from time to time, like trying to stab a buffalo with a butcher knife (An early settler in KY - it turned out to be a bad idea though he did survive unscathed). Meshach Browning claims to have crawled down into a bear den at least once and killed a bear with a knife, and there is an account in one of the Foxfire books of a guy going down a den after a potentially wounded bear after expending both his rounds (he only took two rounds when he set out to hunt bear. Fortunately for him, when he found it's rump by feel, the bear was dead. He was later asked by a female schoolteacher, "weren't you afraid it would bite you?" To which he replied, "Why no, Ma'am. I knew I wasn't ahold of the biting end.")

Jonathan Alder talks about tomahawking bear cubs, whole families at a time, too. Not entirely sure they shot the mother first, either - the reputation of mama bears is apparently greatly exaggerated among black bears. Grizzlies are another thing entirely.

I get the strong impression that black bears are not really dangerous critters the vast majority of the time. Kinda wimps, right up until they aren't...

 

[crockett]

I live in an area with a lot of bears, that is, I'll always see tracks and average one bear about every three days of being in the woods. Most will run, I even had a mother with 2 cubs run but I've had a very large bear stand his ground- so I backed off and I've had "curious" bears that seem to keep tracking me.
Compared to a deer a bear has smaller lungs so usually they won't run as far if shot however they are strong critters in an eyeball to eyeball situation.

 

[longcruise]

Ok it's probably been beat into the ground but still have to know... I have a traditions deer Hunter in .45 cal. 26 inch barrel 1&66 twist. Would this be enough for black bear? Say with a load of 70-80 of FFg and a .440 ball say out to 50 yards? Most of the bear here are under 300 lbs.

I think you might find that rifle to be a 1:48 twist. Just basing that on the fact that my Deerhunter in .50 caliber is a 1:48. At any rate, it shoots a maxi very well and so may your .45.

I have never shot a bear and only hunted them once. But, I have a lot of experience with bears from my youth growing up in the UP. The thing is that what MD says is right, they can be a lot tougher than one might expect. Lot's of bears taken weigh in at 125 to 175 but there are much much larger ones out there. When I was a kid my dad shot one that weighed in excess of 650 pounds.

So, in my opinion, those .45 cals that kill deer nicely and smaller bears nicely might not be the ticket for a bear over 400 pounds.

 

[Danny Ross]

There is not a doubt in my mind that a 45cal roundball will kill a Black Bear of any size even a 400 pounder. If it can be done with a broadhead it can be done with the 45. Having said that, my older brother was supposed to go on a bear hunt where the outfitter would "only" allow 12ga shotgun slug or ball to hunt with. The reason was and I have heard this elsewhere also, the size of the hole. Bear hair soaks up blood and can leave a poor blood trail if the bear does not drop in sight. So if the bear had to be trailed with the larger hole, you would be able to find your blood trail quicker say with a liver shot, instead of a lung shot. That is why most prefer the larger hole. DANNY

 

[azmntman]

A business associate went moose hunting in AK years ago and bought a griz tag too. Kilt his moose and guide said OK Bud, here is how this works. We are heading back to camp and you can certianly shoot a griz (he siad they would surely be following along per smell). Deal is, Bud, you better drop him fast cuz if he gets in them alders he stays in them alders.

Well Bud shot a dandy Griz with his ff .338 mag at about 175 yds and it crawled into the alders. NOPE the guide wouldn't even approach the alders.

But thats a Griz. I agree with Danny here. I would shoot a black bear at 75 yds and closer with a .45 (especially a conical, but also a PRB). Now I have not hunted bear YET but I hear they are formed a bit different than a deer so ya gotta know where to hit em.

I really wanted to get one with a bow till I watched You Tube and about 1/2 went running off and cried like a wounded beaten dog. I could not do that myself. If I shoot one I want it down right there or hit hard enough not to make me feel guilty (I'm an ol softy down deep :redface: )

 

[M. De Land]

We have lots of both varieties here in Anchorage and each year we loose folks to bear maulings some where in the state.
Most of the folks killed are by black bear not brown which was a surprise for me to learn.
Bears are as individual as people in personality,some will run and others will kill you without hesitation.
There is a written account I read some years back of a black bear killing a much larger brown and then dying of his wounds after the fight was over but the fact remains he killed the Brown before expiring himself.
Moose bulls will kill them as well occasionally when a hungry bear bites off more than they can chew so to speak.

 

[Elnathan]

M.D.,

We have tons of black bear here and the last time anyone was killed by one was close to ten years ago. In that case I think it was straight predation - the bear killed and ate a 7 year-old boy. Never heard of anyone else getting hurt, though a bear did kill another bear right along a highway a mile or so from the town center last year.

Yeah, bears are unpredictable and it is best not to get complacent. But I do hear a lot more stories of people smacking or punching them on the nose to get them to go away than I hear of people getting mauled.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Jonathan Alder talks about tomahawking bear cubs, whole families at a time, too. Not entirely sure they shot the mother first,

That sounds like a line out of my book. Only time I ever shot bear. :wink:

 

[hanshi]

This is what I've been hearing for years and know of many. A grizzly/brown will attack but it's usually just his/her way of teaching a lesson, kicking some a__ or showing that he's the only one welcome here.

Black bears, on the other hand, attack more, will follow you with the intention of having supper and more attacks are "eating" attacks; this is so much more common than with grizzlies.

I would feel comfortable with a .45; but I don't think I could bring myself to actually kill one. I love bears and have a small library of bear books. Last fall in WV while deer hunting, a very fat bear came up close to my partner and I while we were sitting on the ground next to a tree. He walked right up facing us and studied us before resuming his feeding. He was still there when darkness forced us to go home. I could have easily rolled apples to him. That was the best thing about the trip.