Thats great to hear! They seem like a good group
Black Bear Hunt
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Ballshooter
50 Cal.
I have taken a lot of bear shoot for the middle of middle that will double lung them. I guarantee you will recover the bear in short order.
I used my 20 ga. trade gun to get mine, 8 years ago, in Canada a couple of hours north of Toronto. Was over bait at about 20 yards.
I suggest getting a life sized target of a bear with the vitals marked, and practice, practice, practice. Practice from a seated position as that is most likely the position you will be in. I was in a tree stand about 15 feet up. Did not practice from that elevation, but did from a chair. Silence is foremost. They can hear extremely well. And stay awake! You will NOT hear them coming in to the bait. I was amazed at how quiet they could walk through the dry woods. My butt was getting sore, and I moved in my stand, heard some commotion behind me. Turned in time to see a black blur from about 20 yards behind me leaving. Never heard it approaching.
Watched 4 or 5 different bears come in to the bait barrel, and never heard one of them approaching. Their size is deceiving. I asked my outfitter how to judge their size. He used 55 gal drums as bait holders. He said if it looks like the bear can climb into the barrel, it is too small. Mine was just about 200 lbs. Thought I had a good one (it was actually, I was pleased with it) until I saw it hanging next to a 400 pounder on the pole at the outfitters LOLOL.
I suggest getting a life sized target of a bear with the vitals marked, and practice, practice, practice. Practice from a seated position as that is most likely the position you will be in. I was in a tree stand about 15 feet up. Did not practice from that elevation, but did from a chair. Silence is foremost. They can hear extremely well. And stay awake! You will NOT hear them coming in to the bait. I was amazed at how quiet they could walk through the dry woods. My butt was getting sore, and I moved in my stand, heard some commotion behind me. Turned in time to see a black blur from about 20 yards behind me leaving. Never heard it approaching.
Watched 4 or 5 different bears come in to the bait barrel, and never heard one of them approaching. Their size is deceiving. I asked my outfitter how to judge their size. He used 55 gal drums as bait holders. He said if it looks like the bear can climb into the barrel, it is too small. Mine was just about 200 lbs. Thought I had a good one (it was actually, I was pleased with it) until I saw it hanging next to a 400 pounder on the pole at the outfitters LOLOL.
Last edited:
Old Timer 48
58 Cal.
Good luck & have fun!
Ballshooter
50 Cal.
If it looks like thus it's probably a shooter lol.
I took this skunk bear last year.
Silky921
45 Cal.
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That's a cool looking bear. Congrats on that.
I can tell you from bowhunting them, the vitals are not in the same place as a deer. The heart and lungs are further back behind the shoulder crease, whereas on a deer, the shoulder crease is the slam dunk. If you hit anywhere on the vertical line formed by the shoulder crease on a deer you are guaranteed a quick recovery. Not so with a bear. You might hit the artery and find him within 60 yards...you might miss the artery by an inch and track him for 200 yds. A .45 will be fine. Bigger is better, but hell, a broadhead will do the job.
Something to keep in mind though, from bowhunting them, the fat plugs the hole and the fur soaks up the blood. Makes for difficult tracking. Us traditional bowhunters prioritize a pass through so that there are two holes and no arrow shaft to plug the hole. And that brings up the debate of 2 blade vs 3 blade. 2 blade is guaranteed more penetration. A 3 blade (with a pass through) is a bigger hole.
I would suggest .54 or larger, but .45 WILL do just fine if you play well on your end and know how to track and are good at it. .
My other advise is small bears are everywhere. Take a second look at it before you pull the trigger. If you SEE a bear, it is probably a yearling. Bank on that for sure. And the first bear you see in your life, especially after reading about them for years, just looks HUGE...because it's...a bear, and you're excited. But the small one are EVERYWHERE. It's like bass fishing. You see lots of small bass cruising the bank. But the larger ones are fewer and farther between. Yes, they do swoop in and get you excited and hit your lures, but only after you've gone through a few small ones first....If you are not careful you will end up carrying your bear off the mountain on one shoulder and feeling disappointed. I was always lucky enough to take a second look.
Small bears walk bowlegged because they know they are small. If you see lots of air underneath them and between their hips, pass. You want that belly dragging the ground. And a sows butt drags the ground. Nothing wrong with that, where legal. It was legal in the catskills where I lived. As long as she didn't have a cub, which was hard to find, since they breed every 2nd year. She's either pregnant or has a cub. You won't find a fetus though, because they have delayed implantation until denning in november, even though she bred in May. Just bank on her being pregnant. It's your choice. Nothing wrong with it. In New York they were breeding out of control and the nuisance bear complaints were ridiculous. They even had to remove them from Albany from time to time.
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Judging bear is not easy, from a tree stand can be dead hard. Try to find out what kind of bait set up they have (Photos would be great) If they are using say 55 gallon drums to hold the bait & tree stands . . . . study every video/photo you can find that are shot from tree stands & shows bears next to 55 gallon drums.
My 1st bear hunt I was in the stand before day light, the guide left, sun comes up, I'm 30-35 feet in the air and I realized "I don't have a good grasp how big anything down there is!!" are those trees a foot wide? 9 inches wide? 15 inches wide? I had no idea or way to judge.
Within an hour a bear walked through, I had a shot but waited because I could not be sure how big the bear was. . . . . he was big 350 LBs maybe. . . .never saw him again
You have to be able to judge bear, and it's not easy. Harder still if you are at an angle (Tree stand) there are a ton of videos on how, but if you get it all worked out for 55 gallon drums and the sun comes up on 35 gallon drums or 5 gallon buckets your screwed!
(You can skip all this if you stand hunt) If they do use tree stands . . . .and you don't . . . . I'd buy or borrow one. . . get up there and see what it looks like, spend a few hours, maybe find out your back pack is just wrong for the tight confines or you need different boots etc etc. while your up there get someone to walk a dog by so you get an idea what the view is like. . . .put in the time, shoot from a stand if you can. . . .see if you can reload or if your gear needs changing about.
My 1st bear hunt I was in the stand before day light, the guide left, sun comes up, I'm 30-35 feet in the air and I realized "I don't have a good grasp how big anything down there is!!" are those trees a foot wide? 9 inches wide? 15 inches wide? I had no idea or way to judge.
Within an hour a bear walked through, I had a shot but waited because I could not be sure how big the bear was. . . . . he was big 350 LBs maybe. . . .never saw him again
You have to be able to judge bear, and it's not easy. Harder still if you are at an angle (Tree stand) there are a ton of videos on how, but if you get it all worked out for 55 gallon drums and the sun comes up on 35 gallon drums or 5 gallon buckets your screwed!
(You can skip all this if you stand hunt) If they do use tree stands . . . .and you don't . . . . I'd buy or borrow one. . . get up there and see what it looks like, spend a few hours, maybe find out your back pack is just wrong for the tight confines or you need different boots etc etc. while your up there get someone to walk a dog by so you get an idea what the view is like. . . .put in the time, shoot from a stand if you can. . . .see if you can reload or if your gear needs changing about.
