Bear hunting gun?

Question

i need a good gun to shoot bear. im not hunting for sport but because a certain bear is destroying my farm so im gonna kill it what should i use

Answer 1

What kind of bear? Black bears are easier to take down than say a Polar bear, Grizzly or Alaskan Brown.

Are bears protected in your area? If so, have games n wildlife trap and relocate it.

If you have to kill it, then nothing smaller than a .308 or .30-06 is in order. A 12 gauge with premium slugs will work well too. If it is a Grizzly, a .458 Winchester (or Lott) Mag. would not be too small.

If you are going out to buy a rifle for bear consider the new .338 Federal or the old .350 Remington Magnum. The Remington has recently been re-introduced with a 22" barrel in the Model 673 Guide rifle series. It is quite a stopper.

A first cousin of mine hunting in California many, many years ago came across another hunter who had wounded a Black bear with his .30-06 and was afraid to track it and finish it off. Knowing how dangerous a wounded bear is my cousin resolved to track it down and finish it off. He was armed with a Marlin .30-30 and it took ten shots from his .30-30 to finish off the bear. It already had a solid hit from an '06. Go figure!

Good luck.

H

Answer 2

Good answers have already been given. If it were me, I'd get a Marlin 1895 chambered for the 45-70 cartridge. You want something that will drop a bear RIGHT NOW. Anything from the 30-30 on up has been used to successfully harvest bear. The first order of business would be to "use enough gun." Shot placement is everything.

You need a bullet that will penetrate that bear at shooting distance and break any bone the bullet may encounter. A lever action will give you a fast follow-up shot if needed. Iron sights will come on target faster than a scope.

Answer 3

The Stevens 200 is an excellent budget rifle, and you have some great caliber options. Stick with the .30 caliber cartridges for bear hunting. They will support the heavier big-game bullets that you'll be using, and with muzzle velocity to spare. 30-06 and 300 Win Mag are best. With quality, bonded 180-grain (or heavier) bullets, you're all set for a great hunt. It's a good idea to stick with rifles if this is your first hunt. While many modern handgun calibers are more than adequate for black bears, you have to be much, much more careful about your barrel length, caliber, bullet weight, and recoil sensitivity. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Contact your state's game fish and parks. They will often come and capture the bear for you and relocate it. It will be a lot less expensive that buying a new gun. Also I'm sure there are restrictions on destroying an animal. They may be a season on them and shooting one out of season without the proper license may cost you a LOT of money.

If however you are set on purchasing a rifle AND its a black bear, then most any .30 caliber center fire bolt action rifle will do. Purchase a Savage in either .308 Winchester or .30-06.

Answer 5

Assuming it's a black bear, alot of good answers have been given, but I would go with the 30-06. If you only own one high powered rifle, this is it. With the wide range of loads from 55 grain accelerators to 220 grain available at any sporting good store, you can do almost anyhting with that rifle. Where I live, if you can show a game warden the damage to your farm, (crops or property), they'll generally write you a nuisance permit to take the bear. That way you can keep it. Generally speaking these farm raiders taste pretty darn good.

Answer 6

Just about any .30 cal will take care of your bear problem. If you dont want to drop about $400 on a gun you should give me a call and I'll take care of the problem for you.

Answer 7

Any gun over .30 cal, a 30/30 will take it down no problem using 180 grain bullets but you'll have to get pretty close. So the the best would be a .300 win mag with 180 grain bullets. It take the bear down from a distance and with force.

Answer 8

your first option should be to call your local fish and game department and see if they can't live-trap it and relocate it. only problem is bears develop habits and will seek out another unfortunate person's property.
if you do have to shoot it use a rifle that will put it down with the first shot. i hunt with a 300 weatherby or a 300 winchester magnum. i never have problems with game getting up.
good luck.

Answer 9

.300
.308
.30-06
i prefer to hunt any north american game with either of these fine calibers

any one will do the trick for a bear

Answer 10

22. pistol
Im kidding
Get a 300 weatherby like me and I have killed more bear with that gun that i can count on both hands