slingshot vs. bear?

Question

I'm only 14, so I don't know much about hunting or weapons. What calliber gun does it take to kill a bear? would a handgun do? what about a spear or a paintball gun or would that just piss it off even more?

Answer 1

Bears, unlike deer, are carnivores. That means that a bear might be quite happy to eat part of you if you don't hit it well enough to anchor it. Unless you have a fair amount of hunting experience under your belt, you probably should not even think about hunting bears until you do. And if that hunting experience is with a rifle, then use a rifle for bear hunting.

For bear hunting, you need at least 2 things. (1) a weapon capable of STOPPING (not just killing) a bear. Although bears have been killed with handguns as well as arrows, most of the time the people who attempt this have a person standing by to back them up with...you guessed it... a RIFLE.
(2) you need the skill and presence-of-mind to place your shot exactly where you want it even if the bear is bigger than you ever imagined it could be and is running straight at you from only 30 yards, or even less. This could actually happen, and if it does and you are not prepared, you will quite possibly end up disfigured, crippled, or dead.

SO, get a good amount of experience on deer and other game first, and start with a rifle. After you have taken a couple of bears with a rifle, IF you hit them well, then you might consider taking the next one with a handgun. In which case I would suggest AT LEAST a .44 Magnum. Personally, I would prefer a .454 Casull, a .500 S&W, or perhaps a .375JDJ. These handguns all have a fair amount of recoil, so PRACTICE a lot with whichever one you choose BEFORE you take on a bear. Good luck, be careful, and stay safe.

Answer 2

Well if you were going to kill a bear I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 30-30 or a 12 gauge shotgun. Smaller guns could kill then hit in the correct spot but you want to know that you have a very good chance to down them. I enjoy hunting. I don't enjoy wounding an animal and having it run into the woods and die not being able to find it. Make sure you always have enough gun for what you are hunting.

As far as a spear I highly doubt you would get close enough to a bear to do so. Most black bears will probably run away for the most part. But if the bear is hitting a dumpster or being fed it may be easier to get close. Either way its not a good idea. Throwing a spear I doubt you will kill it. You would have to get a good blow in with a jab of the spear. About 98% of the time if you got close enough to deliver a blow like the such the bear would end up ripping your face off before you would have a chance.

Paintball gun? Not even going to bother with that one. You know how effective one of those are against a real person let alone a bear.

Remember that most bear have skulls over 3/4" thick. I've hit a bear in the head with a 30-06 to only have it roll over then run away. I never even got a blood trail. I have killed all 8 of my baited bear with a 12 gauge shotgun. The one I did not bait I used a 30-06 with 180 grain bullets.

Answer 3

If you go after a bear with a slingshot, you'd better be throwing grenades!!

With a paintball gun, you can't even commit suicide while the bear is munching on your guts.

A .44 RemMag or .45 LC loaded heavy are the absolute rock bottom minimums for bear hunting handguns, and anyone who goes after a big bear with one is a mighty bold individual. I wouldn't hunt bear with a handgun by choice. A .454 Casull should be the minimum if you intend to hunt brown bear with a handgun, a .44 RemMag will work for black bear.

For a black bear rifle, most of the medium and medium small calibers that are deer appropriate would work for black bear. Any .30-30 WCF, .30-'06, .308 Win, .358 Win, or larger will get the job done. For Alaskan Brown Bear, I'd want a minimum of a repeating .45-70, and would very much prefer a .375 H&H Magnum, or a .416 Rigby.

Spears? It used to be the in thing to do a few hundred years ago, but such a feat was generally performed by a number of people hunting in a group. One spearman against a large bear is going to grow up to be bear poop.

Doc

Answer 4

Bears are seriously dangerous in the wild. Just stay away from them. If you do hunt them you need to use enough gun. For Black bear nothing less than a .30-30 will do (this round has killed more Black bear and deer than any other in North America in the hands of experienced hunters). For the larger bruins use something in the order of the .338 Federal as a minimum caliber.

In other words, forget the slingshot, paintball, sling, etc.

Good luck.

H

Answer 5

Unless you really want a Darwin award, apply what people post for your slingshot question. If your crazy enough to get close to any bear, it's nice knowing you.
On caliber, it takes a lot. Anything that's too small will only anger the bear & be like your trying to annoy it. People do have handguns, but it's only secondary. They have a rifle.

Answer 6

Any firearm can kill a bear, even a .22 LR handgun, if you hit it in the brain. However, if you are going bear hunting, in the way of handguns, I would not recommend anything less than a .41 magnum. With rifles, I would use either the venerable 30-30, 30-06, or the .308 Winchester.

Answer 7

At the age of 14, you have a lot of growing up to do, before you are ready for bear hunting.

1 thing that you should remember during the growing up process, is that when you go bear hunting, you always take someone with you.
Preferably, someone that can't run as fast as you can.

Answer 8

In most of the U.S you will only meet the common
black bear. He is usually shy of humans.
He is classified as a solitary, opportunistic omnivore.
That means that anything he sees is either food,
a threat, or an opportunity for sex.
(Not good ways to be regarded by a bear.)
He has no social instincts whatever.
He is bigger, stronger, and faster than you are.
He has sharp non-retractile claws and powerful jaws.
It is a REALLY bad idea to pi** him off, which
a slingshot or paintball gun is likely to do.

Answer 9

A bear can be killed by most hunting rounds in a rifle. A handgun would need to be at least a .44 mag. to ensure a kill when properly placed. The other things that you mentioned are only toys and would do no harm to a bear. It would, in fact, be quite likely to piss him off and result in your becoming a bear turd. In my estimation, becoming a bear turd would significantly alter your future career plans and would really suck.

Answer 10

If you are stupid enough to ask if a paintball gun or a slingshot can take a bear then I suggest you stay in the city.