bear

[BigDMT]

BigDMT I agree with your above statement 100%, but not as strongly! I see guys using big 44 mag pistols and 454, I don't believe pistol cartridges to have the penetration...

Ray,
so you've personally witnessed, first hand, a person harvesting a 700+ lb black bear with a 44 mag or 454 casull? And in a situation where the bear was not eating on a bait pile? ??? even if you did, that doesnt mean that the individual using such a weapon is not a complete fool and very lucky.

so are you also condoning handgun hunting large bears, yet admitting they do not have good penetration? Im confused on that part of the statement ???

model12toby,
Regardless of my views on your hunt and intended weapon, nobody can tell you what to do. We can only provide suggestions and opinions based on personal experiences. So I wish you the best in PA model12toby. I hope I am wrong and you have no trouble harvesting a very nice trophy black bear. Good luck to you

 

[funkyon4wheels]

Here hopefully this works. Still trying to figure out the whole posting pictures process.
http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/funkyon4wheels/media/PICT0282_zps5cc5f4d9.jpg.html
http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/funkyon4wheels/media/PICT0281_zps0714bd55.jpg.html
http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/funkyon4wheels/media/PICT0280_zpse4d8e862.jpg.html
or maybe these will work...

 

[model 12 toby]

Railroad bed is in tioga right?

 

[Raythemanroe]

BigDMT,

I'm not condoning anything, while personally agree with you I still believe with good shot placement and patience (self control) to take the right shot it can be done! My experience is not with 700lb bears, only a handful of 500 to 600 pound bears get harvested in PA and NY a year.. I have taken a couple 300lb bears, one in Quebec over bait and one with a bow in NY were I hunt!! If I was intending to hunt bear I would use the 300 wm i am building, If I was hunting deer in NY (same season as bear) with my .243 and had a chance to harvest a bear I feel with a good lung shot this would not be that hard..I would not intentionally take a small caliber rifle out to hunt bear!!!

 

[Rem06]

I have a 6.5x47 Lapua and shoot 140 Berger at Pa whitetail and won't shoot them over 500yds anymore (150lbs buck) with it,unless i am able to watch them run a ways from where the would be standing! I am not happy with the 6.5's performance at that distance at all! NO WAY would I personally shoot a Bear that far with the 6.5! I wouldnt even say 400yds!
I been hunting Cameron County (mountain to mountain) for the past 6 or so years, one of the best places and highest harvest areas in the state! and have yet to see one in the short season.
Nobody i ever saw there at the many camps we visit, is using a 6.5 anything, 7-300 and 162's is popular as are big 30 mags and 338's are becomong super popular. I carried a 30-06Ai for a year or so and was way under gunned with it as 500yds from mountain to mountain there is where that game starts at!
currently i am carrying a 300 Norma mag (not 308 Norma) shooting 208Amax @ 3080fps and feel good with that!

let the 6.5 at home unless you are hunting in the trees and your shots will be under 200yds. Your odds are low enough of even seeing a bear let alone pulling the trigger on one. If that were to happen , you sure as hell dont want it to run away! My woods gun is a short 308 win with 165gr for deer, but "Bear" but i "take" a 375 H$H with discontinued 270NBT, now using 270NAB and yes, i dont feel bad at all carrying the 375 H&H as one of my best friends shot a state record a few yrs back near here at 763lbs with a 270 5X )thats five times) and now carries a 35 Wehlen!
a local fellow a few yrs ago near here had his thighs chewed on after shooting one with a 444 marlin.
I see alot of bear every year bit never in the short season so my actual shooting them is just the many i saw shot and hunting is what i do!
so take my opinion for what it is worth but i'll bet you wont find many people that hunt Pa to disagree with me? Boyd posts here and has shot bear in the northern counties, maybe he will see this and post?
let the 6.5 at home and taks a 300WM as minimum should you be lucky enough to get a shot!

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-167704.html

 

[BigDMT]

Rem06,
Ive been trying to tell them all the same thing this whole time. But nobody wants to listen to an ol Montana boy who has lived in the midst of grizzlies and black bears his whole life in the rocky mountains. Some folks shoot a couple small bears or hear about buddies doing it and develop an unwavering opinion. I think between myself and my father, we have taken about 15 bears over the years. would be more too, but we dont hunt them every year.

hopefully the OP will listen to somebody like you who is from the "source"

 

[Raythemanroe]

Not PA but it looks fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VQSZ4c20KE


that's patience!

 

[Rem06]

thanks BigDMT , you did have the best advice on this post so far and i definately agree with you!

I am in the heart of Pa hunting and have alot of years under my belt hunting. One week lafter after bear closed last year, during deer season I saw a real nice 350-400lb bear while hunting our powerline for deer and it was every bit 500yds and simply walked through. I see them all the time but just not in season! NO WAY would i have expected to take down that bear with the 6.5x47 Lapua i had in my hands and expected to find it. Yeas, a 243 or 6br would have hit it too!
If i ever get the oportunity to see a black bear in season, I will have a BIG 300/338 something for long range set ups and a 375 H&H for a carry gun. Many black bears are taken in thick laurel or rhododendron and the most popular weapon is a 20gu then 12gu.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Rem06,

The 6mm's and 6.5's don't have a good amount of power after 300 yards and that would be my ethical limit on bear! I wouldn't intentionally use a .243 I would still like to mention that! I think the 7mm's at 160g or more would be a good honest starting point for bear!

 

[Rem06]

I think the 7mm's at 160g or more would be a good honest starting point for bear!

yop, you bet! I wouldnt recomend a 6.5 at all past 200-300yds and the fastest 6.5 Whizzems past 400 on a decent size 250lb plus bear with any bullet.

the OP wanted something for bear including LR and I would start with a 7Mag/7-300 plus. Tioga is a good county also.

I dont know how anybody could recoment a 6.5x47 unless it is over bait? I wouldnt be afraid to shoot the 140 Berger even then. You simply need something to put them down HARD! if the opportunity presented itself, simple as that.

 

[Glenn Powell]

All you fellas are WRONG! The only thing to use on bear is a 358 Norma pushing a 225TSX at in your face distance. Anything less is just plane silly, there, argument over.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Hoyt Alpha Elite with Goldtip 400 series carbon Arrows and a Rocket 100g mechanical broad head!! lot more rewarding taking a animal with a bow!

 

[1shot]

Did you like the pic? Sorry I wasn't able to post it on here.
Lloyd

 

[Trapper243]

Hoyt Alpha Elite with Goldtip 400 series carbon Arrows and a Rocket 100g mechanical broad head!! lot more rewarding taking a animal with a bow!

I have to agree with you on that one. My most memorable one was spot and stalk across an avalanche chute. I managed to get to 15 yards undetected and put a thunderhead through both lungs. He did a 180 and went about 30 yards and piled up dead.
Saw an old video of Fred Bear the other day killing a grizzly at about 20 yards with his old longbow. Now that was super Cool. 8) .
I will disagree with some of the 6.5 comments, only because of the track record of the Swede. However when I intentionally hunt bears I generally go .30 cal. 180 class bullets. My 6.5 experience so far has been limited to coyotes, and for them, it is superb.

 

[model 12 toby]

Swede huh? Sweet.

 

[BigDMT]

no you dont want a swede. that wont do any better than what you've got.

Order a new TC Venture in 338 win mag and call it a day. they are cheap, very well built and extremely accurate. leave that little 6.5 at home for deer and coyotes.

You might be able to kill a bear with the 6.5x47L or a 6.5 swede.
But you need big knockdown power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Understand???

I'm done, i cant listen to all this bad advice anymore

 

[Rem06]

OP Posts quoted

140 a-max gonna kill a bear?

2
[quoteBlack bear way out. ][/quote]
3
[quoteSo get berger 140s and dial them in?][/quote]
4

No offense taken. 140 a max 6.5 mm correct. 2870 fps. Id never take 1000 yard I don't think. I'm thinking 800 or less. 6.5x 47 Lapua. A maxes go right through coyotes. Had it happen twice. I'm going to buy v maxes tomorrow for that chore.

where in the world did bow hunting come in? then the OP said 6mm 115DTAC aka SMK?

Pa bear up to 800yds is what i see in Tioga county and railroad beds? anybody read any different?
I can assure you those guys are so entertained by the BS responses they are seeing.

im with BigDMT here:
and model 12 toby.
you take your 6.5 and i can assure you it will be the last time you carry it there in Pa for hunting!!!
800yds is shooting across through tree tops on the other side.
read my posts if you want anymore info from me who has been there many times or look up boydallen and i know others are here as well. and GOOD LUCK!

 

[model 12 toby]

Sorry bout that. Sounds like I need to go out west. I was looking at a satellite image recently and have seen its a little thicker than I was hoping for. It was good though that u got a kick out of it. After listening to u I kinda appreciate where l live a little more. On any given Saturday or Sunday I can set up a mile shot if I wished to. U guys drive bear I've read? U guys use shot guns? That would seem like a good choice for a brush gun. If hunting bear or any animal is about telling everyone how much ya know about it and criticizing someone for not being familiar with an area u r quite familiar with then that's not something I want to be part of anyway. I'd of probably went about it a different way. Maybe like everything is probably gonna be pretty close I've hunted that area a lot. Be better to have something with tons of knockdown power cause it'll be hell to track em in that area. ?????? I don't know something like that? Then just leave it at that. Mention something about safety maybe????