PNW black bear rifle thought exercise

[JRS]

Again Wow. Did not know PA had that quality of animals. I assumed they were about par with Michigan bears. Some big but mostly average 125-175# bears. That's great. I'll have to look at non resident information.

Non resident license is currently $101.90 - non resident bear license is $36.90
Average adult weight is 250+ for females, and 500 for males. If/when you decide to come to PA to hunt, let me know. My wife and I have a big house with plenty of room.

 

[JRS]

Here is a picture of that behemoth.

 

[284winner]

What

Here is a picture of that behemoth.View attachment 986339

What a monster !

 

[JRS]

This was the largest taken in PA in 2015. Another bow kill, by a 17 year old young man. 704 pounds.

 

[snowpro440]

Those are garbage bears..... They rob all the the dumpsters and trash cans throughout the night.

 

[JRS]

Partial list of black bear weights on opening day, PA 2015:
685 pounds, 649, 648, 640, 618, 617, 614, 592. They weren't eating left over bologna sandwiches

Total harvest in PA 2015 season was 3,748

 

[rebel]

I wish NC would post their weights in the reg book. You have to some searching to find stuff. I know the environment helps, but PA winters are much more severe than NC. I think it's genetics. Anyhow, another biggun'
http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/...eaviest-bear-in-nc-records-on-first-bear-hunt

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Only one comes to mind specifically for bears. Marlin 45-70 lever gun..

 

[msinc]

I wish NC would post their weights in the reg book. You have to some searching to find stuff. I know the environment helps, but PA winters are much more severe than NC. I think it's genetics. Anyhow, another biggun'
http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/...eaviest-bear-in-nc-records-on-first-bear-hunt

You think NC is bad....just try to find any info on the West Virginia state record black bear. Maybe they published it this year, but for some strange reason it seems to be a secret.
Pa. has some huge bears for certain. There are also a lot of bears in Virginia.
One thing I think is interesting, the pelts on the bear in NC are great. I have a nephew from Pa. that lived there at Camp Lejuene for a few years. He said the bear in NC seemed to be furred up better. You would think they would have thinner hair being in a hotter state????
Gun wise, my first choice is a 260. I barreled up an old Remington 760 in 260 for use on bear. The 260, with its great ballistic coefficient is a killer.

 

[Tommie]

Many black bear have been put down with the lowly 30-30. I wouldn't go so far as to say the old "dirty thirty" is the optimum choice, but a slick-handling lever gun full of Hornady GMX LeverEvolution loads would likely get the job done with little fuss.

I realize the OP is asking about rimless short action chamberings. My only point is that game animals aren't any tougher now than the days when Teddy Roosevelt hunted lions with a 405 Winchester.

 

[snert]

Winchester 88 in 308 or 358. Classic, "modern", historic PA type rifle, easy on the eyes, accurate enough, light. And maintains value.

Or simply a model 7 in a 35 caliber, say 350 Rem.

 

[matthias]

I like a marlin 1894 in 44 magnum. Nice heavy bullets and many extra rounds

 

[wiuprof]

I shot this bear in Manitoba, 1996, with the Marlin 45-70 that's in the photo.

The bear squared 78 inches and is the brown color phase. The load was a 400 grain Speer bullet with a
healthy dose of Reloader #7.

 

[rebel]

You think NC is bad....just try to find any info on the West Virginia state record black bear. Maybe they published it this year, but for some strange reason it seems to be a secret.
Pa. has some huge bears for certain. There are also a lot of bears in Virginia.
One thing I think is interesting, the pelts on the bear in NC are great. I have a nephew from Pa. that lived there at Camp Lejuene for a few years. He said the bear in NC seemed to be furred up better. You would think they would have thinner hair being in a hotter state????
Gun wise, my first choice is a 260. I barreled up an old Remington 760 in 260 for use on bear. The 260, with its great ballistic coefficient is a killer.

The hair is thicker to keep the skeeters off of 'em.

 

[Shaggy357]

I have hunted OR and WA and have plenty that will roll one down the hill, but If I get to pick something new to do it, it will probably be a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington or 45-70. Would likely look for one of the older, "broken in" ones rather than the new schtuff found on some store shelves. Don't know why, but most new guns don't feel like my aged ones.

Steve

 

[Park ranger]

I Maryland record was shot by a 20 year old female. It went 625 pounds. I assure you she wasn't using thumper. Probably a 243.

 

[Sniper338]

A bowtech with my grim reaper broadheads would be my caliber of choice. Ive always wanted to shoot a bear with a bow

 

[JRS]

A bowtech with my grim reaper broadheads would be my caliber of choice. Ive always wanted to shoot a bear with a bow

This is the son of a friend in PA:

 

[284winner]

To kill a bear in a state that has no baiting or use of dogs, is a real accomplishment regardless of the bears physical size. Baiting bears is NOT like shooting fish in a barrel and even tho I'm not into hunting bears with dogs, it's a tough method as well. Bears in their environment are masters of survival. Especially when using archery gear. They can smell so well that they always have the advantage. If a bear steps into archery range, it's not because he doesn't know a human is present, it's because he thinks he is higher in the food chain and wants what's for dinner. He just wants that meal and decided human presence isn't a issue at that time. I've had dozens of bears look at me in my stand and still continue and feed in my bait. Typically the larger bears do not and feed after dark but bears have no natural enemies and many times humans don't intimidate them either. Harvesting bears naturally WITHOUT the use of bait or dogs and WITH archery gear is skillful and extremely difficult. Kudos to those out there that do take on that challenge and persist in the task of waiting for that less than ideal percentage of successful tag holders. This is truly HUNTING. I have only considered this form of hunting and harvesting a bruin as my prefered method is baiting and it IS legal in my home state. I would certainly be packing a firearm in a non baiting state as opposed to archery gear due to the increased success rate of harvest.

 

[JRS]

This is the same young man [Jean-Pierre] in 2009