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Black bear.

ESOXER

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So after 8 long years of accmulating points I finally was drawn for a black bear kill tag. So I have someone up north to bait and now I'm trying to decide if I should go with the 0-6 or get a crossbow. I just hope to see one up close if I'm blessed with the opportunity of a kill I want it to be clean. Anybody here ever bear hunted? How was your experience?
I'm excited as hell
 
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depends on What bullet and bullet weight do you use for the 30-06

06 plenty of fire power!:elmer:many choices of bear shells
 
Yep I have, here in Calif. Sierras Black bear & in Alaska,
lots of walking/hiking & sitting scoping, spotting/glassing
Black & Brown bear both, some in Hatchers Pass, Ak. too,
when I live in Palmer & Anchorage areas for a couple years...
I use my trusty Winchester .270 mag {great penetration}
we also did a Kodiak {Brown Bear/Grizzly} hunt that was a shitload of work,
I took a .458 for that hunt, my partner go one, he uses a 7mm
But that's when all the work started, hunting is the easy part...
Getting to them & finding them...
Skinning & Gutting, butchering the carcass {never cared for that part}
& Packing/carrying it out is the hard part...
 
depends on What bullet and bullet weight do you use for the 30-06

06 plenty of fire power!:elmer:many choices of bear shells
Two kills with win. model 70 .30-06, one miss at 50' with a Remington Keene 45-70. Taking one with a crossbow would be something to talk about. Me I'm going back to my .30-06 180 grain. All Pa. bears in fair chase.
 
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So after 8 long years of accmulating points I finally was drawn for a black bear kill tag. So I have someone up north to bait and now I'm trying to decide if I should go with the 0-6 or get a crossbow. I just hope to see one up close if I'm blessed with the opportunity of a kill I want it to be clean. Anybody here ever bear hunted? How was your experience?
I'm excited as hell
Hello ESOXER. I hunt bears in Pa. where I live. Never harvested one passed up small ones twice.i n Pa we cannot bait. We push swamps out to standers.i also hunted in Maine with dogs. Only treed 2 cubs. Last year in Pa. My buddy got a 659lbs. Live weight. So anyway personally.for me 30.06.either way good luck to you
So after 8 long years of accmulating points I finally was drawn for a black bear kill tag. So I have someone up north to bait and now I'm trying to decide if I should go with the 0-6 or get a crossbow. I just hope to see one up close if I'm blessed with the opportunity of a kill I want it to be clean. Anybody here ever bear hunted? How was your experience?
I'm excited as hell
So after 8 long years of accmulating points I finally was drawn for a black bear kill tag. So I have someone up north to bait and now I'm trying to decide if I should go with the 0-6 or get a crossbow. I just hope to see one up close if I'm blessed with the opportunity of a kill I want it to be clean. Anybody here ever bear hunted? How was your experience?
I'm excited as hell
 
I need an armed guard but neighbors would call the cops if there was gunfire. Looking out my back door.
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Went to New Brunswick once on a black bear hunt. Went with a bow. Last day I took a rifle out because they wouldn't come in tight enough for the bow. 300 Win Mag dropped where it stood.
 
If you go with a Bow, think about a sidearm. Nothing less then a .45 long colt. I'm just thinking if you'd be on the ground stalking and not in a tree sniping.
 
I couldn't do it. Bears are so cool.
Bears are magnificent animals. To walk up on one and watch it run away, a coat shinny and black and to see it's body simmer, I guess it's muscle and fur you see. The old timers (think what firearms they may be shooting) (guys pre and post WWll) would say ''A bear can run dead on it's feet'' (they did not say Paws). ''A bear if hit will run till it falls over'' This is the funny one,''A bear if hit will either run towards you or away from you.'' ''A bear can outrun a race horse in a short distance.'' I think they can outrun a speeding bullet if going down hill. They will go up or down a shear rock bank non stop. I had one trail me down a hollow once. My cousins cut my trail in the snow and called me up (2 way radio) and asked if I was tracking the bear and which way it was going. I said ''no bear down this hollow''. Their response was ''Then the bear is stalking you.'' I backed tracked, and it was 30' above me on the abandoned railroad bed. Never ever go to the outhouse not packing. Been hunting bears since I was 18. The hunt is the thrill. (As I rate my hunts, 5 is the worst day and 1 is the best day.)
5) The worst is to shoot and hit and it gets away.
4) To not see a Bear.
3) To see a Bear and not get a shot off.
2) To Shoot a Bear and get it.
1) To shoot at a Bear at 50' and miss twice and watch it keep running up the Mountain only to disappear in 4 seconds.
ESOXER, GOOD LUCK AND HAVE A SAFE TRIP. Don't forget your camera.
Just thinking back, all three bears (no cubs) I shot at with a rifle were running.
 
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I shot a Pope and Young bear with my conventional bow while sitting over bait, it went about 50 yards. They are not hard to kill, but I would have a pistol on my hip just in case. If I went with dogs, I would definitely use a rifle.
 
Thanks guys, I have till September but I want to have everything ready and be ready to take the right shot and respect the bear. I'll be taking 8 hour round trips to help bait and check cameras. There goes my car budget for the summer but it's worth to me
 
Just don't shoot my Newfoundlands. They are constantly confused with black bears.
 
Beings it's a crossbow instead of a compound I'd go with the gun.
Carry a trusty revolver on your side either way and good luck.
I had a friend who says to use McDonald's and honey for bait.
 
We have been warned to not feed the bears. None have been seen here as of yet but dont have to get to far south. As of yet not a significant bear population in Missouri.
We are not to shoot big cat eather unless life threatening. We have some big cats.
How big a cross bow?
 
I watched some locals skin a black bear in the northwest territory Ontario Canada when I was 14. I remember going up and holding a paw and touching the teeth. I wouldn't want to run into a angry live one. I believe they ate the meat too.
 
I hunted black bear in norther Wisconsin once or twice. Only got a look at one once (as I drove by :().
I'd go with the 06.
 
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