Author Topic: What gun for Black Bear in MI's U.P? (Read 1057 times)

Masterblaster1 · « **on:** June 10, 2004, 08:35:31 AM »

I am going black bear hunting this fall and have never been bear hunting and am undecided on which of my guns i should primarily use.
My options are 1. a scoped Marlin 336 .35 Remington shooting handloads using 200 grn core-lokts, and 29.5 grns of r7 which is only a grain and a half off maximum load.
Or 2. My Mossberg 500 12 gauge with fully rifled cantilever scoped barrel shooting Brenneke Heavy field short magnums 11/4 oz slug, 20 inch barrel
and lastly the same mossberg shotgun fitted with a 28 inch smoothbore with a wad wizard choke tube shooting federal premium 000 buck and federal 3 inch mag 11/4 oz rifled slugs, it is also fitted with clamp on williams firesights.
My dad will be toting a ruger m77 bolt action in .35 Whelen. Would a 225 grain nosler ballistic tip be a good bullet to use or should he use a 250 grain nosler partition? Any input would be greatly appreciated as we are both amateur at bear hunting. thanks alot

talon · « **Reply #1 on:** June 10, 2004, 10:28:10 AM »

Recommend a few sessions reading the many threads on this forum concerning black bears in Maine, WI, MN and PA. If you decide to use a guide service, you'd better take care of that pronto as you are already behind that power curve. As a first time bear hunter I highly recommend that, if only for them taking care of the baiting requirement. As far as your arms go, what you have listed, except for the non-scoped buckshot fed long gun, is quite acceptable. Using buckshot at a 50 yard target is not smart. (For hip shooting bear at 5 yards, it's OK, thou not recommended. Most of the time you won't get mauled to badly. [ I had to say that for grins]). Hunters usually shoot (pistol or rifle) their trophy at 50 to 70 yards, in low light. Having a good scope is a high priority. And, nothing dies faster than a black bear shot thru both lungs.

Lawdog · « **Reply #2 on:** June 12, 2004, 11:33:21 AM »

Masterblaster1,

Forget the buckshot, PERIOD. Bears and buckshot do not go together. Another thing, forget the Ballistic Tips and go with Partitions. Ballistic Tips give inconsistent penetration on heavier boned game like Black Bears. I assume you are planning on a hunting method that will be putting you at close ranges(under 150 or so yards) so your choices of rifles will do nicely. Good luck and keep us posted on how your hunt goes. Small groups and tight lines to you. Lawdog

Maine_Hound_Hunter · « **Reply #3 on:** June 13, 2004, 12:56:41 AM »

The Mossberg is a good choice, as it can give you a slug shot or a rifle shot depending on day,weather, time, etc...I'm assuming your talking about the same kind of Mossberg I have...

Your first choice stills ounds a bit better though, I personally LOVE Marlins for bear hunting...

Lawdog · « **Reply #4 on:** June 13, 2004, 08:15:21 AM »

Maine_Hound_Hunter,

Quote

Down with Maine Citizens for Fair Bear hunting!
----It will kill Maine's hunting economy....Is this really what we need?
----Plus, all you other Northeasterners, if it goes through here.......your more then likely NEXT

It is not just the hunters in the East that need to worry. Bear hunters all over need to worry. Maine needs the support of hunters/shooters everywhere. Keep the rest of us informed on how this fight is going. Lawdog

Sourdough · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2004, 10:19:10 AM »

The .35 Remington, (a tremendously underated gun) by all means. Take it out and shoot it, get comfortable with it. Also get a good look at a book or chart that shows the anatomy of a Black Bear. The heart is lower than most people think it is. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. As you might guess I love .35s Got 1 .35 Rem, 2 .350 Rem Mags, and 2 .35 Whelens. I'm looking for a .358 STA.

yooperman · « **Reply #6 on:** June 14, 2004, 02:24:45 PM »

well i think your best bet is the slug gun .but the 35 would work to.i think the scope would be more important .one thing you want to keep in mind is black bears are black and so are your cross hairs .a thing i like to do when setting up is to set up so i am about 30 or 40 yards from an opening such as a small field ,a hardwood strip, or in the best case a beaver damm.when setting up in this way it allows you to silloette the bear better in low light conditions .now im not saying most bears come in at sunset but the thing about hunting here in the up is we have about 75% cedar swamp ,gets dark really early.good luck to you got to go

Gregory · « **Reply #7 on:** June 30, 2004, 01:56:01 PM »

In my opinion a shotgun with slugs is what you use when it's not legal to use a rifle. I'd use the 35 Rem and as long as the range is under 100 yds you'll be good to go.

freddogs · « **Reply #8 on:** July 01, 2004, 03:59:51 PM »

In general I think you are better off with the rifle. A 35 Remington would be a very good choice for black bear. Slugs are OK but are moving pretty slow at extended ranges. Good luck

NYH1 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2004, 07:18:23 AM »

Masterblaster1, of the firearms you mentioned I would use the Marlin. The 35 Remington is a pretty good black bear cartridge. Personally I would keep the maximum shooting distance under 100-125 yards, just my opinion! I have a Marlin 336CS in 35 Rem. I use it for deer hunting. I don't hunt black bear with it because I have a Marlin 444. If I didn't have the 444 I wouldn't hesitate to use the 35 Rem on black bear. Sometimes I hunt deer on the Northwest edge of the Adirondacks. The deer can get pretty big and there are black bear in the area, they have the same season so if I see a bear its free game. I use my 35 Rem. and don't feel under gunned at all. You do your part (shot placement) and the 35 Rem will do its part! Good luck! :grin: