Buckshot and bears (PICTURE OF MY BEAR AT END)

[TheCoachZed]

I am just looking for anecdotal stories from people who may have seen someone use buckshot on a bear.

I used Foster slugs last year on my bear and I know they work better for the most part. I was simply wondering if buckshot would be easier to guarantee a neck or spine shot with over bait. My stand is at most 30 yards from my bait barrel, so it's not like I'll lose a lot of energy due to shot distance - although I realize penetration may suck.

[S.E.Ak]

Slugs are best for bear and buckshot for cats

[Bigeasy]

Never had any reason to want to P.O. a bear..

Larry

[wild country]

I use it when I track a wounded bear, but it's head shots and "IN YOUR FACR SHOTS"  buckshot-slug-buckshot-slug.............shoot till it stops moving then shot it again..........

[1sourdough]

 I'd pass on the buckshot, for hunting. There may be applications if tracking in thick cover or fishing in AK, alternately with slugs. I do like it for coyotes though. No reason to pepper the bear as he runs off upset. Is the plan to wound a bear or bag one?


 Edit to add;  The only bear I've seen shot with buckshot was a bow wounded one tracked to late morning the next day. The short range shot to the head did fine. I have seen a few deer that were not impressed. I have also hunted deer with dogs in MS where it was O.K. for the close moving shot. The individual buckshot pellets at even 25 yrds or do very poorly in the energy & penetration department. Yes many things will work, if the bear is up a tree about anything will do. Now we get back to our only shot offered all season, it's close to dark,thick cover is all around, & the bear is hung up at 45 yards?  Even with a center fire rifle things may not turn out all that well without good shot placement. I'd just rather use a slug than buckshot if hunting bear with a shotgun.

  I'll bet you have some GREAT bear hunting up your way Coach.

[SHOOTALL]

There are places in Va. where buckshot is the rule . Also there are places ( read real close ) where buck shot is the choice . I have seen bears shot with buck being checked in several times . We kill deer every year with buck . I have hunted bear twice once with buck and once with a 30-06 no shot either time. I would feel comfortable hunting black bear with 000 or 00 buck .

[TheCoachZed]

I'd pass on the buckshot, for hunting. There may be applications if tracking in thick cover or fishing in AK, alternately with slugs. I do like it for coyotes though. No reason to pepper the bear as he runs off upset. Is the plan to wound a bear or bag one?

Now what do you think?

Anyway, I'm not dealing with grizzlies, browns, or fat fall blacks - skinny spring blacks are a different story. And I was more curious than anything, as I've heard of some one-shot kill stories with buckshot on bears, but not many people are willing to try. I'd like to empirically test whether or not it's feasible, but - I only have one tag. And even if I did want to use buckshot, that would mean that this year's bear would have half the rib meat shot up and his hide would be full of buckshot holes. So I can think of a lot of good reasons not to use it, too. But if it was working for people, I wanted to know.

Plus - there are some spots near the city here that are overrun with bears, but it's too close to hunt with a rifle or slugs. If buckshot was viable, it'd open up some spots that are crawling with game.

[SHOOTALL]

Some of the bears taken here are over 500 lbs the one close to my home was 365lbs last season ( note it was the first bear season in Chesterfield Co. in my life time) . Only season is in the fall so no skinny spring bears .

[Ron Miller]

That’s just what I was thinkin Bigeasy! LOL

[SHOOTALL]

In Canada where i hunt the gun of choice for bear over bait is a shotgun . I was told they put in buckshot every other round . They also do this while fishing . And where we hunt has Grizz and black bears . While we were there a bee keeper 's wife shot a 600 lb bear in his bee hives . Nope ain't got a clue what she used but that was when alot of them were hiding rifles so they would not register them.

[Redhawk1]

I am not a fan of buck shot, will it or can it kill a black bear? Sure it can, but I want on slug in the right place, not a poke and hope you hit a vital area with buck shot..

I cringe when I here of people using buck shot for hunting...

So no I have not shot black bear with buck shot and doubt I ever will..
Way to many better alternatives...

[SHOOTALL]

It cracks me up when people who have never shot anything with buckshot dismiss it as a good choice then offer silly evidence to hold up their argument. I have used it since i started deer hunting over 40 years ago . Here is the real story - Some guns shoot it well , some great and others not at all. People who use it and are serious about their hunting get a gun that shoots it well or have a bbl built that shoots it great . Its all about pattern plain and simple . My buckshot gun will shoot a pattern no larger that a ball cap at 40 yards using 000 copper plated buck made by Federal. The bbl was fixed to shoot that load . This bbl has rifle sights ,why ? because the first bbl i had fixed did not and it shot so tight it was easy to miss a deer running . As a side note the gunsmith who did the work has stated that he saved more deer than PETA since most don't shoot a gun with that tight well. To be honest i switched to a more open choke when using dogs . The bbl is 23-3/4 inch long . I have shot many deer with this gun several out to 60 yards still getting 3-6 hits . This is the second important factor buck works best with multi hits so the shooter has to know how his patteren works - mine id a slight oval right to left . With 000 buck at 40 yards a shoulder shot on a deer standing or running broadside i expect and see the shot going clean thry the deer . Some i have shot this way were large bucks. So it works well .
We often use it where rifles are legal because it is the best option ( bet that draws fire ) like in thick cover on dog run deer .

The other thing is a shotgun is not a blunder bust ya got to aim.

And if it were not effective why would PH's ,military and police use them for times where one shot makes the difference ?
Just my thoughts

[TheCoachZed]

I'll bet you have some GREAT bear hunting up your way Coach.

In my specific area of New Brunswick, I bet it is the best in Eastern Canada. We certainly have the best spring hunt, since Ontario canceled theirs and you can't hunt over bait in BC . . . . Alberta might have bigger bears, but we have lots of them here.

[TheCoachZed]

It cracks me up when people who have never shot anything with buckshot dismiss it as a good choice then offer silly evidence to hold up their argument. I have used it since i started deer hunting over 40 years ago . Here is the real story - Some guns shoot it well , some great and others not at all. People who use it and are serious about their hunting get a gun that shoots it well or have a bbl built that shoots it great . Its all about pattern plain and simple . My buckshot gun will shoot a pattern no larger that a ball cap at 40 yards using 000 copper plated buck made by Federal. The bbl was fixed to shoot that load . This bbl has rifle sights ,why ? because the first bbl i had fixed did not and it shot so tight it was easy to miss a deer running . As a side note the gunsmith who did the work has stated that he saved more deer than PETA since most don't shoot a gun with that tight well. To be honest i switched to a more open choke when using dogs . The bbl is 23-3/4 inch long . I have shot many deer with this gun several out to 60 yards still getting 3-6 hits . This is the second important factor buck works best with multi hits so the shooter has to know how his patteren works - mine id a slight oval right to left . With 000 buck at 40 yards a shoulder shot on a deer standing or running broadside i expect and see the shot going clean thry the deer . Some i have shot this way were large bucks. So it works well .
We often use it where rifles are legal because it is the best option ( bet that draws fire ) like in thick cover on dog run deer .

The other thing is a shotgun is not a blunder bust ya got to aim.

And if it were not effective why would PH's ,military and police use them for times where one shot makes the difference ?
Just my thoughts

Nothing gets people more worked up than conversations over buckshot, I guess. I thought it was just a Canadian thing to get upset over.

I've never shot anything with it, but some areas where I deer hunt I keep it in the gun while walking into the woods, since my entry route is too close to houses for slugs or rifle. I met a guy back there last year who told me he'd messed around with using it before (and this was a guy who had a .30-30, too!), with very good results - he said he'd smash the deer's shoulder with the first shot, then finish him off with the second. But I've never seen anyone make a kill, or even actually shoot it at an animal, personally.

[SHOOTALL]

Tell him to use 000 and he won't need a finishing shot or a meat grinder for the shoulders . Which is the negative thing , buck does alot of damage .

[Redhawk1]

SHOOTALL, before you go spouting off let me give you some experience I had with buck shot with deer.. Sure I have killed deer, but buck shot is not a precession ammo as a bullet is. If you don't hit a vital organ the animal will not die. I have tracked deer shot with buck shot, had it not been for the snow, we would never of know the direction the deer went. We track one over a mile before it lied down, we jumped it and finished it with slug.

If you are under 30 yards, I would say go for it, you have a good chance of hitting a vital area. But the problem come when the bone heads try a 60 or 80 yard shot with it. and many of them do, because that's all they have with them...

As for police using it, hitting a man and shoot an animal are two totally different things...You can't compare apples to oranges..

I use buck shot for home defense, up close and personal...

[TheCoachZed]

My bear bait is close enough I could probably spit on the bear.

It's 35 yards, tops, from my stand.

[SHOOTALL]

Redhawk1, Like I said if you want to hunt sucessfully get a gun set up to shoot it . As far as police vs hunting it is not apples to oranges to state that buck shot will do the job . Again you want to compare the gun not the buckshot , my police mag 870 has a od choke installed not the cyl bore they come with . In one class i took we praticed shooting by a no shoot target and hitting a shoot target behind it. You had to know the relationship of your pattern to your gun. I to had to learn how to use buckshot ie; what gun , what distance and which shot size etc.It seems the guys who spend hours getting to know a rifle think you can pick up any shotgun and be great with it and when that fails to work out they blame the gun , the shell and every thing else but their lack of experince and pratice. Again its all about pattern and shot size . And i agree a rifle is easier to place a bullet in a certian spot no contest there ! But and its an important but not many critters can stand getting hit by 3-4 35 cal. balls going over 1200 FPS in say a 6 inch circle in the same area the rifle bullet struck. And like stated before they go clean thru. leaving holes on both sides for the juice of life to run out ! As far as deer running i have seen several rifle shot deer run long distances also , one with its heart shot , a critters desire to live can be unbeliverable at times .

All in all the bottom line is know your weapon !

[Redhawk1]

SHOOTALL,
Say what you want, in my opinion, they should outlaw buckshot for hunting. I have killed way to many deer that were crippled by buckshot hunters. I have seen many deer that survived buckshot wounds, and when finally killed you see the pus pockets, eyes shot out etc. A terrible way for game to live .Quick kills is what is needed.
Not one thing accurate about buckshot!!!!

[SHOOTALL]

With that line of thinking we should outlaw cars, trucks , combines , bow hunting , many rifle hunters , barbed wire , etc. etc. etc. as they all have hurt deer .
Why do you want to out law the weapon when its misuse is the problem , its like out lawing handguns to stop crime .

And yes i will speak the truth anytime i see a need to set the record stright .

[Redhawk1]

With that line of thinking we should outlaw cars, trucks , combines , bow hunting , many rifle hunters , barbed wire , etc. etc. etc. as they all have hurt deer .
Why do you want to out law the weapon when its misuse is the problem , its like out lawing handguns to stop crime .

And yes i will speak the truth anytime i see a need to set the record stright .

I knew you would go on a rant sooner or later. You are so off the mark, it is not even funny. I am not going to argue with you. I have my opinion, and I have the right to my opinion.

I use buckshot, for home defense only.

God bless...

[TheCoachZed]

Hahahaha, OK guys - maybe I can empirically test this on the weekend. I think I'll have my cousin in the blind with me, so if I decide to use buckshot and it is a horrible failure, he will back me up on the .30-06.

[mirage1988]

Coach-
There are at least two reasons you shouldn't use buckshot on a bear-
1) The vitals are further forward than on a deer, protected by the shoulder blades, neck shots are too risky.
2)The thick hair soaks up blood and the fat clogs up holes so tracking is difficult unless you make two big holes-1 going in and 1 coming out. Buckshot will not pass thru both shoulder blades and the vitals.

Even if you have someone with a rifle for "back-up" the bear will not stick around waiting for him to shoot, he probably won't get a shot. I can think of a lot of things I would rather be doing than tracking a POed bear in the dark. Good luck and please DON'T use buckshot, bears deserve to be killed humanely!

[Redhawk1]

Coach-
There are at least two reasons you shouldn't use buckshot on a bear-
1) The vitals are further forward than on a deer, protected by the shoulder blades, neck shots are too risky.
2)The thick hair soaks up blood and the fat clogs up holes so tracking is difficult unless you make two big holes-1 going in and 1 coming out. Buckshot will not pass thru both shoulder blades and the vitals.

Even if you have someone with a rifle for "back-up" the bear will not stick around waiting for him to shoot, he probably won't get a shot. I can think of a lot of things I would rather be doing than tracking a POed bear in the dark. Good luck and please DON'T use buckshot, bears deserve to be killed humanely!

Well said!   

[wild country]

THECOACH ZED,

You and I are about 40 min from each other, I live on the USA side, close to PresqueIsle.  FUR AND FAT......BONE AND MASS.....The deer we have (or don't have any more) are much larger then then down south.  I wouldn't use buckshot on them, just because our woods make it hard to see more then 50 yards at a time.  most would say this is the best choice in that situation.  My shot gun is set up with a pattern master choke, shoots wicked tight pattern. Like shootall is stating so tight you have to aim.  I shoot it lots, rolling tire w/ target in it, or just to shoot.  I'm not one to take a snap shot on big game, I guess I have shot my share of running deer, but I also knew my weapon and knew I had the shot.  I was also willing to take the chance (in my younger years) to bring home the bacon so to speak.  BEAR>>>>>>ANY..........BEAR..........FUR AND FAT.........BONE AND MASS...........Close is 20 feet..........When tracking you will find Mr. Bear in a place that will give him the advantage.....It will be fast....really fast........Some, like people, will run, but only to a point then when faced with the fact that this thing (you) will not go away then they will put themselves in a spot to take full advantage of there god given ability to put the hurt on anything that come with in striking range....You might hear a low growl......teeth popping.......or a low hum............you might not hear anything......I wouldn't want to fight with a 50lb cub that was hurt.  My point is shootall has shot many deer, grown up shooting a shot gun at deer size targets.  He knows his gun and how to use it.......I kill bear for a living, I've been in the situation where we have had to track them in the dark and deal with a bad hit............I use buck shot, with a full or mod choke tube, because my shots are measured in feet.........to tight a pattern and I might miss......leaving me with a bear chewing on my back side.....FUR AND FAT.......BONE AND MASS......you will NOT get a pass thru shot.......you will have no blood.........and if you don't kill it then you will have the opertunity to do as I have stated........then bring your shot gun and a few brave people to hold the light as you track your bear on your hands and knees, because there will be no other way to do it because there is no blood.....My daughter shot her bear with a 180 gr partition bullet at 12 steps......no exit.........very little blood........70 yards........dead..........just my two cents but stick with what redhawk, make a big hole.......A REALLY BIG HOLE...........

[TheCoachZed]

So you are suggesting slugs for the stand, buckshot for tracking?

I have no problem aiming a shotgun. I probably have shot more ducks and crows by sneaking around and picking them out of trees or a swamp with a careful shot that way, than I have by just wingshooting them. That's really the only reason I was wondering about buckshot, because I am comfortable shooting shot at those sort of distance, and have a lot more experience "aiming" shot than I do slugs. I figured I could "aim" pretty accurately at a bear's neck or spine and get a guaranteed hit (I eyeballed my blind up carefully yesterday and I'd say it's 20, 25 yards MAXIMIMUM from the bait).

But that's why I started this thread. I wanted to hear first-hand if people had tried this or not.

I am aware that a bear is a lot heavier-built than a deer, although I'd be surprised if there was much fat on the bones. BUT I guess we have had a pretty early spring, so it's entirely possible that a bear could have fat reserves still, I guess. I will also say that the bear in those pictures is a lot larger than the bear I shot last year, so it certainly made me a lot more thoughtful about what to shoot him with.

I wish my .30-30 wasn't broken.  Or even that I still had my SKS. Or a .303. . . . . but the 12 gauge worked last year, so I suppose I will be fine. My shiot placement last year was perfect (snapped the bear's spine on the first shot), but I had actually intended to put the slug through his ribs. I just misjudged the drop of the slug. I'll make sure I work some slugs through my gun this year before I try for a shot.

[SHOOTALL]

RH1 no rant just MHO and experince . I would have no problem using it on bear in Va. Besides our forefathers used smooth bore 36 cal. muskets in many cases to take bear . Best choice I agree no but will it work Yep .

[TheCoachZed]

Patterned some 000 buck out of my Winchester this morning . . .  was not impressed with the pattern at all. So I will use slugs.

But I can't shoot the momma bear that's coming into my stand at this point anyway so it's just a waiting game for a male bear to come along now.

[SHOOTALL]

That's perfect , some guns just don't shoot it well , Contary to popular belief a tight choke works best , a Briley XXFULL or tighter

[SHOOTALL]

I had the chance to talk to a hunter who has hunted black bear all his life in south eastern Va. and north eastern NC. He and his brothers have killed many bear in their corn fields and he said they may have shot one or two with a rifle but most with a double bbl. shotgun with 2 3/4 shells in 00 buck. Keep in mind these are big bears maybe the largets on the east coast . They can eat good year round if they choose to.