Long Range Bear Hunting

Sevy

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Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
307
Location
Oregon
So I just found out I drew a spring bear tag in an awesome bear hunting unit. Furthest I have shot an animal was 500 yards and I am hoping to stretch my legs on this hunt. I understand the general consensus is 1000 or 1100 minimum fpe on deer or elk for an ethical kill assuming I can put it in the right spot. Bears are tough, do those numbers hold up with bears as well? Seems like my first instinct would be more than that. I don't want to be tracking a wounded bear through the brush because I underestimated their toughness.
 
Bear are not that hard to kill just need to make sure you have a good bullet that will hold together when it hits heavy bone. The other problem I see my hunters make is they aim to low because they forget about the hair hanging down 2-4 inches. I like the Accubonds or Partions we have used every thing from 243 to 338 Rum.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have never thought about the long hair hanging down. I will keep that in mind. Currently I am using the 212 eldx with my 300 win mag. I was thinking about trying out a 215 berger but not sure how I feel about the fragmenting instead of the mushroom. Even though a lot of people are having great luck with it hunting.
 
I want a bullet that will mushroom and punch thru so I have two hole to bleed out of. Bear fat closes a hole over very quick plus their hide soaks up a lot of blood. I tell all my hunters take out the front shoulders break them down and shoot them again if you need to. I lost a really big bear 4 years ago with a Berger that fragmented to quick and only busted a shoulder on a 600# bear out of a 7 RUM we killed that bear the next year and he only had a bad limp from the previous year. I believe in hitting them as hard as u can with that first shot and punch a big hole. Its no fun looking one in the dark in the cut-overs we hunt in.
 
300 win mag with a 212 eld-x has put down 3 bears for me ranging from 218yds to 717. All were one shot kills and all exited. Furthest one went was maybe 30 yds.

That said I hunt open clearcuts where I have some space for them to expire. If not I would shoot a heavy bonded bullet or mono and punch shoulders
 
Thanks mallard. I think I will stick with the eldx and go for the shoulders to bring em down. Where I am going is fairly open but can get real brushy in the bottoms of the canyons so I would like to put them down quick to avoid swimming through the brush after a wounded bear.
 
I live in an area with lots of bears. Many nights last fall I had one in my back yard rooting around my garden. The locals shoot lots of bears but seldom hunt them. My friends and I hunt them but usually up high where they can't get into garbage or fish drying racks. They taste much better when they have been grazing on lush vegetation and berries. Most any rifle will kill them cleanly at around a hundred yards but myself and my friends mostly use 30 cal or better with a good mushrooming bullet for anything over that. I did shoot a bear once with a .270 using 150 grain Norma bullets. It wasn't a trophy but it was destroying a friends orchard so he called me up and asked for help. It took six rounds to put him down because the bullets weren't opening up, just drilling holes. The sixth finally hit the spine and that did the job. Fish and wildlife once called me to destroy a bear that was digging up a guys garden and he was too old and sick to look after it himself. A friend and I went over and waited and when it showed up it was huge, between five and six hundred pounds. I shot it with an 8-06 using 200 grain Speer hot cores and it went down and got back up, then my friend hit it with his 340 Wby using 250 gr. Noslers, and it went down and got up, and then we both did the same thing over again and he finally stayed down. It was an old bear. His teeth were wore down to the gums. We were at fairly close range and none of our bullets exited. That going down and quickly getting back up thing is fairly normal for bears no matter where they are hit. It doesn't indicate much. I don't use anything now except premium bullets, mostly partitions, but if they won't shoot well in a gun I use Barnes TSX or TTSX, the old "X" bullets used to work pretty good too. The best advice I would give to any new bear hunter is get as close as you can. In fact, I believe shooting them from long range in many cases is unethical. Black bears are the most undefined target I have ever hunted. Even in good light, in the open, they are just a black blob and it is hard to get your crosshairs on a spot where you are sure to kill them cleanly, and wounding one is ugly, for many reasons.
 
I know there are a lot of cannons out there but I'm kind of an old traditionalist. With my 30-06 using ABLR 210 or ELD-x 212 and IMR 4350/51 grains I can easily get over 1000 fpe at 1000 yards from the ballistic charts. I've never hunted bear but with that amount of energy it seems a viable option.
 
Elk are tough animals, if 1000 or 1100 is "enough" for them. I would say bear hunting it should do the job also. Assuming the bullet hits it in the right spot. My current load puts me at 1260 yards with 1000 fpe and 1350 fpe at 1000 yards. I am comfortable shooting at those ranges but wasn't sure if even that 1350 is maybe too low. Maybe I need to stay around the 800 yard mark where I have 1670 fpe. Or maybe I am just reading too much into it.
 
Elk are tough animals, if 1000 or 1100 is "enough" for them. I would say bear hunting it should do the job also. Assuming the bullet hits it in the right spot. My current load puts me at 1260 yards with 1000 fpe and 1350 fpe at 1000 yards. I am comfortable shooting at those ranges but wasn't sure if even that 1350 is maybe too low. Maybe I need to stay around the 800 yard mark where I have 1670 fpe. Or maybe I am just reading too much into it.
Sevy, you should go with more experience than I have for you. This all sounds like great fun and would like to hear more of your adventures when you get back. Good luck, safe, fun.
 
We hunt them long range in PA from the same locations we hunt deer from. We do choose to hunt the closer locations for bear however.
One problem with bear is they don't hang around like a deer does after being shot at. So if your lucky enough to see one figure on just one good shot.
I have been lucky enough to kill one at 700 with a 7x300 wby using a 162 gr Hornady match bullet. First shot put him down but he got right back up, but he couldn't go up hill, and soon stopped again giving me another good shot which finished him. But if they aren't hit well right off, they will go a long way and chances are you wont get him.
I would be keeping the distance as close as possible, and its best having somebody backing you up just in case things don't go well.
 
I live in an area with lots of bears. Many nights last fall I had one in my back yard rooting around my garden. The locals shoot lots of bears but seldom hunt them. My friends and I hunt them but usually up high where they can't get into garbage or fish drying racks. They taste much better when they have been grazing on lush vegetation and berries. Most any rifle will kill them cleanly at around a hundred yards but myself and my friends mostly use 30 cal or better with a good mushrooming bullet for anything over that. I did shoot a bear once with a .270 using 150 grain Norma bullets. It wasn't a trophy but it was destroying a friends orchard so he called me up and asked for help. It took six rounds to put him down because the bullets weren't opening up, just drilling holes. The sixth finally hit the spine and that did the job. Fish and wildlife once called me to destroy a bear that was digging up a guys garden and he was too old and sick to look after it himself. A friend and I went over and waited and when it showed up it was huge, between five and six hundred pounds. I shot it with an 8-06 using 200 grain Speer hot cores and it went down and got back up, then my friend hit it with his 340 Wby using 250 gr. Noslers, and it went down and got up, and then we both did the same thing over again and he finally stayed down. It was an old bear. His teeth were wore down to the gums. We were at fairly close range and none of our bullets exited. That going down and quickly getting back up thing is fairly normal for bears no matter where they are hit. It doesn't indicate much. I don't use anything now except premium bullets, mostly partitions, but if they won't shoot well in a gun I use Barnes TSX or TTSX, the old "X" bullets used to work pretty good too. The best advice I would give to any new bear hunter is get as close as you can. In fact, I believe shooting them from long range in many cases is unethical. Black bears are the most undefined target I have ever hunted. Even in good light, in the open, they are just a black blob and it is hard to get your crosshairs on a spot where you are sure to kill them cleanly, and wounding one is ugly, for many reasons.

What about the Hornady GMX bullets? Has anyone tried those? I have a 300 win mag that I am going to try their Superformance with GMX bullets on. I have 165, 180 gr but will also be trying the 200 gr ELDX... to see which ones the rifle likes better. My original thought on this rifle was to stick to factory ammo and for my 6.5 CM I'll try reloading (more for long range target shooting and the 300 win mag for hunting)? Depends where I'll be hunting and what.
 
The superformance factory bullets didn't shoot well in my rifle. The best for me was actually 180gr remington corelokt.
 
One problem with bear is they don't hang around like a deer does after being shot at. So if your lucky enough to see one figure on just one good shot.

But if they aren't hit well right off, they will go a long way and chances are you wont get him.

I would be keeping the distance as close as possible, and its best having somebody backing you up just in case things don't go well.
Agreed. Shooting at bear at long ranges really increases the odds of a disappointing hunting experience.
Might as well take a single shot rifle, because you're likely to get a single shot only.
Backup is for bear attacks more than long range, because I don't know anyone good enough to hit a bear on the go, in the open (or more likely the thick stuff), at long range.
This doesn't mean it can't be done. I've gone so far as to set up a target on the distant hillside or opening where I expect the bears to appear, and confirmed zero in order to improve my odds for the first round POI. Then hunt that location until a bear shows itself. I'll protect my rifle from any bumps/impacts as if it's a fragile uncooked egg.
Yet still be prepared for disappointment!
 
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