bear hunting

by **DOCB** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 12:48 pm

anybody do any bear hunting? i have wanted to try this for awhile. we have very large black bear here in NC, especialy in the coastal area. i was thinking of getting a .450 marlin lever action for hunting them. would this be a good bear round? what kind a round do you guys use?

if anybody has any experience hunting them here in NC, or even VA, let me know how it went,

thanks guys

by **kyle44mag** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:50 pm

I have a cousin who lives in Gatlinburg And he goes bear hunting around the smokies every year. He uses his 300 wby mag. I don't know much about the subject or the cartridge so I won't comment on either. But I can give my cous a ring if you want. Let me know.

Kyle

by **beltbuckle** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:55 am

I've taken 2 bears over the years in Canada. Both were black bears, one dressed at 450lbs, the other just shy of 300lbs. With both I used a Remington 30-06 with a Leopold scope.

In Canada they allow you to hunt over bait (sportsman like IDK) so both kills were under 50 yards. My first ran off about 60 yards and the second fell where he was shot.

On both bears I used winchester 180 grain supreme elite XP3 bullets.

by **DOCB** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:49 am

i ahve thought about a trip to canada. did you get a guide, or know somebody up there? i dont think that they allow baiting in NC, wich blows. because that seems to be the easiest and best way to hunt them.

did you go for a behind the shoulder shot? what did you do with them? i heard the meat isnt that good. i would like to have the skin.

by **beltbuckle** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:22 pm

The camp owner at Pozniaks's which is where we stay up there is also a Bear Guide. He takes us to the Stand every morning and Comes and picks us up for lunch, Takes us back out after and picks us up around dark. Baiting is by far the easiest way!

Both of my kills were just behind the shoulder into the vitals.

Bear meat, Thats a different story! The first I shot was tough and gamey, gave as much away as I could to people that wanted to try it lol. The second a much younger bear, one that ate better too, tasted pretty good. Not overly tough and had little gamey flavor. For eating shoot the little guys LOL...