shot distance for rifle - bear over bait

[BriBri]

I will be going on a bear-over-bait hunt in May in New Brunswick, and I will be shooting my .270 with 150gr SP Core-Lokts. I am wondering at what distance I should be from the bait pile. I will be in a tree stand (I believe about 20ft up), and I am comfortable shooting off-hand (although there will be a rifle rest) anywhere up to 100 yards. The outfitter has a few options and I was thinking of somewhere in the 50-60 yard range. I want to be close enough to make a perfect shot (as well as be able to size up the bear and make the boar/sow distinction), but I want to be far enough away to not be (visually) spotted or easily winded/heard by the bear. I would appreciate any suggestions on the topic or even people's personal preferences. Thanks.

-Brian

[toxic111]

with rifle, anywhere from 50-100 yrds is fine for bear over bait.

I hunt bear with bow, so my stands are set-up at 20-25yrds.. and have never had a problem.

[BriBri]

Thanks Toxic.

[petey]

Agreed 50 yards is probably a good distance. I shot one at 6 yards over bait with a rifle once and it was pretty hard to even find the bugger in the scope...or lets say, find exactly where I was holding on all that black. I wouldn't worry so much about them being able to see you, or wind you. A lot of archery hunters are shooting them between 10 and 25 yards and make a lot more movement drawing a bow vs raising a rifle.

In fact the bear in my avatar may be the one one I shot at 6 yards. Too close for my liking with a scoped rifle.

[wrenchman]

most sets are made for shots under 50 yards

[buckhunter]

I've deer under NB a number of times. I would suspect the quide will set you at about 50 yards. The bush is pretty thick at time of year and doubt if you could see any further. Your 270 will do just fine. Zero it for 100 yds and you should be fine. Good Luck.

[BriBri]

Thanks for the feedback.

[BriBri]

Hi y'all. I just wanted to follow-up on this post. I shot my bear at 51 yards. Other stands I used that week were between 43 and 54 yards, and that seemed to be a good distance, both from a bear-size-judging perspective and maximum bullet effect (e.g., muzzle energy).

[fabsroman]

I'm willing to bet that a .270 would easily kill a black bear at 200 yards if the bullet is properly placed. It should carry plenty of kinetic energy out to 200 yards for black bear.

[Jack]

Congratulations, BriBri.

[fabsroman]

Where are the pics?

[BriBri]

OK. So how do I paste pictures here. When I click on the Insert Image button, it asks for the URL for the image. I do not have these pictures saved on the Net. They are in JPG format on my hard drive.

[BriBri]

OK. Here is the message I get when I try to add an album via the Pictures & Albums link (as per the FAQ):


BriBri, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
I sent Petey a couple of e-mails, but he has not responded.

[BriBri]

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu9/HunterBriBri/NBblackbearpic2.jpg

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu9/HunterBriBri/NBblackbearpic1.jpg

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu9/HunterBriBri/NBblackbearpic3.jpg

[fabsroman]

Glad to see you were able to post the pics, and nice pics they are. Congrats again.

[muskrat30]

Nice pictures, looks like you had a great time.