20 ga for black bear

[bob kudile]

i have a question for black bear hunters. i recently read a post,i cant find again, about hand guns and using a 45apc while hiking trails in bear country. the subject took off and kind of settled on 41 and 44 cal and the few seconds during a charge and the abilitey to hit the nose or a flat area of the head, recoil recovery,etc. the use of a shot gun came up and being less east to carry on the trail but a better choice. my question is, while bird hunting with my dogs and a 20 ga with bird shot, is 20 ga slugs or 00 buck shot worth while to carry. i would have to eject 3 shells and reload. this would not be charge situation but a sighting or an indication from the dogs behaviour. this has been the way, so far, how i have come up on bears. would all slugs or buck shot or a combo of both be best. thanks, bob kudile

[wrenchman]

slug will do it real good i dont know if they make 00 for a 20 gauge.
I seen a nice black bear shot with a 20 over bait by seney.

[8X56MS]

20 ga slug will do the trick, if the range is short, and the placement is good. Slugs lose velocity quickly.

[model 70]

if you're hunting then a 20ga slug will put 'em down but stay away from buckshot when HUNTING. now if you have a 20ga shotgun as a camp gun or while hiking, a load of buckshot from said shotgun to the face will more than change a bears mind real quick.

[ktbearpaws]

...Would I shoot one with a 20 ga. my self.
I see and run into bears quite often. Even gone as far as have them come into my house.
I have been charged several times and I still would not shoot one except in a "have to" situation.
Gunshots have a tendency to frighten a bear, sometimes resulting in a charge but almost always a false charge. To actually shoot him, would probably turn a false chage into a real attack. Making a bad situation worse...

[gerry375]

ktbearpaws:

Your views should be taken seriously -since I know you come from a state with a lot of black bears. I used to hunt black bear (over bait)in north central Ontario for years. (Nipissing District). When the season was over (end of September) I always stayed around for the first few days of opening grouse season. I must confess that I always carried a few 12 ga.slugs in my pocket (I used a double) but the few times I ran into a bear at fairly close quarters, I soon realized that he was not looking for trouble and so I never even broke the double to slip in the slugs. My impression about black bear is that you must not leave food around -and then go to sleep nearby. That seems to produce trouble most times. Any time the bear is startled by a human is also a source of trouble.

[Jack]

I bird hunted, with dogs, in black bear country for a long time.
The few times I was aware of a bear in the area, what I heard was a lot of crashing in thick cover as a bear tried to skedaddle as fast as he could.
Black bears don't like dogs or people- in a woods encounter, a black bear is very unlikely to bother you unless it's a sow with cubs and you get too close to the cubs. Very, very unlikely when you're walking through the brush making noise, and so is the dog.
I would worry about something that is more statistically likely to happen- like a car accident on the way to your hunting area, being hit by lightning, bee stings, etc.

[skeet]

If necessary I'd use a 20 ga slug on a black bear at close range. But not any buckshot from any gauge..except maybe the 10 at close range. Also, I used to live in Alaska for a while in an area where black bears had been known to attack people(Healy Clear Anderson area). The one thing they really seemed to be afraid of was the women when they got together to pick blue or raspberries. Them women all carried guns. Mostly 30 carbines with 15 and 30 round mags. Figure 10 women ...so anywheres from 150 to 300 rounds flying through the air at 'em. The bears did usually skedaddle.

[MacD37]

If I had no other choice I would use a 20 shotgun with Brenneke slugs to defend myself from a black bear, or a grizz for that matter! I'm rarely only carrying a shotgun when hunting in Bear country. I have a couple of CAPE GUNS that I use for birds and I carry the left barrel with the apropreate shot size for the birds, and a rifle cartridge in the right barrel. The rifle barrel on mine is chambered for 8X57 JR shooting a 196 gr soft point at 2500 fps, so I would probably pepper his butt with bird shot, to get him on his way, and if that didn't deter him, the right barrel is pleanty more than any shotgun.

However, I'm sure you are asking about useing a regular shotgun. In that case one would be loaded with bird shot, and if you really needed to shoot the bear, it would require re-loading the gun, and that negates its use in a real sittuation. The best deal if useing a regular shotgun, for birds in Bear country, is to carry a 41 Rem Mag, or 44 Rem Mag double action revolver, in a surplus tanker's chest holster. I carry a 41 mag pistol in a chest rig made for tank drivers, when hunting in Alaska, and I never am without it, even in camp. This way the pistol can be in the holster under your coat, and/or rain gear, to keep the pistol dry, and warm in cold weather, yet accessable. The double action is easier to get shooting when you are UNDER A BEAR! A single action requres cocking between each shot!

Would I hunt Black bear over bait, with a 20 ga slug gun? Yes, with Brenneke slugs,at under 35 yds, if I didn't have a good rifle, but BUCK SHOT is the devil's own invention, and is not worth anything IMO! GOOD slugs are a different thing all together.