Bear Huntin Im'a Goin'

[Knute1]

I have more than enough points for bear hunting in northern Wisconsin and sent my application in this morning, confident I'll get it for next fall. Going with my brother. Now to choose which rifle. Any deer rifle should do, but it will also likely be close range over bait. Looking at a DIY hunt, or possibly guided. Have been looking at options.

Now to choose what gun. Options are:
Scoped 30-30 Marlin
Scoped sporterized 1917 Enfield in 30-06
Scoped 35 Whelen bolt action (26" barrel)
Flintlock 54 Cal rifle (42" barrel)
or
Open sight sporterized US Magazine Rifle,Model of 1896, .30 Cal.

[Whig]

Open sights .30-40 Krag rifle with Ruger Redhawk .44 mag as sidearm backup.

[Knute1]

Wow, I never thought of a sidearm. I figured if I missed and the bear got real close that I would do like Davy Crocket and just start grinning at the bear. :)

[Whig]

If you need it, you'll be glad you have it!

In some hand gun training I did years ago, we had scenarios of having a charging black bear coming at us and shooting it (trying to shoot it!) quickly for center of mass or head shots before we got mauled. I took a super snubby model 629 .44 magnum as my side arm which was sufficiently powered and small enough for getting a quick shot at a short distance but you never know how it will work when you have a bear rushing at you and you only have 2-3 seconds to make a shot count. Those black bears are supposed to move awfully fast for big creatures!

Good luck!

(S&W Super Snubby .44 mag against .38 special Colt Detective Special)

[Local Boy]

It's always nice to have a bayonet attached to your Krag when hunting... Just in case you run out of bullets! :D

Good luck Knute... Hope you get one with a super nice pelt!

BTW: Them black bears are tasty critters!

And now a few Far Side moments for comedic relief:

[butlersrangers]

The dopey 'Anderson Brothers' is my favorite cartoon.

[Littlejohn]

These bears up here are pretty tough. I'd go with something like this, just to be sure. ;)

[FredC]

One of my reloading books called 358 Win. adequate for "great bears", which I guess are grizzly, brown bears and polar bears. I assume black bears are smaller so your magazine rifle should be adequate. If they are near grizzly size in your neighborhood then your Whelen would be a good choice. I second the idea of a heavy revolver for back up. Used my single action Ruger on pigs at least 3 times, twice to catch sows that got up and tried to run away, once on a boar that got to a net fence and turned around and charged me. These pigs have been described as a poor man's grizzly bear, but of the hundreds we killed here only that one charged.

[butlersrangers]

Boy, those Finns know how to hunt!

[pickax]

We do quite a bit of baited bear hunting in my area in northern Maine. Any .30 caliber will work fine. Shots are short but almost always in low light conditions, so that should be your first consideration. Make a good shot to eliminate a long tracking job.
They know you're there, but come anyway to a good bait, the big smart ones are mostly nocturnal.
Good luck, and enjoy!