# .308 for bear?



## ChristopherA.King (Jan 12, 2015)

My self and a friend have been trying for quit a few years and this year I plan on getting a new rifle. I am a pretty small guy and am up in arms on what caliber to get. I have always wanted a .300 win mag but like I said I not a very big guy so was wondering if you guys thought the .308 is enough to stop one.

Thanks for the input


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## carver (Jan 12, 2015)

I shoot both the .308 and the .300 win,I would have no problem taking any animal In the lower 48 with a .308 with the proper loads.


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## The mtn man (Jan 13, 2015)

.308 will be perfect.


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## shirttail (Jan 13, 2015)

I agree........ the 308 will work great....... if you really wanted a magnum round........ the 7mm mag will work also.


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## Marlin_444 (Jan 14, 2015)

When I pull the trigger on a 300 Win Mag or 308 Win, at least for me I can't tell much different in the "snap" or felt recoil, that said I prefer a bigger BOOM as my handle is Marlin_444 and my rifle of preference is a 444 Marlin Lever Gun which is an acquired taste...

Heck, Ol' Dana yours grandson - Hunter killed a Bear with a 243...


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## Dana Young (Jan 14, 2015)

Marlin_444 said:


> When I pull the trigger on a 300 Win Mag or 308 Win, at least for me I can't tell much different in the "snap" or felt recoil, that said I prefer a bigger BOOM as my handle is Marlin_444 and my rifle of preference is a 444 Marlin Lever Gun which is an acquired taste...
> 
> Heck, Ol' Dana yours grandson - Hunter killed a Bear with a 243...



It was a .223. any deer rifle will work just fine bears arent really that tuff.


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## Marlin_444 (Jan 14, 2015)

Dana Young said:


> It was a .223. any deer rifle will work just fine bears arent really that tuff.



Well there you go...


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## ChristopherA.King (Jan 14, 2015)

Thanks guys still gonna be a few weeks until I get to buy my new rifle but I've made up my mind it will be a tikka hunter with a stainless barrel in .308


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## ChristopherA.King (Jan 14, 2015)

Now I just need to get up to the mountains and start ridding some roads. If any of you guys are up for a ride sometime let me know.


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## Marlin_444 (Jan 15, 2015)

Aight CAK... Good shooting to you Brother!!!


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## ripplerider (Jan 16, 2015)

Be aware that lots of F.S. rds. are closed for the winter up here right now. Theyll open back up when turkey season starts. P.M. me if you need some guidance. Also if youre a smaller person you dont really need a .308 necessarily been plenty of them killed with .243s. 7mm/08 seems like a real good caliber to me with reasonable recoil. Like Dana said bears arent real hard to kill.


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## Killer Kyle (Jan 19, 2015)

I was gonna quote Dana on this one. His son shot one with a .223 and it was plenty. A .308 if FAR MORE than enough to kill a bear. I have been shooting .308 for the last four years, and have killed plenty of deer with it. I have been shooting 180 grs in of but am switching this coming season to a much lighter bullet. Probably 140 grs. I am more an fan of shock and energy transfer than bullet weight. I'd go with a .308 unless an elk or brown bear hunt is in your foresight. Even then, a .308 will drop an elk inside 200 yards easy! And the recoil on a .308 is nothing, even in my little NEF single shot.


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## GunnSmokeer (Jan 19, 2015)

*black bear?*

black bear? In the South?  Heck  yeah, a .308 rifle is plenty powerful.  I'd use a 180 grain bullet that is known for controlled expansion.

My dad got a black bear with a .35 Remington.

The .308 is 700 f.p.s. faster at 100 yards and strikes with 1000 ft/ lbs. more energy than the .35 Rem (with 200 grain bullets).


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## NCHillbilly (Jan 20, 2015)

.308 is plenty, plenty, plenty for bear. There are hundreds of bears killed in my neck of the woods every year, and I'd wager that 90%-95% of them are killed with either a .30/30 or a .44 mag, unless things have changed drastically since I used to bear hunt. I've seen quite a few bears shot with .30/30s and .44 mag pistols/Ruger carbines and even .357 pistols that hit the ground like a sack of taters. They're not that hard to kill. The .30/30 is the "standard" bear gun for the mountains. A .35 Remington is considered a "big gun" to bear hunt with here.


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## ChristopherA.King (Jan 31, 2015)

Here is my new gun guys I love it. It is a browning .308 x bolt hog stalker typhoon I can't wait to go to the bear woods now!


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## gobbleinwoods (Feb 1, 2015)

You are on the opposite side the mtns from most of the bear hunters I know.   Most of the guys I know hunt the Cleveland side.  But if you want to ride the roads on that side take ripplerider up he knows that area.  Nice looking bang stick.


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## ChristopherA.King (Feb 1, 2015)

Yes I was thinking I would have a much better chance on that side of the hills too. I hope to get over that way with you guys some at the bear camp if not it will be hunting up around cohutta and caters lake.


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## gobbleinwoods (Feb 1, 2015)

Let me know when you might have a chance to get that way and I might be headed north also.  Send me a pm as I don't always check this thread regularly except closer to season.   A few usually go up to hunt turkey too.


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## ChristopherA.King (Feb 1, 2015)

Will do thanks!!


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## Hammer Spank (Feb 1, 2015)

The .308 is a good gun and bears (when hit through the lungs) are pretty easy to kill.  

It is the only gun that I have lost a bear with and I shot him 4 times but I blame that completely on ballistic tips that I do not think penetrated at all.  A soft point 308 should do a great job.


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## GAHUNTER60 (Feb 2, 2015)

Sue Aikens, the manly-woman of Life Below Zero, used an AR-10 in .308 to hunt and kill, on camera, a problem grizzly bear that was stalking her camp.

If it's good enough for griz, it's good enough for blackie!


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## ChristopherA.King (Feb 2, 2015)

I bought some Nosler accubond 165's to hunt with should make this gun a shooter


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## tgc (Feb 2, 2015)

Hope you like your new gun and it works well for you. 

I really hope'in for a Browning Lever action in .308.  38 inches long & 6 1/2 pounds.

Good luck to ya!


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## tree cutter 08 (Feb 2, 2015)

That 308 will do just fine. Good all around caliber. I've killed them with 22 hornet, 243, 7m08 and 35. The 243 seemed to do the best. Other than the hornet head shot.


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## GunnSmokeer (Nov 28, 2015)

GAHUNTER60 said:


> Sue Aikens, the manly-woman of Life Below Zero, used an AR-10 in .308 to hunt and kill, on camera, a problem grizzly bear that was stalking her camp.
> 
> If it's good enough for griz, it's good enough for blackie!





I just watched that scene on YouTube. It's at the end of a 3.5 minute video called Sue Aikins Toughest Moments. 
She later ID'd the rifle on her Twitter as an Ar-10 in .308.
The video shows the bear ran off after the first shot (she hit it; you can see dust and fur flying).  Then a second shot results in BANG--FLOP.
But, that's a brown bear in Alaska.
For black bears in the southeast lower 48, I'm sure a .308 with the right kind of bullets is as good as it gets.


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## groundhawg (Nov 29, 2015)

GunnSmokeer said:


> black bear? In the South?  Heck  yeah, a .308 rifle is plenty powerful.  I'd use a 180 grain bullet that is known for controlled expansion.
> 
> My dad got a black bear with a .35 Remington.
> 
> The .308 is 700 f.p.s. faster at 100 yards and strikes with 1000 ft/ lbs. more energy than the .35 Rem (with 200 grain bullets).



Black bear?  In the South?    Any bear, anywhere and the .308 is enough rifle.  While we were in Alaska lots of brown bears killed every year with .270 and .308.  The .300 Winchester Mag was likely the top pick but no one I knew felt under gunned with a .308 using 165+ grain bullet.


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## GunnSmokeer (Dec 1, 2015)

You are right. 
I just checked the Alaska department of game and wildlife website, and it says don't be the noob who buys a new super-magnum just for Alaska big bears or moose.
It says to only use magnum calibers if you are equally skilled with them as you are your trusty .270 or 7mm-08 or .30-06, all of which will do the job on a 1500 lb animal with a proper bullet type and with a  good accurate hit to the vitals.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.firearms


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