This Q is for serious answers only(from Bear Hunters): Which will kill a bear: A handgun or rifle/shotgun?

I have taken black bears with handgun, rifle and archery. So yes, it is possible. Within certain limitations. First off, a "head" shot on a bear is chancey at best. With their thick skull, bullets have been known to "skip" off the skull and miss the brain area. My shots are usually through the shoulders with a rifle with a followup shot if needed thru the heart. The shoulder shot with a large calibur rifle anchors the animal in place. If done right, it breaks both shoulders and hits a portion of the heart dropping the bear instantly. I have also taken shots from straight in front of a fast approaching bear, center of chest which took out the heart and stopped it within a few feet. I have taken them with a .357 Magnum S&W with a 6" barrel using 158 grain jacketed soft points. This required 6 initial shots with a reload and 2 more rounds to finish the bear. This occurred at a distance of about 30 feet and ended at about 2 feet. Not recomended!! With a .44 magnum, S&W model 29 with 4" barrel on a large black bear at about 40 yards, my first shot thru the heart from the side doubled the bear over, then it got up, I hit it again in the same area as it started to run. My third shot in the neck put it down with a broken spine. While setting baits for my last bear, I religously carried an ithica 12 gauge shotgun with an 181/2" barrel, loaded with slugs. I guarantee that would stop any bear any time any where at close range. That is, within 100 yards down to point blank. I also read of a case where a Grizzly was killed several years ago at point blank range with buckshot. It didn't kill the bear instantly, but it did turn away and was found later dead. That case, by the way, was not a legal killing of a bear, as grizzly was a protected species. Eskimos have reportedly killed polar bears with .22 rifle. Is this a good idea? No, it's stupid and a good way to die. Bears are tough critters. In the right conditions, or a very lucky shot, they can be taken with some amazingly small calibur weapons. Would I recomend it? Heck no. I've also seen them hit with a big bore rifle, in the vitals, and watched them continue running for a half mile or more. Plenty of time for them to eat your lunch if they want too.

Hope this helps

You really don't want to hunt bear (at least not the really bigs) with a handgun. A handgun is a backup and could be as small as a .357 Mag. or as big as a .50 AE. Many carry the .44 Mag. or even the newer .10mm Glock (hunter). Grizzlys have been killed with a the old .45 Long Colt as a weapon of opportunity (emptied on the maurading bear).

Rifle: Black bear have been killed with the old .30-30 Winchester, but the .308 Winchester is a better choice as is the old tried n true .30-06. An even better choice is anything .338 n above.

Shotgun: Again, they've (Black bears) have been killed with 16 gauge with slugs, but a much better choice is a 12 gauge or even a big caliber rifle.

With bear you want the heaviest bullet your gun will shoot and remember, they'll take multiple body hits. One of the biggest Grizzly took over a hundred hits from rifles n revolvers over a twenty year span and was finally downed with a single .30-40 Krag close range shot between the years as he walked up to the hunter with 'murderous' intent.

Best.

H

More than a few things are factored into bears; even the time of year, with a thick layer of built up winter fat all bets are off. Still have a brother-in-law living in Alaska who shot a bear with an 06; head shot; he was down; b-i-l stood on bear for photo op and bear came to; it had been knocked out by the head shot and was really honked off; moral is that no matter what you kill your bear with, make sure it is really truly dead before you take any pictures. A 375 H&H is a good bear rifle.

First and second answers: You can kill a bear with a muzzle-loader, an arrow, a spear, or even a knife - but I wouldn't advise it. Bigger bears have heavier bones and thicker muscle, requiring more terminal energy to penetrate. I wouldn't go any lighter than a .308... if you think you might be close-in, a .45-70 lever gun is a good choice.

Third answer: I wouldn't recommend a head shot on a bear for 2 reasons. Brown bears have heavy skulls that can actually deflect bullets under less-than-optimal impact angles, and the (intact) skull is necessary for Boone & Crockett measurement.

You can kill a bear with the right handgun but I dont suggest it unless you are VERY confident in your accuracy.

For handguns dont go with anything less than a .357 mag revolver loaded with 180grn full metal jackets. I personally wouldn't use anything less than a 44mag but by choice I carry a Ruger .454 or a S&W 500mag.

Hunting with a rifle, 300 win mag

With a shot gun I would want a 12ga loaded with 3"slugs

Bragging is what lame people do. Kill the bear, clean it, and eat it yourself. After you have dont that, there is no need to brag.

Killing a bear is largely a dread full experience. You shoot for his shoulder so he can't get away, if you go for a head shot it will spoil your trophy. If you try for a heart shot, you'll probably miss and he'll get away. Of course the shoulder shot will knock him down, but he'll get back up and the next shot will take out his spine. This will put him down, but he'll be crying and threshing about. Now you can walk up to him and put a couple into his heart with your side arm. After this experience you'll never shoot another bear. By the way it was a 338 win.mag.

A .338 Win Mag or .375 H&H will down a bear pretty quickly, with proper bullet placement, they have proven effective year in & year out on large bears, and I believe them to be about the "perfect" cartridges for hunting big bears.

338 win mag or 375 h&h in rifle

i wouldn't use a shotgun unless it was a last ditch effort

44 mag, 357 mag, or .500 in a pistol.

the bullet size is determined by the type of bear, black or brown, for black i would shoot a 200+ grain bullet and for brown i would use a 400+ grain bullet. you can mount a scope on a pistol as well to help with your aiming.

I have a marlin 45-70 and when I shoot that thing I feel like nothing can ever harm me besides for the recoil but it isn't as bad as people say it is and I'm twelve plus there's a huge powder load varied of 200 grains those can take brownies

A .22 LR can kill a bear, so can a .410 loaded with #9 shot. After the infection sets in. Bears have been killed with .22 centerfires, but only by folks who know what they are doing and with good shot placement.

For black bear a well constructed bullet in a .243 or 6 mm is used in British Columbia for my nephews make a wish hunt (he killed a 6 footer), one shot, one kill.

My personal preference for minimum for bear is: 30-30 with 170 grain bullets (150 yards)

20 gauge with slugs (100 yards)

.357 magnum (not sig) with 158 grain JSP. (25 yards)