243 lion/bear combo?

Bofire

New member
Here in Washington we can hunt bear and Cougars at the same time, also yotes. I have used a 300 winny for many years, but I am thinking of using a 243 with 80/100 grain soft points as kind of a combo gun for these hunts. I wont shoot a bear unless it is huge or I call it and want to remember the calling of a bear.
What do ya all think? I have never killed an animal with it. Is this nuts calling in bear country with a little gun?
I hate the idea of blowing a 6 inch hole thru a cougar hide (if I use the 300).
As always I appreciate your input.
Carl
 
The crux of the problem is that you want 1 bullet to do 2 different things. If you want to shoot a big bear (300 lb range)a small bullet with a rapid expansion may not get full pentration to prevent a long nerve racking tracking adventure. For a 150 lb bear a shot place correclty will drop it the same way it will drop a 150 lb deer.

If you want to minimize damage to the hide you may want to use your 300 win mag and use a solid bullet. On thin skin game (cougar& coyote)the bullet will go through and leave a .3 inch hole for the taxidermist to patch up. If you get the big bear coming in you can aim at the shoulder breaking the front leg and sending bone fragments into the lungs and heart. If it makes it to the heavy brush you have a rifle capable of stopping a bear at close quarters.

I called in 1 bear that was coming down the hill and sounded like a boulder had let loose. It was 125 lbs but still made me pucker up.

Well that is my 2 cents.
 
You might consider using the premium Nosler Partition bullets for your combination usage. The Partition bullet will give you the penetration you need for destroying sturdy bones (bears), while the limited expansion will not "blow-up" a cougar, should you call one in.

You can get this as premium factory ammo, no problem.

I also suggest you use the heaviest bullet available.

Food for thought.....
 
Bofire........YUP!

I know of an old boy who had a lion treed by dogs, he was carrying a 30-30 lever gun but at the last minute walks up and pops that lion with his trusty 357 mag pistol. Now the lion didn't think to much of what made him OUCH!!!

So the lion jumps down and bites the hunters head and takes off his ear too. Now that I am sure that wasn't pleasant to have acure. My advice is forget those varmint calibers for use on something that could give you a real problem in a big hurry.

I use a Marlin 444 on lions up close or black bears in the woods with a 325 grain hard cast Beartooth bullet. It is the hammer or Thor let me tell ya. Light to carry also in the woods or mountains.
 
As a kid I shot more than a few bears over dogs. I have seen a "relaxed" 200 pound black bear in a tree hit the ground "dead as a wedge" when shot with a .243, but I have seen a wound-up, adrenalin-charged 150 pounder soak up lead like a sponge from a souped up 30-06 (I happened to be just a little exctied at the time too!!!) Just remember if a black bear is coming to the call, he is coming to eat, and may not care much about what is for dinner. A bigger rifle is much more forgiving when not-so-gentle-ben is thinking about having you for breakfast.
I personally bought a .44 mag pistol to back up my '06, because you just never know.

Just my thoughts

Rod
 
My opinion may not matter much since I've never had an opportunity to hunt bears. However, I've always been told, don't shoot at something you can't kill. Take your objectives into mind. A 243 will take a mountain lion down no problem. But a bear has much more tissue density than a lion. If you're planning on saving the skull, use your 300 and take a clean shot that will make a bear think twice. If the skull is not worth anything to you, take the 243 and drill one right into his head. As a previous post said, packed with adrenaline and a source being what a predator thinks is food, one event can lead into a tragedy within seconds.
I recall a bear skull on a wall in a local gunsmith shop where I live. Under the skull, the note reads. 200 lb. Black Bear; Gun Used: Smith&Wesson 44 Magnum; Range: 3 inches. When I asked the dealer to clarify. He stated that he had taken a 30-06 hunting bears and shot at one. Made a clean shot but the bear charged him and knocked him to the ground. Lucky for him, he also had a 44 Magnum which he used to shoot him in the head. If a hole is what you're worried about. Take the 300 with a low fragmentation round such as Nosler Partitions or Barnes X. Load a lighter grain such as something you would use for deer or elk. Around 165. At decent range, that round will pass right through a lion without barely enough time to expand where-as it'll make a nice shot with expansion on a bear. Sorry it was long, but that's my $.02
 


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