20 Guage or rifle for bear

[Ryan28]

In a tree stand over bait, which would be better, a 20 guage slug or 30-06. I'd be within 30 yds of the bait.

 

[black dawg]

20 gauge should poke a big hole through both sides of the hide.....lots of blood.

3006 will have a much better wound channel and depending on the bullet used, good sized exit.

This is with behind the shoulder shots.

 

[go_deep]

My brother has a bear guide service in Wisconsin, they kill lots of bears, slugs without a question.

 

[FLAK]

Prolly wouldnt notice the difference.

 

[NEWHunter]

Assuming you are equally accurate with both I’d go 20 gauge. Although you’ll probably not get a pass through on a good sized bear with the slug.

 

[Cukleti]

I would run. Lol

 

[Where's Bruce?]

How about a 777gr arrow tipped with a Woodsman Elite broadhead?
(click on image to enlarge)


No big boom to direct the bruin to your position.

 

[RMBHS]

20 gauge is plenty sufficient with slugs.

 

[hodgeman]

30-06...plenty for a black bear and you can follow up a shot at range if you need to.

 

[Ron.C]

either will work just fine as long as you do your part and get a good shot in the vitals.

Ask yourself this, which one do you shoot better and are more comfortable with? That's the one you want in your hands if things go bad and you find yourself on the trail of a bear that's not as dead as you think it is.

 

[sneaky]

Arrows wreck bears way worse than any gun. But, between those two choices... the slug would be my choice. Or, whichever one you actually have or can find ammo for.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Fordguy]

Growing up in Michigan (when it was shotgun or archery in my area) I'll say this much. The right 20 ga load will dump a bear as fast or faster than a 30-06 at close range (basing this on the bullet diameter, energy, size of wound channel, etc.) Though a lot depends on your shot placement.
That said, either one would work just fine. I'd stay away from the remington/win/fed rifled sluggers (5/8 or 1/2 oz) and use a rifled barrel with lightfield hybrid sabots (7/8 oz iirc). The lightfield hybrids were extremely accurate, and fairly forgiving of bore diameter differences in different guns when I used them. Hopefully they still make them. Haven't used any since Michigan allowed straight walled rifle cartridges for deer.
The lighter weight rifled slugs would have enough energy at 30 yards, but accuracy wasn't great from my experience and they lose energy and speed very quickly.

 

[bluetick78]

As my kids have started bear hunting, I've had them use a 20 gauge. No slug though. 3 inch Magnum 00 buckshot. Some friends and I were shooting various 12 and 20 gauge loads at some ballistic gel and found the 00 buckshot to be far more destructive and penetrate better. From a tree stand at close range (15-40 yds) the buckshot has dropped many bears within 10 yds of being shot, most on the spot. Most pellets are a complete pass through.
It also gives a small margin of error to the kids as far as aiming goes, with a pattern instead of one projectile.

 

[AKBC]

I grew up hunting deer with shotgun slugs. I then moved away from NY and started hunting with rifles. It was my observation that rifle bullets had more knockdown power and killed much faster than slugs. I'd use the 30/06

 

[Fordguy]

Lightfield 20 ga hybred exp:
2-3/4 inch - roughly 2000 ft lbs muzzle energy
3 inch- roughly 2500 lbs muzzle energy.

Both 385 grains

Both a bit less than 62 caliber because of the sabot.

Vs the 30-06
150-180 grains (presumably)
Comparable ft lbs (maybe more depending on what ammunition) but half the diameter.

Since the odds of a close range pass through shot are very high, do you want a small hole or a big hole?
Knock down power can be measured by how much energy is lost as the projectile travels through the target. Do you think the 30 caliber bullet will lose more energy in the bear? It might, but I doubt it. It depends a little on shot selection, and wouldn't be my choice, even on a shoulder shot at close range. Will it work? Sure.

The guide recommended a 20 ga slug when my bro in law went bear hunting several years ago. He and his friend both shot bears with a traditional 20 ga slug at close range. One was 150 lbs, the other 275. I've never hunted them personally.