What Would Be Your Tool of Choice for Big Oso?

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Ezana4CE

Ezana4CE

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Jan 15, 2021
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Texas, United States
In this situation, provided that your state permits hunting bears or shooting nuisance bears with airguns, what do you use to effectively dispatch this animal? I’m thinking a .50 Dragon Claw, .50 Umarex Hammer, or a .50 Texan. With all of the thick fur on them I’m not sure if a hollow point is a good idea. I’m strictly speaking of airguns here. 



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_YpVBzqNw








I’m really curious about this. I saw this and couldn’t help but think of myself in this situation. I’ve dealt witt different types of animals killing, eating, and trying to get to my chickens and eggs, but I don’t think we have bears in the area. If we do they are rare occurrences and the most likely aren’t big like the one in the video. These can animals destroy wooden structures when they get after food. I mean they literally can wreak havoc on them and it almost appears as if the exert a similar amount of effort as one of us opening a bag of chips or a stubborn jar of jam in more extreme situations.
 
" What Would Be Your Tool of Choice for Big Oso? "



As long as you asked...

My choice most diffidently would NOT be an air rifle. Luv pcp to death, but there is a place for them, and predator bear pesting is not 1 of them imo. Ya it can be done in a emergency but A pissed off wounded bear is a danger to everybody close by.

Using an AR imo is not the right tool for the job. That bear was ripping pieces of that wooden chicken coop off like it was cheese.

To humanely take out a massive predator type pest like in the video, at a minimum a 308 or 300win mag powder burner comes to mind.

Here, if you want to avoid killing a bear for what bears do, call FWC, they will usually dart the bear and transport it to a better location....

IMHO using any PCP to deal with this bear problem is the least desirable solution possible....

jmo
 
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Having lost a family member to bear attack, I might be a little more skittish than most, so take that for what it is.



Having said that, the Dragonclaw happens to be pretty much EXACTLY 1/10th power I would willingly take into a bear fight. It would just make him angry.

1/10th. Multiply it's muzzle energy by 10 and you get the .454 Casull, which i have, almost specifically for such an event. That's baseline. Obviously a rifle with more energy would be even better. So that pistol is the lowest power I'd rely on.

If I had to do it with air because I was thrust into some dystopian Hunger Games survival TV show,. I'd hope it involved air bolts.
 
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I think the most powerful of the guns mentioned is the Texan - but there are several varieties of Texans with a variety of power levels. I think the most is about 700 fpe. That is low for a powder burner for this purpose but energy is not the only factor, some would argue not the most important measure. Large diameter slugs can be effective at lower energies because they do not have to expand to create a big enough hole and if they do not expand they penetrate very well. So if I wanted to shoot a bear with a PCP, I would want a Texan of 45 or 50 caliber shooting a heavy slug not designed to expand. A flat nose may "hit harder" but I think a 45 diameter or bigger hole through the vitals should work. But a bear shot in the lungs by even a 30-06 (plenty for black bear) is likely not going to lay down and die immediately. I could still harm you our others before it expires. Only a brain shot will drop any animal reliably immediately. The same Texan would work for brain shots but smaller, less powerful, PCPs are likely to work too. I'm not sure how difficult to penetrate a bear skull is but the least I would want to see is penetration through 3/4 plywood or MDF. That may not be enough. But my 45 fpe 25 will penetrate 3/4 plywood at 25 yards. I would not shoot a bear with it, brain or not, but it is the lowest powered PCP that I think might work. Better would be even a smaller "big bore" like a Benjamin bulldog. I really doubt it would work well for body shots - if you hit a shoulder I doubt it would get to the vitals - but it should work fine for a brain shot. But I would test the gun and projectile in MDF or plywood penetration first to be sure I can get through an inch or more.


 
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In that set up, shooting from the house a brain shot wold be my choice, beauty of the brain shot is that it will drop right there no need to go track it down to the place it will run too ( even with a centerfire it will run )



A .25 shooting a solid 52 gr bullet at 100 FPE will take it down immediately with a precise placed brain shot.

A .30 Shooting the 50gr JSB at 100 FPE will take it down immediately with a precise placed brain shot.

A .357 Shooting the 82gr JSB at 150 FPE will take it down immediately with a precise placed brain shot.





Bears are still just flesh and bones, they are not made out of steel,



......And I would rather use an Airgun and Airbolt topped with a Snuffer or a Woodsmen rather then a centerfire.
 
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....

it's all about precision shot placement.
Click to expand...

Which takes time... Don't try to m.ake that shot on a bear coming in your direction at any range where that under powered BB gun still has enough energy to make the shot you are imagining... You might be forced to rethink your choice of weapon.

David killed Goliath with a pebble and a sling... I suppose that would work also but ... You tell me how it works out for you.

12ga with slugs or buckshot, right medicine for the disease.


 
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Too risky for an airgun in my opinion. But only because the bear is near dwellings. In the woods you could do it without risk to people, the bear could go quite a ways if lung shot but you’d still kill it. 
But if you tried a brain shot and the bear turned it’s head at the wrong millisecond you would definitely have a really bad storm in a neighborhood, that you started. And you wouldn’t have follow up shots that could break a shoulder and anchor it. Not saying air power couldn’t do it, it definitely can. Just saying it would be too risky in that setting, but it’s only my opinion lol! My heart beats fast when it’s time to shoot a raccoon, imagine if it was a big bears head in the crosshairs.






 
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Well, those videos sure have no relevance with the thread at hand,

Again a bear is still flesh and bone it's not a creature made of steel, we have clearly proven in the past decade or so how effective a well placed shot from a PCP really is,......that bear in the video in the positions it was and with the type of movements he was doing would have been a dead bear several times with a few of my Air guns.
 
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I wouldn't put much more faith in a shotgun than a big bore PCP. Especially with buckshot, penetration will be limited. Slugs would be better if they are not designed to expand. The slug barrel for my Mossberg 500 is sighted in for 1 ounce copper sabots. They have an impressive hollow point my pinky will go into. But I would not shoot one at the the shoulder of even a black bear. They would tear a big hole but I don't think it would go through the shoulder. With a non-expanding slug you have a situation similar to a big bore PCP.

There are many things I would consider doing if I had to. Brain shooting a bear with a PCP - a more powerful one than I now own - is one of those things. But if I had to kill a bear today I would use my 30 06 shooting a 180 grain nosler partition. Plenty for a black bear for any reasonable shot placement.
 
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