Black powder bear questions

[sidtrog]

Inexperienced bear hunter here. Planning a Montana spot and stalk hunt for black bear in Western Montana in May. Two questions: is .54 Pedersoli Hawken an adequate weapon? Anyone have experience with predator calling bears, specifically how much do I have to worry if I'm calling in grizzly country?

 

[Walkingeagle]

.54 is lots. Black bears are easy to kill in fact. Shot placement within acceptable range is key. No worries there.
Now, calling in grizz country... well lets just say that you’re on the doorstep of adventure.
I’ve called in grizz while cow elk chirping. In all my years I have never called in a black bear though. My predator calling must suck cause I can be watching them and they just ignore the calling completely.
Walk

 

[Grumpa]

Lewis and Clark expedition had a lot of difficulty trying to drop Grizzlies with their .54 caliber rifles. You may be calling black bears, but guess who's going to come knocking? Seems to me that, as an "inexperienced bear hunter", you are setting yourself up in a situation that might preclude your ever becoming an "experienced bear hunter".
At the least, I would carry a heavy hitting revolver as backup, (assuming you have lots of experience in its use), and a can of bear spray (yes, it works). Even better, bring a partner who is good with a heavy hitting cartridge rifle, if that is allowed.

Personally, at my age, I'm not looking for that kind of adventure.

Richard/Grumpa

 

[No Deer]

Even better, bring a partner who is good with a heavy hitting cartridge rifle, if that is allowed.
Richard/Grumpa

Even better...a partner you can run faster than.

 

[longcruise]

There's lots of evidence that the L&W rifles were 49 caliber.

 

[longcruise]

.54 is lots. Black bears are easy to kill in fact. Shot placement within acceptable range is key. No worries there.
Now, calling in grizz country... well lets just say that you’re on the doorstep of adventure.
I’ve called in grizz while cow elk chirping. In all my years I have never called in a black bear though. My predator calling must suck cause I can be watching them and they just ignore the calling completely.
Walk

A black bear biologist told me that same thing about calling. He set up within sight of bears and they ignored his calls. OTOH, others have called black bears so who knows? Maybe it's to do with the time of year.

I had the same experience with hogs last December. Got set up where I could see a group of about a dozen and played a hog distress call. None of them even looked up.

 

[renegadehunter]

Rather than trying to call them I'd suggest just sticking to spot and stalk.
In Idaho where I'm at it is a common spring bear hunting tactic to spot and stalk them. Fresh out of the den black bears can often be found out on an open sunny hillside eating the new vegetation that is coming up, open hillsides that get a lot of sun are the first to produce. Spot and stalk folks get to a good vantage point, glass until a bear(s) is found, and then plan a stalk according to the easiest path of travel that the wind will allow as well as if it is a legal and desirable bear to shoot.
The folks that do it regularly say that as long as you stop moving when they look your way you can get pretty close to them. Your wind of course must never hit their nose.
WalkingEagle's comment about the effectiveness of your .54 is my opinion too...it is plenty for a black bear. I find that they do not have near the endurance or will to live as a whitetail deer.

 

[Walkingeagle]

I find that they do not have near the endurance or will to live as a whitetail deer.

I read once long ago that of all large game in N. America, the black bear “gives up the ghost” the quickest. This has been my experience as well. Having lived amongst natives for almost 30 years, I have personally witnessed two being cleanly taken with a .22lr.
Walk

 

[Dave Marsh]

I've always heard to take a 22 along so you can shoot your partner in the leg and then you run for camp....

 

[MC One Shot]

Lots of good information as given. Black bears can be unpredictable. They can and will stalk humans as well. With a well placed shot a 50 or 54 is adequate. How ever there is always the chance of flight or fight kicking in with bear with more serious consequences than WT deer. I have always carried a backup. Go for a hunt and enjoy yourself. Don't forget to post the hunt.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Black bear in the west tend to have a vary step by step diet,
This month they are feeding on "X" and you will find most of the bears where "X" can be found. next month it will be "Y"
Last fall I was set up in a great bear area, and there were some bears, but 1000 feet of elevation below me the acorns were ripe, and the people down there were seeing 3 or 4 bears for every one that showed up on my trail cam.
You might try to get ahold of the wildlife Biologist for the area you will hunt and quiz him or her about Black bear feeding habits during that part of may. (Also ask if Brown bear are competing for the same feed)
Depending on how high up you will be, may could still be "early spring" where you hunt. Bear & Turkey tend to like Burns and the just sprouted grass near the snowline in early spring. I think I read that the new shoots of grass have extra ????? Protean maybe? What ever they seem to want the 1 or 2 day old sprouts far more then grass that sprouted last week.

Hope that helps

 

[Big Rviers]

I've used both .50 cal. and 54 cal. PRB's successfully and they are more then enough for Black bears. I've never tried calling them however but friends who live close to national parks trails tell me if you leave a back pack on the trail and ring bear bells they come a running within minutes.

 

[sidtrog]

Thank you all for your advice! First, I am taking an experienced partner with a cartridge rifle, I also know I can run faster than him. I will plan on good ol' 1911 on my side just in case and a can of spray on the other side. Only success with calling for me is for coyotes. I am planning on glassing per advice given but thought calling might work once in a little closer, from a good vantage point of course. Will be in early May in Kootenai NF, lots of up and down. Also wondered if it's true that the
"bad" grizzlies from Yellowstone and Glacier get relocated to Cabinet Wilderness there?

 

[Realwarrior]

The only one that I ever called in in the spring when I lived out west was a sow with Cubs. Some of this was done for fun after seeing a sow with Cubs. We figured that it was because of the protein that the prey provided while nursing. Based on this anecdotal evidence, Ain't no way I'd try that in Grizzly country. Like was stated where inI hunt in Idaho you can bait but more bears are taken in New growth around recent Burns. With spring bears you follow them from the bottom of the mountain up the mountain s the snow melts and greenery states growing.
A .54 is more than enough for bear

 

[Sparkitoff]

A long time ago I worked with a nuisance bear program in two States. We would "remove" problematic bears. There was no hunting, it was work. We shot them off dumpsters, picnic tables and front porches. These were black bears determined to be "immediate danger" by someone other than me, and they escaped one failed trapping attempt. We could not afford to let the bears go far and absolutely had to find them - don't want a wounded bear running around in a Girl Scout camp- for instance. We tried lots of different calibers, etc and found two that just seemed to always put them down quickly without the projectile travelling through and if it did it didn't go very far. What is cool about bears is that there is a lot more drama when you shoot. They will front roll, side roll, scream and moan, claw and bite the wound, run into stuff, etc. Very few just drop at the shot. I have been present when a fawn call was used in a remote area and a black bear came to see what was up. Have not heard much about success with "varmint" calls. I've had a bear camp in the Northeast and the Northwest and both were primarily a bait and sit type hunt. I prefer spot and stalk but … location, location, location … you need the right geography for that to work out. Bears are fast and of course has claws and teeth. The only issue I ever had out of dozens of bears was on a hunt. I shot a smallish 200-pound bear and it ran into the thick. I went looking for it and eventually saw it backed into a "hole". Too late, it must have thought I was blocking the only way out and it ran towards me. This wasn't a "charge" but rather the bear trying to escape. It ran into me just above the knees and knocked me over. The paw got stuck on my shirt and tore it open and one side of my face too. The bear kept going. When I got up, surprised and bleeding, my rifles rear sight was gone … it broke off somehow. I left the bear for an hour and when I went back it wasn't far away, dead. Grizzly bear are said to be more curious and will more often appear in the open. My only experienced is a guided situation in Alaska, so I yield to someone with more time among them for ideas. From the previous info and posts you seem to have a pretty good plan. My opinion is that your rifle will work fine on black bear. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[renegadehunter]

Good luck on your hunt sidtrog.
This is my target bear this year, I really hope he visits. I got a picture of this one 3 years ago when it was barely off momma and I didn't see again until towards the end of the season last year. Best looking of the color phases IMO.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Thats a nice bear sir! Decent size and great color!!
Walk

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Lewis and Clark expedition had a lot of difficulty trying to drop Grizzlies with their .54 caliber rifles.

True from what they noted, but they were limited to 225 grain lead round ball, while today we can launch 350 grain slugs, or alloy round ball that hits faster and goes deeper as it doesn't deform as did the all lead round ball.

LD

 

[The Crisco Kid]

This past moose season a hunter 500 or so yards up river from me was walking out to his boat calling like a cow moose. This was about dusk. A brown (grizzly) jumped him and tore up his leg and arm pretty bad. His dad saw the bear as soon as he heard the kid yell and fired two quick shots which scared the bear off. He didn't know if he hit it or not. I heard the second shot smack something but it could have been a tree. The bear probably figured there was a calf with the cow he heard calling. A long time ago I called a black bear in way too close with a deer call. You never know what will happen. Two people back to back is about the only safe way to call in bear country. Don't know about lions.

 

[Ames]

Had one push 3 cubs up a tree once. Then she turned and ran us out of Virginia. Not fun.