Well, seeing how during the shotgun, and muzzle loader seasons, I am fine carrying around either my shotgun, or EXTRA heavy CVA Hawkins rifle, it's almost a dream to tote my .308 through the woods for 10 hours.
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2006 plans....
- Thread starter Adam_MA
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Well, seeing how during the shotgun, and muzzle loader seasons, I am fine carrying around either my shotgun, or EXTRA heavy CVA Hawkins rifle, it's almost a dream to tote my .308 through the woods for 10 hours.
here
I know of guys who hunted in Maine for deer, and carried a .357 as backup in case of bear. Some of them stopped carrying a rifle and only carried the pistol.
That said, a .44 is better, and a rifle better still. These are black bear, not brown or grizzly, also, which makes a small difference. A friend of mine uses a .444 Marlin out in Western MA. I'd probably take the 12 gauge if I went and have a pistol or two for backup.
Then again, some people take them with bow and arrow.
The below quote is from a handgun hunting article. And obviously somebody's opinion, but I agree with it.
Pretty much any round can kill if the shot placement is good. Your chances just go down as the size of the round goes down. My grandfather hunted Minnesota Whitetail with a side by side .410 using slugs. He took a 240lb buck one year.
I just don't recommend going to Alaska and using a .357. You can get away with it in Maine but you might have troubles in the great Northwest...![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
Pretty much any round can kill if the shot placement is good. Your chances just go down as the size of the round goes down. My grandfather hunted Minnesota Whitetail with a side by side .410 using slugs. He took a 240lb buck one year.
I just don't recommend going to Alaska and using a .357. You can get away with it in Maine but you might have troubles in the great Northwest...
I just don't recommend going to Alaska and using a .357. You can get away with it in Maine but you might have troubles in the great Northwest...
A guy I work with goes on a 10 day 700 mile rafting trip in Alaska every summer. He was talking to one of the guides when they got back to the lodge (they don't go with a guide, he is a certified guide/white water rafting guide himself) and the guide told him that he has seen everything EVERYTHING up to 444 and 45/70 deflect off the front of a grizzly skull. His recommendation to anyone in a grizzly encounter, is to aim for center chest, and shoot until your gun is empty, and DO NOT stop shooting once the bear hits the ground.
Chris
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Never said you should, just that it's what the law requires. Must be at least a .357 Magnum. Personally, the .480 Ruger is my Bear load. A LOT easier to shoot than a .454 Casull with similar energy potentials.
But ya know something? I'd not mess with the guy who goes out with the .357 Trooper and a BIG knife to get bear. (^_^)
Now, on the more tasty side, I'm hoping for some deep fried wild turkey. WOOT!
Chris
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Patriot
NES Member
And I am told that bear meat is yummy
You are being had. Bear meat requires a lot of culinary expertise to
be rendered palatable. It is similar to Coot (my opinion).
The standard recipe for Coot is: (might work for bear)
A large pot. Fill with rocks and water. Bring to a boil. Add Coot (breast
meat only). Turn heat down to simmer. Simmer for 48 hours. Remove the
Coot meat. Remove the rocks. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat the rocks.
Discard the Coot breast meat.
TBP
I have had some really good bear meat and some bad. I think the secret to bear is either a young boar (under 130 pds.) or a sow. Most of the great bear steaks I have had have been sows. When its right its like a cross between a pork chop and a beef steak.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
![[laugh2]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/014.gif "Laugh at above [laugh2]")
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
And put KY on the barrel. (I know that joke, too)
jkelly
Shooting at the big range in heaven
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Smart man!
I plan on hunting bear this September in Maine and will be using a Remington 700 in 35 Whelen with a Leupold 1.5-5X scope. I may alternate the Remington 700 with an S&W 629 that carries a 2x Leupold scope, if the expected target distance is short enough.
I’m thinking that a 4” .357 or 3” 44 Special might be the ticket to keep an unhappy bruin out of my tree stand (or at least give me a little peace of mind).
If I have time I may hunt White Tails in Maine, NY or perhaps Mass.
Respectfully,
jkelly
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I hope to muzzleload in NH because its either sex for muzzleloader season and the first weekend of rifle. Also NH unlike Maine lets you hunt on Sunday which is nice for us guys who work six days a week.
Wildweasel
NES Member
(this is refering to centerfire rifles) NOT True. you can't use any rifle bigger than
.22 rimfire for yotes. BS but check the extracts. you can only use .22 rimfire for squirrel in certain zones. (mostly western mass)
From http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwpdf/dfwab06.pdf Page 6, number 8, it says:
"...Rifles chambered to take larger than .22 caliber long rifle rimfire ammunition, pistols and revolvers larger than .38 caliber between the hours of 1/2 hour after sunset and 1/2 hour before sunrise are prohibited...."
There are some further restrictions on Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Plymouth, and Nantucket counties. If you are in those counties and meant that, then yes, I agree with you.
As for squirrel, I don't know. I'll read the paper version when I have time.
Firtree-
I'm right in your neck of the woods and am out chasing pheasants whenever possble. I usually hunt by myself and I don't have a dog, so teaming up could work for us both....let me know if you want to hook up.
I'm right in your neck of the woods and am out chasing pheasants whenever possble. I usually hunt by myself and I don't have a dog, so teaming up could work for us both....let me know if you want to hook up.
Firtree retrieves? Cool!
JonJ-
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
...my post does seem to give that impression. Actually meant that 2 hunters may have more success in getting the birds to flush instead of running. If he retrieves that's just an added bonus!
Maybe he can point?
...my post does seem to give that impression. Actually meant that 2 hunters may have more success in getting the birds to flush instead of running. If he retrieves that's just an added bonus! Maybe he can point?
Wildweasel
NES Member
I stand corrected. WHen I went through hunter safty along time ago you couldn't hunt with any centerfires. (no bear hunting back then) there are still restrictions in WMA during certain seasons. squirrel you can hunt with a rifle in zones 1-9 I believe. Western mas s for the most part.
JonJ-
Maybe he can point?
I'm more of a flusher than a pointer. Now that you guys mention it,
everyone has that doofus cousin who would make a perfect flusher.
"Just run around about 20 yards in front of us a catch us some birds, boy!"
F
ouch!!!
