Can a buck shot take out a black bear?

Question

Just curious..I live northern nh and I was always curious to know if a 12 guage buckshot could kill a black bear?

Answer 1

Absolutely it could kill a black bear....but im thinking at pretty close ranges...but yea you get all the pellets into the vitals...yea sure it will die, but to do that your probably not more the 40 yards away....and buckshot can be sporadic, and a pissed off bear can cover 40 yards pretty d**n quick. and no round rifle or shotgun is a magical one hit kill on any animal, its all about shot placement and buckshot takes your control of shot placement away very quickly as the range inscreases. Make sure your ready to rack that slide :)

But honestly, if you want to kill a bear with a shotgun use slugs. Foster or sabot it doesnt really matter as long as your shooting at the range that each is designed for.

Answer 2

The coarse hair, hide and fat will do a lot to slow and stop buckshot pellets. You might kill him outright or he will die from infection later.

If a shotgun is the only option; I would have to recommend a rifled slug or better yet a sabot slug.

Answer 3

No, not with one shot and depending how close the bear is. You may not get another shot off. It's better to have 3in mag slugs.

Answer 4

maybe ...but i hope you have your running shoes on instead of your hunting boots haha

Answer 5

even a bb gun can take out a bear, if placed correctly..

Answer 6

Although buck shot is a good turkey load I wouldn't use buck shot for anything except two-legged predators, riot-control or some such civil unrest.  If you must hunt bear with a 12 gauge use a good slug rather than any kind of shot.  

H

Answer 7

Very Bad Idea.* Very bad choice.*

Answer 8

a .22 could take out a black bear with the right shot, remember people used to use wooden bows a long time ago.

(and some still do)so yeah buckshot could do it, but i wouldnt try it.

Answer 9

Yes, but if not, it'll scare it off real good.

You might want to load some slugs though, just in case.

Answer 10

Buckshot can kill a black bear but it’s NOT reliable. Here is a link about a fellow that has shot hundreds of bears and shot one point blank with buck shot in the neck and it still got up;

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:XJdx...

Many states do not allow the use of buckshot for black bears because of its failure rate but do allow slugs.

Deep penetrating Brenneke slugs is one way to go if you are using a shotgun and 12 ga to launch it. There are other slugs and sabot slugs that will work also. And I would feel quite comfortable shooting a black bear with 12 ga slugs because Alaskan brown bears have been killed by them. And a brown bear is a h**l of a lot tougher than a black bear. Polar bears are also tougher than black bears and if you read this article on dealing with polar bears you will see they advise 12 ga slugs and 30-06 or larger rifle.

http://www.extension.org/pages/Polar_Bea...

Shot placement is of utmost importance, here is a good read about that;

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/shooting_...

Answer 11

If you are close enough and lucky enough you can.  However, you won't catch me hunting a bear of any sort with a shotgun.

Personally, I'd rather have a rifle, either a Rossi M-92 SRC in .44 RemMag, or a Marlin M-336 in .30-30 WCF.  Or a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Remmag.

Doc

Answer 12

Well i wouldnt try it, You have to remember that buck shot is moving alot slower than a slug or high powerd rifle bullet.

Answer 13

Yeah, but not cleanly.