[dietsch]

whenever a bear gun debate starts you always here at least one guy make this statement : well when i'm on stand i carry ........... and when i'm a driver i carry ...... well my question is where and how do you hunt ? i hunt in a very succesful gang .we start the day going from drive to drive . i personally prefer being a driver ,however sometimes things change .no way i would want to be carrying two guns all day . i have never heard of such things as a gun for this and a gun for that . but i see it every year on here . above all i consider myself a bear hunter , and in know way would i want to slow our gang down to change guns , and neither would anyone else in our gang . does anyone else ever wonder the same thing .

 

[gearhart15]

I personally now sit in the laurel and don't move all day. My success or luck has been sitting. My short stint of driving I watched about six guys switch from rifle to pistol or shotgun without slowing us down at all. If something changed while driving they lived with what they carried in. There extra gun stayed in the truck. The only thing I wonder is how they can think right knowing there extra gun is in the truck.

 

[kudu58]

I have wondered that at times also. I mean where are you hunting that you need to switch rifles. Even if you are carrying say an 18 1/2" barreled .45/70 in a Marlin guide gun, you can still shoot like 150 yards with that or more. If you are hunting bears on a drive and need to shoot more than 150 yards, I kinda question where you are standing. Where we hunt bears, you just can't shoot that far. I don't know. Maybe some of these guys are just hunting different than we do.

 

[Strut10]

We don't have laurel. We drive downed treetops, overgrown spruce plantations, multiflora, etc. Arguably as tight and harsh an environment as laurel. Our watchers can generally shoot 30-150 yards. The drivers can generally shoot from the end of their barrel to 25 yards. I am a driver 99% of the time. I carry one gun and one gun only. It's a bolt gun with a 26" barrel. I have MANY capable, large-bore carbines. Never once have I felt anchored down with my 26" bolt gun. Not even on the one drive where I am on my belly pushing the gun ahead of me for 450 yards. Not sure, either, where the gun switch helps or even where 8 inches less barrel is REALLY that big of an advantage.

 

[dietsch]

on our drives the driver usually has a 15 yd or less shot , and standers maybe 40 yds and less on average . i would think any gun would be capable of those yds .

 

[rflktrman]

I purchased a "bear gun" recently but have not fired it yet. I see many on here raving about wanting a .45/70 for bear season and tried to inform all of this rifle. Sincve no one jumped on it I will try to sell it myself in the fall for more than I paid for it.

 

[300winmagfan]

I use a .300 for both drives and sitting. On drives the scope is on 3X and while sitting the scope is on 6X. A bear gun is many things to many people but it is not a 30-30. In the future I may get a .338 for bear hunting.

 

[bowhunter0131]

we mostly drive old clear cuts. Most guys are carry bolt or pump guns. I carried my 30-30 last year and did not feel under guned. I was a driver on all drives. I will carry my 300 win this coming year depending on were we are driving. Most of our drive we get back to the trucks and drive to the next spot so switching guns is not going to slow us down. We know the areas we hunt and take the gun we feel fits the spot.

 

[huntinlandscaper]

I use a .300 for both drives and sitting. On drives the scope is on 3X and while sitting the scope is on 6X. A bear gun is many things to many people but it is not a 30-30. In the future I may get a .338 for bear hunting.

Although I personally wouldn't use it as my first choice for bear, I know of MANY PA bears killed with a 30/30 and would have to imagine that it and the good old '06 have probably accounted for more PA and northeast bears than any other cartridges.

 

[scapper]

At our cabin we sit till 8:00 and then again late after noon some of or group do change guns between sitting and driving but we drive the woods next to the cabin first so no time lost.

 

[hawg chaser]

I don't know about switching guns between watching and driving. I do, however, like to have an extra rifle handy in the event the first gets dropped or banged. For me, it is faster to switch guns than to check the zero of the first gun.

 

[jnag0207]

I use a 35 whelen 7600. It does the trick either on stand or on the walk. Either 200 or 250 core lokt have been reliable.

 

[DCabets28]

Carry my Encore in .338 Federal driving or posting.

Dave

 

[Stetam]

I use a .300 for both drives and sitting. On drives the scope is on 3X and while sitting the scope is on 6X. A bear gun is many things to many people but it is not a 30-30. In the future I may get a .338 for bear hunting.

Although I personally wouldn't use it as my first choice for bear, I know of MANY PA bears killed with a 30/30 and would have to imagine that it and the good old '06 have probably accounted for more PA and northeast bears than any other cartridges.

I bet the .35 Rem is right up there

 

[Borden811]

When I'm a driver, I use a 450 marlin, with a ghost ring and a front blade on it. If I have to shoot at a bear that's moving, at close quarters, in brush, I don't want to be trying to find it in a scope. It probably wouldn't be an issue, but I don't feel like taking that chance. Shots at bears don't come along every day. Some of the places where our watchers sit, you can have shots up to 200 yards. I don't know about you, but I'm not super accurate with a ghost ring sight at 200 yards. I shot my bear a little over 100 yards, and had one small opening where I coud get a good shot. I'm glad I had my scoped 700, and not my .450 marlin. We drive our vehicles between drives. Switching guns takes all of 15 seconds. If that 15 seconds slows you down enough to cause serious concern, then you have some bigger issues!

 

[Buckshot1822]

I carry only a revolver 95% of the time............

However if I decide to watch a drive or 2, I will wait until the afternoon, or when we get back to the trucks and swap out........no way am I carrying different guns around all day long.......

I prefer to chase, but we do have some watch spots that a young guy needs to go to, because the walk up out is so steep and long, so I usually end up going to those spots because none of the older guys can/want to walk that far.......

And, there is no way that you are carrying a rifle through any of our drives.......it is physically impossible, I'm not sure what kind of stuff a lot of you guys are driving off, but ours are all nasty steep hillsides, that 90% of your time is spent on your hands and knees.......

 

[Borden811]

I probably hunt some of the same spots as you buckshot. A short rifle isn't that hard to carry while crawling around, and I carry it in one hand while hanging on to stuff with the other. It's actually easier to carry and gets hung up less than my revolver in a holster, hip or bandolier, either one. That's just my preference though.

 

[angus]

I personally feel any center fire cartridge legal for bear in PA works great whether in stand or drive. The terrain may play a part in the decision of that rifle.

 

[Buckshot1822]

I probably hunt some of the same spots as you buckshot. A short rifle isn't that hard to carry while crawling around, and I carry it in one hand while hanging on to stuff with the other. It's actually easier to carry and gets hung up less than my revolver in a holster, hip or bandolier, either one. That's just my preference though.

Na, we hunt all private ground for bear...........River hillsides, and River trib hillsides......

 

[Borden811]

We hunt a fair amount of the river hills in the shawville/frenchville area, and a decent amount out on knobs. Some private, some public...