Prolly could. This year, the bears are coming down to us in town. Lotsa relocation going on. Must be awfully dry up in the mountains. I would imagine folks that hunt with hounds routinely take bears with a 44mag. I had the ruger lever action in 44, but never hunted bears with it. Hounds are not legal in my state.

 

Never been bear huntin,sure wouldn't mind tryin it some time.
Nice lookin little carbine, and some good shootin.

If I may, what powder ya using?

 

Bear hunting is great fun. You should try it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's one I killed in Northern Alberta. He's now in my bedroom. He watches over me while I sleep. :biggrin:

T.S.

 

I shot a 350lb black bear in Minnesota three years ago with my Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum. Did a great job on the bear, one shot kill. The bear maybe went 30 yards.

 

I assume you mean black bear - No, I've never shot one, but that sweet rig you have should work well. The only bear I've seen in the real woods were two grizzlies I "helped" capture and relocate in Montana..."gonna need a bigger boat" for them.

I always wanted a .44 Ruger - your's looks like a very good set up.

Michael

PS: By helping - I meant I was the photographer...safe inside a well covered SUV. The young female in the photo is now in the Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Az.

 

I did put down a 400 lb blackie in WA state some 35 years ago with a Rem Mod 788 in 308 Win. At the range I shot the bear at--maybe 60 yards--probably your 44 Mag carbine would work just as well. Just use a well constructed bullet and you should have a very productive hunting trip.

 

Only factory loads tried thus far.
Rifle is new to me... only owned it for about a week.
I know I could load for bear with a little more time, or buy some thumpers from Buffalo Bore or the like, but this hunt is little more than a week away.

 

I have never been bear hunting, but if I were to go bear hunting I wouldn't be using a semi-auto rifle, it would be a bolt action or lever action.

 

Well...
That's good to know JIC.
I realize now that I forgot to include a question in my original post about what action type guys who haven't been bear hunting would choose if they ever do go bear hunting.
Huge oversight on my part.
Thanks for sharing.

 

I carried the Ruger .44 carbine when hunting in the Adirondacks. A pleasure to carry, you will not be under gunned with proper shot placement, and shooting 50 yards and under. I can only claim a killing shot on a bear that was wounded by a friend that was using a 30-30. A neighbors 17 year old son, first time hunting big game took that 1st shot. I do get honorable mention when that story is told. :biggrin:

 

I say use the rifle and action you are familiar with.

I used a Semi Auto in the military, where other people are shooting at you.

 

You are right, and quite a few of those semi auto rifles quit working when they shouldn't have.

 

Go Nike on that bear. Just do it. Your .44 will do fine! It would be fine in bolt, lever or semi.

 

44 MAG is one of those cartridges that kills far better than mere paper charts would suggest. This is because its very efficient at transferring energy to vital organs while producing big holes in game. My former co-worker killed a big (they're all big) bull moose in Maine with his 44 MAG carbine. Two shots at a distance of approx. 75 yards did the job. A really big black bear is less than half the size of a bull moose so all things being equal your carbine will kill effectively.

I've never hunted bear with my 44 MAG but have taken quite a few deer with this amazing carbine. It has power to spare at typical thick forest distances.

Good hunting to you.

TR

 

I have also never been bear hunting, but I have hunted some other dangerous game in my life. I have to agree with JIC about his comments on the actions. Bears seem to be very mobile, aggressive and don't only bite but claw as well. I would hate to be in a tight spot because of an auto freezing on me, be it because of the action or ammo. A LA or a good BA will also be my choice. Otherwise I think you should be more than fine with your .44Mag. Remember, it is all about shot placement. That being given the .44 Mag has ample and some spare.

It is however a good looking setup you're showing and if you know it well and have confidence in its performance, go for it.. Good luck and let us know!
:bandit:

 

I have also hunted some of those African game.

 

I mean been the actual guy, who's actual finger, pulled the actual trigger, or been the guy standing next to the actual guy, and saw with your actual eyeballs, the actual shot, from the actual rifle, hit the actual bear.

Yes I'm that guy, and I killed them dead without any fuss, two different loads. 240gr american eagle hollow points for the first two, out of a model 96 ruger, and 240gr SWC's for the next several from a henry BB. Take your ruger and hunt with confidence, and just ignore all the wannabees and all their also ran advice.

 

T.R. quote: " A really big black bear is less than half the size of a bull moose so all things being equal your carbine will kill effectively."

When comparing moose and bears, all things are not equal. They are very different animals. I know moose can be very dangerous. I am not discounting that fact. But I also know how resilient bears are, even with seemingly mortal wounds.

I personally like to have a little extra insurance, in the form of more power than I will likely need, when hunting bear. I consider the 44 magnum adequate if everything goes as planned. I killed my first bear using my Marlin 1895 Guide Gun in 45-70 with XS ghost ring sights shooting 300 grain soft points at around 1900 fps. The shot was a little too far back and I ended up tracking the bear through a marsh before catching up with and finishing it off. It was still on its feet when I found it. The only rifle I have used on bear that consistently drops them in their tracks has been my 338 Remington Ultra Mag. My usual go to rifle for bear is one of my Steyrs in 376 Steyr - 270 grain soft points at 2600 fps.

Of course, my experience may differ greatly from that of others.

T.S.

 

Thanks for all the advice fellas.
I like the little carbine and I like the .44mag in general.
Bear hunting's not new to me. I've killed nine of them over the years, mostly with my Marlin and heavy loaded 45-70's, (several with pics and stories posted on this website), and one with a .308, and one with a bow.
I've killed whitetails with .44mag, in a Blackhawk, and even with heavy loaded .44specials, and blackpowder loaded .44-40's in a Colt SAA.
I know the .44's kill better than they look on paper, but we're still talking about a huge difference in muzzle energy/striking power when compared to the hot .45-70's, or even the .308, and bears are not whitetails.
They're not bulletproof, but they can get off a long way if hit poorly.
The more powerful calibers give you the option of shooting 'em thru the front shoulders, which is my preferred shot for a tough, and/or dangerous animal.
I'm thinking breaking a bear down like that with the .44mag is prob'ly not gonna happen, and one would need to look at the double lung, or even a head shot depending on how the bear trees or bays.
All that said, I think I'm gonna go ahead and bring the little carbine on this hunt.
It's a pleasure to carry in the woods, and several of you guys have killed bears with the .44.
I'm just gonna have to be aware of the cartridges capabilities and limitations, be sure of an ethical shot within those boundaries, and be okay with a pass if the situation isn't right.
Thanks again for all the yarns and info and I'll keep ya posted.

 

Maybe a pistol for a back up?

 

The guy I bought my Browning B-92 .44 mag from, said that his dad had taken a bear with it.

 

Looks like this thread is near conclusion so, here's a hijack:

F3joel,

That bike in your avatar looks a lot like an old Suzuki Trail Hopper (1971 vintage) I have in storage. Every time I get a kid in the family old enough to ride, I drag it out, clean it up and put them on it.

Please tell us about yours.

T.S.

 

It is a 1977 Honda CT-70 ( or trail 70 ).
It is tagged and street legal.
I put a CRF50 motor in it that I built, bored and stroked to 117cc with a 4-speed transmission.
Upgraded the forks and rear shocks, and put disc brake on front.
She is good for about 65 mph, super fun and gets lots of attention.

 

I "Tried" to buy a .38-40 last spring. The guy said he used it to kill a Kodak. When I said that 38-40 seemed like overkill to shoot a camera he got huffy and didn't want to deal any more.
Now, had he been shooting a Kodiak Bear with a .38-40 I doubt he'd would have been around to tell that yarn. I'll bet that little cartridge would just make 'em angry...if they even notice.

.44 Mag - good.
.38-40 - not so good.

Michael

 

I have shot one small bear with my Ruger 44 lever action. I used reloads with 240 grain XTP's close to maximum with H110. Dropped him in his tracks at the bait pile. I wouldn't hesitate to use the 44 on any black bear. I sold that gun, so have used mu Guide Gun in 45/70 for 5 other black bears. This year I used a Super Redhawk in 480 Ruger. Results are posted here.

 

How did your hunt go?

I'm a little late to the party, was up in maine bear hunting when this was posted. several years back I shot a black bear with a .44 mag out of a red hawk 71/2" barrel with a 300gr. cast bullet from a JD Jones mold

broke shoulder blade going in, double lung, broke a rib going out, bear went 17 yards and piled up.

 

I'd love to take that Ruger carbine on a bear hunt!

 

Story and pics up under the heading Success in Maine with the .44 !
Hint: It went well. : )

 

Airwinky-Congratulations I will have to check it out.I have killed 2 Bear one with a 444 Marlin and one with a 303.Bear came from behind me walking down mountain and I was sitting at base of tree in a blind of sticks and branches.When I shot the Bear at 15 feet knocked it down and he got back up and was running down mountain and I put one more into it and it fell immediately shooting a Remington 240 grain soft point core lokt.Thats the exact same bullet I shot in my Marlin 44 mag in factory core lokt.I was never fortunate enough to get a Bear with my 44 Marlin but I wanted to badly.Most of the Bear hunters here who run dogs that are my friends use only 44 mag and 30-30.I want to get another Marlin or Henry in 44 magnum one day again.If I do I will only shoot at Bears for hunting with factory ammo loaded with Barnes bullets.Shot in my slug gun,muzzle loader,and rifle mainly using only factory loaded with Barnes and in my opinion are devasting more than any round I have personally ever shot.My meat processor tried to get me to change as he had to throw away quite a bit of meat because of damage.Thats why I shoot them because of the damage they inflict.Shot them in my slug gun using Federal Premium Barnes Expanders for about 15 years on deer and were devasting.Some people complain of the cost of them to me that is about the most important thing in my mind is a stout bullet that goes into 4 petals spinning and cutting vessels for a humane kill with awesome blood trail.In my experience they went straight down or about 2 more feet and that was it.Any way you probably see I like Barnes ammo as it just made a believer of me and if I can scratch up the money for another Marlin 44 that is what I will shoot.I love that that that little Ruger 44 you got wish I had one! Vaslugger