Is hunting bear with a 20 gauge advisable?
It wouldn't be my choice. Maybe with a rifled slug and a 9 year old girl, it's the best compromise you can make. I haven't hunted bear with dogs. Maybe those guides have seen it done.
Not my first choice, but I'm not a girl her age (for that matter I'm not a girl either). I suspect a 20 with slug/sabot will get the job done. If she wounds the bear, there's plenty of grownups willing to put the bear down.
Actually, the story says she is hunting with a 20-gauge AND 5 (presumably armed) men.
Sorta like my dad. He hunted bears with a club. Well, yes, quite a large club, he said there were about 200 members.
"Is hunting bear with a 20 gauge advisable?"
I was wondering the same thing.
20 gauge slugs would be OK if it was a pump. I wouldn’t try it with a single shot without a .44 mag backup.
The young man had taken gone outside in the early evening and found a grizzlie in the chicken coop. It alerted on him and charged. He killed it with 20 ga slug.
My son shot and killed a 375 black bear with with the same gun this young lady is using. He happen to have the .243 barrel attached and not the 20ga barrel.
The young man had taken gone outside in the early evening and found a grizzlie in the chicken coop. It alerted on him and charged. He killed it with 20 ga slug.
My son shot and killed a 375 lb black bear with with the same gun this young lady is using. He happen to have the .243 barrel attached and not the 20ga barrel.
"Is hunting bear with a 20 gauge advisable?"
20GA. sabot slug would work nicely.
Only if the bear is sleeping and you can get really really close so you can stick the gun in his ear.
why not? there's a at least as much power in a 20ga slug than in a .454casull. winchester actually makes a slug that uses a .454 bullet that duplicates .454 ballistics. imo it was a lot easier to shoot than a regular 20ga slug.
besides, a 150 pound black bear is about the same size as a average whitetail- of which 3 of my last 5 were in the 150 pound range and all were dropped easily with a 20ga.
A 20 gauge shotgun slug has WAY more energy than a .44 magnum bullet. I've never hunted bear, but if I did and had my choice between the two, I'd choose the 20 gauge hands down. I'd prefer a repeater, though, maybe one of those nice slug guns made by Savage. I'm sure her ADULT SUPERVISION is armed, also.