A Mauser M03, a 375 H&H Barrel and a Black Bear

M03Fan has been in touch, with news of a successful, safe and ethical hunt, this time in slightly warmer weather. From his previous Mauser M03 hunting report, winter in New Hampshire looks downright scary! I hope you enjoy his story. Regards, Rick.

New Hampshire is home to around 5,000 black bears. The neighboring state of Maine has an additional estimated 35,000 bears, so there is no shortage of them in the Northeastern United States. The adult black bears in this area usually weigh around 100-300 pounds, however fully-grown older males can exceed 500 pounds. They are quick and agile and skilled tree climbers. While they might look cute and cuddly, they surely are nothing to be messing with. 

Bear season runs roughly for the month of September and the easiest way to hunt them is over bait. Baiting requires a special permit and setting up the bait station starts several weeks before the hunt so that the animals get used to it. 

A friend of mine has a hunting lodge in New Hampshire’s Great North Woods, with tens of thousands of acres of abutting protected forests and managed timberland. It’s always a good time going up there.

Even the bedsheets in the hunting lodge are in camo pattern!

My Mauser M03 has two barrels; the primary one being in .308 Win, but some time back I also bought a barrel in the classic .375 H&H Magnum just for fun. The recoil of the .375 is around 37 foot pounds, which is over double the recoil energy of a .308 (around 18 foot pounds), so “fun” is a relative term. Each barrel has its own dedicated scope. The Mauser M03 system allows for easy barrel changes and it holds zero perfectly between swaps. 

Figuring the .375 barrel needs some actual use in the field, it’s time for bear hunting! A 300 grain Norma Oryx should to the job handily. 

Go big or go home!

Even though black bears are not as aggressive as brown bears, grizzly or polar bears, they are surely not happy to be shot at, and a wounded black bear is no fun to be around. Hence the safest way to hunt is from a tree stand.

View from the tree stand, with Mauser M03 rifle and backpack hooked onto the safety rail.

I’d been waiting for a few hours and was sitting messing around with my phone taking pictures when I suddenly saw something black moving in on my left. Finally, a bear! It’s truly amazing how such a large beast can move so quietly though the woods. 

Ready to shoot! Picture taken seconds before the bear moved in from the left.

The bear was very suspicious, sticking its nose in the air sniffing several times and constantly looking around. I don’t think it saw or heard me, but it knew something unusual was up. It must have taken at least 10 minutes to move maybe 30 yards. But in the end, the temptation of an easy meal was too much. It went for the bait and I had the bear perfectly in the crosshairs. One shot with the .375 behind the shoulders and the bear dropped immediately. It was probably dead before it hit the ground. 

It can be lot of work dragging game back to the road, however a game sled makes it so much easier. After having registered the kill with the game warden, it’s off to the butcher shop for processing. The pelt goes to the taxidermist and in about a year from now I’ll be picking up a nice bear rug!

A Mauser M03 system with 308 Win and 375 H&H barrels and Leica scopes. Ed - very nice!