Maine Black Bear Hunt at 50 Yards With Handguns

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

Ten handgun hunters, black bears inside 25 to 50 yards, fading light, and a week full of lessons. This Maine black bear handgun hunt delivered close calls, hard-earned misses, standout revolver performance, and enough honest takeaways to make us want another crack at it.

I had been wanting to schedule a black bear hunt in the Carolinas for one of the non-hibernating giants for quite some time. Then my good friend Kim Ralston contacted me about a handgun black bear hunt in Maine. He had used the guide and outfitter previously and spoke highly of the effort and ability involved. I could not get the word “YES” out of my mouth fast enough. Since retiring from the fire service a few years earlier, I had leaned harder and harder into handgun hunting, and this trip checked both boxes in a big way: a genuine shot at a black bear and the chance to do it with a short gun. My wife, Sherry, had also developed a growing respect for handgun hunting and a real desire to take game that way, so we both went into this one preparing seriously for what was coming.

Low Light, Black Fur, and Why Optics Got Tricky Fast

Since our stands would be inside 50 yards from the bait location, a black sight on a black bear could make accurate sight placement a challenge in a hurry. It was recommended that our handguns wear red dot sights, even though my personal preference for ultimate precision would still lean toward magnified optics. The catch, of course, is that the tinting used on a red dot’s reflective lens can make true low-light work harder than it ought to be. In the last 15 to 20 minutes of legal shooting light, especially under tree cover, that matters. A lot. As an aside, many of us would still love to see an optics maker produce a low-powered magnified handgun optic with an illuminated dot or reticle. Rifle shooters have had that luxury for years. For handgunners, it would be the best of both worlds: better low-light visibility and better precision.

The Revolvers, Loads, and Handgun Setups We Brought to Maine

Our group consisted of 10 shooters, with experience levels ranging from a year or two to a decade or a few. This hunt was open only to Handgun Hunters International members, and the age spread ran from late twenties into early sixties. The gun of choice was mostly the revolver, though one guest brought a Thompson Center Encore. My primary gun was a .41 Mag Ruger Redhawk loaded with a 265gr. cast hollow point. Sherry chose her S&W 657 with a Swift A Frame 210gr. bullet. As insurance against optics trouble or breakage, I also packed a custom Reeder Ruger Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger. Sherry selected her Freedom Arms 83 with the 45Colt cylinder in place as her second gun. I also wore my Bowen SRH 500 Linebaugh and ran 485gr. cast bullets in case any tracking jobs develop. There was no shortage of hardware, and none of it was decorative.

The others in camp showed up with Ruger Redhawks, Blackhawk Hunters, Blackhawks, FA 83 and 97 revolvers, S&W 657s, a TLA, custom Rugers, and a T/C Encore. Chamberings included 41mags, 44special, 44mag, 45Colt, 454 Casull, and another 500L. Bullet choices ranged from Swift A Frames to cast solids and expanding cast versions, plus a factory-loaded partition. Velocities ran from 1000fps to 1800fps, and what stood out was how well all of it worked when the bullet matched both the game and the speed. That old truth still holds up: good bullet choice plus proper placement beats paper theory every time.

Why Verifying Zero Saved Trouble Before We Hit the Stands

Grip tension and rest consistency are far more important for handgunners than many rifle shooters realize. Changes in either can move impact enough to matter even at the relatively short distances where handgunners often hunt. So when we arrived, everybody checked the impacts before heading to the field. Most guns needed nothing. A few had shifted and were corrected quickly. That is exactly why you check guns before a hunt instead of assuming they are still perfect after travel. A quick adjustment and confirmation at 25 and 50 yards settled nerves and renewed confidence. One member of our group kept throwing one round out of an otherwise tidy cluster with his primary revolver. Rather than force it, he switched to his backup gun and eventually got the job done. Pride is not a sighting system.

The Road Trip to Maine and the Border Trouble We Avoided

My wife and I drove from Texas to Maine, which sounds simple enough until you remember that Google Maps can casually route you into a legal disaster if you are not paying attention. One of the shorter routes would have taken us through Canada. With a handgun, that is a major faux pas and a quick way to meet law enforcement under very poor circumstances. Even within the United States, we were advised to avoid overnighting in New York State and to stay clear of NYC altogether. So we checked and rechecked the route, locked down the hotel stops, and saved one last mental note for Houlton, ME: do not miss the turn toward Caribou. The next turnaround or stop is the Canadian border, which is a terrible option when your vehicle contains multiple handguns.

Kim Ralston, Camp Camaraderie, and the People Behind the Hunt

As mentioned earlier, the hunt was ramrodded by Kim Ralston, an avid handgun hunter with his own YouTube channel and the sort of reputation that makes people pay attention when he recommends a guide. He is also a very respectable knife maker. Considering he has a normal day job that sometimes sends him out of the country, his waiting list stretches beyond my patience threshold, but Kim is also a barter-minded man. He wanted a custom holster I had, asked if I would trade, and I was happy to say yes. He got a custom holster without the wait. I got a very nice knife with much less waiting than usual. For this hunt, Kim also made a knife for the group, which my wife ultimately won in our impromptu shooting competition. That felt about right.

Scent Control, Movement, and the Small Mistakes That Blow a Bear Stand

These hunts were evening-only affairs, with bait sites set 25 to 50 yards from either ladder stands or ground blinds. The biggest factor was scent control, especially since a black bear’s nose is rated at 7 times better than a bloodhound’s. Our group used products like ScentLok, Scent Blocker, and Dead Down Wind in clothing, spray, and soap or detergent form. The other critical ingredient was discipline in movement and sound. Fidgeting in the stand, checking your phone, making fast head movements, or generally acting like you are seated in your living room can wreck a sit in a hurry. We were dropped off and picked up at stand locations while bait was refreshed, so bears learned to associate some noise and movement with food. What they did not need was your glowing face in the dark because you just had to check your phone. More than once, bears were already on bait in near darkness as guides came in and pushed them off while refreshing the sites.

Big Bear Sightings, Passed Shots, and the Ones That Got Away

Our group posted a 90% success rate on bear sightings, and only one person never saw a bear. The harvest rate was 70%. In the end, my wife and I did not connect, but the week was not short on action. I had prepared myself mentally for 180 to 200-pound bears and instead got several sightings of 250+ pound animals. On my first evening, a 400+ pound bear slipped out of dense cover just 5 yards to my right and below the stand. My Redhawk, naturally, was pointed at the bait site. The bear turned, walked behind me, and when I tried to move and get the red dot on him, he spooked and melted back into the brush. That one never reappeared. I hunted that stand for 4 days and passed on 3 more bears in the 180 to 200 pound range before finally changing sites. Handgun hunting has a cruel sense of humor when it wants one.

The Misses, the Doubts, and the Lesson That Stuck With Me

We both got chances at bears, but neither set of circumstances allowed for a successful outcome. Sherry’s opportunity involved a poor, rushed rest and a shot that went under the bear. My miss came on day 5 from a new stand site and involved another bear that looked to be 250+ pounds. I made the mistake of not letting the animal settle at the bait and tried to force a shot while it stood in a small depression with light brush obscuring part of the usual broadside presentation. When the guide later asked how confident I felt about the shot, I admitted I was doubtful after replaying it in my mind. I realized almost immediately that I had held too high. We found no sign of a hit that night, and the next day, four of us searched thoroughly with the same result. Then, the day after we left, camera footage showed that same bear back at the bait site with no sign of a wound. Oddly enough, that was comforting. A clean miss is still a miss, but it beats the alternative by a mile.

Unexpected Standouts From the 44 Special, 45Colt, and 500 Linebaugh

Three especially noteworthy performances came from the 44special shooter, the Encore shooter running 45Colt, and the 500 Linebaugh user. The 44 Special did excellent work with a 255-grain. Keith-style semi-wadcutter at 1000fps, proving once again that bullet placement still rules the day over raw exterior ballistics. The Encore shooter got a frontal presentation on his bear, and his 335-grain. The WFN solid cast bullet at 1300fps punched all the way through. Then there was the other 500L shooter using iron sights, who took the biggest bear of the trip. That bear was hit a bit farther back than intended in failing light, but the combination of lung and liver damage plus the wound channel from a .51-caliber hole gave him a usable blood trail and a successful recovery. Bigger does not always mean better, but it definitely can buy some forgiveness.

The Shooting Competition, the Prizes, and Why It Mattered

Before the trip, a friendly competition had been organized for the group. We each shot at a black bear paper target showing vitals on one side and only the silhouette on the other. The course of fire was one shot each at 25, 50, and 75 yards on our own individual target, starting at 75 yards from our preferred field position. The smallest group in the vitals won, and any hit on a major bone counted as out. First place took home a Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 mag. Second place received a Bond Arms Cyclops in .44 mag. Third place won a Ralston fixed-blade knife. Other prizes included Vortex optics, Freedom Arms gear, and assorted HHI products. Handgun hunting is not as popular as it was in the 80s and 90s, so support from companies willing to put real prizes on the table is appreciated.

Maine Black Bear Hunt Snapshot and Handgun Loadout

Why We’re Already Talking About Going Back to Maine

By the time my wife and I were well into the long drive home, we were already discussing a return trip to Maine. Our small band of short-gun users is also looking toward a return in 2027 for the next HHI exclusive hunt. That gives us time to practice, think honestly about our mistakes, and improve on the lessons this trip handed us. I also made new friends on this hunt and expect many of them to stay in my life for years. Compared to Texas in August and early September, Caribou, Maine, is flat-out pleasant with comfortable daytime temperatures, cool nights, beautiful country, and genuinely friendly people. This trip did not just make me want another bear. It made me want to go back to that place and that kind of hunt again and again.

Pros and Cons of This Maine Handgun Bear Hunt

• Pros: Close-range action, excellent guide coordination, strong bear sightings, useful camp camaraderie, and multiple handgun loads that proved effective in real conditions.
• Cons: Low-light sighting issues, legal travel headaches, very little margin for movement mistakes, and missed opportunities that came fast and disappeared faster.

Related Reads from GunsAmerica Digest

• Ruger Redhawk coverage on GunsAmerica Digest
• Freedom Arms 83 coverage on GunsAmerica Digest
• More handgun hunting stories on GunsAmerica Digest

Trapr Swonson

Trapr Swonson,…hunter, trainer, competitor, owner operator Trapr Ltd.,  retired firefighter/first responder, and Hunt365 writer.

I’d be called a traditionalist. I like and appreciate the latest tech, but really enjoy doing things the old ways.

Experience/Qualifications

-USAF small arms instructor and competitor since the mid 1980’s and continue providing small arms training to this day.

-Started competing in archery and held state records, as well as part of the Texas state “All Recurve” 3D team.

Progressed to practical shooting competitions with handgun, rifle, and shotgun, and in early long range competitions.

-Have represented the USA several times in international practical shooting.

-Developed the best functioning and most reliable shortened stroke or “stroke timing system” modification for 3 gun-type Benelli Nova/SuperNova shotguns.

-Have hunted from Texas north to Montana and east to Minnesota plus some international hunts.

-Currently retired after 27+ years as a firefighter, medical first responder.

-Started a company that specializes in “destructive animal abatement”, focusing on Canine, Feline, and Swine. Trapr Ltd. has been in operation since 2007.