Xausa:

I lived just south of Lexington in horse country there attending theological Seminary. LOTS of groundhogs in the area, but normally shooting was discouraged on horse farms for obvious reasons, the main one being a slipup around a $250,000 yearling would be disastrous. I did work on one farm where I did shoot a bunch of them, but we only had three broodmares and knew where they were at all times.

Around here, the concept of a special hound hunting rifle/bullet is popular, but the most common "special rifles" are the Marlin and Winchester .444's. Most bear hunters around here prefer anyone hunting with them to use a caliber/bullet that has a good chance of staying inside the bear. The use of a pack is a lot different than a single tracking dog, and fights occur frequently and if the hunter is present the hound owners want the bullet to stay inside the bear and not exit where it might injure or kill a dog. I do not own such a rifle and have never been turned away from a hunt, but some hound hunters are pretty adamant about it.

So when I saw this bullet I was curious. But look at it...a light .30 cal HP? Seems really weird to me. I won't say these bullets don't have a following somewhere and really, I hope they do as I'd like to hear some reports on their use, but I certainly wouldn't use it on bear here. A quick-opening but heavy 9.3 bullet might have some utility, but the light .30 seems to have gone way too far the other way, to me.

The only right way to do it is to pick a clear shot as best as possible. This can be VERY difficult at times during a fight and I can see why a fast-opening bullet might be desireable, but frankly, the whole notion that a guy is going to RELY on the body of a bear to stop a bullet, and then take that shot where there may be dogs on the other side and in line with the gun is irresponsible to me.