In my experience, nothing makes as good an exit wound as a 12 ga slug. With the heavy bone mass, the layer of fat and the thick fur of a bear, you want a good sized exit wound to give you a good blood trail to follow. Occasionally they will drop in their tracks, but when they don't you want as heavy a blood trail as possible to follow. Slugs are very accurate out to at least 75 yds and the vast majority of bears are shot within 30 yds or less. Wait for a good broadside or quartering away shot and let the slug do its job. Good luck!

I have killed BB with a 243,30-06 and my 7 Mag never had to shoot them more than once,any of the popular hunting calibers will work just fine with a well placed shot.

well the way i see it is i have shot deer out to 150 yards with my mossber 835 ulti mag with the riffled barrel and a bushnell red dot scope and the hole it makes are amazing. That's what i plan to shot my bear with this year and i only shot cheap whinchester box of 15 shells for ten bucks . also any well placed shot with a riffle would kill a bear.