Idaho black bear

Hey y?all, haven?t posted here in a while, life has been crazy the last few years.

So I am booking a black bear hunt in Idaho for next year for my dad and I.

I have a few questions for anyone who has experience handgun hunting black bear.

Handguns: I bought my dad a S&W 6? 629 for his 60th birthday so he will be using that. I have 2 44 mag SBH with 7.5? barrels, one is scoped with a old 2X. One SBH 44 mag with 4 5/8? barrel and a Redhawk in 45 Colt (not the 45 ACP combo). I really need to pin down which one I want to use!

Hunting black bear from a tree stand over a bait station, what is the pro/cons to using a scoped handgun vs iron sights? I was told that most shots will be within 50 yards and averaging around 30 yards.

Ammo: I reload 99% of everything that I shoot, my go to whitetail load for 44 mag is a Sierra 240 grain JHP (#8610) over 20.5 grains of Hercules (yes I have a lot of old powder that is still good) with a Winchester large pistol primer. This load is very accurate in all of my 44s and my dads 44, would this be a good black bear round too or should I step it up for bears?

45 Colt, I use a medium hardness GT bullets 225 grain SWCHP with 9.5 grains of W231 and it works well for deer and is very accurate in my Redhawk. I would imagine that if I decide to use the redhawk I should make a hotter load then this, opinions??

Any other general suggestions for hunting black bear with revolvers?

Thanks
Sam

You need to think of the worse possible scenario for your shots like sharply quartering or a really big bear. I prefer to break my bears down so they can't run far. That usually calls for a double shoulder shot.
I like 240 Sierra JHC, but only used them on deer. For bears I would recommend AFrames or Xs. Penetration won't be a problem.

X?s?? Not sure if I?m aware of what though are.

The barnes copper pistol bullets.

Speer 270 gr FP...it bonded, very reasonably priced, and can be loaded to very respectable velocities in revolvers

As a rule bears don't usually leave much of a blood trail so it's best to break them down rather than track them down. I would use good bullets & take out both shoulders. Works for me.

Dick

Hunting from stands.... I?ll suggest iron sights (fiber optic front) or a red dot sight. If bear comes in early or late in low light conditions, you?ll get sky glare in your scope and not be able to see through it very well. If you are able to see through it, the black cross-hairs will disappear on the bear making a shot difficult. During good lighting conditions or if you?re hunting from the ground or shooting fairly level, you won?t have as big an issue. You?ve got plenty good suggestions on bullets, so.....

I had an Idaho bear hunt booked for myself and my son for the first week of June of this year. The Kung flu has postponed it till 2021.
I had intended and still intend to use my Ruger SBH .44 with factory Federal Fusion 240s. I have been greatly impressed with the Fusions. A bear and then a deer taken with them last fall ranks as probably the two most impressive .44 Mag revolver bullet performances I have instigated.

If not my new favorite bullet(Fusions), I would use a perennial favorite of mine, the 250 Nosler Partition. Expansion and penetration makes blood trails and quick kills.

I will also STRONGLY recommend a fiber optic front sight on a hunting revolver. The green HiViz on my .44 has been a gamechanger for me. I can't imagine anything without glass working better on a bear at dawn or dusk, or in the rain for that matter.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I?m going to look into some high visibility sights and I believe I will try the 270 grain deep curl Speers with a still load of W296 or 2400. Thanks again.