Hunting black bears with the 6.5 Creedmoor

There’s something about the 6.5 Creedmoor that brings out the worst in people. On both sides of the coin, there are people who are so emotionally attached to their beliefs about this cartridge that it almost becomes part of their personality. In my time at Outdoor living, I’ve seen these battles raging in the comments sections and have always wondered why it’s such a polarizing cartridge.

To be honest, I had zero experience with it before Spring 2024, so maybe I just didn’t know enough about it to develop strong feelings about it. Growing up in the big woods of Pennsylvania, the main rifle I used for big game was always the .30/06, which never let me down. But I have never been against shooting other cartridges either. I think that’s why I’ve always found the battle for the 6.5 faith so silly.

Then in May I had the unique opportunity to form my own opinion on the 6.5 Creedmoor while hunting black bears in northern Alberta with W&L Guide Services at the invitation of Mossberg, Swarovski and Hornady. The trip fell in mid-May, so spring bear season was in full swing by the time we arrived at camp. If all went according to plan, I could shoot two large Alberta bears with the 6.5 Creed.

Welcome to Alberta

After enduring the flights and the 8 hour bus ride to camp, we arrived with time to hunt for six days. We sat over bait from elevated platforms deep in the bush. Having hunted very little black bears in my life, I was both nervous and excited about the chance to see them up close and personal.

While our guides refreshed the bait, we checked our guns and scopes to make sure they weren’t lying around during our travels. For my yacht I chose the Mossberg Patriot predator combined with a Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13.3×42 And 143 grain Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X bullets. I wasn’t concerned about estimating the true accuracy potential of this rig, as my likely shooting distance on this hunt would be about 50 yards. I can say that at that range my average group size was well under an inch – as it should be.

After confirming that the rifle, scope and ammo combination was ready to go, we loaded the trucks for our first evening session. We drove for about 45 minutes and then pulled into a trailhead and four wheeled another 25 minutes to finally arrive at the stand deep in the bush.

Unfortunately, the Bears didn’t get the memo that night. Other than a few sticks snapping in the distance, it was a long five-hour sit, with only a few pine squirrels nibbling on leftover marshmallows to keep me company.

A long week in the stands

That first sitting without action would become the norm for me. While other hunters in camp watched bears on bait on their first and second hunts, I sat idly, biding my time.

By the end of the third day I was the only hunter in camp who had not yet seen a bear. But growing up in the big forest has its lessons: you get used to not seeing bugs every time. So I wasn’t too downtrodden as we entered our fourth day abroad. That evening all my bad luck washed away and I experienced something that most people will never experience: a wolverine came by my booth and put on a show for about 20 minutes.

However, after the wolverine sighting there were again long hours without any action. By the end of the fifth day I still hadn’t had a meeting. The other hunters in camp, along with the guides, were all astonished at my bad luck. Other hunters saw five to six bears in one evening. I knew I had to change things.

A Hail Mary on the last day

On the last day of the hunt, the thought of sitting on a raised platform for another six hours without any action made me want to hunt in a different way. So after some thought I spoke to one of the guides, Shane, who agreed we could give it a try and still hunt.

The new tactics brought new hope. As we left camp while the others enjoyed their lunch, I shouted that we would be back soon with both my tags filled.

When we arrived at the trailhead, Shane and I unloaded the trailer and set off along a cut line toward the first bait barrel. After a quarter mile we turned a corner and to my surprise we saw a black bear about 300 yards away. I hit the deck and handed Shane mine El Range 10×32 binoculars so he could see it better. When we both had a glass on the bear, we could determine that he was an adult boar. In fact, he slowly closed the distance between us.

After what seemed like an eternity, the boar waddled its way to 200 yards. At this point the initial nerves had worn off and my breathing was under control. I just needed a shot from the side. As the boar slowly turned to follow a trail into the bushes, I set the crosshair in place and squeezed.

The light recoil allowed me to view the impact exactly where I had aimed. The boar lunged forward and disappeared. Shane and I were confident, but decided to give him some time, just in case. After 30 minutes had passed, we crawled along the cut line and found the boar piled up less than 10 feet from where it had been hit.

I was in awe of the size of the bear and the performance of the 6.5 Creed. The blood trail was of course short, but substantial thanks to the entry and exit wounds. Of course, a single shot on a single animal doesn’t produce a single data set, but still: the cartridge’s performance on this bear, a boar of about 350 pounds, inspired confidence in my setup and cartridge choice.

After loading up the bear and helping to refresh bait barrels in the area, Shane and I went hunting a few other areas. When we reached the last trailhead, I was still grinning from ear to ear.

We were walking down the trail to the last bait location when we heard a loud growl ahead. After a few more steps we saw a giant boar standing on its hind legs and staring at us through the bushes, just twenty meters away.

It was clear he wasn’t sure whether to investigate or run away, but when his front paws hit the ground he seemed to have decided he was coming our way. I quickly set the reticle in place and squeezed off a shot, sending him into a tailspin before crashing just ten yards away.

That was the kind of hair-raising encounter that some might argue would require a magnum rifle cartridge for more “knockdown power” (although this is a myth). In this close-up shot, I was once again impressed with the 6.5 Creed’s performance. The bullet entered the thorax, just below the neck and between the two front shoulders. It exited the bear on the left side, near the last rib, after punching through the top of the heart and lungs. Internally, the bleeding made it clear that the bullet was maximizing damage.

Cumulatively, the bears made it about 45 feet after impact, with entry and exit wounds causing extensive blood trails over the short distances. That made me wonder: Why on earth would hunters despise such a productive cartridge?

A look at Black Bears and the 6.5 Creedmoor

After returning from my trip, I was only more intrigued by the 6.5 Creed. I couldn’t think of anyone better to ask about it than OL staff writer Tyler Freel, who has played a lot with the 6.5 and even hunted a grizzly with it in 2023. Freel’s point? The only remarkable thing about killing a large grizzly bear with a 6.5 Creedmoor is that people find it remarkable.

Frankly, the 6.5 Creedmoor is an ideal cartridge for black bears. A great black bear cartridge should do a lot of damage, be accurate, and allow you to shoot it well without excessive recoil. From my limited experience and Freel’s extensive experience, the 6.5 Creedmoor meets all these requirements.

“Black bears are not difficult to kill. They have a big vital zone and if you hit them there they won’t go far,” he says. “The key to taking a match is taking the time to make a good shot. When it comes to the 6.5 Creedmoor, the cartridge and bullet are more than capable of doing the necessary damage.”

Read next: The Best Bear Hunting Cartridges

According to Freel and the results I experienced in the field, my setup was ideal for hunting black bears in almost any conditions. It gave me the ability to take accurate shots up close, as well as shoot accurately at longer distances. As for the post-shot action, Freel hit the nail on the head.

“As a starting point, if you choose and shoot ethically, carefully, a good 140- or 143-grain 6.5mm bullet will kill things just as dead, and often just as quickly, as bullets that are a bit larger, fired with comparable speeds.”

When comparing the Creed to the .30/06 paired with Kern-Lokts I grew up with it, my eyes were opened even more. With a 50 yard zero, the two patterns at 200 yards are vastly different. Simply put, the 6.5 Creedmoor has better trajectory, higher speed and more energy than the Core-Lokt load at 200 yards.

For the sake of argument, I also have the Nosler 180-grain divider to the comparison chart to prove that there are certainly .30/06 loads that can outperform the Creedmoor on paper at that distance. But of course they bring much more backlash. The above metrics really only show performance on paper, but none are a true benchmark for measuring a load’s effectiveness in the field.

For me, I’d rather get less of a slap on the shoulder knowing that the downrange performance remains quite similar, if not better, to the 6.5 Creed.

While I’m sure some of you will, it’s hard to dispute the results. As someone who had never fired a round of 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition before this trip, I would encourage all big game hunters to at least try it. Either way, when it comes to black bear hunting, I won’t look anywhere else.