Handguns 95% Effective ln Bear Attacks

[Evan]

Edit: if I really thought for a second that "it wont save me" I wouldn't bother to carry it. I carry it, because sitting at home in the safe sure aint gonna get it either....

View attachment 1125324

I agree. Better on your person than sitting at home where it definitely won't do anything.

EDIT: Safety blanky would be a great engraving, but I don't think a charging bear will appreciate it like a human would

 

[Evan]

What a stupid comment
I suspect that the families on this news video don't think of firearms as security "blanky"

Clearly missing my point. I'm assuming this video is the same news article I turned up searching for it. If it is, then the bear charged his uncle, who carried a rifle, knocking him down and mauling him before he could do anything. The boy opens up fire with his shotgun until the bear in down, and the uncle finishes the bear with the rifle.

If the uncle was alone in bear country with his gun and some spray, we see how this would have most likely ended. It was the safety of numbers in this case that prevented death. Boy alone with shotgun, dead. Uncle alone with rifle, dead.

Bears are mean and fast and you can puff up your chest and feel strong with your shotgun or revolver or can of spray, but that bear is still the alpha in this exchange and it takes the right circumstances to come out of it ok. It's not just having a gun or using a gun against the bear that decides the outcome.

 

[PhilKeil]

Thanks for posting, definitely a good and worthwhile read!!! I couldn't find the article and thought it was in the "More Alaska Bear Tales" book, but I couldn't find it. This article told about two guys fishing in Alaska. They caught several salmon and had them up on the bank when a brown bear got their fish and started eating them. One guy shot the bear and IIRC he hit it 5 out of 6 times in the face. The bear killed him. The other one ran to help and shot the bear several more times in the face, but it killed him too. Later troopers found the wounded bear, still alive and killed it. They verified that the bear was shot, I want to say like 8 or 9 times total right in the face. Some kind of half assed autopsy was performed on the bears skull. They said the jaw was broken and bullets made it into the sinus cavities but that was about it. The message to the story was "don't shoot a brown bear in the face" because there is nothing there to really do enough damage to stop it. I cant remember what the guns used were, but I want to say 454 Casull or 44 magnum revolvers.
When I was in Alaska I talked to several locals about the preferred bear "medicine"...they seemed to all believe the best gun was a 12 gauge loaded with slugs. Living in southern Maryland and that being the only thing legal to deer hunt with, I thought of how many times I tracked 125 pound whitetails for a very long ways after being hit good with a 12 gauge slug. I told the Alaskans I really thought they were betting on the wrong gun for a griz or brown bear!!!

I remember reading as a kid in outdoor life about a bear attack in Alaska where the guy shot the bear 5 times in the head and it kept charging. He put last shot from 44 mag in chest and it dropped. when they investigated the guy was using cast lead and the bullets just flattened out on the skull and did not penetrate.

 

[Knotwild]

It's not a bear, but I read about it in a book by an African PH -- Two couples rented a cabin in a government park (in Africa, don't remember where) to stay for a while. No hunting was allowed, but one guy took along a rifle, .243 I think. The cabin had coverings over the windows like a storm shutter, but hinged at the top. They had the shutters open to sleep in the breeze. On guy is startled awake by a commotion and sees a leopard has joined them. He is unarmed, the leopard is trying to get his wife, so he pounds the leopard's head with his fist. Meanwhile, the friend with the rifle is up and getting it out.

The leopard turns and chowmps down on the guy's hand. His friend takes the rifle and shoots the leopard in the head, and through is buddy's hand. Wish I could remember the book.

 

[msinc]

.....Bears are mean and fast and you can puff up your chest and feel strong with your shotgun or revolver or can of spray, but that bear is still the alpha in this exchange and it takes the right circumstances to come out of it ok. It's not just having a gun or using a gun against the bear that decides the outcome......

I understand and agree with much of what you are saying. Make no mistake, I can attest to bears being mean and fast, faster than most people would ever believe is possible. This is not chest puffing or feeling strong, bear in the woods vs. man in the woods..yep, bear is the alpha.
Bear in the woods vs. man in the woods with the proper firearm, sorry dude, bear is not the alpha anymore. Put "stupid" or "slow" or "un-attentive" or "non-vigilant" in front of "man" and the bear has a way better chance of winning.
I know what bears are capable of, I have hunted them. If being in the woods with the proper gun meant I was not the alpha...I wouldn't go. I do go and the fact is there are several bears that are not feeling very "alpha" these days.

 

[Evan]

I know what bears are capable of, I have hunted them. If being in the woods with the proper gun meant I was not the alpha...I wouldn't go. I do go and the fact is there are several bears that are not feeling very "alpha" these days.

No disagreement there, except with the differentiation between:

• you hunting a bear with a rifle, where you stalk and shoot the bear, preferably for you while it is unaware, or retreating

Vs.

• An angry bear charging you with your shotgun slung on your shoulder, or revolver in a holster on your chest.

In one of those scenarios you are prepared and actively hunting. The other you are caught by surprise and being attacked.

If you see the bear ahead of time and are not hunting it, then you have the opportunity to retreat the way you came in an alert and careful manner and avoid an altercation all together. No need to find out if your revolver or spray actually work.

 

[msinc]

You are not getting it..."caught by surprise and being attacked" IS NOT IN MY GAME PLAN, period, end of story. Not in the bears woods. If I am in the woods where there are live wild bears, black, brown, white or silver tipped I am prepared and actively hunting. That may be the difference between me and the folks getting killed by all these "alpha" bears...I am never going for a careless stroll in dangerous woods unprepared and unready.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Holy Cow
Was this recent sept 1 Sunday ?

Last night, New new news.

 

[spencerhenry]

I used to hunt bears by crawling in to potential bear dens with a 44 and a flashlight. I am much older and perhaps a little smarter now.
I was just out hunting for bears tonight, with my 45 colt lever rifle. I am looking for the 30 yards or less shot. Had one bear at 10 feet a few days ago before it saw me. I just didn't feel like shooting that one. Had one last night at about 40 yards, not a clean shot so I let him walk. But, he looked at me and I could tell he knew what I was up to, he was a larger bear. I felt a little under gunned. But, what the hell, I like the challenge.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Nature is never static, many confuse weather and climate intentionally. What is known is that a small percentage of scientists purposely manipulated model data to support a "theory" that could be used to make money or push an agenda that needed a "problem"(Al Gore). We have an insignificant amount of instrument temperature data to make a factual comparison of temperatures,
in relation to the total years of human habitation on earth.

 

[PhilKeil]

I was in Alaska 3-4 years ago for a breast MRI system applications session i was teaching. I was in the hotel lobby eating breakfast and law enforcement came in asking for the management and a room of a person. Later I found out it was caribou hunting time and 1 hunter was killed and his companion very serious injured by a grizzly. The hunters were staying in the hotel I was in. The locals said the grizzles follow the caribou they said a number of hunters are killed every year.

 

[284winner]

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/03/pi...r-attack-95-effective-63-cases/#axzz5iTMGHxNQ

l found this article enlightening and have PD shooting in Canton Tx who survived a Black Bear attack in Alaska while fishing... He stopped him at around 9ft with his Smith&Wesson 44Magnum revolver. He shot him with Winchester 250gr Platinum Tips... Bear weighed 283pounds... l commented to my friend that wasn't a particularly large bear.. His reply was he could have sworn that bear was the size of M1A1 ABRAMS TANK

That video of the grizzly and police officers was BS. That bear wasn't anything but nuisance and turned when he was antagonized by the driver when he hit the bear from the open window. Animal control or DNR should have been called to immobilize it and transfer it to a better location. Definitely not a bear attack as bear attacks happen..unprovoked or spontaneous. Plain case of molesting a bear rather than staying in the vehicles till game management showed up. At least that's my opinion based on what I saw on the footage. Do not know what occured before the footage was filmed.

 

[Tommie]

Do people actually clomp around in grizzly bear country with anything less than a 45-70?

 

[clunker]

I have never had an encounter with a bear, but I did a ton of research about what firearm to carry if hiking in bear country. My findings indicate that a 12 gauge slug is your best bet, but you will probably only get one shot, and you better not miss. First shot to the chest to knock them down. Second shot to the head to finish the job. At least this is what park rangers were suggesting. That being said, I have never hiked in bear country after doing that research.

 

[D Coots]

I always heard a .22 pistol is the best. Just cap your buddy in the knee and the bear will be busy with him.

 

[rammac]

Clearly missing my point. I'm assuming this video is the same news article I turned up searching for it. If it is, then the bear charged his uncle, who carried a rifle, knocking him down and mauling him before he could do anything. The boy opens up fire with his shotgun until the bear in down, and the uncle finishes the bear with the rifle.

If the uncle was alone in bear country with his gun and some spray, we see how this would have most likely ended. It was the safety of numbers in this case that prevented death. Boy alone with shotgun, dead. Uncle alone with rifle, dead.

Bears are mean and fast and you can puff up your chest and feel strong with your shotgun or revolver or can of spray, but that bear is still the alpha in this exchange and it takes the right circumstances to come out of it ok. It's not just having a gun or using a gun against the bear that decides the outcome.

Oh gee whiz, could you lecture me more about bears, I'm sure that you're far more knowledgeable than I am. After all, I'm sure that an R&D engineer in Golden Colorado is far more familiar with bears than a guy that lives on a homestead in the middle of grizzly country in SW Montana.

Guys like you are the people that act like they are the tough guys that know exactly how things are going to work out, trust me, I'm very aware of how badly things can go in a real bear attack. Very seldom will you know that the bear is near you until he's only a few feet away, you might have 3 seconds to respond and unless you've practiced how you intend to respond, more than likely you will never get a shot off. And even if you do get a couple of shots off you will probably go home bloody. But trust me, there are many people that have responded with handguns and walked away with a dead bear on the ground, and no, I'm not talking about hunters that had time to plan their shot.

Please, if you want to act like you are an expert then show a little respect and tell us your qualifications before you post condescending remarks.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/03/pi...r-attack-95-effective-63-cases/#axzz5iTMGHxNQ

l found this article enlightening and have PD shooting in Canton Tx who survived a Black Bear attack in Alaska while fishing... He stopped him at around 9ft with his Smith&Wesson 44Magnum revolver. He shot him with Winchester 250gr Platinum Tips... Bear weighed 283pounds... l commented to my friend that wasn't a particularly large bear.. His reply was he could have sworn that bear was the size of M1A1 ABRAMS TANK

One of my best friends survived a Grizzly attack. It was a sow with cubs so when she charged, there was no bluffing.

My buddy was hunting grouse with a 12ga shotgun and had a shell in the chamber. Only 7.5 birdshot 2-3/4" round. He surpised the bear and she charged immediately since she had 2 cubs with her. He said she came at him so fast all he had time to do was wheel around and shoot from the hip. Got damn lucky and hit her right square in the head. She hit the ground skidding towards him dead. Bear came to rest 7ft from where he was standing. Good thing she was that close when he fired too because the 7.5 birdshot was still in a nice tight pattern and essentially acted like a large shotgun slug. If she had been a ways further out when he fired, I dont know if the birdshot round would have been able to kill her.

 

[284winner]

I have never had an encounter with a bear, but I did a ton of research about what firearm to carry if hiking in bear country. My findings indicate that a 12 gauge slug is your best bet, but you will probably only get one shot, and you better not miss. First shot to the chest to knock them down. Second shot to the head to finish the job. At least this is what park rangers were suggesting. That being said, I have never hiked in bear country after doing that research.

The problem with that scenario is most times when people are hiking in bear country (especially Grizzly), they aren't just meandering aimlessly looking to view bears or locate bears unless they are hunting them, in which case they have the tool for the job already. Most times they are bow hunting or backpacking, fishing or maybe even hiking a trail for exercise. Many cases a shotgun can not be carried and accessed rapidly enough if a bear does attack. That is why a side arm is typically carried. They are easier to draw and lighter, less bulky. A shotgun is the ideal weapon in a perfect world for defense of a bear attack. IMO, the next best is a carry sidearm that the carrier is very proficient with both fast and accurate. To me as in hunting with a rifle, accuracy Trump's shear power. Find a cartridge that penetrates several inches of skull or main torso and that you are confident drawing and shooting fast and accurate. Be prepared for the worse when in bear country. Nobody ever thinks they'll be a victim of any predator.

 

[Laurie]

There you are: what you want and need for bear defence - a 1911 chambered in 38 Super (very old ad)

 

[boltfluter]

Probably the best defense to have in bear country is a dog or two. They will distract the bear so you can shoot it, or if needed, shoot yourself to avoid a more painful death! Job well done.

Paul