Sidearms & Scatterguns Pistol for Grizzly Bear Country

[KYS]

A 44 mag will do the trick as well as many others. It's shot placement that counts. Doing a one shot and drop it is going to be very difficult under stress and not to mention the moving target.

 

[RollingThunder51]

So, lets clean this up a bit....

Bears killed by handguns:

Grizzly Bear Shot and Killed By Hikers In Denali National Park and Preserve | National Parks Traveler

Twig snap alerts dog-walker to charging grizzly | State News | ADN.com

Bear killed with .40 caliber handgun - Alaska - Sleepless in Midland

Pistol-Packing Hiker Kills Brown Bear in Sudden Chugach Foothills Attack

Hell, one was killed up here with a .22 back in 2003

So, as to the concept that there was never a Bear killed with a pistol...well, that simply is not true.

 

[45.308]

Pure luck and nothing more as all bear encounters are. Hand gun, long gun, 30mm Bushmaster, 155 its all about luck.

 

[rmfield]

45.308, I agree, but awareness counts for a lot. I've only encountered one brown bear up close and I was lucky - I was able to just back away. The .357 that I was carrying never came out of the holster. I've spent a fair bit of time watching grizzlies and brown bears with optics and I have been seriously impressed with their speed and violence when the right button gets pushed. I always carry both pepper spray and a firearm in grizzly/brown bear country, but I know a close encounter is always very dangerous regardless of what I carry. For what its worth, I feel best armed with a Marlin Guide Gun in bear country.

 

[45.308]

What exactly is bear awareness?

Guide Gun good choice, the bear protection teams mostly run 12ga with slugs, 45.70 somewhat, yes that is a profession in Alaska, every TV show in Alaska has someone hired as their bear guard, every scientific research team hires a bear guard. Does not pay well or enough and its hard to get on our list.

 

[rmfield]

What exactly is bear awareness?

awareness: noun
- having knowledge or cognizance
- knowledge or perception of a situation or fact
- concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development
Synonyms: aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, awake, alert, watchful, vigilant

 

[45.308]

I was trying to make a point, you commented awareness counts a lot and was lucky. Reading signs that may detect the presence of ole booboo is good, its more about pure luck. Having all the bear awareness known does not necessarily give you better odds over someone who has none as nothing can predict ole booboo. Learn it use it but its a false security. Knowing what do to during the encounter to put luck on your side is very positive though, more so than knowing what to do to not get in the encounter. All these news paper articles, blogs, videos, etc. give a very false realization of bear encounters.

I guess I am an old sourdough when it comes to this: unless you have been nose to nose dropping trowel with a bear, you just do not know or understand.

 

[Kebo57]

Paindoc
I wasn't implying that you should concern yourself with the legal/fine aspect if you really need to shoot a bear....but if you do shoot one and you haven't got teeth marks be prepared for a very detailed investigation. A good friend recently retired from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. One of his jobs was to investigate bear shootings. The investigation is much like a people murder....full forensics etc. There will be a full investigation even if you get chewed up. If they find you shot the poor little bear without cause...IE at a distance that you could have retreated or without any cause ( happens in this part of the world) it's going to be an expensive lesson. We also have PLENTY of bears and wolves around here...some of the hunters and ranchers think all bears and wolves should be eliminated all together.....results in some of each being shot "just because". I personally think it is time for Wyoming to start selling grizzly tags again but until they get off protected status in Wyoming you better be sure the bear really need shooting.

 

[Redmanss]

I'm with 45.308 on this one concerning the awareness, it all comes down to luck. I don't have a bunch of bear experience, but I had a tricky encounter one time when we flew up to Ft. Drum for some cross training with the 10th Mountain. Out in the bush, HLZ on one side, road on the other, and my sniper partner and I teamed up with a Javelin Team's OP/LP in a small strip of treeline to get some shuteye before nightfall. It was in the afternoon and the guys were awake and alert, but they wake me up saying "Sergeant, Sergeant, there's a bear...". I'm thinking it's out in the HLZ where we were staging our MRE trash (we were briefed about that), tell them to not worry about it, leave him alone and he'll go about his business and roll over to go back to sleep, but they reply "he's in our 'pos'". OK, I'm awake now... I look up and there's a ~250lb black bear about 5yds away from me and they're asking me if I have any live ammo. Of course the most I have is some blanks for the M40 due to getting busted before for having "security ammo" and not wanting to get jacked up again. We leave him be, he goes up to our other OP/LP position and scares the shit out of that guy by standing up on his hind legs growling with an MRE in his mouth about 3 yards away face to face, then takes off not to be seen again.

The learning point of the story is even with six Marines on OP/LP actually watching, a bear was still able to close within 10yds before being spotted. Vegetation and terrain have a big play in whether you see them before they're right on top of you within a distance they can close in the blink of an eye. I still think the best gun for the woods is just like the best gun for any self defense situation; it's the one on you that you know how to use in a split second, and I hope the ER is nearby to sew you up.

 

[OldmaninNeb]

+ the 12 gauge

 

[AK10mm]

I am not an experienced hunter but can someone explain how a slug gun would be questionable to stop a grizzly but my friend has a 1000 plus pound grizzly in his trophy room he killed with his simple recurve bow.

For starters, Grizz in Interior Alaska don't go 1000+ pounds, more like 5-650#, coastal Brownies are much bigger. The size of a bear is measured by what it "squares", IE. 9'4", 6'10".....not what it weighs. Regardless of the size, I doubt it was a pissed off, charging Grizz he killed with the bow.

As posted earlier in this thread, your best defense in bear country is being aware. Shot placement goes out the window when a pissed off sow is headed your way at 30mph from <30yds out, in fact, it's laughable.....

In Alaska, your chances of getting stomped by a moose are just as likely as a bear attack, either way, penetration is your friend, and buckshot don't do it. My personal carry gun on the river while bank fishing is a Glock 21 in 460 Rowland that I practice a LOT with. 44mag ballistics with half the weight and bulk of my old 629 and twice the firepower. Daily carry is usually a G20 with 220gr hard cast.


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[Unknown]

We had a small black bear chase us off our lunch once in the Rogue River area in Southern Oregon. It is surprising how quietly and quickly they can be on you. I didn't know I could get back into the raft, and back onto the river that quickly. I'll bet it would have been funny as hell to someone watching from the other bank...I didn't think it was so funny at the time, and this was only a small black bear. Fortunately, I spotted it far enough away loping toward us, and we had time enough to get out of the area. We took most of our lunch with us, but he did beat us out of one sandwich. I didn't like the idea that the sandwich he got might reinforce heading toward humans in the future. But I was glad to get out of there.