Ok a bear question!

[LockedBreech]

I hike in the Rocky Mountains. My handguns are all inadequate for our caliber of bear (.40, .38 Spc., .380). My female hiking companion carries bear spray, I carry my .40 with FMJ. Beats nothing.

For a camping gun, I'm considering an M44 Mosin. Cheap and tough - nothing Russian fears a little dirt. And 7.62x54R is fairly strong medicine.

[Boomer58cal]

I think there's a reason for so few reports of the bear spray not working. It's hard to report being eaten.


Boomer

[csmsss]

But I admit my experience with bears applies to the area in which I live. Their behavior elsewhere may be quite different.

All animals adapt to their environments and previous experience. Bears that are in more heavily human-populated areas that are accustomed to foraging through trash cans, gardens, etc., are more likely to lose their fear of humans than those in less densely populated areas and, particularly, in areas where the humans are more careful not to leave food out for bears to scavenge. That, in turn, would necessarily affect how aggressive they might be in encounters with us.

And there simply is no momma bear on earth that isn't gonna defend her cub to the death if she thinks there is a threat to it. That's a wild card that you simply will never know until it presents itself.

[RC20]

Ok, the OP made it clear this was for Grizzly bear (or its close cousins) and not black bears.

As has been mentioned but as all too often occurs, someone from Alaska pops the myth and the wagon train rambles on with opinions not experience.

So, mything number 1

I can stop an attacking grizzly with (fill in your gun).
Nope. As noted, Alaska may be big, but you are lucky to be able to see 20 yards. Bear comes charging out of the bushes at 20 by the time you get your (Fill in the gun) up, its on you and its all over but the shouting (er screaming) (we had one like that last winter or the winter beofre, two guys hunting, large rifles and they dropped both gunsl).

You have never been tested: Yes there are a few cool guys out there (and gals). They are all in special forces (Seals, Delta, Green Beret continue filling in the blanks).

My ideal gun concept was a semi auto or pump 30-06 (and not FMJ, that will punch a hole and its silly to talk about break down in a bear defense situation). It might work if your nerves are steady enough and you had enough distance as well as saw the threat coming soon enough (doesn't work so good if it comes at you from behind does it?)

On the other hand I surveyed with a 12 gauge pump with 4 rounds of Double O buck and a slug. Buck to shred the sensory apparatus and the slug to kill it as it went in circlets (I was crew, not the party chief and that was his philosophy and it was as good as any, i.e. have a plan and stick with it )

So, silly as it sounds pepper spray is the single most effective defense in a bear encounter. It both naturalizes the conflict (bear wants to go away) and it does not create a wounded ****** off animal.

I carried a pistol (41 magnum, I laugh at anyone getting off more than a single round with an S&W 500). It was for shooting myself if a bear attacked

Actually it was a tool, if I could make it up a tree and it would not go away I could kill said bear.

Also useful for noise if trying to scare a non charging bear away. No illusions that it would stop a bear.

A charging grizzly is also best dealt with by playing dead. Yea I know, I don't know what I am talking about but in most charges it works. Its a percentage thing. It actually takes more balls to play dead than shoot a bear (which usually turns out to be the stupid thing to do). So real macho men play dead interestingly enough and its the nervous ones who shoot.

And food for thought. Two incident I know (non charging) took Grizzly bears down with a high capacity 9mm. So, its possible its quantity not quality. Nah, I still go with pepper spray and or playing dead.

In reality there is not guaranteed answers. There are percentages of what gets the best outcome in most cases (sorry, thats pepper spray and playing dead) . Where its not the gun would not work or stop the bear anyway. sigh.

The emotional ones want to think otherwise. Logic and facts says what is the best percentage and no one wants to believe or accept that because they are working on emotional basis and it busts the myth (trust me, people do NOT like their myths busted, I spent too many years trying to tell people what Alaska is really like and all they do is get ****** off because its not what they want to hear).

Most people (including me) could not hit a charging griz at 10 yard with a gun. Damn, there goes the macho. Ahh well.

So, do you really want to hear what works or do you want us to tell you what you want to hear?

[Husqvarna]

Benelli argo in 9,3x62. haven't shot a bear with it yet but I trust it.

I haven't even put optics on it, used it for pigs and when tracking injured/wounded animals.

love how it swings and a solid thump that would rattle the bear me thinks.
When I was younger I tracked a couple of bears (already shot) with my rem1100 and slugs but reliability isn't as good as the argo

[Jack O'Conner]

There seems to be no end to these "bad bear" questions. Most blackies run from humans and are not inclined to attack for no reason. When I backpack into the Bighorn Mts. of northern Wyoming I pack a sinngle barrel break open shotgun loaded with a deer slug.

Jack

[Art Eatman]

The forty-leventh bear thread. I can't bear it any longer.