[N.H. Yankee]

Save the last shot for yourself!!!!! I was with a guiding service back in the 70's in Alaska. The gun I used was a 444 Marlin, and even then its fate. An adrenaline charged bear is only going to be stopped in most cases by a headshot and a charging bears head is a difficult target due to animal movement and the shooters horror filed shaking in most cases. People who have never been confronted with this situation tend to fire blindly, even seasoned hunters lose it in quite a few cases. I never recommend a handgun unless you are shooting from a treestand, a bullet can hit bone, not expand or not penetrate. This has even happened with rifles so with a handgun everything has to be going your way and with hunting anything especially bear one is in an uncontrolled environment.

I have been in a situation where a black bear dressed at 300+ pounds took numerous good hits from a 350 rem magnum and a 7mm Remington magnum and still ran over 100 yards. One of my shots was right behind the shoulder and the bear summersaulted, to my amazement it got up and kept coming! My last shot was at 50 feet with a 350 rem. mag before the bear went down. I had a fellow guide shoot a blackbear in his tent in the head with a Ruger 44 magnum, thankfully it went down. We had Ruger Blackhawks and used our own molded bullets we tested on old moose skulls, we experimented until we found a mixure that penetrated consistantly. I am fortunate that I can keep my cool when in crisis situations, maybe my military training, but I think either you are born with it or you are not. I am the type when its all over and it hits me I cant stop shaking or talk straight for an hour.