Quote:
Originally Posted by beagleye
I live in black bear country. They are thick in my neighbor hood. I have seen probably a dozen in the last month or so, mostly mothers and cubs. And thru the years, tons. And they never fail to leave me underwhelmed with their prowess. I have seen a couple of fatties that would have been 4-5oo. But really rolly polly. I know they could tear you up, but they really don't look like they want to. I have been carrying a 38 in the woods for years, really without considering bears.
A couple weeks ago a bear crossed the road in front of my car that was like a pony. Tall, sleek, muscular, fast. It made me think of my dog shaking a ground hog, except with me in the role of the ground hog. I couldn't guess how much it weighed, enough. It has made me re-evaluate my woods gun and I think the new strategy is a model 1926 loaded with some Keith loads. I know they very rarely hunt people, but 44s are probably one of the main reasons they don't and that's a trend I want to encourage.
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Back to your original post, lots of people have it right. Bear spray and noise are a great deterrent, especially if we are mainly talking black bears. Yes, overwhelming they don’t want anything to do with humans and if it’s a mom and cubs, if she knows your coming she will take them and head off. So number one, try to constantly make some noise and if you can carry it, some spray is good for an encounter. Many times of you walk up on them they will try to figure out what you are and what they are going to. That is a great time to deter them before there would be a need to shoot them. Many times shouting, making yourself known will work.
That being said, although very rare there are times that they are hungry, or will be aggressive. This is both black and brown bears. In that case, I don’t think you want to be questioning what you have decided to carry or worrying about the size of the bear.
Number one rule, bring enough gun! What many have said is very important, and correct. A 44 mag, 300gr hard-cast over a nice heavy load of 2400 is what you want to shoot or more if you can handle it. However in my experience this gun/load is about all the normal person can tolerate. It is right on the edge of uncomfortable.
What none one has said yet is out of what. This is very important. Those nice Smith and Wesson’s, a Taurus or many others won’t handel those loads. Get a Ruger Superblackhawk or Redhawk. They will work every time and built like a tank. There are others out there that will handle it but those guns are the most common. Also in my opinion I like the longer 7 1/2 in barell. You will get a significant increase in muzzle velocity, a bit less blast, and i think they point/aim better than the shorter barrel.