A different kind of Bear Thread.

[Echo40]

Are there any cartridges which have factually consistently failed to drop a bear? I mean, I imagine that with all the stories out there about bear attacks, there have to be a fair amount in which the survivor attests to having shot the bear or otherwise witnessed someone else shoot the bear with no affect whatsoever, and therefore it ought to be easy to determine which cartridges are factually ineffective.

We all know the stories of the Eskimos who dropped a bear with a .22 Rifle and most of you have probably seen that old add for a Colt 1908 Vest Pocket Pistol which claims that a bear (pictured) was dropped by one, but in case you haven't, I'll post it below...



I wish I had thought of this thread awhile ago, that way I could have posted it on April Fool's Day so that folks might take this thread less seriously and be less standoffish on the subject, but I figure Easter is the next best thing.

I'm just curious if there's any consensus on which cartridges are factually ineffective against bears.

[K Frame Keith]

I figure if you have a caged bear, asleep, and you jam a .25 in its ear, you have a 50/50 chance of taking a picture of its dead body.

[K Frame Keith]

P.S. Cool historical picture..

[Nemo288]

All I know is that I will not consistently rely on the .22LR while in bear country.
Maybe this version?

[Jack Flash]

The picture looks like a clumsy fake to me.

[hardluk1]

Might be more important how the shooter handle the stress of a bear attack even when there holding a 460 Winchester or 12ga slug gun at the ready than the cartridge .

Inuit used everything from 22wrf and 303 or 7.62x54r so it might depend on your skill and what you started out hunting not what you ended up killing .

[Mike, SC Hunter]

ANY of the one's you miss with.

[gwpercle]

At some point in time ...every cartridge can be counted on to not drop a bear .
The reason ? Something my Grandfather told me ,
" I'm going to tell you a secrete boy ... It ain't what you shoot them with... It's where you shoot them that makes the killing shot . "
That old man killed wild hogs every year with a single shot 22 LR ...He knew the secrete !
Gary

[Kanewpadle]

Deceptive marketing at best. Lots of luck. Nothing more.

I hunted with an old timer that used a 416 Rigby for bear. He used to say “the more lead, the more dead. But ya still gotta hit em good”.

[mikerjf]

Somewhere on the net is a post by a guy who set out to do just what you suggest... he went looking for every published/documented bear attack where a handgun was involved and tabulated the results. He was questioning the idea that you shouldn’t even bother with a gun, just carry spray.

IIRC the results were that overwhelmingly the (fired) gun deterred the bear. Many of the bears died, but almost all of them were deterred, across the whole range of cartridges.

Sometimes spray didn’t work.

Found it: Pistols or Handguns 95% Effective When Used to Defend Against Bear Attacks, 63 Cases

[THE PILGRIM]

I reported the rampaging Bull Buffalo that got loose down in S Miss.
The owner called everybody he could and said, if you see it, drop it.
My Buddy Eddie got his Deer Rifle and looked. No success.
The Dude who spotted the Buf and dropped it used what he had.
22 Hornet.
As luck would have it, he was a wrecker driver.
He winched it up and took the Buf for a last ride back home.
Where it was butchered.
Eddie got a Roast, says it was delicious!

[geoff40]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry Callahan

Are there any cartridges which have factually consistently failed to drop a bear? I mean, I imagine that with all the stories out there about bear attacks, there have to be a fair amount in which the survivor attests to having shot the bear or otherwise witnessed someone else shoot the bear with no affect whatsoever, and therefore it ought to be easy to determine which cartridges are factually ineffective.

We all know the stories of the Eskimos who dropped a bear with a .22 Rifle and most of you have probably seen that old add for a Colt 1908 Vest Pocket Pistol which claims that a bear (pictured) was dropped by one, but in case you haven't, I'll post it below...



I wish I had thought of this thread awhile ago, that way I could have posted it on April Fool's Day so that folks might take this thread less seriously and be less standoffish on the subject, but I figure Easter is the next best thing.

I'm just curious if there's any consensus on which cartridges are factually ineffective against bears.

That bear had emphysema and stage 5 liver cancer, last I heard.

[murphydog]

The OP is asking if a specific round consistently “doesn’t” work on large dangerous animals. It’s a strange way of asking if something does work consistently.

I think a more pertinent question would be - among professional guides and frequent hunters in bear country, what do they use successfully or recommend for their clients? One suspects the .25 Auto is low on that list.

[fredj338]

If you are ambushing a bear, like eskimos do, then sure, even a 22lr to the head will probably work. IF you want to rely on small bore handguns as a defense against an attacking bear, more power to you. Darwin is always looking for new candidates.

[mikerjf]

<<That bear had emphysema and stage 5 liver cancer, last I heard.>>

So yer sayin, he died of Covid-19?

[jchodur]

Maybe it is just me but comparing the size of the Colt 25 I would have guessed the bear is well short of 300#.

[ContinentalOp]

Man, I thought this was a beer thread...

[Nemo288]

Originally Posted by jchodur

Maybe it is just me but comparing the size of the Colt 25 I would have guessed the bear is well short of 300#.

The Colt .25 is about 4.5" long.
That means the bear is roughly 3 feet long.
Pretty small bear.
That period, as all, was certainly not exempt from misleading or false advertising.

[ParadiseRoad]

...instant stop requires a Central Nervous System disruption...

...the higher up the better...

...brain stem is ideal...

[pantannojack]

Ya'll need to see Richard Harris in " Man in the Wilderness" and that other guy in "The Edge"

[Ivan the Butcher]

My best friend told me a 22 revolver is all you need when a big bear is charging, just put it in your ear and pull the trigger!

Ivan

[6GUNSONLY]

Always go with a buddy in bear country, and carry the .25. If you encounter a bear, use the .25 to shoot your buddy in the kneecap, then run.

[ContinentalOp]

Originally Posted by 6GUNSONLY

Always go with a buddy in bear country, and carry the .25. If you encounter a bear, use the .25 to shoot your buddy in the kneecap, then run.

A friend in knee'd...

[steelslaver]

Grizzly bears are very easy to kill with small bore guns. Just wait till they are really close and when they stand up on their back legs you will see a small bald spot on their throat. Just shoot them right in that bald spot and down they go. I read all about it on the internet.

[stansdds]

A lucky hit with a 22LR will stop a bear, but what if your luck isn't all that good?

[Mule Packer]

Oh, I'm sure there are cartridges out there that have consistently failed to drop a bear. The fact is, however, that we never hear about them because the shooters wind up inside the bear and all that remains are their belt buckles and maybe a boot or two...thus the stories never get told.



Seriously, though, having lived in heavily populated bear country for over thirty years, the question shouldn't be, "Which cartridges have consistently failed in dropping a bear?". Instead it should be, "Which cartridges can I accurately shoot that have consistently succeeded in dropping a bear?". Just my two cents worth.

[TheHobbyist]

I took a whizz outside my uncle's cabin in the middle of nowhere, it was heavy and dense brush. I am a hunter and not an amateur, yet, I never heard a bear. Perhaps it was sleeping off the trail and my peeing just woke it up. It was a black bear, but the biggest I ever saw...obviously a bull in its' prime. I only noticed it as I walked backed to the truck and saw it in the rear view mirror on the trail when I just closed the door. I only had a S&W 642 on me in my pocket loaded with sub-357 rounds that were hot and I also carry a long knife when in that dense woods for camping. Id love to tell you I was superman, but it gave me pause...

[TheHobbyist]

Please carry on with the arm chair commando stories and glories on what we would all do...real life is what it is and doesn't give a hoot if you are an expert at anything.

Just saying...

[joe44va]

Does that bear have a lot of grey hair? Maybe it had a heart attack.