6 Bear attacks in two weeks in Alaska

[sasu]

Which handgun calibers would be powerful enough for defense against a bear attack?

 

[oddshooter]

There is no magic bullet. Placement might stop a charge, maybe. This is not a game animal that you can afford to wait bleed out.
I've seen angry bears. I think you could take a limb off and they would still keep coming.

If you go looking for trouble, you can find a lot more than you can handle. We all get what we deserve in the end.

 

[30-30remchester]

Having spent most of my life working outdoors in many states it has been a lesson in wildlife. From bears coming into my living room while I am watching TV to porcupine trying to eat his way into our house. Bats in the bedroom to a rattlesnake in a refrigerator. Brought a Gila monster back to the motel in a cardboard box. We got a visit from the game warden on that escapade and a lesson on endangered species. I have to say the kid with the birdshot did not panic, he stood his ground and did what he needed to do. If the first shot did not deter the bruin I seriously doubt it was a bluff on the bears part. Kudo to a brave young man. I would like to buy him a cup of coffee someday, that is when he is old enough to drink coffee. After spending much time with wildlife I have developed a fair sense of danger. The bears that came into my house had no evil intension and you could see it in their eyes. I once trapped a big boar raccoon while doing beaver control for a ditch company, that was way aggressive during and after I got him free of the trap. You could just feel the tension. I talk to the animals that wander through out yard, deer, elk, antelope, moose, coyotes, bobcats, foxes and the like. This seems to calm them and somehow reassures them that all is well.

 

[BearBio]

Which handgun calibers would be powerful enough for defense against a bear attack?

Ain't no such animal. Some will work under some circumstances. Firearms as a rule work about 50-60% of the time. Statistically spray works 92-94% of the time (HERE WE GO AGAIN!). There is nothing, even a 458 Mag that is 100%

 

[BearBio]

"I have to say the kid with the birdshot did not panic, he stood his ground and did what he needed to do. If the first shot did not deter the bruin I seriously doubt it was a bluff on the bears part."

I disagree: 1. He missed hitting the bear in a significant area with a suitable charge of shot.
2. Obviously a bluff=the bear PUSHED PAST two men without any real damage until he was shot.

RE: Pigs and bears==I've been charged by both. A pig comes for you, he ain't backing off. On both, you can tell a bluff from real (based on my one bear-charge, anyway and a dozen or so hog charges while guiding).

 

[coltle6920]

Good show on TV...Alaskan State Troopers.

Troopers have problems with tourists that see bears feeding in the fields or rivers close to the roadways.The idiots get out of their vehicles to take pictures and often try to get as close as possible.

You don't mess with a mother and her cubs or any bear for that matter.People don't realize how fast a bear can close the distance between you and them.

Unlike hunters bears aren't killing you for your pelt.

 

[30-30remchester]

"I have to say the kid with the birdshot did not panic, he stood his ground and did what he needed to do. If the first shot did not deter the bruin I seriously doubt it was a bluff on the bears part."

I disagree: 1. He missed hitting the bear in a significant area with a suitable charge of shot.
2. Obviously a bluff=the bear PUSHED PAST two men without any real damage until he was shot.

RE: Pigs and bears==I've been charged by both. A pig comes for you, he ain't backing off. On both, you can tell a bluff from real (based on my one bear-charge, anyway and a dozen or so hog charges while guiding).

I have to take a back seat to you as your experience sounds to exceed mine. The only critter that gave me a charge was a wild Brahma on the Mexico border. When over the bull was only 10 yards distant and I had half the slack out of the trigger of my rifle. But the point you made about an obvious bluff because the shot was off center brought back memories of a client I had when I was an elk guide. Two years in a row I had him on bulls facing us each. He ended up shooting each one in the south end. Whether the attack was a bluff or charge has no relevance to me. That is one bear that wont do that again. The boy did good in my opinion. If you were walking down a street and instantly a giant of a man came screaming towards you with a gun, would you wait to see if the gun was loaded? If while driving down a highway at high speed and an aggressive driving approaching you violently swerved into your lane and you had but seconds to react, would you not take evasive actions? This kid had but a second or two to make a decision and I think he made the correct decision.

 

[RobertJ.]

We recently spent a week in Alaska. We got there on the 18th. We were on our way to Soldotna, but we were going to stop at Portage Glacier on the way. We had heard there are traffic jams, usually due to crashes, on the Seward Highway, so we weren't surprised to be stuck in one. We found out later that this one was because of the black bear attack on the teen boy, near Girdwood. Very sad news. His last text to his parents was that he was being chased by a bear.

 

[Steve912]

Every night my TV was full of scientists with irrefutable evidence the Earth was cooling off. The doomsday catch phrase was "we're all going to freeze to death in the dark". So I try to take global warming with a grain of salt.

That, and they can't accurately predict the weather, two days out...

 

[ColbyBruce]

This Georgia resident doesn't need to travel to Alaska to shoot bears; I can do that right here on my porch.

 

[nachogrande]

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEAR THREADS, OH MY.

I'm being stalked and NO GUN can help.

 

[jimmyj]

OK, I am skipping over all the commits to START this again !!

WHAT IS THE BEST HANDGUN AND CALIBER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST BEAR ATTACKS ??

(if this don't get me in "Time Out" nothing will)

 

[nachogrande]

TEXTING WHILE RUNNINGFROMA BEAR???

We recently spent a week in Alaska. We got there on the 18th. We were on our way to Soldotna, but we were going to stop at Portage Glacier on the way. We had heard there are traffic jams, usually due to crashes, on the Seward Highway, so we weren't surprised to be stuck in one. We found out later that this one was because of the black bear attack on the teen boy, near Girdwood. Very sad news. His last text to his parents was that he was being chased by a bear.

BON APPETITE SMOKEY. Another cell phone related death. Sympathy to the parents.

 

[Tyrod]

Good show on TV...Alaskan State Troopers.

Troopers have problems with tourists that see bears feeding in the fields or rivers close to the roadways.The idiots get out of their vehicles to take pictures and often try to get as close as possible.

You don't mess with a mother and her cubs or any bear for that matter.People don't realize how fast a bear can close the distance between you and them.

Unlike hunters bears aren't killing you for your pelt.

I once saw a movie called "FACES OF DEATH". I believe it was the original. There have been sequels. It chronicles the filmed footage of people actually dying. I know, it's gross. At any rate, there is brown bear footage. A couple with his and hers 8mm cameras are on vacation in one of our big national parks. It could have been Jellystone, I just don't remember. Apparently, this couple had been on a hike with their cameras only to return to their campsite to find a very large Grizzly rummaging through their stuff. The woman, showing a small degree of sense stays back filming her husband while the husband is creeping closer and closer filming the bear. Within a minute or two the guy is literally in the bears face. Up to this point, the Grizz showed no aggression to either of them. Upon looking up and seeing this guy in his face takes one swipe and the guy was killed instantly. At this point, the bear runs off. The woman runs up to the husband and it's apparent he's dead. Foolishness knows no bounds.

 

[rburg]

Ain't no such animal. Some will work under some circumstances. Firearms as a rule work about 50-60% of the time. Statistically spray works 92-94% of the time (HERE WE GO AGAIN!). There is nothing, even a 458 Mag that is 100%

Hold on a minute. You can reduce nearly everything tonumbers. Your stick you use as a walking staff will probably work 3% of the time. A 22 caliber handgun will maybe work 5% of the time. Even a 44 magnum might work 15% of the time. But on the other end of things, I agree the .458 will work some of the time, maybe even 80% and the other maggies like the big 300s might work nearly as much. If you elect to play the odds, don't depend on your 22 revolver or buy lottery tickets. If you buy. 2 tickets, you double your chances of winning. If you've got 4 in your party, and some carry their guns in their hands, your chances are a bunch better. If they all carry sticks, they run a good chance of becoming bear food. If they all carry 458s, chances are good you won't even see a bear.

 

[Absalom]

Hold on a minute. You can reduce nearly everything to numbers.....

.....If you've got 4 in your party, and some carry their guns in their hands, your chances are a bunch better. If they all carry sticks, they run a good chance of becoming bear food. If they all carry 458s, chances are good you won't even see a bear.

Bears are smart, but I doubt they are smart enough to recognize the caliber of a gun.

Reducing everything to numbers is the only rational thing to do; life and risk are governed by probabilities; everything else is superstition. For example, there seem to be still quite a few people out there who disparage bear spray mostly because they can't wrap their brain around the idea that in some situations there might be something that is more effective than a gun, and if you do, they suspect you of being against the 2nd Amendment, since the Founding Fathers didn't talk about the right to keep and spray bears..., I mean, keep and arm spray cans, no, umm, keep and bear bear spray... against bears ... whatever ...

Your four people are safer because they are four people; they could each be holding a roll of toilet paper, and their chances of being attacked by a bear would be considerably lower than those of one guy with a .458, because statistics tell us that there is safety in numbers, guns or not, and they're much less likely to ever see the bear. If they're attacked anyways, having a rifle would obviously be helpful. But it's all about relative risk.

 

[Texas Star]

Our man in Finland wants to know the best handgun for bear.

I'd vote for a Star Trek phaser, and not set on "stun."

Seriously, a Norwegian scientist killed a polar bear with his S&W .44 Magnum. Had to: it was stalking him.

But bear huggers wrote some nasty letters to, National Geographic, protesting that he killed the bear!

Danish Arctic researchers are said to be issued Glock 10 mm's.

I hope that helps.

Personally, I think the 11 year old boy with the shotgun was a hero. He did stop the bear and gave his uncle time to unsling his rifle and help kill the bear. His second and third shots were so close that the shot charges may not have separated, acting as a near solid mass of shot.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In October 2010, a released zoo grizzly bear was wandering around the grounds in Muskingum County, Ohio. The first on scene deputy used his issue Glock in 40 S&W to drop the bear. The bear was used to being fed at that time of day, the bear was used to strange people walking by the cage. The bear was not aggressive in any way, it got shot, it just died. The story could have been much dinner, I mean worse!

Ivan

 

[Tom_R]

Here in Connecticut we never used to have bears here ever. Now, they are spotted frequently.

In Kent Connecticut last month they shut and killed a 547lb Black Bear that had killed livestock.

547 lbs! That is huge for a Black Bear.

It's only a matter of time until there is a fatal encounter with one here.

If I go for a hike in the woods, I have a 357 Magnum and 200grain Buffalo Bore hard cast Ammunition. That will get the job done vs a Black Bear.

Hopefully I will never ever have to use it.

 

[jsfricks]

I do know that the LAST thing we need is a bunch of Georgia hunters running around the Arctic shooting each other!

You must not think much of us Georgia boys, huh. We uns a bunch o them thar rednecks!