Activities in grizzly country

[DR505]

And I would say it has been done, but you are correct few if any who posted has actually been threated by the brown bear, none by the black. I doubt few have even hunted either bears or as much as sought to watch them wild.

But there are a few.

Even the advise from those will be looked at with doubt, and thus the search for the magic that would save them.

The bear is not a mystical creature that requires a magic bullet to drain it's life. It is a creature who's lack of respect has turned into a animal so feared that most here believe that a simple sighting puts their life in mortal peril as if bears wake in the morning with some bloodlust to seek out men just to maul and eat them. These fantasies are what drives threads like these.

Yes, man has been mauled and killed but with a bears reason, not the sight or scent, not malice but for instinct to protect and survive.

Those that venture into the bears world should be prepared to meet the wrath of a bear when they venture in with fear and ignorance.

Yet most arm themselves with firearms they can't use with the proficiency. They will fail to really understand the speed and stealth. They will fail to recognize when they are in the wrong place.

How do I know this? Why, I read the posts- the holsters, the slings, the firearms you should have, and how much kinetic energy your ammunition has.

Some sound advice, yes, no, maybe.
No credentials for the opinions with no facts to back them up.

How long does you take to recognize you are in trouble or threat exist?

How fast does a bear with intent move?

Me personally, I am no expert, but I have spent more than my share of time studying, hunting, and watching bears.

My single bad experience with bears end well for me not because the revolver I had was big and the bullet capable, but because the condition was recognized and the gun was in hand.

be safe
Ruggy

I have had my share of bear encounters over the years. Closest one was back in 2013 a 350 pound black bear tried crawling through the kitchen window. I heard a noise (my two labs slept through this) and thought my 3 year old was walking around, so I headed for kitchen. Mr. Bear had his head and one arm through the window that he had pulled the screen off of, and was hauling his butt into my house. Since I thought I was going to investigate my 3 year old son I did not pick up a firearm. I ended up smacking the bear as hard as I could with a pan that was handy. He fell out the window and high tailed it for the woods.

How do I know what he weighed? Game and Fish brought out a trap and caught him a couple of days later.

Of course after all the excitement was over my two labs woke up and demanded attention!

 

[Imissedagain]

Forth book arrived today.
Came from someone who never read it.
One of the four was new and three were never read.
No need to speed read as bears seem to move faster than a hungry Barracuda.

Not as lucky with another 460 arriving in a timely manner, and the excuses from that out of state dealer are becoming quite creative, as they said they had many in stock.
Will give them a few more days to post it and hope it's not a floor sample if and when it arrives.
Nothing available locally or could be ordered in our time frame.

New 460 arrived today.
Was always polite and to the point and the owner got things on track.... even shipped it overnight.
Trigger is crisp.

 

[steelslaver]

When I bought my first centerfire @ age 14...that rifle made my short-list! I ended up going with a Win. Model 88 in a .308 Win., for it's fast repeat shots in the dense brush/timber of Louisiana....the .308 Win., because it was the military cartridge at the time! I loved my Winchester, but really wish I'd have bought that exact Remington! memtb

I love the Remington 600/660s. I have one of the 350 Remington Magnums. A reload deal for sure though.Just finding brass is a pain, but not that hard to make from 7mm mags. They are a bit harsh on the recoil also.

I have seen a few bears in my time and had one come into camp. No real problems though. Closest was hearing something and after going outside finding tracks where one went right though camp early in the morning. An actual attack is a bit like getting struck by lighting, Rare. But, don't stand around unter tall trees or on hill tops during storms. Certain times and places make me more nervous, wild fruit patches, gutting out a fresh kill etc.

But, here is my best bear story. Years ago one brother of mine is camping out in bear county. Back packing and decent weather so no tent. Sets sleeping bag up with his head near a big log. Ruger 44 mag. goes with him into the bag. Middle of the night he hears something and looks up to see a big round furry face and a set of eyes hissing at him from on top of the log. BEAR! Fumbles around in the bag and pops out with the Ruger in time to see the coon that had hissed on him from on top the log run off in their weird lope.

 

[DR505]

I love the Remington 600/660s. I have one of the 350 Remington Magnums. A reload deal for sure though.Just finding brass is a pain, but not that hard to make from 7mm mags. They are a bit harsh on the recoil also.

I could not find a 600/660 so I grabbed a 673 when they came out. My favorite elk cartridge is the .350 Remington Magnum. Factory ammo is impossible to find, so I bought 500 pieces of brand new brass from Brownells. Mine seems to like 250 grain Nosler Partitions chronographed at ~2460 fps. Hits elk REALLY hard. Have not tagged a bear with it yet.

 

[SuperMan]

Have spent a lot of time in black bear woods in Maine, NH, Vermont and Pennsylvania but have had no problems with them. Spent several months in Idaho where there were both blacks and grisly but never a problem there either...

But never a day went by that I didn't have a .41 Magnum 4" on me, either a 657 Mountain Gun or a 57 blue... The load was nothing special, just a 230 Keith at 1000 fps... Probably the best .41 round for bear defense would be the original Remington 210 Soft Point or one of the factory loads that use the 250 LBT from Federal or CorBon. The Federal load is very easy to manage at 1080 fps from a 4" S&W...

..and the .350 Remington Magnum...favorite all-around cartridge. Have had several but the best of the best is the Remington Custom Shop 7KS...7# even, loaded with sling and scope...foolishly I sold mine...but do still have a 600 and a custom Montana Rifle Company.

Can't find it right now but there was a study of bear shootings that had guns from 9mm up through .454...everything worked...

It's just insurance...you don't need it till you do...

Bob

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Down here if you shoot a bear you better have teeth marks on you.

 

[Kid44]

Besides bear spray, I carry a Ruger® New Model Blackhawk® 4⅝" barrel 41 Magnum in a Diamond D Guide's Choice™ chest holster loaded with these...
• 41 Remington Magnum 265 Grain Lead Wide Long Nose Gas Check – Underwood Ammo

• Guides Choice™ Leather Chest Holster, the ULTIMATE outdoor gun holster | Diamond D Custom Leather | Handmade Leather Holsters

Diamond D Chest Holsters are hard to beat, quality and gun fit is top notch, worth every penny in my opinion

 

[Kid44]

I second that! Also, I have never seen or heard of a bear of any kind in my area(north/Central Indiana), but I want to be prepared just in case. So I read these kind of threads with interest. Just now remembered a story I read years ago of a large bear coming into a cabin and the man in the cabin fired a cylinder full (A Super Blackhawk IIRC)of 44 Mag 240 gr jacked hollow points into the bear and none of them penetrated deep enough to do any real damage to the bear. I assume the lesson from this is to use heavy flat nose hard cast bullets for this kind of animal.

If bears are a concern always load up with hard cast ammo, otherwise you are wasting a good soft or hollow point bullet if you have to shoot, especially where grizzlies are involved.

 

[jimmyj]

I don't travel in "Bear Country" but in my area we have "Wild Girls" that stalk good looking sexy guys. When out and about I carry a police whistle to summon help if I am attacked. I going to need a new whistle as the one I have is rusty from unused.

 

[Imissedagain]

I don't travel in "Bear Country" but in my area we have "Wild Girls" that stalk good looking sexy guys. When out and about I carry a police whistle to summon help if I am attacked. I going to need a new whistle as the one I have is rusty from unused.

Why carry a whistle.... just grin and ........
Bear it!!!

 

[bigwheelzip]

I don't travel in "Bear Country" but in my area we have "Wild Girls" that stalk good looking sexy guys. When out and about I carry a police whistle to summon help if I am attacked. I going to need a new whistle as the one I have is rusty from unused.

Funny you mention the whistle. When hiking in grizzly bear country, I keep a whistle in my mouth and regularly use it to let the bears know I'm there. I think they avoid hikers if they know where they are.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[SuperMan]

I don't travel in "Bear Country" but in my area we have "Wild Girls" that stalk good looking sexy guys. When out and about I carry a police whistle to summon help if I am attacked. I going to need a new whistle as the one I have is rusty from unused.

..I had heard that Florida had a "cougar" problem but didn't realize it was that bad..

 

[Bumpus13]

A surplus USArmy M2 flamethrower.

Waiting 15-30seconds for a big one to bleed out while tasting your legs is too long.

We have a winner! LOL

 

[Echo40]

A surplus USArmy M2 flamethrower.

Waiting 15-30seconds for a big one to bleed out while tasting your legs is too long.

I dunno, if I had to choose, then I think I'd rather be knocked over/pinned down by a bear that isn't on fire. Which is why I decided that I'd rather carry Brenneke Slugs than Dragon's Breath.

 

[SuperMan]

In all seriousness, I wonder how a flash-bang grenade would work on a charging bear...pull pin, toss it a few feet in front of you and then curl up in the fetal position...

 

[DR505]

In all seriousness, I wonder how a flash-bang grenade would work on a charging bear...pull pin, toss it a few feet in front of you and then curl up in the fetal position...

This thread has officially gone off the rails!

 

[Imissedagain]

^^^
Just wait, things have bearly gotten started.
The comments about X frames and bears, when at the range, spawned some T shirt art.
Will send some to the shop owner that expedited the 460.
Crisp trigger and a .004" gap.
The Snub is at .0065"
We be grippin!

Thx OP.

 

[HamHands]

This is my dedicated "Mountain Home" gun in Highlands NC... We have an already relocated radio collard black bear that the department of fish and game refuse to do anything about it's aggressiveness and property damaging persona. Black Bears can get nasty too and playing dead doesn't work with Black Bears if they are pissed off and intent on seeing red.

It's 7+1 shot Ithaca Model 37 in Nickel Finish, 12Gauge. It's stoked with 2 3/4" Winchester 15 pellet 00Buck rated at 1150fps... That's a lot of lead at a solid velocity coming outta a 20" barrel. She also doesn't have a disconnect so it's the fasting firing pump shotgun I've ever used. Hold the trigger down and just work the action.

This is good for on the property use and carry it slung across my shoulder. But for going anywhere off property concealed carry of an M629 with 3" barrel is what I use. Loaded with 305grain Hard Cast .44Magnums from Underwood is a stout load I'd use in Brownie and Moose country. I use them for popping steel and they hit hard even at 100 yards. For the Black Bears and other 2 legged problems I stoke it with 255 grain Hard Cast "Keith's" in .44Special rated at 1,050 fps.

M37 Ithaca 12Gauge 7+1 Riot Shotgun.

M629 3" barreled .44Magnum.

 

[HamHands]

This is my dedicated "Mountain Home" gun in Highlands NC... We have an already relocated radio collard black bear that the department of fish and game refuse to do anything about it's aggressiveness and property damaging persona. Black Bears can get nasty too and playing dead doesn't work with Black Bears if they are pissed off and intent on seeing red.

It's 7+1 shot Ithaca Model 37 in Nickel Finish, 12Gauge. It's stoked with 2 3/4" Winchester 15 pellet 00Buck rated at 1150fps... That's a lot of lead at a solid velocity coming outta a 20" barrel. She also doesn't have a disconnect so it's the fasting firing pump shotgun I've ever used. Hold the trigger down and just work the action.

This is good for on the property use and carry it slung across my shoulder. But for going anywhere off property concealed carry of an M629 with 3" barrel is what I use. Loaded with 305grain Hard Cast .44Magnums from Underwood is a stout load I'd use in Brownie and Moose country. I use them for popping steel and they hit hard even at 100 yards. For the Black Bears and other 2 legged problems I stoke it with 255 grain Hard Cast "Keith's" in .44Special rated at 1,050 fps.

M37 Ithaca 12Gauge 7+1 Riot Shotgun.

M629 3" barreled .44Magnum "Mountain Back Packer" Bottom alongside an M29 LHS...

 

[sw282]

WOW!! 300Gr boolits are quite a handful from a dinky 3'' barrel like my dash five 629.. No wood grips or 'svelte skin gloves' to dampen the recoil.. Just a pair of Pacs' boot style