bear defense question

[Sailfish 40]

for firearms training. we had an atv with a sled attached to about 300 feet of rope with a bear target that was about 3' x 3'. the driver towed the sled at full throttle to the firing line. when he passed the shooter would commence firing.
i could usually empty the shotgun or get about 3 rounds off with the 375 h&h. it was fun! saw some serious bruises on some of the girls though.

 

[Mac!Gettothechoppa'!]

this is a great point and why i preferred the 12 gauge, as long as i didnt miss. i was thinking about the 308 and wondering if the first couple of rounds would slow a charging brownie enough to dump the rest of the magazine in him.

And don't forget the possibility of a round jamming any semi-auto. Can you imagine trying to clear a jammed round while a grizz closes on you at full speed? At this point, drop the rifle and toss a can of powdered cayenne and ghost peppers in the air between the two of you. I always keep that big can of fresh mixed peppers in a flap pocket as the last resort. Finally, close your eyes and under no circumstances inhale! The bear's eyes and nose are a lot more sensitive than a human's at least giving you a running chance.

 

[therevjay]

Big bear? Big gun!

 

[mc5aw]

Here's an interesting research project for someone.
Just how many bear threads have there been here?
I'm not talking about thread drift or the occasional bear gun posting in a "It's not a 'cowboy' hat dammit" thread-no I'm a talking about an honest to goodness dedicated bear thread.

I would do it, if I could bear it.

 

[shouldazagged]

I don't recall the book's title or the author's name offhand, but the guy who held Alaska Guide License #1 wrote of guiding a brown bear hunt where one client had killed a large one. They took only the hide, and left the carcass, which the guide estimated weighed 900 pounds, lying on the mountainside as bait for another brownie. He said a huge male came upon the carcass, picked it up in his jaws, and tossed it several feet uphill. Talk about a formidable critter...

 

[Bill Bates]

I carry these

Nice older 29! Did you have the barrel trimmed or did it come that way? Gotta love a 5" .44![/QUOTE]

When I purchased the pre-29 it was wearing the 5 inch barrel. There is a 9 63 repair date stamp under the grip and a diamond stamped on the barrel by the serial number; so, I suspect that S&W replaced the or set the barrel back along with doing other updates in 1963. It is sporting a left handed threaded ejector rod.

 

[Salty RI]

Here in the Smoky Mountains, we take a more simple approach to Bears. Anytime we go into the woods we always take a real old friend or a real fat friend. That way if we come across a bear, we only have to outrun our friend.

Someone who is old and fat is even better.

 

[BigBill]

Just be sure the old/slow/fat friend doesn't have a gun or cane he can kneecap you with!

Jim in Iowa

My brother is short built like a meatball with legs. He out ran a great Dane one night. Trust me when your scared you can run as fast as you want too not as fast as you can.

 

[Capt Steve]

Bear gun 101: Dan Wesson 6" 44 mag with Buffalo Bore 305 grain slugs

I hope I never need it but since we sometimes find ourselves camped in isolated campgrounds in bear country it seemed like a prudent addition to my modest assortment of handguns. Load it up with 44 special and it is a hoot to shoot but the Buffalo Bore's are a two handed event even with the Pachmyr's (Sp?).

 

[BigBill]

We were tracking a black bear sow when I seen her cub tracks zig zagging right to left across the sows tracks in the snow. The I seen very large cat tracks following the bears tracks. It's the very first set of mountainlion tracks I ever seen. Way up in the higher elevations in the green mountains.
I put a pack of cigarettes next to the cat tracks and shot pics. I had it confirmed by a tracking school student in mass. It was a mountainlion.
But we backed out of there very quietly not get caught up in a fight if it happened plus we didn't want to kill a sow and her cub. These cat tracks were seen about 25 years ago way up in the higher elevations of the green mountains. About 12/15 years ago we started seeing mountainlions in the lower elevations near my camp. This tells me there multiplying and spreading out looking for food. There are more reports for black bears attacking than any other bear. My camp is deeper in the forest away from the other farms and houses. I'm the one who sees things first since my land borders on the national forest. I have bears come thru my camp often.

I picked up some 300gr cor-bon & Hornady 300grs for my 44mag & 45long colt. The bears I don't really worry about its that 200# mountainlion that's wants me for a play toy at first. Think of that little house 10# cat who thinks he's a tiger killing mice and birds now think of it at 200#. Now we're the little mouse.

I know your talking about a much larger bear maybe 1,000+ grizzly. But they are more aggressive and bold. We humans are not on the top of the food chain. One must be on there game.

For a mountainlion attack I figure a snubnose in 357mag, 41mag or 44mag in your pocket would be good if it's on you. Good for a gut or head shot. I think it's good to have a plan, with a back up plan?

 

[BigBill]

Saiga of Vepr Molot 12. Mag, or drum, fed semi auto 12G.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

For self protection that maybe ok but,

For bear hunting(grizzly) some states have a limititation on what caliber rifle you can use.

 

[BigBill]

I would think the .450 bushmaster loaded hot with solids in a 16" AR would work pretty well. And it's already out there.

This would be a really bad time for the AR to jam.

 

[BigBill]

I'd be inclined to shy away from a magazine fed .308 and stick with a big caliber bolt or lever gun. I've always been enamored by the .45-70 brush guns and even entertained the thought of indulging in a Wild West Guns Co-Pilot. Since the WWG TV show, prices have increased to ~ $3K for one of the take-downs, so that dream has gone up in smoke. For a fraction of that, I'd search out a vintage Marlin lever action in .45-70 or even .444 for bear, and leave the mag fed .308 for some other task.

Marlin did advertised there model 444S in 444 marlin going thru 3/8" boiler plate steel at 50'. I've seen it knotch out 15" maple trees actually cutting a "U" shaped knotch. She has 3,000 ft.lbs. @ muzzle with a 240gr bullet.

 

[Dominus_Lex]

Bill: Great shot 600mm f2.8?

 

[Bill Bates]

Bill: Great shot 600mm f2.8?

It was shot with a much smaller and lighter Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens.