DOUBLE bear attack story.....

[rwsmith]

I hear tell that.......

I hear tell that a Black bear will not go for the 'play dead' routine and that the best strategy is to fight back.

I don't know about Brown or Polar bears. I think it's very likely that you'll end up dead no matter what if they aren't killed before they get ahold of you.

Panda bears are cute.....from a distance. People are finding out that they aren't as cuddly as they look. The see 'Panda' but they don't see 'Bear'

I saw a captive Sun bear once and the thing was so comical and playful I couldn't imagine getting attacked by one. I suppose if they got riled up though......

.

 

[Protected One]

I have actually not been able to find a single verifiable (emphasis on verifiable) case of someone stopping a charging grizzly with a handgun. Zip. Doesn't happen. Or at least nobody has pulled it off yet. Bear spray at least works more often than not. So while I used to carry a Marlin .45-70 in grizzly habitat, I always carried bear spray too, and if I'd been limited to a handgun, the spray would have been my first response.

When the bear spray doesn't work, it also is worth trying to find out what kind of spray they used. I'm aware of at least one case where the ineffective "bear spray" turned out to have been ordinary anti-people pepper spray; no wonder the bear wasn't impressed.

There was a story in the Detroit Free Press earlier this year about a man who went hunting in Alaska with a buddy. They rented a two story place with a metal shed for their kills. One night they heard a ghastly sound and discovered the next morning that a bear (presumably a grisly) had ripped the door of the shed and eaten their deer.

The next night the bear was back...and came onto the front porch of their cabin. One of them managed to open the second floor window (above the door) and killed the bear by shooting down on him with his 45 acp pistol.

I know that's not the same thing as a "charging bear" but I would still rather take my chances with a handgun rather than with spray. Better yet - use both!

 

[amazingflapjack]

I saw a film documentary a while back about Polar Bears. They had this huge tracked vehicle that carried them out on the ice, and it had a cage that lowered down from it that would hold a couple of "researchers." The bears didn't even look up at this vehicle-they didn't roar or make any aggressive behavior at all, they just went about in a very business manner trying to access the cage. It was just about the food. It was eerie to watch them.

 

[Watchdog]

Well, I'm dissolving into saying that I would have felt better having at least a .44 mag on my hip.

Good luck to you, then. "Feeling better" and actually being able to do something are two vastly different things. Lots of people have an unwarranted sense of confidence because they're carrying a gun. They might be good range shooters. They might be good handgun hunters when still hunting or hunting with dogs or over a bait site. But an almost instaneous surprise charge by a huge carnivore that you aren't expecting is a whole 'nother story.

Todd Orr had a gun with him, too. Don't know what kind or what caliber. Fat lot of good it did him.

"Fearing the bear would come back a third time, Orr stayed on the ground and reached for a pistol he had holstered. It was gone, ripped off with his pack."

And for some reason known only to him, Orr reached for the bear spray instead of his gun, and didn't even spray the bear until it was within twenty-five feet of him. That's about two giant steps for the average grizzly. The poor guy didn't have a chance...he was going to get mauled and possibly killed no matter what he did.

If a man lets a grizzly charging at full speed get within fifty yards of him, that man's going to have a problem, no matter what caliber handgun he's carrying.

Jerry Miculek can maybe fire off six .44 Magnum rounds in two or three seconds and keep them on target, but the average hunter/hiker with his "mountain gun" would be doing good to get off two shots at a charging grizzly that's intent on eating him. That's if he could even get his hands to stop shaking. And with something like a .500 or .560? Forget it.

A large caliber rifle might make a difference, but a man's still going to have to be quick and really calm throughout the encounter.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

Montana man documents moments after grizzly bear attack - KBZK.com | Continuous News | Bozeman, Montana

 

[Watchdog]

I saw a film documentary a while back about Polar Bears. They had this huge tracked vehicle that carried them out on the ice, and it had a cage that lowered down from it that would hold a couple of "researchers." The bears didn't even look up at this vehicle-they didn't roar or make any aggressive behavior at all, they just went about in a very business manner trying to access the cage. It was just about the food. It was eerie to watch them.

I've seen that same program and several others with similar themes. I love watching stuff like that. Polar Bears are something else.

Remember the film with Harrison Ford...The Fugitive? And the scene where Tommy Lee Jones has him cornered at the end of the water pipe under the dam? Ford says, "I didn't kill my wife!" And Jones replies, "I don't care." That's how the Polar Bears feel about humans. They don't care that we're humans and supposedly at the top of the food chain. For all we know, we look like an oversized seal to them. And frankly, next to a Polar Bear, that's about all we amount to. Without a gun, we're totally defenseless.

They aren't even "curious" about us. All they want is to kill and eat us, period.

 

[Watchdog]

Well now thar Watchdog, I've personally killed a bear that was tryin run up my britches leg, with a 348 Winchester rifle...And lived to tell the tale.

Su Amigo,
Dave

I believe you.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

Bella Twin, an Indian girl, and her friend Dave Auger were hunting grouse near Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta. The only gun they had was Bella’s single-shot bolt-action .22 Rimfire rifle. They were walking a cutline that had been made for oil exploration when they saw a large grizzly following the same survey line toward them.

If they ran, the bear would probably notice them and might chase, so they quietly sat down on a brush pile and hoped that the bear would pass by without trouble. But the bear came much too close, and when the big bear was only a few yards away, Bella Twin shot him in the side of the head with a .22 Long cartridge.

The bear dropped, kicked and then lay still. Taking no chances, Bella went up close and fired all of the cartridges she had, seven or eight .22 Longs, into the bear’s head. That bear, killed in 1953, was the world-record grizzly for several years and is still high in the records today. Which only goes to show that in an emergency, strange things are possible, but who wants that kind of emergency?

 

[woodsltc]

Good luck to you, then. "Feeling better" and actually being able to do something are two vastly different things. Lots of people have an unwarranted sense of confidence because they're carrying a gun.

Well those that feel better carrying a switch and pepper spray .... have at it. Of course its a lot safer to sit at the computer and google-up lots of statistics.

I agree that pepper spay is a smart thing to carry in Grizzly country. I also would be carrying a stout firearm. This is something our group has started doing on our annual elk hunts. Around home (east Tn.) a .38+p round is adequate IMO.

Don

 

[Warren Sear]

A man in Montana was out in the woods when he encountered a grizzly and her cubs. She charged and he hit her square in the face with the bear spray. No effect. He went to the ground and covered himself while the bear mauled him. Finally, it decided that was enough and left him lying there. He managed to get up and make his way back up the trail toward his truck, and guess who shows up again? Down to the ground, vicious mauling, the bear even STOOD on him to crush him. He said every bite felt like a sledge hammer blow. Again, the bear figured he had enough and left. So he made it to his truck and drove 17 miles with only one arm working.

He said he had a gun in a holster, but the bear tore that off in the first attack. I guess he should have gone for it first rather than the bear spray.

He posted a pic of his bloody face and head before he got any treatment. That is one lucky dude.

Lucky? No, "lucky" would have been if the bears just passed him by!

 

[joeintexas]

Don't know if it's true or not but I heard a bear won't eat a clown......seems they taste funny!! Sorry.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I have actually not been able to find a single verifiable (emphasis on verifiable) case of someone stopping a charging grizzly with a handgun. Zip. Doesn't happen. Or at least nobody has pulled it off yet. Bear spray at least works more often than not. So while I used to carry a Marlin .45-70 in grizzly habitat, I always carried bear spray too, and if I'd been limited to a handgun, the spray would have been my first response.

When the bear spray doesn't work, it also is worth trying to find out what kind of spray they used. I'm aware of at least one case where the ineffective "bear spray" turned out to have been ordinary anti-people pepper spray; no wonder the bear wasn't impressed.

Not having it at my fingertips, but having read it and it was verified, there was a guy in Alaska that did that very thing - 454 Casull + charging grizz and he killed it dead! It slid past him (he stepped out of the way) and it was a MONSTER.

Happened in the last couple years, so it's recent.

 

[jimmyj]

If I was foolish enough to hopple in "Bear County" I would carry a straight razor, hand grenade, and a bottle of bar-bq sauce. If the hand grenade didn't stop the bear, and the straight razor failed. I and would pour the bar-bq sauce over me. In this way at the gathering of the bear clan at the local watering hole, the "Jimmy Bear" could tell his Buds, " I had a really tasteful old crippled guy for lunch in spite of the winkles' and grey hair. These old guys are real easy to catch, once you get by the fresh poop".

 

[snuffy51]

Safety?

I still say a fat, slow, brother-in-law with you is the safest way to travel in bear country.

 

[keith44spl]

I have actually not been able to find a single verifiable (emphasis on verifiable) case of someone stopping a charging grizzly with a handgun. Zip. Doesn't happen. Or at least nobody has pulled it off yet. Bear spray at least works more often than not. So while I used to carry a Marlin .45-70 in grizzly habitat, I always carried bear spray too, and if I'd been limited to a handgun, the spray would have been my first response.

When the bear spray doesn't work, it also is worth trying to find out what kind of spray they used. I'm aware of at least one case where the ineffective "bear spray" turned out to have been ordinary anti-people pepper spray; no wonder the bear wasn't impressed.

You make it sound like you got a lot of experience with bears.....

Have you personally used 'Bear Spray' to repel a charging bear.....Or the 45-70?

Jest wondering.



.

 

[rwsmith]

Bigs ones......

Big ones go around 1600 LBS!!!!!! But if you punch them in the nose they will sit down and cry with their paws over their eyes.

Is this BS Looks like they go about 800 LB normally and some of the pictures on the web are probably doctored.

SIZE of the skull is probably a better measure due to the difficulty of weighing a bear deep in the north woods.

I see the official record for a skull is 27 3/8". That is very hard to imagine.

PS No, it's not BS. I see more reliable sources that say they average about 800 LBS but can reach 1500 LBS. The coastal bears are bigger than the inland variety. So I'd rather be attack in country where the bear in only four times bigger than I am.

 

[model70hunter]

Well now thar Watchdog,

I've personally killed a bear that was tryin to run up my britches leg, with a 348 Winchester rifle...And lived to tell the tale.


Su Amigo,
Dave

Dave, I know it was serious at the moment, but the line "that was tryin to run up my britches leg" made me laugh. Very descriptive.

I've kicked a snarling angry black bear out of the brush, but then he wasn't a Mother Grizzly. As tough as he wanted to sound he knew if I got close enough I would shoot and eat him. He fled out the back.

I was chased by bulls twice when young. I flat out ran a Jersey bull thru the brush bending around trees like a world champ barrel horse. Twice I felt his breath on my back and I picked up speed.

I would think a grizz and a bull with a mean streak might waller one around in the dirt a while before any pepper spray worked.

 

[Skeet 028]

I encountered bears fairly often when I was in Alaska..Interior grizzlies. As you said it is hard to judge weight on a bear..Spring up there they are much lighter in weight..fall much heavier as they pack the food away if available. The ladies would go out berry picking in a large group..many carried 30 carbines cause they were light and easy to carry and shoot. I mean 10 women with even 15 rounds each is a lotta lead. I did a little panning on my days off back in the bush and had encounters with black and grizzlies. They might look at you a bit but they always took off and disappeared. I always went the other way. Looking at the bears I figured most weighed in the 350-450 range..Big claws..big teeth. I once watched one of average size chase marmots around up on the bare slope..Marmots went under rocks to hide and the bear would move rocks that weighed several hundred or more pounds...easily.... and still catch the marmot. It was a kinda funny spectacle..but not for the marmot of course. Here in Wyoming I think the average weight may be 400 lbs...but I've never gotten that close to one and don't want to. I see one almost every time I hunt elk until the late season when they den up for the most part. They may look at you and amble off...but unlike Alaska they seem to have no fear of humans. Many are YNP problem bears moved to other places so they may have had many encounters with humans. They predate on new born elk calves pretty often. Between them and the wolves there are many places with low populations of elk..especially south of Yellowstone. With no hunting seasons on either there is no way to reduce the populations of either... also meaning there will probably be more bear/human encounters. I meant to add..when in the bush I carried a Winchester M-12 riot gun loaded with 7 slugs and carried an old Ruger flattop 44.

 

[k22fan]

The victim of the attack that is the topic of the original post wrote a detailed account on his Face Book. That has been copied and pasted to a thread in the lounge on Ruger forum dot com.

Now I suppose I am obligated to make some comment on how I go about fighting Grizzly bears. While whacking heads and arms off zombies and big foot I only use the pen blade of my Case Peanut. That saves the edge on its master blade for Grizz.

 

[ostlund]

Having spent a bit of time in the back country,
many miles a horseback from town.

I have a very serious respect for bears of all kinds.

Back before chemical sprays to detour bears were commonly
thought to be a defense against same......

I've always carried a heavy caliber sidearm & a short heavy
caliber rifle as personal defense against being chewed up in the wilds.

But, when it comes right down to the nut cuttin'.....
Sometimes ya got to go with whatcha got.

I think he (MT Game Warden Lou Kis) had a S&W model 66.

(Photo No. 14 of 22)

Grizzly Attack Caught on Camera | Field & Stream

This is the story I remembered when I read the "never zero nada" comment. The pictures are good but I also remember it being taped. The sounds with it were something else. With the bear on top of him the sixth bang dropped the bear. Memory says M29. I'm going to find the video I'm hoping.