Help Me Find This Bear Attack! (Other Data Here, Too)

[Sprefix]

No offense taken......

No offense taken John. Nothing is set in stone with bears. I met a guy that took a 600 pound black bear with a bow. He stuck it at about fifteen yards and it tore off for over a hundred yards and died quietly, closer to the hunters truck. How's that for luck? I was 100 yards from a Kodiak that ran around 1150-1300 pounds. I might have been a little cocky if I had a Barrett 82. Other than that, I was a bit sheepish ...at 100 yards!! She was 5'4" at the hump standing on all fours!!! Her cubs were about two hundred-two hundred fifty pounds each. My .444 Marlin Outfitter was not making me feel very secure. My Freedom .454 was on my belt also. Until you get close to them in their house, you just can't understand it. I like my .45 Colt Mountain Gun because I can control it and hit where I need to. It is not a monster for power, but it is very important to hit them in the right place to STOP them. This is best accomplished by breaking them down. They don't die like other animals that are mortally wounded. To top that, they get a real serious attitude problem when they feel pain. Just realized this OP has been hijacked..............Sorry................................

 

[Kanewpadle]

I recall growing up in Alaska that a lady was badly bitten and mauled by a brown bear. She played dead and the bear half buried her. She waited a bit then tried to move not knowing the bear was close by. He mauled her again and threw some more dirt on her. She waited long enough and escaped to tell her story.

 

[Texas Star]

No offense taken John. Nothing is set in stone with bears. I met a guy that took a 600 pound black bear with a bow. He stuck it at about fifteen yards and it tore off for over a hundred yards and died quietly, closer to the hunters truck. How's that for luck? I was 100 yards from a Kodiak that ran around 1150-1300 pounds. I might have been a little cocky if I had a Barrett 82. Other than that, I was a bit sheepish ...at 100 yards!! She was 5'4" at the hump standing on all fours!!! Her cubs were about two hundred-two hundred fifty pounds each. My .444 Marlin Outfitter was not making me feel very secure. My Freedom .454 was on my belt also. Until you get close to them in their house, you just can't understand it. I like my .45 Colt Mountain Gun because I can control it and hit where I need to. It is not a monster for power, but it is very important to hit them in the right place to STOP them. This is best accomplished by breaking them down. They don't die like other animals that are mortally wounded. To top that, they get a real serious attitude problem when they feel pain. Just realized this OP has been hijacked..............Sorry................................[/QUOTE]

Actually, the OP is fascinated by this info. And one man posted that he recalls the story to which I referred, so I'm sort of vindicated, in case anyone thought I made up that food cache with the dead guys.

I am a little concerned about using a 340 grain bullet at 1050 FPS in a S&W chambered for .45 Colt. The chamber walls on those are pretty thin. I think I'd use a M-629 in 44 Magnum. But I presume the user knows what he's about. I have a lot of respect for the .45 Colt with even a 250 grain bullet at some 900 FPS.

The account of the 20 ga. slug on the charging bear was terrific! It also leads one to wonder why several cops in the NYC zoo incident in the NY Times archive fired off so many 12 ga. slugs. I really doubt they knew much about bear anatomy and were likely pretty excited. The account here is the first that I've read of a 20 ga. being used on bear. I'm glad it diverted its charge and attacked that tree instead of the shooter.

Can you get Brenneke slugs in 20 ga?

 

[jspick]

I don't know if Brenneke makes 20 ga. slugs.

The slugs used by my son were Rem foster type slugs. Did they work? Yes. Do I have that 20 ga. loaded with them now? NO I bought two 12 ga. 870's. loaded with good slugs. I forget the name of them now as I haven't had to use them, thankfully.

John

 

[310Pilot]

I remember reading that story of the bear attacking and being killed by a fisherman who had no weapon other than the knife, and the subsequent find of a food cache of several other men killed by the bear. I think it was published in either Outdoor Life or Field and Stream in the late 1960's, but I can't be positive.

Bears of any persuasion can be unpredictable and extremely dangerous. I posted last year of the recent experience of a good friend who was awakened one evening by his dogs barking excitedly. He strapped on a Glock in 10mm (his taste has improved since, BTW), grabbed a very powerful "tactical" flashlight, and went outside to check out what was going on (first clue - the dogs wouldn't go out, they knew better). His house is on a steep hill, and there is a tall, steep set of front stairs extending down from the front porch about 20 feet to the ground. He went down the stairs (second error) and, shortly after reaching ground level, saw a darker-than-its-surroundings shape stir about 50 feet away, then it charged him. It was, of course, a black bear, and he was about to become a midnight snack. He started to draw his gun (he is anything but slow, btw), but it wasn't even close to clearing leather before the bear was within a few feet of him. Fortunately, he caught the bear in the eye with the direct beam of that very powerful (several hundred lumens) light, and the bear turned and ran a different direction, while he beat it back up the stairs and into the house! The next day, they saw the bear again, it was a sow, leading cubs through their front yard. He checked his yard, and determined that, apparently, the cubs were beneath his (very high) front porch when he went out, and the sow attacked him. He decided that, if he ever were to go out on another midnight "noise in the yard" investigation it would be with a 12 Guage 3 1/2" magnum with a light, loaded with the heaviest slug loads he could find, and it would already be mounted on his shoulder. Just goes to show that bears, including Black Bears, are incredibly fast and dangerous when they decide to be so. Oh yes, his house is not out in the boondocks, but in a nice subdivision. Makes me remember my motto, "Don't poke the bear."

 

[Texas Star]

I remember reading that story of the bear attacking and being killed by a fisherman who had no weapon other than the knife, and the subsequent find of a food cache of several other men killed by the bear. I think it was published in either Outdoor Life or Field and Stream in the late 1960's, but I can't be positive.

Bears of any persuasion can be unpredictable and extremely dangerous. I posted last year of the recent experience of a good friend who was awakened one evening by his dogs barking excitedly. He strapped on a Glock in 10mm (his taste has improved since, BTW), grabbed a very powerful "tactical" flashlight, and went outside to check out what was going on (first clue - the dogs wouldn't go out, they knew better). His house is on a steep hill, and there is a tall, steep set of front stairs extending down from the front porch about 20 feet to the ground. He went down the stairs (second error) and, shortly after reaching ground level, saw a darker-than-its-surroundings shape stir about 50 feet away, then it charged him. It was, of course, a black bear, and he was about to become a midnight snack. He started to draw his gun (he is anything but slow, btw), but it wasn't even close to clearing leather before the bear was within a few feet of him. Fortunately, he caught the bear in the eye with the direct beam of that very powerful (several hundred lumens) light, and the bear turned and ran a different direction, while he beat it back up the stairs and into the house! The next day, they saw the bear again, it was a sow, leading cubs through their front yard. He checked his yard, and determined that, apparently, the cubs were beneath his (very high) front porch when he went out, and the sow attacked him. He decided that, if he ever were to go out on another midnight "noise in the yard" investigation it would be with a 12 Guage 3 1/2" magnum with a light, loaded with the heaviest slug loads he could find, and it would already be mounted on his shoulder. Just goes to show that bears, including Black Bears, are incredibly fast and dangerous when they decide to be so. Oh yes, his house is not out in the boondocks, but in a nice subdivision. Makes me remember my motto, "Don't poke the bear."

Thanks so much for both remembering the magazine article and the account of your friend's harrowing experience.

I really appreciate the post.

 

[BearBio]

Boy, I can't leave you guys alone for a minute! (Touche, Jim for the government employees remark!)

Been away at a Climate Change Conference for a couple of days. I refuse to take my laptop with me.

By coincidence, I'm doing a Bear and Man campfire talk tomorrow night for Wash. State Parks.


1) Wikepedia seems a little light on accounts. USGS has one but I think it's mostly Alaska-centric. NPS likely has the best database but I don't have access. I'll try a couple of connections and see if I can get anything. TS, have you tried Steve Herrero directly? Only met him once but he was real friendly.
2) Cache: I'm not aware of bears caching multiple cadavers, However, two incidents that shed some light (or confuse issues more).

When I shot my first bull elk, we had to pack it out on horseback. Even with us walking out and boning the meat, we had more than the horses could carry. So we left the spine, ribs, and hips (all one piece). My buddy went back the next day and a bear had carried it off. This was on an exposed hillside and rocky soil. The bear may have just felt too exposed and dragged it off.

While doing my study in So Cal, we tranked a bear in a residential district. Apparently, he was spending the days in a streambed that was about 5-6 feet from a horse trail in a thicket of giant cane (similar to bamboo). My RA crawled down in there and reported he had a sort of cavern down there and had dragged several trash bags down there and ripped them open.

Otherwise, I've only seen bears cover their prey up and sleep on or near it.

PS: My brother in law hunted the Nat Elk Refuge one year and had to listen to a safety talk. They told him not to walk on any mounds in the snow==it would likely be either a sleeping buffalo or a grizzly food pile. He said they did disturb a few bison over 3 days but no bears (he was later in the season).

 

[jspick]

310pilot

Thanks for the story. When I try and tell people that a bear is fast some will say that they are faster with thier SA cowboy gun and can shoot a moving bear from the hip and take him down. lol

I knew bear bio would be along!

John

 

[BearBio]

310pilot

Thanks for the story. When I try and tell people that a bear is fast some will say that they are faster with thier SA cowboy gun and can shoot a moving bear from the hip and take him down. lol

I knew bear bio would be along!

John

Been there, done that. I agree. From the one BLUFF charge I've experienced, you CANNOT draw that fast.

Nice to know I was missed

XOXOXO (lol)