What would be an adequate calibre for a handgun in bear country???

CAJUNLAWYER said:
That "If food was no longer available how long would you last?" thread got me to thinking about bears. What would be the minimum calibre for a bear gun that would be strong enough to stop a charging bear while at the same time fit in a gun light enough to carry all day on my hip?
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Minimum caliber sufficient to stop a "charging bear" yet light enough for belt carry. Simple. S&W M-629 w/ 4" barrel or a Ruger SA with 4 5/8 barrel. Load either with whatever is the heaviest Buffalo Bore .44 Mag. load you can handle. Then load up and head for the woods! If needed, put his pumpkin on top of your fence post and fire away. Guaranteed to give him a real Excedrin headache... as well as giving you a chance to do the flatfoot shuffle till you can get up a tree... and reload.
 
glwt06 said:
I can't believe some one hasn't said this one yet.

I asked this question to a friend who was a guild in Alaska. He told me that what ever gun I choose, make sure you file the front sight off.

This confused me. Why? For a quicker draw? To force you to point shoot?

His answer "So when the bear takes your gun away from you and sticks it in your rear end, it's much easier to pull it back out."

That's good CCW advice for folks like the Mall Ninja who made that crazy video posted a couple of days ago.
Steve W
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I think it was Peter Capstick who recommended in one of his African hunting books that the best handgun for defense against lions was a .38 Special revolver loaded with full-jacket ammo. He said you wouldn't get a chance to use it until the lion was already on top of you, and then all you had to do was reach up and make a brain shot.

I don't ever plan on going to lion country, myself.
 
Friends,

I am very worried about Caj -- I heard thru a source that he was taking a (horrors, in veritas, horrors) Kimber into bear country.

We must do an immediate intervention -- always, always remember:

"Friends don't let friends carry Kimbers into bear country".
 
Aloha,

I vote for the 22 and kneeing capping who ever is with you at the time.

Also, if the other person is carrying a gun, shoot his gun hand and hope

he can't shoot with the other hand.
 
Let the record reflect, please, that I among you, with perhaps, and probably, much more experience in dealing with bears at very close range, have refrained from comment on this pointless topic ... Thank you.
 
Cyrano said:
A 500 S&W only because I can't find anything bigger.
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SW500youneverknow.jpg
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
...fit in a gun light enough to carry all day on my hip?
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Wouldn't it depend upon how big his hips are?

jkc said:
Let the record reflect, please, that I among you, with perhaps, and probably, much more experience in dealing with bears at very close range, have refrained from comment on this pointless topic ... Thank you.
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And I suspect that anyone who faced a charging bear with a handgun (with smaller hips than Caj) won't be posting on this forum either. :eek::rolleyes:

jspick said:
The final three pics.
image007.jpg
...
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Let's all bow to the bear threads!
 
BCDWYO said:
Is it just me, or whenever you read one of Caj's posts, do you actually PICTURE that he looks like John Belushi?
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On another forum, back in the 2008 election cycle one of our members had then candidate Fred Thompson as his avatar. EVERY time I read one of his posts I read it in Fred Thompson's voice in my head.
 
While out for an evening ride last night, looking for wildlife, my oldest daughter and a pal from Missouri (both along for the ride) got to see their first wild bear up close and in the flesh. +/- 350 live weight, I'd guess, just a few yards off the roadside. It charged all right....making haste in the opposite direction. Exactly what usually happens in other words.
These "bear gun" thread make me laugh. I know Sip is kidding and having fun, but in many other cases the OPs are not.
Something like 45 people have been killed by black bears in North America since the 1890s, when they began keeping records. Less than 1 every 2 years. Lightning kills more than that.
The 'griz is far ahead in the numbers, and a whole different ballgame. The black bear is an opportunist, while the grizzly is more of a predator.

I wouldn't rely on any handgun in 'griz country. A 12 gauge pump loaded up with Breneke slugs maybe. But in this neck of the woods, a .357 is plenty of gun on the trail.
 
jkc said:
Let the record reflect, please, that I among you, with perhaps, and probably, much more experience in dealing with bears at very close range, have refrained from comment on this pointless topic ... Thank you.
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The record has been changed and now so reflects;)
Know how you can tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat???
Black bear scat has berries in it and smell, well, like scat.
Grizzly bear scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper spray. :D
 
Although I mostly agree with geoff40. "Offical records" are very lacking in telling the truth. There have been waaaaaay more than 45 people killed by black bears since the 1890's. Also the offical government records say the no one has been attacked by wolves, ever. Now with our over population of wolves, we have had several attacks in the last few years here in MT alone.

I do agree that most bear incounters are just the bear going in the opposite direction. My wife jogs several times a week and on Tuesday morning as she was leaving to go about 200 yards from our home, she came around the corner and ran right into a black bear on the road.

The bear took off into the woods, my wife, being surprised jumped a little in the opposite direction and continued on with her morning jogging. Yes, she had bear spary in hand. No she didn't have a gun.

We take a calculated risk when we go outside. She takes just bear spray when she jogs as encounters are not that common. If hiking in the woods I take bear spray and my 629. That is another calculated risk. If a bear encounter is likely, with grizzlies, I take my 870 with slugs and mag tube extension and slug barrel. And hope I do not have to use it. It is risk management.

If it were me, I would not be that concerned with black bears. Encounters are mostly like what my wife had on Tuesday morning. Grizzlies are a bear with a bad attitude. That is a whole different situation. Lewis and Clark were the first to write of an encounter with a grizzly and they lived to tell about it in thier journal.

John
 
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I don't believe it no one mentioned the S&W 500. I have a 44 for Black Bear with full Buffalo Bore or Garrett loads. And when in Grizzly country I carry the 500 with Lead Cast 440 grain bullets. I practice with both often and I feel I can get on target quickly (I hope). I fish so I have these guns just in case, but it's the practice (a lot) that keeps you accurate. I feel very comfortable carrying these two guns and so far (knock on wood) no issues.
 
everyone is talking what caliber, hit the bear between the eyes, etc. If you think you have enough time to aim between the eyes of a charging bear, then cover yourself with bbq sauce because your dead meat. If the bear is not charging, stand as still as possible ready to fire. Bears usually will walk away if they deem you as not a threat. Otherwise, good luck.
 
This thread has been a thoroughly entertaining read!

A charging bear is something to be feared...a charging grizzly would really be a problem. A griz can do the 100 yard dash in UNDER 6 seconds! I sure can't.

Years ago while on a fly-in fishing trip, I startled a good sized black bear eating blueberries in thick brush. We looked at each other eye to eye at about 25 yards for what seemed like forever....and I got the hell outta there!

My choice (limited to handgun) would be 44Mag with 300gr. and try to avoid contact.
 
The Alaskan guide referred to earlier was Phil Shoemaker & his daughter Tia, she carries a 357 maggie with Norma solids I think. Phil has changed over to a 44 maggie with hard cast.
What ever you carry it has to be on you at all times, also you have to be able to shoot it accurately, heavy recoil won't help because a bear isn't impressed with a shot in the dirt. Shoot for the head if its a charging bear because thats all you will see.
Its always a good idea to draw your gun as soon as you see a bear, they are incredibly fast, figure 40 yds in around 3 seconds. Can you draw & shoot in under 3 seconds?

Dick
 
As told to me by an Alaskan guide:
The Smith and Wesson Survival kit gun with the Orange grips, that way they can find your remains once the Grizzly poops you out.
Joking aside, when I was teaching in Artesia all the Game and Fish/BLM officers swore by a 12 gauge with slugs.
 
Years ago while camping in southern Colorado a griz stuck his head into our tent around 2am, I fired 3 shots from my .357 mag, never hitting him but scaring him back across the small stream, we both ran out of the tent into the truck, looking back on it we escaped because we were running on clean ground,......he had to be slipping and sliding a bit!!!! The next morning we got out of the truck and found our campsite totally destroyed, that dude had an attitude!
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
The record has been changed and now so reflects;)
Know how you can tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat???
Black bear scat has berries in it and smell, well, like scat.
Grizzly bear scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper spray. :D
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bearsign.jpg
 
We've had bears

East coast SC. Had about three black bear sightings in the area in the last 30 years. I think the bears were more scared than the people were. Maybe I should carry something heavy.....just in case.
 
That's the main reason I have a handgun now, is to scare or kill black bears coming in on our sheep or house. Preferred method is 12 g shooting slugs but the game warden also said a .357 or a .40 smith and wesson or a 10mm would do it. So I'm carrying a .357 or will be once I practice more. Right now I'm only using .38 special in it. There are already reports of early spring bears coming out and coming around sheep.
 
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