Grizzly bear defense

[Hubby45]

I bought the Ruger Alaskan 454 shorty barreled revolver for bear defense. It can shoot the 45 Colt as well. I have practiced with it, will continue to practice with it and feel comfortable about using it. A chest rig for getting to it "right now". I hunt and live where there are no "official" grizzly, and sometimes travel and hike through areas with grizz.
We have plenty of Black Bear and Cougar.
The 360 grain .454 Buffalo Bore hard cast rounds or any of the hard cast +P 45 Colt Bear rounds are good insurance.
I carry the gun on me , readily accessible at all times. Not in a pack, not nearby but on me.
My hunting and/or hiking companions also pack.

 

[fta0303]

The key word here is coming home!

I live in Alaska and love hunting and fishing, I've had my share of close encounters, been treed even had to kill a brownie in self defense. Two of my sons have had many encounters. One is a brown bear guide on Chichagof island where there are more bears per square mile than anywhere on the planet! the other is an assistant guide on his team occasionally. Both of them have had to kill bears in self-defense. All of us carry a Smith and Wesson 500!

If things start to go bad, you may only get one crack at it and bigger is always better! For those of you who think that a lot of fast little pills are a good thing, I'd think again. I watched A friend of mine put five rounds into a bull moose's head with his 10mm glock using 220grn corbon's, the bull just looked at him. Granted, nun of the shots hit the brain but they were all strait on head shots, he finally went down after hitting him in the side of the head with the 500. Think about enraged and brown!

There's a pretty good story on this site about my grandson taking a brown bear in self-defense, can't remember where exactly, I think it's in the bear section and it talks about an 11-year-old boy saving a fishing party.

Tom

The head of a moose, like the head of a horse, is mostly bone and cavity. You can shoot a horse in the head all day long and not kill it, if you don't know where to shoot it. Likely same for moose. In most cases of gun defense against bear, the gun works, whether to drive the bear off or kill it. Few of those cases involve a S&W 500. If the bear is hunting you, good luck, because he makes his living that way. A partner or two might help.

 

[fta0303]

I just moved to Montana and am not seeing this to be a potential problem. They actually trapped one last summer near by where I just moved. After a couple days of reading I see some myths about bear spray vs gun. And I choose gun. And also I think in the event I see a bear the first thing I'll do is draw my pistol. That seems like a common mistake. People see the bear and start doing something else, maybe yelling, moving, getting bear spray, well I have made up my mind that I will go gun as I do whatever else I decided to do. A bear can cover 49 yards in 2 seconds I read. I am a former police officer and that's about the idea with a knife attack and 21 feet. So pistol first and fast.
I read a lot of old timers say a 44 mag and a lot of new timers say a Glock 10 mm.
To be honest my training will work the Glock a lot better but what is some of you old heads experience? I always like to deal in facts not what ifs.

I like your reasoning. I think the Glock 20 is good for what you're doing, I rely on BUffalo Bore hardcast. I suggest a chest holster, also a lanyard on your handgun. Bear attacks sometimes end in contact that can cause you to lose your gun. If that happens, you don't want to be searching around a 100 sq ft area for your gun. With a lanyard, you can retrieve it, maybe, depending on the bear.

 

[fta0303]

That's a good point. Is there anything a guy can do to prepare for cats? I've not heard of any cat attacks, maybe it's not something to worry about?

Mountain lion attacks are on the uptick in the western states. They can be deadly predator, attacking from the back without warning, like a tiger. If they are accurate in their first rush, they probably have you. Outside of them hunting you, I suspect they'll run from you unless they have something to defend. They are a magnificent animal. They're occasionally sighted in town parks here in South Central Wa occasionally; a few years ago, a neighbor spotted one in backyard tree.

To be cat-proof, I think you need a solid guard for the back of your head and neck. They usually attack from the rear by biting into the neck or lower skull; protecting this area may pay dividends.

My father, a construction worker with a safety bent, taught me to look around an area for dangers before you enter it. He had a plywood and steel toolbox that he used in the shipyards at Swan Island during WWII. It's top was speckled with 3/16" indentations. I asked him why. Someone a 100 ft up had dropped a belt holster full of welding rod, they came whistling down on his tool box. Hence, hard hats. So, in addition to looking around when I enter an area, I also look up. Good practice if your back yard tree includes a mountain lion. Best to have a handgun, too, even in the backyard.

I hiked the Or and Wa Cascades a lot for many years and never saw a lion. How many saw me, I don't know! I did watch one stalk a deer from the roadside once, in NE Wa. Like all of teh samller predatory species, lions prefer smaller prey, meaning watch your wife and children.

 

[fta0303]

I hunt and hike in grizzly country all the time I've carried both bear spray and my Smith scandium frame 44mag loaded with 305gr hard cast. With the wind in your face bear spray is pretty worthless unless you just want to blind yourself before the attack! Although in good conditions and very close range I've watched bear spray work and turn a bear dead in its tracks at 10feet away.

There are those bears who are charging you or set to charge you, and those that are curious. I think spray will help with the latter, but not reliably with the former. Too many cases of bruin taking a face full of spray and continuing to attack. I've read that the spray-favorable stats compiled by Herrero are badly biased by cases of curious human-accommodated bears, where spray is pretty good.

I think there's a big distinction between a curious or surprised bear and a bear triggered by instinct to attack. The first can be discouraged, the second is like a bullet already moving down the barrel.