Drilldog I had a extremely close encounter once and a false charge once and believe me when I say it's a life changing event.
Its been several years and I still have dreams about it.In some dreams I don't make it.
I carry a 44 mag with 310 gr hard cast bullets with enough W296 to shoot through a Grizz from front to back and I still feel its not enough.Just re-telling the event makes me shake and at times I can still smell his breath!
A close friend was bull rushed by a grizz and was knocked down the side of a hill into a dry creek bed.A few broken ribs and a dozen stiches later We left the hospital in Helena.
Even one close encounter is too much and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Just my 2 cents
Old Rooster
I hear ya. My encounter was in the dark. My father in law and I always started hiking before shooting light in rifle season because it takes us a few hours to get up in the mountains. Ran into the bear near the base of one of the the ridges we hike up. Had we not heard him moving around, we would have walked right into him. He went his way and we walked back to the truck until it was light out. Needless to say, we dont hike in the dark anymore. Lol.
One of my best friends was charged by a sow with 2 cubs. He had a 12ga shotgun with him and was hunting grouse while taking a break from archery hunting. Shells were 2-3/4", 7.5 bird shot. When he happened upon the bears, she came at him so fast all he had time to do was wheel around and fire from the shotgun from the hip. He got one shot off and she skidded dead on the ground 7 feet from where he was standing. Contacted FWP and multiple wardens investigated the incident with him over a 2 week period before finally deeming his case self defense. Said it was like a human homocide scene. Had the bear been a ways further when he fired, the 7.5 birdshot round may not have done much, but being she was so close when the round went off, the 7.5 shot was still in a very tight pattern and acted like a big slug. Hit here right square in the head.
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