Side Arm for Grizzly Country

[Betarider]

I, personally was by all accounts, "under gunned" while up in Griz country. I carried a 41 magnum in a chest holster. I reckon since I really never had to use it on a big brown that I was very lucky. I did use a 45-70 single shot a few times, a 338 win mag a few times. I have seen people using 10MM glock 20's in recent years. mostly it's been a second guy using a carbine/trapper length 45-70 lever or a 450 Marlin, or a barely legal 12 gauge pump with slugs and bird shot. I have to admit the 460 and 500 Smith and Wesson magnum X-framed revolvers are appealing to me. the one consern I have is the shot you have to take. whether it is a full frontal shot (face and head) , partial side shot (shoulder, 1/4ing to chest), or full side shot (neck preferably, shoulder/rear quarters, or chest shot) whether or not the shooter is skilled enough. I know I would take a great many hours practicing with what ever shot I would have to take. eye sockets are pretty hard to hit, shoulder shot have to be equally precise, chest shots not so much, and then neck shots; the best shot I know to stop an enraged bear. I will catch hell for my assertions but of all the shots I have seen on big angry inland brown bears or any big brown bear; the neck/spine shot has been the most effective in stoping a bear immediately. that one shot to disrupt the central nervous system has been the only shot that has reliably stopped any bear I or any of my friends have taken to put down any angry brown. no other shot I have taken has ever come close. I have even had to assist on a bear take down where he was hit 17 times before I was on scene without any loss of mobility. I waited for the neck/spine shot for a good 5 seconds (felt like hours) so I could stop him without any more problems. that was a sad day for me and my friends. I would like to forget that day but it is seared into my memory as the day nothing went right or as planned. for those pilots out there.. just think.. flight plan as filed on your worst day flying.

Hard to believe that you feel underguned with a 41 Magnum!! Mine is a beast with 22grains H110 and 210 grain hornady bullets! Shows to be faster and having greater energy than a 44 magnum! Never seen a big griz but if my 41 won't kill one I don't want to!!

 

[Betarider]

Note: I have read that a full grown Grizzly can cover 100 yards in 5 seconds.
The fastest man alive can cover 100 yards in only about 10 seconds. I am probably one of the slowest men alive.

If I'm ever hunting in bear country will you please go with me

 

[memtb]

Hard to believe that you feel underguned with a 41 Magnum!! Mine is a beast with 22grains H110 and 210 grain hornady bullets! Shows to be faster and having greater energy than a 44 magnum! Never seen a big griz but if my 41 won't kill one I don't want to!!

Betarider, if you are at "breath smelling" distance from an attacking grizzly or any other large animal bent upon your destruction.....you cannot physically carry a firearm large enough to eliminate all discomfort! memtb

 

[Mike Matteson]

How many firearms are you going to carry? A second long gun is something else to carry.

 

[Deleted member 115654]

THIRTY ONE PAGES ???? LMAO !

This thread needs to be edited down to members who have actually had to SHOOT an aggressive bear, not the armchair generals.

Bears ? Know em well but never had to shoot one.

Betting that edit would get it down to one page.

Let's start a new one: "What is the best weapon for back country hiking in Afghanistan ? "

Guessing we'd get more folk with real experience. (chuckle)

 

[memtb]

THIRTY ONE PAGES ???? LMAO !

This thread needs to be edited down to members who have actually had to SHOOT an aggressive bear, not the armchair generals.

Bears ? Know em well but never had to shoot one.

Betting that edit would get it down to one page.

Let's start a new one: "What is the best weapon for back country hiking in Afghanistan ? "

Guessing we'd get more folk with real experience. (chuckle)

I guess that this is where this thread ends.....thanks for being a "party pooper"! Maybe we could get John Kerry to tell of his exploits in Viet Nam! memtb

 

[Deleted member 115654]

You mean his hangnails that got him 4 purple hearts ?

The frightening thing is that anyone would stake their lives on internet advice from people who have no experience confronting alpha predators on their home turf.

Hence the Afghanistan thread. More advice from what George Herter called "drugstore cowboys".
He would carry a Herters' 401 Ram Magnum !

 

[dogz]

No for me on the G bears

Yes for me on black bears, used to guide for them spot and stalk here in Mt a fair bit. Had two of them get after me, both had been hit by clients, both had a serious attitude problem when I met up with them. One came at me from 9' in a dense creek bottom (the type where you crawl on your hands and knee's), Soon as our eyes made contact he came hard! I popped him under the chin with my 25/06. Game over.

The other one came at me, but not as hard and fast as the first one from 15', this one was game over when I popped him under the chin with my 22/250.

IMO, fights with bruins is a one or two affair, maybe more if it goes to a ground and pound game. And, IMO and IME it's about CNS hits to stop a fight right now! The longer the fight goes, the worst it's going to be for the person, maybe not so much the bruin..........

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

THIRTY ONE PAGES ???? LMAO !

This thread needs to be edited down to members who have actually had to SHOOT an aggressive bear, not the armchair generals.

Bears ? Know em well but never had to shoot one.

Then there would be no thread at all.

 

[Deleted member 115654]

Then there would be no thread at all.

LOL, so thread is a product of COVID boredom ?

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

LOL, so thread is a product of COVID boredom ?

Pretty much, yeah.

 

[dogz]

actually non covid related, but every time, every thread every web site where guns and bear protection comes into play it turns into a caca show.........

 

[Deleted member 115654]

I'm far more worried about protection from HOOMINS !

 

[Mike Matteson]

THIRTY ONE PAGES ???? LMAO !

This thread needs to be edited down to members who have actually had to SHOOT an aggressive bear, not the armchair generals.

Bears ? Know em well but never had to shoot one.

Betting that edit would get it down to one page.

Let's start a new one: "What is the best weapon for back country hiking in Afghanistan ? "

Guessing we'd get more folk with real experience. (chuckle)

I don't think anybody trying to be funny. What the best weapon in the fields of Vietnam? People don't move as fast, but they shot back. So what is more dangers. It's on how you are going to react in a deadly situation. Who going to keep their cool, or S**t their pants. The discission is about what firearm to carry. I have a great many firearms, from heavy to light, but I leaning towards a 10mm do to the amount of ammo in the clip. What is the recoil from the firearm with recovery time to shot again. I have and know what a 500 S.W., 45Acp, 44 mag, 40cal, 357Mag, 9mm, 22tcm, 22mag, and a few others what the recoil is from each firearm. The real question what can you handle. I kind of wonder if you have ever be in Combat. So there isn't much to chuckle about in a deadly situation.