[Roadkill]

This isn't hypothetical, last year my wife and I were enjoying a well marked well used nature trail in N.Carolina on the Blue Ridge parkway, "Look at the flowers! Look at the deer! LOOK AT THE BEAR!" We came face to face with a full sized very healthy and very fast (thankfully he went the other way) black bear. My Walther .32 PP would have been at best inadequate. We love the place and are going back this summer. Common sense and conventionality says I can't sling my Ithaca Mod 37 with 00/slugs over my shoulder for a day time leisurely stroll through a park. I am however going to gun up a little. I have a Colt Trooper .357, a couple of 1911A1s, a Beretta 96 (.40), and a Western Marshall .44 magnum. I reload so I can put together anything within safety specifications for all of them. I am very capable with all of them. For size, power, accuracy, and penetration I'm prone to the .357 hot loaded with a 124g fmj and a speed loader for back up. The .44 magnum is not as accurate and being a single action single loader is not as handy. Eleven shots with the Beretta .40 with a back up magazine are also worth considering as would be the .45. Suggestions? Go buy a small frame .44 mag?:)

rk

[Lupinus]

I'd carry the .45 with 357 backup. Or use this as a good excuse for a new .44 mag.

[Art Eatman]

"The .44 magnum is not as accurate and being a single action single loader is not as handy."

But it's far and away the most powerful.

So: How accurate do you have to be? Your concern is about "up close and personal, and coming at me!" You don't need one-inch groups; you need to be able to always hit a paper plate within 15 yards.

Rapidity? A Weaver stance, cocking with the weak-hand thumb.

Carry? A cross-draw holster can be rather quick as well as convenient and fairly well unobtrusive under a windbreaker.

2¢ worth,

Art

[WYO]

With Remington 155 grain jacketed hollow points (the Border Patrol load, not the Golden Saber), I have chronographed 1211 fps muzzle velocity out of my Beretta 96, for ME just over 500 ft lbs. (This is 6 fps faster than the published velocity.) That is approaching .357 energy in a very controllable package. I have carried my 96 with that load a lot of times while tooling around the outdoors.

[Roadkill]

Thank you, gentlemen, very good info. I shoot the Beretta 96, the Colt Trooper and the .44 all the time, just don't shoot powerful loads in them. I like the .44 mag but that is a big gun plus this will be in the spring/summer and concealability is a factor. Same goes for the Beretta. I always have a day pack, with a little attention I could rig up a quick access side concaled holster for either.

Thanks again

tk

[silliman89]

My Walther .32 PP would have been at best inadequate.

You think you felt bad? The last time I saw a black bear I was pointing a .38 filled with nothing but snake shot at it. :eek: I remember thinking that if I waited until the last second and got him right in the mouth, I bet the pellets would really make his teeth sting. :) My bear went the other way too. :p

[WYO]

I carry my 96 in a Blade Tech belt holster. If you wear a shirt with a decent length and a dark color, like a golf shirt or an outdoor type long sleeve shirt, no one will notice. With an IWB the tail doesn't have to be as long.

[formerflyer]

I would really stay away from the .40. You can get near .357 energy, maybe, but not with the same sectional density, which means you won't get the penetration.

My recommendation based on the above would be to carry the Trooper, put 158 JSP or SWC bullets going as fast as possible (180 Federal Castcore would be much better), and hope like hell you don't have to use it. I've only shot sorta near a bear, never had to deck one, in 23 trips to S.E. Alaska and living and camping in the Northwest for 3 decades.

If you insist on the .40, then find some "Field Loads" for it, which either Cor-Bon, Buffalo Bore or Garret offer in their catalogs. I love my .40's, (all 6 of them) and carry them alot, but not when they might have to be pressed into duty as an anti-bear device.

[Deer Hunter]

If you want a .40 caliber automatic pistol to carry while in the woods, pick up a 10mm and load it with double tap ammo.

[Cosmoline]

Forget the .45 or the .40. They have no business being taken into the field against anything bigger than a hare or very small deer.

Carry the Trooper loaded with 180 or 200 grain hardcast magnums. That's my standard backup load out of the SP-101. Those rounds will penetrate a large black bear. A softer lead or lighter weight round may deform and won't have the SD needed to get through the animal. The light high-velocity HP's are even worse. The .44 is fine, but only if you're really used to using a big single action. Most people are faster with a smaller DA revolver than a big hogleg.

[HerrWolfe]

Federal property is off-limits when carrying, thus BRP is off limits, as well as national [federal] forests. Plus, if you do kill or shoot a bear in self defense, outside the hunting season, the fine will be tremendous, particularly in a national park. And those guys really love their bears!

[Dr.Rob]

.357 Colt loaded heavy... 180 gr soft point or hard cast if you can't handle the .44.

[Cosmoline]

Federal property is off-limits when carrying, thus BRP is off limits, as well as national [federal] forests. Plus, if you do kill or shoot a bear in self defense, outside the hunting season, the fine will be tremendous, particularly in a national park. And those guys really love their bears!

To my knowledge only NPS land is off limits. The FS and BLM land I've been on in here and in the NW has followed state law as far as hunting and firearms. Not sure about this parkway thing. East of the Mississippi my big concern would be two legged predators. Why I avoid anything in those parts.

[stevelyn]

Federal property is off-limits when carrying, thus BRP is off limits, as well as national [federal] forests. Plus, if you do kill or shoot a bear in self defense, outside the hunting season, the fine will be tremendous, particularly in a national park. And those guys really love their bears!

Carry is prohibited only in National Parks.
BLM, National Forests, Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments, Wild and Scenic Rivers, etc defer to state laws.

A .357 loaded up with Federal Castcores or Buffalo Bore loads in the 158 to 180 grain range should be fine for black bears as they aren't particularly heavy boned.

[vynx]

Uh, I beliwve the polictically correct answer here is to ---

Pass a law requiring bears to stay off of marked trails!:banghead:

Yes, I am sure that is what Fienstein & Kennedy would say!

Seriously, invest in an air horn and pepperspray lighter than a gun and probably will work better.

[Roadkill]

Great info! Thanks again. If I were to shoot one I would not let anyone know I did it. This would not be in a picnic area but far back in the woods on a mountainside. Self defense only. Last resort. The two legged predators are also a consideration.

Rk

[Matt G]

Another vote for heavy .357s. Speer loads their 158g Gold Dot in .357, and Hornady Custom loads their excellent XTP in 180.

Art's advice on crossdraw is good, too-- especially if you carry a pack.

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Having taken a NW Blackbear that squared out to just over 6 feet and ~300 pounds at close range, I'll have to agree with Cosmoline's post #10.

My 30-06 deer loads at 75' went in one side, through the lungs, and out the other side. My .44mag loads at even closer range to put him out of his misery, also went in/out from about 20'.

My 1911's, .38's and 9mm stay back home. When I'm in the back country I carry no less than a .357mag, (ssSP101, DW15-2H), or one of my .44mags, (ssRugerRedHawk 5", RugerSBHBisley7.5"). I don't conceal any of them in any way. -OK, the SP101 will fit under my arm pit in a horizontal Don Hume. But the other magnums are in vertical shoulder rigs or slung low on my hip. A couple years ago some of us were up looking for bear in the high country where the trail head starting out has a parking lot full of Rav4's, Subaru's and the occasional hybrid or Explorer. The trail Y's to the east about halfway in, where most of the granola's hike to the lake. Beyond that to the south there's some terrific Grouse area, but then mountain meadows where Black bear gourge on Blue berries.

So three of us.... (I don't hit the hills without a pistola, my nephew the same). Slung rifles, Shotguns in our hands, and two of us with pistols. By the end of the day, each of us brought out three Grouse each. Not a shot at the two Bear that I saw, and my buddy was quite sure he saw the hind quarters of a Cat on the move while glassing the ridge above. On the hike out, we happened upon three gals that were hiking back from the lake. Casual conversation about us carying so much fire power. We explained the uses for each because of the area. One gal, the eldest, "There's Bear in these woods?" My reply, "Yup, saw two within the last hour." Her walking pace out the trail nearly doubled!

-Steve

[mbt2001]

They make some special bear spray that is 20% Capsicum and I believe that that would work perfectly. Even regular pepper spray should work well. You can get a holster, I believe, for the 4oz cans of spray.

Honestly, the .32 auto is a good round. It is relatively quite and will dispatch most of the kinda of trouble that you run into in the wild (rabid animals, snakes, people). I would advise carrying a pistol in the woods, save for where it is illegal.

If you see a bear, hit it with the pepper spray and vacate the area.

[wdlsguy]

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park.

http://www.nps.gov/blri