But the main question…what caliber of epi-pen is best?
Bear Stories
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But the main question…what caliber of epi-pen is best?
aaaaa
Member
Must have been a rough ride home for those bikers.
JR24
Member
Good point, guess we need a new thread.
I’d imagine so, not sure what they did afterwards.
Thunderchicken
Member
So now I want to know what kind of handgun gives the best protection from lightning? I assume you need something with high velocity but capacity is irrelevant—you will not get more than one shot.
JR24
Member
My draw time is simply not fast enough to worry about it. It lightning wants me, it’s gonna get me
.308 Norma
Member
Or if you have asthma. My wife does, and sagebrush pollen can trigger an attach. That doesn't stop her from getting out in the hills though - she just carries an inhaler and a EpiPen, and she was wearing a dust mask while hiking and hunting for years before covid made face masks "fashionable."
.308 Norma
Member
Especially from horses named "Lightening" or "Hornet."
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doubleh
Member
I have had asthma for as long as I can remember. My dad said it started when I was two years old. No masks back then and I used one of my mother's dish towels worn like I was a stage coach robber in the old west for years. It wasn't perfect but better than nothing. When inhalers showed up I thought they were magic. Just take deep puff, hold it as long as possible, and I could breath again but in just six weeks I discovered the magic had worn off. It took about six more weeks for the magic to return. The new ones are better and as I have aged I have less need of one. I still keep one in my Jeep for when I am out in the boonies though.
I know basically nothing about bears as I have spent all my life on the southern plains. The largest wild meat eater you are going to find is a coyote and all of them seem to be in a big hurry to get where you aren't.
I know basically nothing about bears as I have spent all my life on the southern plains. The largest wild meat eater you are going to find is a coyote and all of them seem to be in a big hurry to get where you aren't.
I live in N GA and there are probably more black bear than deer in many of the places I hunt/camp/hike. I also spend quite a bit of time hiking and camping in or near Smoky Mt. National Park which is running over with bear
. Being near (within 40-50 yards) bear is common. And that is just the ones I see. There are probably 2-3 that I never knew were there for every one I've seen. I've never felt threatened in the least. Including when we spotted a mom and 3 cubs while hiking in SMNP a few years ago.
But I think carrying a handgun in those areas is prudent. If left alone bear don't pose much of a threat, but I cannot control what the hikers or campers who came before me did. Virtually all human/black bear encounters are caused because someone fed a wild bear. Either deliberately, or inadvertently.
If someone the previous day saw a bear, placed food on a rock to attract the bear to get a better look or photo then that bear will associate humans with easy food. And may try to get food from the next guy to come along. Which might be me. That stuff happens more often than you'd think.
The bear aren't usually aggressively attacking the person, just trying to steal food. We had a bear here in GA a few years ago that learned how to sneak up on hikers and steal their packs off their backs and run off into the woods with it to get food. No hikers were hurt, but that trail had to be closed. DNR tagged the bear which was killed a month or 2 later by hunters. Had it not been killed by hunters DNR planned to kill it after hunting season ended so that trail could be opened the next spring.
. Being near (within 40-50 yards) bear is common. And that is just the ones I see. There are probably 2-3 that I never knew were there for every one I've seen. I've never felt threatened in the least. Including when we spotted a mom and 3 cubs while hiking in SMNP a few years ago.
But I think carrying a handgun in those areas is prudent. If left alone bear don't pose much of a threat, but I cannot control what the hikers or campers who came before me did. Virtually all human/black bear encounters are caused because someone fed a wild bear. Either deliberately, or inadvertently.
If someone the previous day saw a bear, placed food on a rock to attract the bear to get a better look or photo then that bear will associate humans with easy food. And may try to get food from the next guy to come along. Which might be me. That stuff happens more often than you'd think.
The bear aren't usually aggressively attacking the person, just trying to steal food. We had a bear here in GA a few years ago that learned how to sneak up on hikers and steal their packs off their backs and run off into the woods with it to get food. No hikers were hurt, but that trail had to be closed. DNR tagged the bear which was killed a month or 2 later by hunters. Had it not been killed by hunters DNR planned to kill it after hunting season ended so that trail could be opened the next spring.
Riomouse911
Member
Ive seen a grand total of two.
One was nothing more than a fuzzy rump as it ran away from my Rzr as I drove up a trail above Rock Creek in the Eastern Sierra.
The second one was a yellowy-phase bear. As it ran across the highway in Vermont it was so quick I first thought it was a golden retriever.
Other than that, the only bears Ive been around play Pac-12 football in Berkeley.
Stay safe.
One was nothing more than a fuzzy rump as it ran away from my Rzr as I drove up a trail above Rock Creek in the Eastern Sierra.
The second one was a yellowy-phase bear. As it ran across the highway in Vermont it was so quick I first thought it was a golden retriever.
Other than that, the only bears Ive been around play Pac-12 football in Berkeley.
Stay safe.
JR24
Member
Most amusing one here in north central WI was one that had a 2 lane highway backed up for a good many car lengths as he just slowly moseyed his way across the road. My box truck 10 feet away was absolutely no rush to him (or her I guess) at all.
aaaaa
Member
Was the bear's name Yogi?
Jeff62
Member
I hunt and fish Cleveland and Bradley Counties (Arkansas) concerns are wild sows with piglets, copperheads/timber rattlers and bears. Wild dogs and meth heads figure in as well.
Two years ago I shot a doe with my compound bow. When I walked up to her a black bear was bouncing on his/her front feet and woofing at me, about 30 yards. I pulled my 1911 and yelled. I was already planning a backstrap vindaloo and basmati rice and was not planning to share.
In my experience, bears are afraid of series 70 Colt 1911’s.
Two years ago I shot a doe with my compound bow. When I walked up to her a black bear was bouncing on his/her front feet and woofing at me, about 30 yards. I pulled my 1911 and yelled. I was already planning a backstrap vindaloo and basmati rice and was not planning to share.
In my experience, bears are afraid of series 70 Colt 1911’s.
Random 8
Member
Spring is almost here in the North Woods, so I'll add a couple more bear stories that come to mind.
2 years ago at my hunting cabin we had a nuisance black bear. I had the first encounter. Bear hung out at the edge of the fire light for some time. Throwing a stick and yelling would temporarily chase him off, then within a half hour he'd be back. Pretty sure someone had been feeding him. Eventually I got annoyed by his persistent attention and blasted the bark off a jack pine a couple feet away from him with 12Ga birdshot. This was effective in keeping him out of my camp. No tracks or camera hits on my property after this. He did raid a few neighboring houses in the next month until a neighbor shot him going after his hogs.
Another was back in my guiding days in the BWCA and Quetico. Bear came in sometime around midnight and wouldn't leave despite yelling and throwing things. An iron skillet between the ears finally chased him off. Would have liked a handgun just in case, but Canada doesn't like those.
2 years ago at my hunting cabin we had a nuisance black bear. I had the first encounter. Bear hung out at the edge of the fire light for some time. Throwing a stick and yelling would temporarily chase him off, then within a half hour he'd be back. Pretty sure someone had been feeding him. Eventually I got annoyed by his persistent attention and blasted the bark off a jack pine a couple feet away from him with 12Ga birdshot. This was effective in keeping him out of my camp. No tracks or camera hits on my property after this. He did raid a few neighboring houses in the next month until a neighbor shot him going after his hogs.
Another was back in my guiding days in the BWCA and Quetico. Bear came in sometime around midnight and wouldn't leave despite yelling and throwing things. An iron skillet between the ears finally chased him off. Would have liked a handgun just in case, but Canada doesn't like those.
Tinman357
Member
An iron skillet between the ears? How Sir, do you pull your pants up over all that brass? 
Random 8
Member
I had a good arm and aim. It was 10 to 15 yards awayAn iron skillet between the ears? How Sir, do you pull your pants up over all that brass?
Tinman357
Member
So ya hucked it. Good aim, good arm. But ya just might wanna consider that a single shot arm with a slow reload. The brass comment stands. Lotta brass.
Random 8
Member
I actually hit him pretty good. Stunned him long enough that I considered finishing the job with the axe I was holding in my left hand and eating well. He made quite an ungraceful retreat when he came to his senses, reminded me of when Grandpa Heinrich Willhelm pole axed a breeder boar that broke into the sow pen when I was young.
Now you know why some of those biker broads look like they do!!
buck460XVR
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BTDT. Why we always cleaned our fish 100 yards from our cabins and took all cooking residue to the same spot. Even so, one always talked very loud to themselves on the way to the outhouse, especially if you were the first one there in the morning. Had them chew thru metal gas cans to get to the gas. Never understood that.
Stevie-Ray
Member
Yup, lends new meaning to the term hardtail.
I live in the Huron National Forest. Naturally, we have black bears, among other predators. I've taken my daily walks, completely forgetting my sidearm, as I've lived here for nearly a decade now. Usually I figure it out half-way through the walk and then my heads on a swivel all the way home. Simple complacency. Though I've not seen a bear in my backyard, a buddy of mine, just 5 miles or so from me ATCF, had one on his deck as his wife opened the doorwall curtains one morning.
fjblair
Member
Spot on, but the 41 million internet threads and heated arguments about bear defense guns and loads would have you believe it's an existential threat.
Let's be honest, these threads are an excuse to buy another gun.
Look at how crime has gone up in the US, we're in much more danger from two legged predators.
.308 Norma
Member
Oh, I already have plenty of them. Excuses I mean - not guns.Let's be honest, these threads are an excuse to buy another gun.
aaaaa
Member
But how many of the 350 million Americans actually venture into the woodlands in bear country. Many of them are in the city and never get to bear country, like me. Nonetheless, I should get a .44 Magnum revolver, just in case! I don't need an excuse but that is one of a number of excuses for me to get that 44 Magnum. I may even get the ammo next time I place an ammo order, just to have more excuses. I tell ya, if I see a 44 mag revolver and it is not a S&W with the lock, I probably am buying it on the spot. Might even consider a single action, if the price is right, as it is going to be more a hobby gun for me and I still have my .357 Magnum 7-holer for defense.
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