44 magnum bullets 4 bear

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After it swam around in the water after he pepper sprayed it, the bear came back to his little hut/cabin on the ice, and laid down and got real still, about 7 yards from the front door of his cabin, just like they do when they're stalking air holes of seals. It was all on video; pretty scary; this bear had every intention of eating this dude.
 
"Got real still" is just what you want, if you have a large magnum rifle in your hut.

Really different from a charging bear.

It does suggest, though, that the bear was not discouraged by the pepper spray, just inconvenienced.

Interesting that the bear knows to take a bath. That's not the reaction many animals would have, and it indicates that the bears are pretty smart, I think.
 
True enough, he wasn't completely discouraged, just temporarily; smart & focused bear. The guy was an animal-loving scientist and no mention of a gun was made, so I get the idea that he would never shoot a bear, even to save his own life. The next day, he was back on the ice, photographing the wildlife, apparently armed only with a camera and possibly the OC spray (though the narrative made it sound as if the OC spray was kept in the cabin that the bear chased him into, not on his person).
 
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Keiths old load of a 250 grain hardcast at 1250+ has taken every game animal in the world

Every game animal? Come on. And consistently? I rather doubt it.


I read a number of reports about using a suppressed .44 mag Ruger Rifle to kill large game in Africa. Not sure of the bullet weight but I want to say it was 250gr. Obviously, the load was subsonic so it was basically a glorified .44 special load.
It killed everything, and in impressive fashion.
Bottom line is, there are very few things that can withstand a hardcast, big-bore load, even at subsonic velocities. It has great momentum, and makes a big hole. Basically, the slug just barrels through and through (unless it tumbles and/or yaws through and through).
Big bullets moving at 900-1000fps do very impressive things.
 
CPT. America-
For Black bear you would be fine with a .357 mag with a 4" barel.

You've obviously never killed a 325 pound Black bear at close range.

I have.

30-06 at 75 feet that was only a good lung shot. Through and through. He came straight at me like that crazed biker on meth at mach II and if it wasn't for the windfall between us I'm sure he wouldn't have turned to my left. Up the skidder road he went. I wanted to finish him because I don't like to see any animal suffer so I gave chase keeping my distance but keeping him in sight. He fell into a small ravine some 80 yards from where we first met. The 44mag in my hand with alternating 300gn Sierra SP's and 250gn Sierra FPJ's loaded quite a bit on the warm side. I put three from the 44 mag in him from 30 feet while he squandered on the ground. Rolling, moaning, thrashing. That last gasp. Last snarl and howl.

Oh, he would have died from the initial shot. Could he have been a menace if that was the only shot. You bet. If a non-lethal rifle shot only slowed him down a bit, just think what a .357mag round that wasn't properly placed would have done.

Don't get me wrong, I love a warm loaded .357mag. But unless the shot is perfect, it is not adequate for a good sized bruin.

-Steve
 
Re Pepper Spray, I hike around in a place called "windiasfuk" by the Native Americans..

He he... But seriously, you are correct. A friend kept telling me to not carry my gun and use pepper spray, so being a thorough person I investigated the effectiveness claims of the pepper spray studies. They based their "97%" or whatever claim on cases only where the spray was "properly deployed." They repeatedly used this phrase to reassure the buyer it would work, "When properly deployed." So I had to root around to find out what that meant and their definition of this was the ability and time to create a 25 to 50' radius circle of spray vapor around the defender, and then stay within that circle and deploy the spray in the path of any bear advance at 20' intervals in front of the bear.

Right. Like that's how it's going to go down each time. Using their methodology, a .22 could indeed be the deadliest round in the world, as we'd just only study cases where it successfully penetrated the skull and mushroomed in a cortex, killing the target.

When people cite spray effectiveness to you, ask them to define those studies. When you start to look at them, they start to come apart at the seams. I am confident spray CAN work. I am also certain I can deploy my gun much faster than the spray defense can be set up, so it will not be my first line of defense. I think a spray can be a great use in a campground or similar situation, where signs of a bear stalking the perimeter can be detected, then you set up a spray barrier, and reinforce it and keep the bear out. This is great, and prevents the need to use the handgun or long gun as your ONLY defense. Less violent, better outcome for everyone. But in a surprise or on-trail situation, I don't think spray can be used effectively with enough certainty to make it your ONLY defense.
 
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