Bear Stories

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A very interesting article; even more so in that the only 1 shot stop or kill was from a cross bow. I read an article about (or possibly written by) a bear biologist in Alaska who had shot or dispatched a hundred or more bears in his career. He mentioned that, while a slug like a hard cast bullet may not slow the bear's charge, a JHP bullet like and XTP hits a bear like a thousand angry bees and the bear would stop his charge and start snapping and tearing at the wound. It has been a few years since I read this article so I am paraphrasing pretty liberally.
 
Fortunately, bears are unlikely* where I live near the ocean, going to Publix, Wal-Mart. (*Lets not completely dismiss the remote possibility;))
I carry a Glock 17 so if a bear shows up and tries to eat me in the Publix parking lot, good thing I've got that "modern" 9mm HP. :neener:
Rogue Bears at Publix or Wal-Mart, gives merit to a Glock 20SF - well, assuming modern 10mm HP is better than modern 9mm HP. :evil:
Oh wait, bears would be better addressed with 10mm FMJ - But no can do in urban setting like parking lot.
 
Between March and October, we get black bears in our yard weekly. Several times we have missed encounters within seconds when taking our dogs out at night to do their thing. I carry bear spray as Plan A, and an Alaskan .44 Mag with Buffalo Bore 305 gr JFN as Plan B.

Here are some videos showing how close they get.....https://ring.com/share/e64d10ee-75e9-4579-afa3-d2bc91b34e7c , https://ring.com/share/b810c761-e309-4786-8fd5-b7901b04729f ,https://ring.com/share/8d83cbf2-3866-497d-9866-b04ddd14235c , https://ring.com/share/9a0998b8-4d32-4b90-9119-f017dd7c3abf
 
CDW4ME said:
Fortunately, bears are unlikely* where I live near the ocean, going to Publix, Wal-Mart. (*Lets not completely dismiss the remote possibility;))
I carry a Glock 17 so if a bear shows up and tries to eat me in the Publix parking lot, good thing I've got that "modern" 9mm HP. :neener:
Rogue Bears at Publix or Wal-Mart, gives merit to a Glock 20SF - well, assuming modern 10mm HP is better than modern 9mm HP. :evil:
Oh wait, bears would be better addressed with 10mm FMJ - But no can do in urban setting like parking lot.
Click to expand...

About 15-20 years ago, there was a news story on the TV about a black bear walking INTO the Wal-Mart in Spotsylvania County, Virginia at the Massaponax Exit (Exit 126). That's about 200 yards or so from Interstate 95 as it cuts through Central Virginia. The bear entered the store through the automatic doors in the automotive section, wandered around the store for a while, before finding it's way back out of the same door it had come in (I guess he didn't find what he was looking for) and moseying on back into the woods. The store security cameras recorded a lot of the bears wanderings. The area is a lot more built up now.

So don't rule it out.
 
The only bears I have ever encountered in the wild when hunting were black bears that all I saw or heard of them were their butts as they ran away crashing through the under brush.

Edit: I have hunted in Brown bear areas out here in the west. I have seen huge tracks and claw marks on pine trees but only saw brown bears from a great distance. Never close enough to be a danger.

I have seen black bears in Pennsylvania when I was a kid and out in the woods. Once when fishing I saw a mama bear and her cubs. Mama let me know she was there and I heeded her bellows by leaving the area. She was across a creek from me.
 
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CDW4ME said:
Fortunately, bears are unlikely* where I live near the ocean, going to Publix, Wal-Mart. (*Lets not completely dismiss the remote possibility;))
I carry a Glock 17 so if a bear shows up and tries to eat me in the Publix parking lot, good thing I've got that "modern" 9mm HP. :neener:
Rogue Bears at Publix or Wal-Mart, gives merit to a Glock 20SF - well, assuming modern 10mm HP is better than modern 9mm HP. :evil:
Oh wait, bears would be better addressed with 10mm FMJ - But no can do in urban setting like parking lot.
Click to expand...
The last decade or so, black bears have become more and more of a problem in the suburban and city areas of the east coast.

We I've in a very rural area and see them in the yard on a pretty regular basis. Truth is, you just never really know where you're likely to run into one anymore.

Pat Riot said:
The only bears I have ever encountered in the wild were black bears that all I saw or heard of them were their butts as they ran away crashing through the under brush.
Click to expand...
Thats always been my experience as well. We used to run into them in the woods at work a couple of times a year or so, and if you saw them at all, they were doing just what you described. Most want nothing to do with you unless you do something that doesn't give them a choice.
 
CDW4ME said:
Fortunately, bears are unlikely* where I live near the ocean, going to Publix, Wal-Mart. (*Lets not completely dismiss the remote possibility;))
I carry a Glock 17 so if a bear shows up and tries to eat me in the Publix parking lot, good thing I've got that "modern" 9mm HP. :neener:
Rogue Bears at Publix or Wal-Mart, gives merit to a Glock 20SF - well, assuming modern 10mm HP is better than modern 9mm HP. :evil:
Oh wait, bears would be better addressed with 10mm FMJ - But no can do in urban setting like parking lot.
Click to expand...

So, just because you're in a "nice" area as bears are concerned, you focus on more likely threats (different assailants and overpenetration). That's a philosophy I can adopt.
 
My experience with black bears is that usually noise, including sometimes warning shots, will chase them away. Failing that, thrown objects are usually quite effective. Camp chairs, fry pans, rocks, sticks. Seems to trigger an instinctual flight response. There absolutely are instances where nothing short of a pain response or death will stop a black bears attention. Extreme food motivation coupled with human conditioning and defense of cubs come to mind. I had such an encounter that was ended with a single well aimed 124 XTP from a 9mm when an emaciated bear likely conditioned to scavenging/stealing human food made a predatory attack on a family dog after the aforementioned avoidance techniques failed to drive it off. I have also put down 2 with a rifle from a safe distance that were far to habitualized to human interaction and had become serious nuisance and hazard animals showing no fear. One of those even took a full can of bear spray and 2 charges of rubber buckshot before leaving a cabin porch at the resort I worked at. After receiving a description of the incident, wildlife officials issued the shoot on sight permit, as they reasoned this bear was likely to injure somebody and unlikely to cease the behavior.
 
I had an up-close black bear encounter back in 2013. It was about 3 am and I heard what I thought was my 3 yr old son walking through the house...he would come to our bedroom if he had a nightmare. My two labs stayed sound asleep, so I was reassured. As I was walking through the darkened kitchen, some movement over the sink caught my eye. A 350 lb. black bear was pulling itself through an open window! :eek: I yelled really loud, rushed over to the window, and grabbed the first thing that was at hand...a sauce pan sitting in the sink. I whacked old Yogi square on the top of the head and he lit out for the trees.

The next day I called a friend who was the chief biologist for NM Game and Fish and he sent over a trap. They caught the bear, shot him, and weighed him (hence the 350 lb. weight).

Since I thought the noise had been made by my son (he slept through the episode o_O) I did not grab the .41 magnum I had next to the bed. On my way back to bed my wife sleepily asked why I was making so much noise in the middle of the night. The dogs just looked up at me with a confused look. Sometimes you just can't win. :(

BTW - That same bear had broken into a neighbor's house and raided their pantry the week before...they chased him 3 times around the dining room table before he ran out through the patio door (they had left just the screen door closed so they could get fresh air - the bear pulled the screen door out and waltzed in).
 
CDW4ME said:
Fortunately, bears are unlikely* where I live near the ocean, going to Publix, Wal-Mart. (*Lets not completely dismiss the remote possibility;))
I carry a Glock 17 so if a bear shows up and tries to eat me in the Publix parking lot, good thing I've got that "modern" 9mm HP. :neener:
Rogue Bears at Publix or Wal-Mart, gives merit to a Glock 20SF - well, assuming modern 10mm HP is better than modern 9mm HP. :evil:
Oh wait, bears would be better addressed with 10mm FMJ - But no can do in urban setting like parking lot.
Click to expand...

CajunBass said:
About 15-20 years ago, there was a news story on the TV about a black bear walking INTO the Wal-Mart in Spotsylvania County, Virginia at the Massaponax Exit (Exit 126). That's about 200 yards or so from Interstate 95 as it cuts through Central Virginia. The bear entered the store through the automatic doors in the automotive section, wandered around the store for a while, before finding it's way back out of the same door it had come in (I guess he didn't find what he was looking for) and moseying on back into the woods. The store security cameras recorded a lot of the bears wanderings. The area is a lot more built up now.

So don't rule it out.
Click to expand...

trackskippy said:
The last decade or so, black bears have become more and more of a problem in the suburban and city areas of the east coast.

We I've in a very rural area and see them in the yard on a pretty regular basis. Truth is, you just never really know where you're likely to run into one anymore.
.
Click to expand...

Pudge said:
So, just because you're in a "nice" area as bears are concerned, you focus on more likely threats (different assailants and overpenetration). That's a philosophy I can adopt.
Click to expand...

There actually are black bears in the county that I live in, though me encountering them where I live, usually run errands, ect... is unlikely.

@Pudge - Good job.
 
aaaaa said:
Real simple solution. I'm staying out of bear country.
Click to expand...

I don’t live in “bear country” at all, maybe in the woods hunting you’ll see tracks. But, a couple years back a good sized black did wander into my yard briefly. It did not like my dogs one bit though and never came back.

When I’m in the woods hunting I like a .45 with 255 grain hardcasts +P, typically in the Glock 21. Or maybe a 10mm 1911.

I will say years back I was hunting black bear in Alaska and had a monster coastal brown come in on me. Sure got me wondering, as it pushed down a couple small trees I think because it smelled me and was pissed, if my 4 rounds of .300 win mag and 6 of 315 grain hard cast .44 I had on me we’re gonna be enough. We estimated him at 900+ lbs easy on the tail cam. I also wondered if I had put my tree stand high enough :)

Luckily he wandered off with no issue.
 
It's funny that there are so many bear threads. Bears don't kill people with significant frequency. They kill 2-5 Americans per year. Out of 350 million Americans, that's not statistically significant. By comparison, every year an average of 41 Americans are killed by lightning.

Edited to add average American fatalities each year:

bears, 2-5
snakes, 2-5
spiders, 7
dogs, 16
cattle, 20
lightning, 41
bees, wasps, hornets, 62
horses, 100

Apparently we need some important threads about self defense from horses!
 
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Tallball said:
It's funny that there are so many bear threads. Bears don't kill people with significant frequency. They kill 2-5 Americans per year. Out of 350 million Americans, that's not statistically significant. By comparison, every year an average of 41 Americans are killed by lightning.
Click to expand...
We all worry about what handgun to carry bears (self included) as Tallball noted about lighting. More people are killed by bee stings also! Do you carry an EpiPen???
 
Tallball said:
It's funny that there are so many bear threads. Bears don't kill people with significant frequency. They kill 2-5 Americans per year. Out of 350 million Americans, that's not statistically significant. By comparison, every year an average of 41 Americans are killed by lightning.
Click to expand...

I'm not very worried about getting killed by a bear, especially a black bear. Also not worried about getting killed by a coyote. I am concerned about my dog or chickens, the neighbors hogs, sheep and goats getting killed by them, and additionally property damage as may occur from black bears. A handgun is an effective deterrent and threat stopper for both animals.
 
Mrs and I traveled to Ontario each summer to remote fishing cabins. Even though we never saw a bear in camp, they were in our bait, in our gear, and even chewing on an atv seat.
One couple staying in one of the cabins had a nuisance young bear that kept harassing them. After breakfast they had gone out for the early morning bite, and returned to find young Mr bear doing the dishes! He was standing on the kitchen table helping himself to the remaining pancakes and syrup!

It was pretty worrisome to have a wife and three young boys 15 miles and three portages away from the nearest radio phone.....with nothing but a fillet knife and a Leatherman to defend ourselves with. (Canada's gun laws).
 
Random 8 said:
I'm not very worried about getting killed by a bear, especially a black bear. Also not worried about getting killed by a coyote. I am concerned about my dog or chickens, the neighbors hogs, sheep and goats getting killed by them, and additionally property damage as may occur from black bears. A handgun is an effective deterrent and threat stopper for both animals.
Click to expand...

Amen. I totally understand. I'm not worried about actually dying from the occasional copperhead in my backyard. But I'm concerned about my dogs, and about my kids back when they were little.
 
I must be really lucky then. I was almost killed by bees(yes I do carry a epi pen now). and was attacked by a large black bear. To the bears defense he was wounded by a bow hunter, I didn't have much choice but shoot him with a 44 mag.
 
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