Grew up in interior Alaska. Where I hunt (when i make it back) their are lot of black bear, few if any grizzlys. I carried a S&W M. 29 44 mag w/6 inch barrel for a couple years until i figured out that that sucked. Now its a 4 inch security six 357 mag. Much more enjoyable experience.
A handgun on your hip in Alaska is for peace of mind and for two legged unfriendlies. If you really want to deter a bear attack (the odds of being attacked are quite low) carry pepper spray.
Kodiakbeer has been right on in his suggestions from what i have read. When a bear attacks for real, there will be little or no warning. A burst of pepper fog released in a panic would probly serve you better than 2 or 3 rounds of .454 launched in the direction of the 2000 bound ball of fangs and claws that are bearing down on you.
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As I've stated earlier I personally don't care for the sprays , for them to be effective the bear is way ,way ,WAY too close , by that time I'm already shooting.
And no offense but can we keep the weights in the world of reality , there's never been a 2000 lb Brown bear taken , there *might* be one out there but I have my doubts feel free to post a cite and/or pictures if you've got 'em. The two biggest on record are one shot by a ten year old girl from Talkeetna at 11'4" and allegedly 1800 lbs and 29 and a sixteenth on the Boone and Crockett scale , look at the pictures and note that he was hogfat. The there is the one shot on Hinchinbrook Island by an airman form up at Eielson that went ( aleegedly) 12'6" and allegedly 1600 lbs , there is some controversy on that weight and height though it WAS verified that that particular bear had killed at least two and maybe more humans and consumed them. But as I said there is a great deal of controversy about that particular bear. REAL size is most likely around the 10'6" and 1200 lb mark , and the guy actually shot it with a .338 mag NOT a 7mm mag , though it's verified that seven 7mm slugs and four .38s were found in the bear when skinned out , the .38s belonging to a hiker whose dead body and empty pistol were found later. It was big yes , but nowhere near a world record
Note that the one in the Anchorage airport was around 1700 live and was the worlds record for a looonnggg time till the girl from Talkeetna got hers.
It's fairly common to see a thousand to 1200 lb boar , the sow that came after me went 970 ,unusually large for the interior. But there aren't any 2000 lb bears.
And the coastal bears are quite a bit larger than the interior bears ( usually). And yes this is all rather academic since a 150 lb black can easily kill you if it gets to you and wants to , that said can we not overinflate the size and weights?
Though the biggest *polar bear* recorded is 2200 plus lbs and over 12 feet , but face it there are few of us that will ver get a chance to even SEE a Polar Bear , much less hunt/shoot one. And average weight on Polar bears is still in the 900 to 1300 range for boars.
They undoubtedly ARE the worlds biggest meanest junkyard dog if they choose to be , with not only teeth but a handful of switchblades at all four corners.
