brown bear protection

[Geno]

Sure it died after the last shot...after it ran down on the beach

usmccpl:

I agree, the bear did die after the last shot. Specifically, and I quote, "Bob fired, then I fired again. The bear turned and I fired two more shots into his shoulder. Bob fired at his shoulder again. I put my last two in his rear as he turned around and started running. Bob stepped out of the door and fired as the bear went bellowing down the beach" (Kelly, L. & Jones, J.D. 2001. Hunting for Handgunners, P. 225).

The statement that the bear started running and bellowing down the beach leads me to believe that this bear was very alive for an additonal lengthy run. I confirmed that fact with Larry himself when I was having a Remington Classic .338 Win. Mag. rifle ported. I had bought the rifle to hunt brown bear. The bear, according to Larry, ran for something like 150 to 200 yards down to the beach before finally expiring.

Doc2005

 

[BCbob]

feet get me outa here

I get a kick out of this topic and peoples fear of getting eaten by the bears. The dope dealers in front of city hall scare me more than the bears.

I worked as a forester for 35 years and spent alot of time in the bushes of Coastal BC. Years ago I bought a mossberg persuader and have an old remington 30/06 as designated bear guns... but hardly every took with me in the bush.

I never had a close encounter of the furry kind where I felt I needed the guns. I crossed paths with bears, cougars, wolves and whiskey jacks on occassion, but I never went looking.

I must say about 20 years ago I was surrounded by a wolf pack in deep snow, steep ground and big timber. All the howling had my hair standing up and tested my pucker factor, so I cursed them out and waved my ax around and held my ground. I was by myself a couple hours drive from home so I stayed and finished my work. I never saw them again, but they howled for another hour all around the hillside.

Bears have alot of natural food on the coast and even the black bear get real big. In the interior there is alot less food and bears are usually smaller and more aggressive. There, a rifle shot can be a dinner bell for a bear, and I know friends that had Griz come in close when they shot or were calling moose.

I've heard lots of bear stories over the years and should write some down

 

[MCgunner]

I get a kick out of this topic and peoples fear of getting eaten by the bears. The dope dealers in front of city hall scare me more than the bears.

I think it's one of those things that's fun to talk about and an excuse for a new gun to the wife. "You wouldn't wanna bear to eat me, would ya? You love me don't ya? I need this shotgun." Heck, if you're up in Washington/Oregon, maybe you need protection from Bigfoot. I mean, they could be far more dangerous than a black bear!

 

[1977kaw]

read the BIG Bear post I just submitted and then think about a firearm

 

[MCgunner]

Oh, if I lived in Alaska, when I went out fishing or whatever, I'd carry a rifle or shotgun, well, just because. I mean, why not? I like carrying a gun, long guns are my thing, too. I'd just sling it and go. I don't know that I'd ever have to use it to defend myself, but I'd carry one and probably a shotgun so that I could go rabbit hunting or something if I wanted to when I'm camping out in the boonies. That Browning BLR is pretty cool lookin', but you can do more with a shotgun than just go after big game or defend yourself. Shotguns are versatile weapons in the wild. Only problem I've ever thought about 'em is the ammo is heavy and bulky for long stays in the outback. But, it ain't like you need a case or something if you're just shooting a rabbit now and then and carrying it for protection.

 

[bigcim]

s&w 460 or 45/70 if you dont want a s&w500

 

[police]

thanks for all ur feedback.. i didn't know this topic had been discussed as much and apologize for the repetiveness. as far as anyone is concerned, i picked up some "hot" double-tap 10mm ammo for my kimber but later found out a buddy had something better so i'm borrowing a s&w .44 mag.
i also have bear spray .. but.. ehh yeeaah

wish me luck!

 

[grizz]

Most important, as noted above, cook AT LEAST 200 yards from where you camp. Leave ALL OF YOUR FOOD, or anything that might smell like food (toothpaste, deodorant, etc) in a bear-proof container at least 200 yards from your camp, or suspended up in a tree branch at least 200 yards from your camp. Same goes with the pots you used to cook with, even after you've washed them.

 

[snake2987]

Bears are fun

So being from Juneau Ak, I have done a fair amout of hunting, hikeing and fishing. Every time except for the times where I was hunting, I have yet to carry a gun. For the most part as long as you don't hike after the sun has set with dead fish in your backpack (which I've done) you shouldn't have any problems. I would just like to thank you guys because I was thinking which type of pistol I should get. I belive that I have a good idea of now what wouldn't wast of money.

 

[Alphazulu6]

After reading this thread I am going to have to recommend a few sticks of dynomite (just in case its a REALLY big 2500+ one) hehe

 

[eliphalet]

And when was the last time any of ya's needed Brown Bear protection? or even saw one in the wild? gessssz
Whats better a 30-06 or a 270
What's the best caliber/bullet?
Can a 223 or 357 kill a deer.
I kinda tend to think most of these questions if you gotta ask there ain't much use really answering. But I confess in foolishly becoming part of some. Still it's better than them zombie thingamajigs, at least a bear attack it is possible even if extremely improbable.

 

[ArmedBear]

Bob Fromme who owns a really nice archery shop here in San Diego has a mounted Kodiak bear, the record for a bowhunt. It's enormous.

He shot it at 17 yards (!), with ESPN filming. I talked to him (nice guy, too) and he said that, if the shot's placed right, a bear actually goes down a lot quicker from an arrow than a bullet.

So maybe carry a bow instead? (Practice required)

This is Bob and the bear:

http://www.performancebowhunting.com/

 

[islandphish]

eliphalet,

Since you asked, it was last Friday. I saw a sow chasing a second adult up the side of a mountain. Then as the sow backed away down the mountain her cub came up and nuzzled her while the other one sat and watched. Near as we could figure she was chasing off a potential eater of her cub.

Btw, I carry a .357 with 200g Cor-Bon hardcasts. Wish I had more but this is what I got, but I don't feel too undergunned. Also, what you need for bear stoppage depends a lot on where you are going to be. As mentioned before coastal blacks get really big. Some as large as the interior grizz that I see. So know what you will be dealing with. 400-600 is the normal range for adult Grizz in my area. Much smaller than most would think yet still pretty intimidating.

 

[Troutman]

Have to love those William Tell guys.
No better way to confront one of those bears than close range with one round or arrow.

 

[eliphalet]

My earlier post was not meant to wards guys that live or spend time in Bear areas. It just seems we get plenty of arm chair quarterbacking sometimes.

If ESPN was there filming Mr Fromme, my guess is he had plenty of backup real close. What a trophy.
I remember hearing of a guy that had killed 11, if memory serves me Brown Bears with a 22 auto, but the last one he shot killed him.
Saw a film once of pygmy shoving a long spear up into a rather large elephant's ribs .The elephant eventually died we were told and that the last man from the village that had done that had died in the process.

Just cause something can be done hunting doesn't mean it really should be.

 

[paintballdude902]

lol
i would carry a .44 or a .357

bbut when my dad worked for forestry up there he had friends that carried 1911 colts for the black bears they would probably be a decent deterant for a brown...............but i would go bigger

island

thats a pretty small bear for a grizzlie 400-600 around here we get black bear upto 1000lbs i believe the record(which was pulled becasue he shot it when it was eating out of a dumpster) was like 969 or so but i have easily seen 20-30 bear upwards or 600 deer hunting over the last 2 years

 

[Alphazulu6]

Ok honestly is that .50 BMG??? Seriously just the idea of pulling that trigger makes me shudder as your going to have two projectiles, the 750gr bullet going in one direction and you with that knuckle driver going the other direction.... It would be an interesting thought though!

Honestly I am not sure which one would be less painful.

 

[Alphazulu6]

OK just found this because I had to go searching....

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/birdman/

Birdman Weapons Systems
Birdman Weapons Systems offers "unfriendly products for an unfriendly world." For instance, they sell the ShotCaller2000 9mm Telephone (it'll fire one shot into the ear of whoever answers it), the Mountain Dew Shotgun (in case you have the urge to fire cans of Mountain Dew at high velocity), and, of course, the Nuke 50 Micronuclear ("a mind bending MicroNuclear blast in a tiny, convenient and affordable package").

HAHA nice!

 

[Bob R]

or even saw one in the wild?

How about this afternoon about 4:45. I was up in the mountains of the Flathead National Forest looking for Morels (too late, none left) and saw a griz (they are brown) heading uphill about 150-200 yds away from me. Wife and I stood very still started looking around in case there were cubs.

I wasn't surprised, the berries are starting to ripen, so the bears are out eating.

My defense against bears, #1 is noise, don't sneak up on a bear, if they hear you coming I believe they would rather be somewhere else. Other than that I carry a winchester defender with slugs and a S&W 25-5 (45 colt). The wife has control of the pepper spray.

bob

 

[islandphish]

paintballdude902,

Yes they are pretty small. But think about this, we go through 3 seasons here in about 5 months. That is spring, summer and fall go from mid to late April to early to mid October. That isn't very long to feed and get big. The salmon run doesn't reach this far so no help there. And now it is July and the berries are just starting to come out. All of this leads to surprisingly small bear.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I talked to him (nice guy, too) and he said that, if the shot's placed right, a bear actually goes down a lot quicker from an arrow than a bullet.

AB,

I just don't even know where to go with that.......

I guess it is not that surprising considering the source.

 

[ArmedBear]

If ESPN was there filming Mr Fromme, my guess is he had plenty of backup real close.

Funny thing, I asked him about that.

He said that only other people in the woods that day were the cameraman and a good shooter with a rifle, both stationed about 100 yards behind him, with a lot of magnification on the rifle and the camera.

The rifleman was there to protect the cameraman, not the hunter. At 17 yards, Bob Fromme was pretty much on his own. I mean, they would probably have killed the bear before it had mutilated the body too badly, but according to him, the rifleman would have had a hard time stopping the bear before it got to him.

You have to understand the nature of the conversation. Bob Fromme is a humble, unassuming local surfer and outdoorsman. He was not bragging; he was simply answering my question straight up when I asked about what sort of backup he had. The answer was, essentially none.

Bob Fromme is friends with Ted Nugent, and probably shares a similar underlying philosophy. However, they come across like night and day.

 

[H&Hhunter]

AB,

When I said "considering the source" I meant that bow hunters tend to make some pretty fantastic claims from time to time.

Arrows have awesome killing power but I've never seen one cold stop a bear like I have seen a bullet do.

 

[ArmedBear]

True.

You'd have to meet the guy and see his wall of trophies. And this particular hunt is on video.

I wouldn't believe it myself, generally.

And it depends on the kind of bullet.

 

[H&Hhunter]

AB,

More so than the kind of bullet it depends on where that bullet is placed.

On a bear a double shoulder shot or a CNS shot will cold cock even a big bear with an adequate caliber and decent bullet.

No arrow on earth is capable of breaking massive bone.

Now given an equal shot through the lungs with an arrow vs a bullet I guess it is possible that the arrow may kill quicker. But I wouldn't count on it.