jamesinalaska
Member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2015
- Messages
- 256
I'm fortunate enough that my job allows me to travel around my state (Alaska) quite a bit, and sometimes, on longer projects, I get to take my family with me. A few years ago the cards fell just right and we managed to get ourselves sent to Kodiak Island for a spell while I worked a lengthy contract.
We always have the greatest times on those working vacations, and Kodiak was no different. On my days off my wife anf I would pack up the rental car and set off for a new trail to follow or a beach to explore. And (to keep this relevant to a gun forum) at that time, I was rather fond of carrying a G20 on my hip for "bear protection", or "just in case" on those picnics of ours.
One sunny day (unusual for Kodiak), we lit out on one of our hikes along a beach well away from town, where I figured out in short-order, exactly how worthless a handgun truly is in a realistic "bear" situation.
We left the car at a wide spot on the highway and walked a few hundred yards down a narrow trail through the alders to a section of beach reported to be good for beachcombing. Fortunately it was low tide and perfect for finding seashells without trouble, so we ambled around and started our way towards a wrecked and rusted tramper around a point another mile or so up the beach. Of course once we got to the derelick tramper, me and my oldest boy just had to play pirate and find a way to climb up onto the deck (I mean this is what fathers and sons do, right) but the mommy and the littler ones didn't climb up; they were going to wait for us below.
My thought was that they were going to wait for us by the boat - but they didnt. Instead they walked further up the beach, another 80 yards maybe, to a little stream dumping into the gulf there.
When me and my boy finished exploring the deck (and no, we don't go down into the holds of wrecks like that nor do we go into old mine shafts) and went to climb down from the tramper, I noticed my family up the beach and near the steam. "Oh No. Please no." I muttered to myself.
The problem was that it was salmon season. The Pinks were spawning and bears will hang out close to freshwater streams at those times. And the big bears get to chose tbeir spots first, you see, that's how it works in their world, and if there was any location on that isolated beach where a big bear would have been hanging about, it would have been right there, where that stream empties into the ocean, where Pinks are easiest to catch, and where my wife and kids were.
Thankfully it wasn't a salmon stream, just runoff from the snowpack. I'll never forget though, the dread that came across my mind when I first thought there could be trouble. It was only for a few seconds but unforgetable all the same.
I'll also never forget my thoughts of how worthless that god-damned G20 was to me too. If trouble had stepped out of those alder thickets and I had been back at the tramper, there is no way I could have shot that pistol -or any pistol- for any good effect whatsoever. Too far away, and not enough power in the cartridge to change anything.
I later traded that G20 in at one of the sporting goods shops for a 12 guage semi-auto slug gun and a couple handfuls of slugs. Later still I sold that 12 guage to a fellow to make a downpayment on a stainless 45-70. This rifle I have kept. At 80 yards I am certain I can aim my 45-70 and hit what I want, I can't do that with a G20. And better still, a 45-70 bullet can instantly make a big animal change its mind about what it is doing. (It might not kill her, but it will immediately change her behavior) I don't believe anymore that a 10mm can do likewise, even if close.
We always have the greatest times on those working vacations, and Kodiak was no different. On my days off my wife anf I would pack up the rental car and set off for a new trail to follow or a beach to explore. And (to keep this relevant to a gun forum) at that time, I was rather fond of carrying a G20 on my hip for "bear protection", or "just in case" on those picnics of ours.
One sunny day (unusual for Kodiak), we lit out on one of our hikes along a beach well away from town, where I figured out in short-order, exactly how worthless a handgun truly is in a realistic "bear" situation.
We left the car at a wide spot on the highway and walked a few hundred yards down a narrow trail through the alders to a section of beach reported to be good for beachcombing. Fortunately it was low tide and perfect for finding seashells without trouble, so we ambled around and started our way towards a wrecked and rusted tramper around a point another mile or so up the beach. Of course once we got to the derelick tramper, me and my oldest boy just had to play pirate and find a way to climb up onto the deck (I mean this is what fathers and sons do, right) but the mommy and the littler ones didn't climb up; they were going to wait for us below.
My thought was that they were going to wait for us by the boat - but they didnt. Instead they walked further up the beach, another 80 yards maybe, to a little stream dumping into the gulf there.
When me and my boy finished exploring the deck (and no, we don't go down into the holds of wrecks like that nor do we go into old mine shafts) and went to climb down from the tramper, I noticed my family up the beach and near the steam. "Oh No. Please no." I muttered to myself.
The problem was that it was salmon season. The Pinks were spawning and bears will hang out close to freshwater streams at those times. And the big bears get to chose tbeir spots first, you see, that's how it works in their world, and if there was any location on that isolated beach where a big bear would have been hanging about, it would have been right there, where that stream empties into the ocean, where Pinks are easiest to catch, and where my wife and kids were.
Thankfully it wasn't a salmon stream, just runoff from the snowpack. I'll never forget though, the dread that came across my mind when I first thought there could be trouble. It was only for a few seconds but unforgetable all the same.
I'll also never forget my thoughts of how worthless that god-damned G20 was to me too. If trouble had stepped out of those alder thickets and I had been back at the tramper, there is no way I could have shot that pistol -or any pistol- for any good effect whatsoever. Too far away, and not enough power in the cartridge to change anything.
I later traded that G20 in at one of the sporting goods shops for a 12 guage semi-auto slug gun and a couple handfuls of slugs. Later still I sold that 12 guage to a fellow to make a downpayment on a stainless 45-70. This rifle I have kept. At 80 yards I am certain I can aim my 45-70 and hit what I want, I can't do that with a G20. And better still, a 45-70 bullet can instantly make a big animal change its mind about what it is doing. (It might not kill her, but it will immediately change her behavior) I don't believe anymore that a 10mm can do likewise, even if close.