Only predator I ever encountered in Fairbanks had four legs, about 100 yards from my apartment. A black bear.
Who actually carries a rifle when hiking in bear country
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loose noose
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North Eastern Wisconsin, and UP Michigan are prime black bear country, while out in the woods picking blue berries, rasberries, or black berries, etc. I usually had a .44mag pistol or rifle nearby in the jeep, which I never needed, but I always just felt better if I ever needed it. Incidentally I saw my share of black bears also eating the berries nearby but apparently there were enough berries to go around.
Well, here in East TN, any bears will be black bears. As several have stated ^^^ most trouble will come from the two-legged variety (with potential feral dogs, etc.). I used to carry a .44 Mag Trail Boss but I have since reduced down through several calibers to a 147 gr. Federal HST 9mm +P. I also have 20 rds of that vs 6 of the original .44 Mag in the Trail Boss. So, No, not carrying a rifle when not hunting.
While in Alaska I only carried a rifle once (A Swedish M38 with loaded with Federal Nosler Partitions) hitchhiking from Anchorage to Fairbanks.
I had a Ruger Redhawk .44 and a supply of 320 hardcasts (Alaska Ammo I think was the brand), and sometimes carried a stainless Colt 1991A1 as well.
One thing about bears to remember is that Grizzlies and Browns don't climb trees. They do have alot of reach which should be kept in mind. But Black bears can and do climb trees, so don't ever think you can climb out of reach of a Black bear.
I have never hunted Black bear. However, in reading over 45 years the writings of many hunters who have hunted lots of them, the consensus seems to be that wounded black bear will always run. A sow with cubs may not.
So my take is that if the only bear threat is Blacks, I would be confident with a 9mm pistol or .357 loaded with hard ammo. Lehigh/Underwood or hardcasts.
I had a Ruger Redhawk .44 and a supply of 320 hardcasts (Alaska Ammo I think was the brand), and sometimes carried a stainless Colt 1991A1 as well.
One thing about bears to remember is that Grizzlies and Browns don't climb trees. They do have alot of reach which should be kept in mind. But Black bears can and do climb trees, so don't ever think you can climb out of reach of a Black bear.
I have never hunted Black bear. However, in reading over 45 years the writings of many hunters who have hunted lots of them, the consensus seems to be that wounded black bear will always run. A sow with cubs may not.
So my take is that if the only bear threat is Blacks, I would be confident with a 9mm pistol or .357 loaded with hard ammo. Lehigh/Underwood or hardcasts.
What with wolves, mountain lions, bears and coyotes up here, not to mention two-legged animals, I'm going to continue carrying a Ruger out on the trails. I'd rather have it with me every time and never need it as opposed to needing it just one time but not having it. The benefit of convenience can't be overstated whether it's having a boat in the water all summer long rather than on a trailer at your house, or setting yourself up in such a way that it's no big deal to strap on a firearm every time you head out the front door. Carrying a long gun is just too much trouble for very little payback. Carrying a revolver using the chest rig shown below is no big deal. I took a photo of my setup in case anyone is looking for something similar. I have an additional strap (not shown) that connects the chest rig to a belt so that the holster stays put when the revolver is drawn. I drew the revolver a number of times today and had no problem clearing the holster without the extra strap attached. The other benefit of such a rig is that it could be concealed with a jacket so that all those nervous tourists in GNP or similar won't freak out at the sight of someone who has a plan B.
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MedWheeler
Member
Corpral_Agarn, is that a 14 or a thirty?
lemaymiami
Member
My brother has lived and hunted in Alaska for many years now (lives a full bore subsistence lifestyle) in places where Grizz have learned to associate a rifle shot with a feeding opportunity... His idea of a rifle is a 375 H&H -he has three of them and usually kills critters up to moose size with it (and those at much closer quarters than I'd feel comfortable with in heavy timber on foot.... every year -and never hunts alone...).
He sees Grizz tracks on his property regularly but usually disregards them since Grizz are roamers and will be long gone from wherever he's seen the tracks. Black bears are another matter entirely - if he finds their tracks on his property he makes plans to kill the animal believing that a black bear will hang around and eventually get one of your dogs or kids (and he uses black bear for roasts and stews). The black bears I was able to watch through his spotting scope - set up on his kitchen table (they were directly across the river from his property) were a lot bigger than the ones in the lower 48 - I'll swear I saw some that were every bit of three feet wide across the hind quarters - that's a big, big black bear...
I don't live in Alaska and I must say hiking in bear country wouldn't be my first choice at all....
For MedWheeler - the pic of the carbine is showing a Plainfield .30 carbine (I have one....).
He sees Grizz tracks on his property regularly but usually disregards them since Grizz are roamers and will be long gone from wherever he's seen the tracks. Black bears are another matter entirely - if he finds their tracks on his property he makes plans to kill the animal believing that a black bear will hang around and eventually get one of your dogs or kids (and he uses black bear for roasts and stews). The black bears I was able to watch through his spotting scope - set up on his kitchen table (they were directly across the river from his property) were a lot bigger than the ones in the lower 48 - I'll swear I saw some that were every bit of three feet wide across the hind quarters - that's a big, big black bear...
I don't live in Alaska and I must say hiking in bear country wouldn't be my first choice at all....
For MedWheeler - the pic of the carbine is showing a Plainfield .30 carbine (I have one....).
DM~
Member
I lived in Alaska a long LONG time, I never saw even one blk. bear that I considered big...
My dog chased more than one blk bear out of my yard, and I watched brown bears wonder by too... I never had a problem with either one...
You are more likely to be taken out by a moose, I had plenty of problems with them.
DM
My dog chased more than one blk bear out of my yard, and I watched brown bears wonder by too... I never had a problem with either one...
You are more likely to be taken out by a moose, I had plenty of problems with them.
DM
It will... If you are where there are Grizzly or Brown bears about as well.
Black bear attacks do happen, they are just rarer.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
30 Carbine.
It was a gift from an old friend of mine. I think of him whenever I pull it out of the safe.
His mother used to carry it with her down the long drive way on her way to the mail box and back.
Varminterror
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I made a few trips fishing and hiking in Denali, both on north side and the south side, north of Talkeetna, plus some time south of Fairbanks. I also rode a fishing boat up from Seattle to Anchorage and did some hiking/camping/fishing in Chugach, Katmai, and Clark parks.
I carried an 870 Police or an 1895 Guide Gun on each of those trips, and had a 44mag Super Blackhawk on me for half of them. I would take a 5.5” 454c Super Redhawk loaded to around 50kpsi on my next trip - again, carrying the 1895. There are just too many times I set down the long gun for me to be comfortable without the sidearm, and I’ve typically carried a belt gun any time I am outdoors for the last 25yrs+. But the long gun really is the lifesaver, the sidearm is a last line. Two is one, one is none, as it were.
I typically take only the belt gun any time I am hiking/camping/fishing in grizzly country in CONUS. When hunting in grizzly country, I do keep my sidearm, again, as backup, for my hunting rifle. For black bear country, I only have my sidearm as well, but typically I’m carrying it with 2 legged predators in mind, not bruins.
I carried an 870 Police or an 1895 Guide Gun on each of those trips, and had a 44mag Super Blackhawk on me for half of them. I would take a 5.5” 454c Super Redhawk loaded to around 50kpsi on my next trip - again, carrying the 1895. There are just too many times I set down the long gun for me to be comfortable without the sidearm, and I’ve typically carried a belt gun any time I am outdoors for the last 25yrs+. But the long gun really is the lifesaver, the sidearm is a last line. Two is one, one is none, as it were.
I typically take only the belt gun any time I am hiking/camping/fishing in grizzly country in CONUS. When hunting in grizzly country, I do keep my sidearm, again, as backup, for my hunting rifle. For black bear country, I only have my sidearm as well, but typically I’m carrying it with 2 legged predators in mind, not bruins.
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I believe the fact that Black Bears CAN climb trees is why they attack less. When pressed they tend to run and climb trees if needed. Grizzlies and Browns don't have that escape option.
And I believe some bears like people just don't have a good side of the bed to get out of. That being said I usually carry a side arm when out in the woods even though we only have Black Bears, Coyotes and an occational Wolf.
And I believe some bears like people just don't have a good side of the bed to get out of. That being said I usually carry a side arm when out in the woods even though we only have Black Bears, Coyotes and an occational Wolf.
This is how fast it can happen.
Walked around the back corner of our house, cut the corner close & walking quickly to go get a Polaris I left setting
out back.
Mamma bear 10 feet away, & baby bear just past her, we all froze then the baby bolts away mamma starts to turn then
half way thru her move she turns back at me, by the time her front paws hit the ground toward me I am
pulling the trigger on Model 19 S&W 357 mag into the ground just to the right of her.
If I had a rifle on a sling she would have been on me [unless it was a fake charge].
Of course I wasn't in the woods but it all adds the same, only side note is the first round in my
revolver is a snake shot, which is mostly why I wear one around the house, lots of copperheads.
But we see black bears here often enough to keep alert. And don't let anyone tell you mamma bears
aren't hot tempered, they can be & have been about 3 times.
Never had to shoot one & really wouldn't unless I absolutely have to.
And never shoot to spook an animal by shooting directly in line with it, a bullet off a rock & you have
a wounded animal.
Walked around the back corner of our house, cut the corner close & walking quickly to go get a Polaris I left setting
out back.
Mamma bear 10 feet away, & baby bear just past her, we all froze then the baby bolts away mamma starts to turn then
half way thru her move she turns back at me, by the time her front paws hit the ground toward me I am
pulling the trigger on Model 19 S&W 357 mag into the ground just to the right of her.
If I had a rifle on a sling she would have been on me [unless it was a fake charge].
Of course I wasn't in the woods but it all adds the same, only side note is the first round in my
revolver is a snake shot, which is mostly why I wear one around the house, lots of copperheads.
But we see black bears here often enough to keep alert. And don't let anyone tell you mamma bears
aren't hot tempered, they can be & have been about 3 times.
Never had to shoot one & really wouldn't unless I absolutely have to.
And never shoot to spook an animal by shooting directly in line with it, a bullet off a rock & you have
a wounded animal.
theotherwaldo
Member
The only time I ever faced a bear while I had a gun in my hands was when one got in the kitchen. I just stayed in the living room and kept the door closed. When the bear finished eating the salmon that my Valley Girl mother had hung in the cooler window (and had finished squashing the cabbages that were also in the window all over the floor) the bear climbed back out the window and went away. Then I spent an hour calming my mother and sisters.
I was seven years old.
The gun was a .22 single shot smoothbore.
I saw bears every day, there on the Klamath River of northern California.
I was more concerned about the Black Angus cattle.
I was seven years old.
The gun was a .22 single shot smoothbore.
I saw bears every day, there on the Klamath River of northern California.
I was more concerned about the Black Angus cattle.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
And for good reason.
Those things have tried to kill me way more times than a bear has.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
One of my first near-death experiences as a child involved an angry heifer and a live oak. Sometimes they're mean, sometimes just plain crazy. 
theotherwaldo
Member
-We had one old bull who would graze all day, then charge for the river at dusk when he suddenly realized that he was thirsty.
It was a bad idea to be in the out house when that occurred.
The bears just broke the limbs of the fruit trees. The bulls broke everything that got in their way.
It was a bad idea to be in the out house when that occurred.
The bears just broke the limbs of the fruit trees. The bulls broke everything that got in their way.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Bad things happen when a bull finally realizes that he's bigger and stronger than anything he lays eyes on. Like barbed wire fences. Our last brangus bull went 2200lbs and bred everything in the county.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
Took the carbine out again this weekend to check out a lake that I haven't seen in years.
Pic quality isn't great, but it is what it is.
Pic quality isn't great, but it is what it is.
FL-NC
Member
It seems to me that this is an area where the magnum revolver or 10mm handgun would fit. The bear guides in Maine mostly carried 45 automatics, so I carried a Glock 21 (most powerful handgun I own). 1 bear guide carried a riot gun (Win 1200 I think) full of buckshot because he said he isn't a very good shot with a handgun. FWIW, the local hunters there routinely kill bears with medium sized deer calibers like 308 and 30-30- one guy uses the 7mm-08. While I am far from a bear expert, I think the riot gun full of buck or slugs would make the most sense for defensive purposes if carrying a long gun, just for simplicity, cost, and weight over something like a 45-70 guide gun.
theotherwaldo
Member
The Hupa and Klamath Indians that my Dad used to play poker with would often say that, "Anything that would kill a pig will kill a bear - if you don't panic and miss".
They didn't say "panic", though... .
They didn't say "panic", though... .
Gtscotty
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- Jul 2, 2007
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- 3,635
No, sometimes I carry pistols but not always.
There are places I've been in Alaska where I'd take a shotgun if I went back, a can of spray isn't very comforting when you're stepping over bear poo every other step down the trail to get to the fishing spot.
Most of my hiking and all of my hunting at home is south of grizzly country, but there is no shortage of black bears, mountain lions, and an increasing number of reports of wolves. Funny enough, the only bear I've ever been chased by was a black bear in the Tetons. When I'm hiking with my family, I take a pistol, usually a Glock 23. When I'm hiking alone or scouting with a friend sometimes I carry a pistol, sometimes not, when I do it's honestly usually in my pack. I've had a couple of run-ins with moose, and they scare me more than black bears.
This year I'll be bow hunting for bulls in a new area, my friend that hunted there last year had an incident with a mountain lion stalking him when he was out alone during early bow season. Big cats are creepy, I'll be carrying during bow season this year, but it will be something light and out of the way, probably my 9mm S&W Shield.
There are places I've been in Alaska where I'd take a shotgun if I went back, a can of spray isn't very comforting when you're stepping over bear poo every other step down the trail to get to the fishing spot.
Most of my hiking and all of my hunting at home is south of grizzly country, but there is no shortage of black bears, mountain lions, and an increasing number of reports of wolves. Funny enough, the only bear I've ever been chased by was a black bear in the Tetons. When I'm hiking with my family, I take a pistol, usually a Glock 23. When I'm hiking alone or scouting with a friend sometimes I carry a pistol, sometimes not, when I do it's honestly usually in my pack. I've had a couple of run-ins with moose, and they scare me more than black bears.
This year I'll be bow hunting for bulls in a new area, my friend that hunted there last year had an incident with a mountain lion stalking him when he was out alone during early bow season. Big cats are creepy, I'll be carrying during bow season this year, but it will be something light and out of the way, probably my 9mm S&W Shield.
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lemaymiami
Member
My brother has hunted his part of Alaska (the Matsu area and points north) for a lot of years - He related to me the most scared he ever was after he accepted an invitation to bear hunt the local village dump by a group of natives in the interior... Their stand was a bit wobbly (four poles up about 12 feet in the air with a cobbled together platform at the top) - and no railings or any safety provisions at all. As the sun went down he realized that his companions had a bottle or two and were getting steadily drunker as they waited for bears to come. He said it was a long night - and although not a shot was fired he was worried that someone might fall against him and knock him off the platform... All the while he could hear the bears rooting in the garbage next to them - but couldn't see any of them...
Not my idea of fun - but then I work in the Everglades - what do I know?
Not my idea of fun - but then I work in the Everglades - what do I know?
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