In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

Handgun Cartridges In Bear Country

4GodandCountry4GodandCountry Member Posts: 3,968
edited July 2002 in General Discussion
I recently read an article in handgunner magazine where the author stated he wouldn't recommend anything under a 45ACP for a serious handgun in bear country. I have never hunted with a 45ACP but do not feel it would be my choice in bear country. If it was my only option I would make due with it but it has been my belief that anything less than 44 mag. is on the insufficient side of the spectrum. I would however feel quite comfy with a 45 win mag. What do you all think?

When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • RockinURockinU Member Posts: 248 ✭
    edited November -1
    I think I would either carry a slug gun or one of the 45-70 camp guns, and forget the handgun all together.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • E.WilliamsE.Williams Member Posts: 1,101 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You need something like a 454 casull for a bear.At the lowest level I wouldnt shoot a bear with anything other than a very hotloaded 10mm.

    Eric S. Williams
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 4GodandCountry4GodandCountry Member Posts: 3,968
    edited November -1
    I guess I should have been more specific. He was talking about a back up to his primary rifle cartridge.

    When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I carry a .357 in black bear country. That would be a tad small for brown bears. I would prefer not to use a hand gun for brown bears.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RockinURockinU Member Posts: 248 ✭
    edited November -1
    Ok, if I already had a rifle I would just stick with the .44 mag. I want to be able to recover fast enough to put multiple projectiles down range, and some of those really big wheel guns are difficult to rapid fire...I might be ok with the .454 casul, I only have limited (albeit positive) experience with the round. YOu have to keep in mind that we are talking about a critter that can get upwards of 2000 lbs here. If you haven't already knocked some holes in him with your rifle, I'm thinking that the most important trait you would want in a pistol is that the front site be removed...it would hurt less that way.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NighthawkNighthawk Member Posts: 12,022 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I read an article somewhere,I cant remember where.But a Brown bear had mauled some hikers,and it was unprovoked.So the Park Rangers went in search for the bear,and killed it.When they done their Autopsy they recovered two .45acp bullets from the Bears Neck.It was healed over,and penetrated hide and only a little muscle tissue,causing the bear no serious threat to his well being.Park Rangers estimated the scars and slugs they recovered to have been at least 3yrs old.As it turned out a Canadian fisherman was reported missing three years earlier,and was to have been carring a .45acp.

    Rugster
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Brown bears attack under two conditions: 1. you get too close to a sow with cubs or a bear on a kill. 2. You took the cookies into the tent for a bed time snack. Otherwise brown bears don't attack humans. Black bears have been documented to stalk humans as prey and attact. They also like cookies, see 2. above. Conclusions: carry a big gun and leave the cookies at home.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gunpaqgunpaq Member Posts: 4,607 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ever any bear attacks or bears stalking humans reported in Pennsylvania?

    Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    41 Mag and above with heavy for caliber hard cast bullets will work just fine. I travel in bear country all the time and never feel under gunned with my 41 Mag and 265 grain cast bullets or my 45 Colt with 370 grain cast bullets. Started carrying the 480 Ruger last year with bullets weighing 390 and 460 grains. And brown bears will attack or bluff charge for more than the above mentioned reasons.

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RockinURockinU Member Posts: 248 ✭
    edited November -1
    Brown bears will track and attack humans for the purpose of consuming them, it is usually young males, but bears are opportunistic animals, and if they perceice you as an easy meal, they will partake. I believe it was 2 years ago 2 hikers, a young couple, were killed when they went to ground and assumed non-threatening attitudes (the proper response when you suprise a sow with cubs) by a young male that had been trailing them for some distance.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Aglore and RockinU, you may well be correct, but I would sure like to see the documentation. Not word of mouth or some one said, but written articles about the investigation of the attacts. At least up until about 1996 brown bear attacks not involving food, perceived threat to cubs or kills had not been documented. Frankly I liked it better that way!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    Tues. May 25th 1999. Ken Cates of Soldotna Alaska went for a hike along the trails of the Kenai Peninsula. All by himself. He had made this tripmany times before and knew that brown bear inhabited the area. He carried his 270 Win. with him as usual.Ken did not return at the pre-arranged time. Searchers went looking for him. On the trail, they found his size 10 1/2 foot prints. What really shocked them was the brown bear tracks covering some of his tracks. They found Ken a little later down the trail, Dead by bear. He had got off one shot, but the bear was never found. You want more. I have a couple of different ones. How about the guy that was deer hunting on the South end of Baranof Island. Blowing on his deer call and his hunting partners heard him scream. All they found was little bitty pieces of Harley. Need more. How about Mr. Rasmuesson hunting Elk on one of the islands just northeast of Kodiak Island. While caping out his Elk, brown bear comes in and takes him from behind. He manages to kill the bear with his knife. Need more. I wonder how many Brown Bear live where He Dog lives or if he is just reading from some kids books. I've shot Brown Bear, I've had them come through my camps. How many have you seen in the wilds up close and personal?

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free

    Edited by - aglore on 07/16/2002 19:14:51
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pigeoncreek1pigeoncreek1 Member Posts: 217 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well,

    I would sure like to have a .454 Casull in my holster if I needed some bear medicine..

    I was about 75 yards from a 9 footer in Wyoming a few years back, I'm glad that I had the 'ol .300 Weatherby in my hands...talk about a rush!!

    Gun control is hitting your target
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • E.WilliamsE.Williams Member Posts: 1,101 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You want some documentation watch the discovery channel for a show called Bear Attacks there are 3 different ones 1about alaskan bears 1aboutblack bears and 1 about polar bears.They tell some pretty grim documentations.There waas one about a Alaskan brown bear that attacked I beleive it was a Eskimo family at a fishing camp it killed one woman turned on a lttle boy mauled him to where it took his eye and mauled another little girl.I have seen a story in the paper here about a guy who was releiving himself on a hunting trip after he had cleaned his buck and was attacked by a black bear.Black Bears arent quite as temperamental as Browns or Polars but any bear will attack.And no there is no set guidelies for what they will attack for they are living creatures with independant minds you never know what will set them off.

    Eric S. Williams
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    Picture didn't work again I see. Oh well.

    Go to www.picturetrail.com and type in AlleninAlaska in the space where it says show me members album.



    Hopefully one of these will work. That's me with a Grizzly shot with a Ruger #1 in 416 Rigby.

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free

    Edited by - aglore on 07/16/2002 19:32:48
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Nice bear, whats that thing crouched behind him with the blue hat on, looks like a sighting of big foot in Alaska.

    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    That's my Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Mushers cap. Given to me by a game biologist I used to work for that was killed in a plane crash while doing a moose survey. RIP Randy.

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Guns & GlassGuns & Glass Member Posts: 864 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Allen Gore,
    Son lives in a cabin house a little north of Fairbanks.
    Next year, my wife and I want to visit, and I hope to hunt both bear, and sheep. Ram with a 40" unbroken curl is a dream of mine.
    Perhaps we'll be able to meet. Where are you in regards to Fairbanks?

    Can email me: jabsao@msn.com
    Thanks.

    Happy Bullet Holes!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    Guns & Glass, where I live is in my profile. So no secret, I live in Bethel. About 90 miles inland from the Bering Sea and 400 miles west of Anchorage. Guess that puts me about 500 or so miles southwest of Fairbanks.

    www.bethelalaska.com

    www.kusko.net

    There are a couple of web sites that are about Bethel and surrounding area.

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gruntledgruntled Member Posts: 8,218 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Who needs a gun? From last Saturdays paper.
    Anchorage, Alaska (AP)
    An Oregon woman escaped with bite & claw wounds Wednesday after a mauling by a black bear that stalked her for more than an hour along a trail in Southeast Alaska.
    Kristy L Abbott, 27, of Harrisburg, Oregon, has returned to work at American Safari Cruises, according to her father, Ralph Abbott, speaking from his home in Harrisburg. She could not be reached for comment.
    Abbott told troopers that she was jogging on Petersburg mountain Trail about 5 p.m. Wednesday when she saw a black bear ahead. She stopped & sounded a portable air horn, but the bear charged.
    "She said she was at it for an hour & a half, & she traded blows with it just straight up," Ralph Abbott said.
    The confrontation ended when Kristy Abbott walloped the bear over the head with a large stick. She might have hit it in the eye, she told her dad.
    The bear lumbered away.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • WyomingSwedeWyomingSwede Member Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    .44 mag with 300 gr cast bullets. Learn to shoot it first and know when you should. Forget the bear spray...its only seasoning. Watch your horse...he'll let you know when bear are around long before you see them. swede

    WyomingSwede
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Aglore: I stand corrected. No I do not live in Brown Bear country, but do hunt in black bear country. I do not read childrens books, but have read a number of books on authenticated bear attacks, as well as bear ecology and behavior books.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If I ever move up to AK, I think my weapon of choice would be a short barreled 12 ga with saboted slugs. The story of the bear with two .45 ACP slugs in its neck is downright frightening!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The only time I carry my S&W, model 29, .44 Mag, to the field is when I am in, or potentially going to be in BEAR COUNTRY.

    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze

    Edited by - airborne on 07/17/2002 17:33:38
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Shootist3006Shootist3006 Member Posts: 4,171
    edited November -1
    I agree with algore, a .41 is more than enough handgun in bear country (before my heart attack, I was planning a HANDGUN hunt in Alaska with my .41).
    Allen, sounds like we use similar loads, I load a 270 gr. LFP at about 1450 fps - potent medicine for any critter ('cept maybe an elephant ) I'm currently working up a new load that (I hope) will be accurate at about 1600 fps.

    Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dhdh Member Posts: 127 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Last weekend a buddy of mine told me he was watching one of those hunting shows on tv and a bow hunter and camera man got fairly close to a bear(forgot what species) and while the hunter was drawing his bow the camera man behind him said$*&@ and turned the camera around to his rear to bring into the frame a raised up bear walking towards them.The hunter turned and dropped the bear and then sat down and on camera said,"I think I need to change my shorts",or something of that nature. Did anybody see this?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427 ✭
    edited November -1
    .50 Cal Whammo Sling Shot, light enough so ya can run like the devil..

    "A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Seth K. PerumeonySeth K. Perumeony Member Posts: 119 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ak-47.
    If he can take all 30 rounds of my 7.62x39 he deserves a hot meal.


    Guns are good, Guns are great... please don't throw them in the lake.

    Edited by - Seth K. Perumeony on 07/18/2002 16:43:35
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.