The thought of having to deal with bears like this with any shotgun scares me
I'll take a rifle everytime
I'm gonna listen to this guy.....
Me too! Phil's shot more bears than most of the tyros on this thread have ever seen.
And btw, someone posted earlier about Stephen Herrero's book, "Bear Attacks". I recommend it as mandatory reading for anyone who spends or plans to spend time in bear country, if only for the peace of mind you will gain from your new-found understanding of bear behavior.
Recent scientific research showed that pepper spray (the kind specifically made for bear applications) is slightly more effective in stopping bear charges than firearms, and has the added benefit of not killing the bear. Killing a bear in self-defense means a LOT of paperwork in almost all jurisdictions, and in some the paper will be significant amounts of folding money out of your pocket. It is speculated that the lower rate of success with firearms is due to multiple factors, including poor shot placement, suboptimal firearms caliber/type for bear, and so forth.
Final observation: Alberta F&G officers used to be issued 12-ga shotguns with Brenneke slugs for bear control. Last few times I was up fishing in the Kananaskis the officers I encountered were all carrying/issued open-sighted 300 Win Mags, which they told me they much preferred over the slug guns.