Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Guns for bear protection in Alaska??

+1

CO
I do not carry more often than I do... When I do it is usually a revolver. I do not believe there are very many real attacks from unprovoked (wounded is about the only provokation that I buy) bears. They certainly happen, but bluffs are common.

React properly when you see a bear and usually you will save yourself from most grief. When bears and people get together you are hoping you do not run into a bear someone else has trained to jerk you around. The morons running the Russian River for example think doing stuff like having people haul away their fish carcasses is going to fix things... Even though the river is full of fish that will soon be creating more food than the bears could ask for in a very convenient form.

Additionally, I doubt bear spray is even remotely effective in a real charge. The numbers of "lives saved" with the stuff I believe to be grossly inflated, especially when you can find claims of bears turned at distances well beyond 40 yards. Personal experience says the stuff is a joke.

Sitka thanks for sharing your insights and experience. Unfortunately in Colorado, our grizzlies are gone. In many ways I miss Montana, but Colorado's not a bad place to be by far and I have to put my sons through college (though one's in the Rangers and will hopefully get to use the GI bill). I'll be up in Togiak with John Pete hunting brown bears this fall (my first ever guided hunt) looking forward to seeing Alaska again, it's been more than 30 years ... Once again, thanks.

Good luck in Togiak!

Do you not know how to spell attacked?

I didn't know Grizzlies had gray hair.

Now tell me you did'nt unnustand whet he sead?

Quite bein a turkie and so upitte...

beerhuntr

In my Bear Charge at 15 feet, I don't recall the sight picture.When the barrel crossed the neck I shot.

I also don't recall using the sights went I let off a few rounds during a armed Robbery.

You shouldn't be committing armed robbery!

Ain't that the truth!

How about guns for plane protection?

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/57379-grizzly-bear-vs-airplane.html

One fellow with a .380 and one with a 9mm got enlightened on the hazard of their occupation.

APD officer said I two good groups.

Addendum: This past weekend, an acquaintance went bear hunting and killed a rather ordinary bear, meaning one in the 7 foot range. Knowing that he was planning to hunt bears, I had meant to ask what his weapon was, or if he needed anything to supplement his ammo selection. As it turned out, he used a 12 gauge shotgun and Brenneke slugs. At 30 yards, two shots put the animal down; the second shot "smoked" a hole through the far side, as he related things. He found the first slug against the hide on the back side. It had broken no significant bone and was not deformed. Again, a shotgun, though it can recoil substantially and starts out with a big hole, is not too much gun by any stretch and is not, IMO, an ideal choice as a bear protection weapon.

By that, do you mean the slug did not expand the way a bullet normally does?

Or do you mean that it's hard enough that there was no "detrimental" deformation?

It was hard enough not to deform in soft tissues, yet it did not exit in a soft tissue path.

Maybe I expect too much, but I want a "solid" to exit when shooting bears. Of the two bears I am aware of which have been shot with Brenneke slugs in less than two years, this makes 2/2 bears that have stopped these slugs. And I don't consider this "classic" premium shotgun slug to be a bad slug at all. I'm just not convinced that a 12 gauge has a leg up on an easier-to-manage rifle such as a 308 with good bullets. I've put easily over a dozen rifle bullets into bears. One may have stayed in one of them. This friend's bear makes 2 of 3 for this slug. I realize the sample size is small, but it's still a bit troubling if one plans for it as a dedicated bear defense gun.

The bear died and the slug left a 3/4" hole from one side to the hide on the other side. Would it have performed better by exiting?

Well, i guess (after this) all i need for that cape buff is the '06 and partitions.

i have seen the races in the action housing come out of remington autos after much less than too many rounds have been fired through them-in 06 cal to boot.

Klik- when i fished the russian and k. rivers alone i had locals loaning me their pepper spray. now i hear 18 bears were killed in defense in 08. would you guys carry pepper or also firearms and if so a pistol or rifle. was i a nut to fish alone with only pepper.

eyeball, In my opinion you were not nuts. if the truth were known, more DLP bears are killed simply because the shooter either wanted an excuse to kill a bear, was unfamiliar with bear behavior or had read Alaska Bear Tales too many times. There are hundreds and hundreds of hikers and campers who venture to our national parks here in Alaska with nothing stronger than bear spray.