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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56
Campfire Sage
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OP
Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56 |
These are the rifles I'm bringing. One's a pre-64 Winchester 70 Featherweight and the other is an FN Belgian Browning (Mauser Action), "pencil barrel, High Power, Safari Grade. Both are in .308 Winchester, and both sport a Leupold VXII 3-9 variable with Weaver bases and rings. Both are about the same weight (quite light, both having aluminum bottom metal and other lightening features), and both have very nice, crisp, and light trigger pulls. ![[Linked Image]](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/TheRealHawkeye/IMAG0192.jpg)
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,922
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,922 |
If you can not deal with reality, reality will deal with you....
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896 |
Nothing wrong with those!
You better be afraid of a ghost!!
"Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops
Woody
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261 |
Make sure you allow plenty of time to acclimate to high mountain country. Failing to do so may kill you faster than a bear.
Don't vote knothead, it only encourages them. Anonymous
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." Anonymous
"Self-reliance, free thinking, and wealth is anathema to both the power of the State and the Church." Derby Dude
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56
Campfire Sage
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OP
Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56 |
Make sure you allow plenty of time to acclimate to high mountain country. Failing to do so may kill you faster than a bear. No choice in the matter. Flight is on a Thursday, and the hunt starts Saturday morning.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261 |
Take plenty of oxygen!  Just kidding. As long as you don't go to high you will probably be alright. Hopefully, you are riding horses.
Don't vote knothead, it only encourages them. Anonymous
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." Anonymous
"Self-reliance, free thinking, and wealth is anathema to both the power of the State and the Church." Derby Dude
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56
Campfire Sage
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OP
Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56 |
Take plenty of oxygen! Just kidding. As long as you don't go to high you will probably be alright. Hopefully, you are riding horses. When I hunted elk in the Colorado Rockies we were on horseback, but not on this one. But the Rockies hunt typically took place at between eight and nine thousand feet above sea level. I felt it, too. Every ten or fifteen steps I had to stop and catch my breath.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261 |
Even 4,000 feet can be a killer. Take it easy.
I live at about 3,000 to 4,000 depending on where I am in the city. When my wife and I are in Seattle we go up down hills like teenagers.
Don't vote knothead, it only encourages them. Anonymous
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." Anonymous
"Self-reliance, free thinking, and wealth is anathema to both the power of the State and the Church." Derby Dude
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680 |
Save the last round for yourself if you get et by a griz. Unless you are extremely lucky you aren't going to do anything but piss him or her off with your peashooter.
Liberalism is a mental disorder that leads to social disease.
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 61,130
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 61,130 |
Chris;
You're going to a f'king ranch in Idaho.
And, you're carrying a rifle, which is far more powerful than your handguns.
Quit kidding yourself.
Oh, wait....nevermind.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,382
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,382 |
Load the 329pd with something reasonable - forget those fantasy bullets and loads - they won't do anything other than lighten your wallet. A can of bear spray is pretty cheap too.
Last edited by dla; 09/26/11.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,700 Likes: 4
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,700 Likes: 4 |
But I seem to recall reading an article about ten of fifteen years ago that suggested that there's never been a successful self-defense against a grizzly bear with a handgun, regardless of caliber or load, and that your best self-defense against one is whatever rifle you're hunting with. Thoughts? That's horseschitt. There have been plenty of successful SD shoots against bears with handguns. Those that disagree or deny the fact either hates handguns or don't know what they are talking about. Are they ideal? No, but they're better than a sharp stick and may be the only thing you have on you when you have your encounter. My concern isn't so much about having it to defend myself while hunting as it is when I'm zipped and buttoned up for the night i my sleeping bag. With the handgun, I can have it in the bag with me and be able to shoot through the bag if needed and I can't get unbuttoned fast enough to reach and manipulate a rifle. Load it up with a good 300gr hardcast load of your own recipe, or an offering from someone like Corbon, Buffalo Bore, Grizzly Cartridge or Double Tap. Penetration is the word of the day here.
![[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/b6/d8/98b6d863a5f722b551cd8e1440bd2bd4.jpg) Z
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,991 Likes: 7
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,991 Likes: 7 |
This comes up since I've been invited by an old friend to join him and a local hunter friend of his in Idaho (where they live currently) to do some elk hunting there, and he informs me that there are grizzly bear warnings for hunters up there recently, some having been attacked. He recommended that, in addition to my .30-06 bolt gun, I also bring a bear stopping handgun to wear while hunting. Most powerful handgun I have is a .44 Magnum. Have three, in fact, but the lightest one is my S&W 329PD, which is what I'm thinking of packing. But I seem to recall reading an article about ten of fifteen years ago that suggested that there's never been a successful self-defense against a grizzly bear with a handgun, regardless of caliber or load, and that your best self-defense against one is whatever rifle you're hunting with. Thoughts?
PS I remember reading accounts of bear attacks, also, where the hunter attempted self-defense with his rifle, and had the rifle knocked from his hands, resulting in a long drawn out mauling because he had nothing else. Yep, a properly loaded and applied handgun will get the job done ![[Linked Image]](http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d62/jwp475/00000009.jpg) I recommend a 300 WFN flat point hard cast of 300 or so grains at 1200 or more FPS. If the M-329 isn't reliable with that load then I'd take the M-29 or M-629 As to pepper spray, leave the condiments for the dinner table
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,143
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,143 |
Well said, jwp. Seems to me the naysayers are the ones who don't hunt with handguns and perhaps are unaware just how terminally effective they can be (loaded correctly -- same caveat applies to rifles) on big game animals -- even those that bite.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56
Campfire Sage
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OP
Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56 |
I recommend a 300 WFN flat point hard cast of 300 or so grains at 1200 or more FPS. If the M-329 isn't reliable with that load then I'd take the M-29 or M-629
That occurred to me too, i.e., going with the more traditional pattern four inch M29 if there was any bullet pulling going on with the 329. I took it (the all steel M29) on a boar hunt about ten years ago as a backup to my Winchester 94 and don't recall noticing the weight. Of course that was in Vermont, not Idaho (altitude difference, even though this was high country for Vermont), and I didn't have a day pack on.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,111 Likes: 6
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,111 Likes: 6 |
It has been pretty much proven that about 90% of the guys who want to carry a handgun for bear protection do not have the expertise to draw and fire accurately enough to stop a bear during a charge,nor do they seldom have the time to do so.. The other 10% do and those are the ones we hear about. All test done by most credible wildlife biologist show that good bear spray is more effective.I'd belive them more so than internet armchair wanna be's.
Last edited by saddlesore; 09/27/11.
If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,143
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,143 |
It has been pretty much proven that about 90% of the guys who want to carry a handgun for bear protection do not have the expertise to draw and fire accurately enough to stop a bear during a charge,nor do they seldom have the time to do so.. The other 10% do and those are the ones we hear about. All test done by most credible wildlife biologist show that good bear spray is more effective.I'd belive them more so than internet armchir wanna be's. By all means, one needs to rely on the type of firearm they are most able to effectively use.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56
Campfire Sage
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OP
Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,992 Likes: 56 |
It has been pretty much proven that about 90% of the guys who want to carry a handgun for bear protection do not have the expertise to draw and fire accurately enough to stop a bear during a charge,nor do they seldom have the time to do so.. The other 10% do and those are the ones we hear about. All test done by most credible wildlife biologist show that good bear spray is more effective.I'd belive them more so than internet armchir wanna be's. By all means, one needs to rely on the type of firearm they are most able to effectively use. Well, I cut my teeth on S&W K-Frame double action revolvers way back in the 1980s. They're like second nature to me by now, so switching to an N-Frame shouldn't be such a big deal for me.
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,860
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,860 |
You would be too scared to do anything should a bear come running....They are A LOT scarier than a guy in a truck...
********
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 604
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 604 |
Carry a shotgun
WildidontfollowmyownadviceAlaska ��2002-2011
Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine t�tige Unwissenheit.
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