Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Grizzly Defense With A Handgun: Doable?

Take a toothbrush...Load it with flouride...

In use against dangerous game in Africa, shotguns have been a disaster and have resulted in many mauled PH�s and clients. With the right slug, it becomes viable, but buckshot is soft and has piss poor sectional density resulting in very little penetration against something with big bones and very dense muscle. No, a good large bore bullet at a moderate velocity, whether it comes from a rifle or a handgun is the ticket. JWP has proven (as well as many others like him) that a powerful revolver will end the conflict just as well as a rifle. JWP used a .475 on the bears in his photo and the killing power of such revolvers is simply amazing; surpassing a lot of magnum rifles.

I wonder why South African game wardens favor a 9.3x62 mauser or better yet, an FN FAL to deal with renegade Cape Buffs, which are probably a lot harder to stop than most bears.

If I make it back to "big bear" country, I will ALWAYS be carrying a serious pistol (probably the magnaported 4in 629 I currently own), but it won't be plan A.

Yeah, you CAN kill a bear/griz (which could weigh 200# or 1200#) with a handgun. You CAN jump off of cliffs with a tiny parachute sans reserve, but I wouldn't reccommend that as a hobby either.

i concour.

and i'll add this: the last two grizzly maulings that i'm aware of here in Montana happened BECAUSE someone shot the bear. the first one went something like this: guy shot bear, guy and his pard waited a while and then tracked bear into brush. wounded bear attacked and killed the pard.

second one went like this. guy shot bear. wounded bear attacked guys pard. guy fatally shot his pard in the chest while trying to kill bear.

in a similar incident near Cooke City two years ago, a guy shot his pard (not fatally) trying to repel a bear that was chewing on him.

and an incident JB posted here a while back. i don't know if this was griz or black bear, though. bear wandered too close. guy shot bear with his pistol. bear got pi$$ed and started chewing on the guy. the guys pard showed up and repelled the bear with bear spray.

Bear protection ain't a quick draw shoot out affair IMHO&E. The handgun is more likely to be with you when you need a gun most. IF a bear gets on you when you are in a tent and in your sleeping bag, good luck trying to get a rifle into action. The handgun is easily kept on ones person while doing camp chores, etc. The handgun is very handy and if always carried will be ther with you when needed, that is the beauty of the handgun

That bear spray ain't going to do one much good whne in the tent and in the sleeping bag, good luck useing it with out getting a face full yourself. Try spraying it into the wind and let me know how well that works. Bear spray ain't going to deter a determined charge. I'll leave the pepper for my meal

That's what a friend of mine said, "Nothing beats a 12 gauge as a bear stopper."

Well, probably a good idea to have one in camp, as at close range it's easier to deploy a shotgun in self-defense than a scoped rifle, but other than camp what are you going to do? Carry a shotgun over one shoulder and your scoped rifle over the other? I guess that's what Wild Alaska had in mind, but it seems screwy to me.

Hey, you don't want to go under gunned!

I would carry my .44 Mag. Mountain Gun. The 329 PD sounds good to me. IIRC you have the hole already plugged.

Ruger used to use the testimony of some guy who killed one with a 44-40 Vaquero, as an advertisement. I don't recall whether it was a Black Bear or a Griz.

Hawk:

Carry your heaviest .44 in a chest holster. Carry the rifle in your hand. Carry a can of bear spray on your belt.

The bear might get you anyway, but at least you won't be fretting that you didn't take every precaution after weeks of obsessing over every possible bear-attack scenario.

JWP's comments pretty much sums up why you oughta have a handgun in bear country, as plan B.

As for a shotgun, I just weighed my 7-shot 18.5in 870. Eight pounds seven ounces. My 45/70 trapper weighs 6# 13oz. I don't have to think twice about which one to take.

Who do you think you're fooling with that BS? What I've posted is available for anyone to read. No one needs your characterizations of it.

And why would that be? Have you shot any large game with a handgun? Not trying to be combative, just like to know where your perspective is coming from. You may be surprised by the terminal effects of a properly loaded big-bore revolver. True that not everyone can shoot them well, but not everyone can shoot a rifle, let alone a heavy kicker well either.

so, you'd hunt elk with your trapper, or carry two rifles?

I'd have zero problem standing my ground against any interior griz armed with my Steyr Scout (308) with any 180gr mono bullet. Coastal AK? I'd pick a larger (338) rifle. Hiking or fishing in Brownieland? I'd have the little trapper stuffed with some potent hardcasts and slung african.

I'm a retired SF medic, former PSD contractor, and TCCC instructor. I might just have an inkling or two about terminal ballistics. I'm NOT a handgun hunter. I am Rogers Range qualified/certified with a handgun and I know I can hit [bleep] a lot better with a carbine than a single-action pistol. A man has gotta know his limitations, I have a pretty good handle on mine.

Terminal ballistics, you want terminal ballistics. Well OK.


Here is a photo of the exit in the rib cage of a 6X7 Bull Elk created by a 180 grain fired from a 300 Win
Impact velocity about 2600 FPS for 2700 FPE




This is the exit in the same elk from a 440 grain flat point hard cast fired from the 500 JRH at about 950 FPS muzzle velocity for 888 FPE



The little handgun did not take a back seat in terminal performance

A 0.475 440grain slug is hardly a "little pistol". That is creeping up on 45/70 ballistics, which I agree is entirely adequate as a stopping round anywhere in the western hemisphere.

That's a 440 grain .50 caliber bullet at a scorching 950 fps at the muzzle. It's a pussycat to shoot.

I don't socialize with grizzly bears very often and have only been close to a few while fishing in Alaska. Some of the guides were armed, and some were not. I had a sow and cub come close to us while we were having a shore lunch several weeks ago a little south of Port Heiden. She eventually wandered off into the bushes. I did have a friend mauled in Denali back in the 1970's when he got between a sow and cubs when hiking. He lived through the experience.

Contact with dangerous animals can occur when least expected.
I have black bears, venomous snakes, feral dogs, and other nasties on my farm that may need some persuasion to get them to leave me alone. I always have some type of handgun with me. I presently am carrying a .44 Mag SS Vaquero but have carried a 629, a 329, and a .45 Colt old Vaquero.

The reason I always carry a handgun in the woods, even when hunting with a rifle, is that the handgun is always with me. I put my rifle down to field dress or load up a deer, but my handgun is always on my hip. It may not be the idea weapon for protection but it is always available.



It sort of reminds me of the old story about the LEO who wore his sidearm to his daughter's school for a PTA meeting. One parent saw his handgun and asked him if he was expecting trouble. He answered that if he was expecting trouble he would also be carrying his shotgun.