I once talked to a guy who had got attacked by a black bear on an early season "scouting" trip for elk in Colorado.
Although he had a rifle, he surprised the bear (turned out to be a sow later on) when coming around a bend and the bear was upon him so fast, he said he didn't even have time to even think about getting the rifle up for a shot (he was carrying it - port arms).
The bear chewed on him a bit, and he managed to break free and started climbing a tree. The bear came right up after him and grabbed him by his calf. Kicking the bear with his other foot, the bear lost her grip on the tree and fell, taking a big chunk of his calf with him.
He watched the bear move off, with a piece of his leg dangling from her jaws.
After a bit, he climbed down, recovered his rifle, and crawled back to his tent. It was starting to get dark and he didn't want to make a long crawl (about 3 miles) down the rocky trail in the dark.
He bandaged his calf, best he could and waited for the bear to return.
Sure enough, about 1 or 2 am, the bear tried to paw its way through the tent. The guy fired his rifle and the bear left.
At daybreak, the guy started crawling down the trail. This is a trail I have hunted that (Major Creek) in south-central Colorado, that follows a creek. It is muddy and rocky with dense brush on both sides.
About 9:30 am, he finally makes it far enough down the trail to a point where a woman having coffee on her porch (thankfully facing the mountains) see him, and has some ranch hands get him. He is taken to the hospital.
The (then) Co Division of Wildlife, is there within an couple of hours with hounds. They find the bears tracks just 200 feet up the trail the man had just crawled down. The bear was trailing him to finish him off!
They shot the bear and found the remains of the man's calf in her stomach.
The man moved away for almost 10 years and, when I met him, had just started hunting again in Colorado, where he grew up and had hunted for over 25 years.
He told me (and I was bear hunting at the time) that he will only go back into bear country under the following conditions:
1) always have a pistol strapped securely to your body. A rifle is almost useless if the bear surprises you at close range. You will not get a shot. Your best chance will be once the bear knocks you down, and provided your pistol doesn't go flying, you can grab the gun and kill the bear while it is chewing on you.
2)always hunt with another person.
Now this if from a guy who grew up in the Colorado mountains and hunted deer, elk, and bear his entire life. He hunted for decades by himself and was an accomplished outdoorsman, yet one encounter changed his views.
As for me, I always take a pistol along (currently a Taurus Tracker .44 Mag) if I am in bear country, and if I am seeing fresh bear scat, I take it with me when I'm hunting. I still like to hunt alone though.
BTW I used to have a SW 629 in .44 mag, but it was really too heavy, so I sold it. The Taurus Tracker is a real kicker, but is a joy to carry.
Good hunting!
BH
Last edited by BH63; 11/17/15.
