Originally Posted by jorgeI
Originally Posted by kellory
Curiosity, from those who have faced bears, why is a pump shotgun with solid slugs or 00buck, not the preferred close in bear weapon? Fast handling, close in devastation, and a bead sight for fast sighting. Why choose a long range rifle for a close in job?


Because a shotgun lacks penetration, even on the relatively thin skull of the big cats.




More on the penetration from Professional Hunter Robin Hurt: "In a split second, the leopard sprang up at me from close quarters but I somehow managed to fire the second barrel with the muzzles less than a foot from its head. But as he was moving so quickly, the shot missed his head, hitting him on the side of the neck. At such close quarters, the ’00’ buckshot had acted like a solid and had absolutely no immediate effect."

shotgun on leopard

A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”