|
|
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005 |
jaguartx;
Good morning to you sir, I hope that this second Sunday in July is as bright and clear down in your part of Texas as it is up here across the medicine line.
My personal experience with buckshot is limited to testing only, so I am not able to say what it might do in the real world. Again that one BC provincial biologist was adamant that buckshot didn't work in the situation he talked about, but he was reluctant to offer too many details other than it failed.
Currently my theory is that I'm looking for as much straight line penetration as I can get, because the shot will most likely be front on with the animal advancing.
I'll just sidetrack a wee bit here to say that my hunting partner and his then significant other, along with my good wife and I were witness to a small - 5' to 5½' at most blonde phase black bear chasing a mulie heifer. The heifer ran downhill on a steep mountain - we all estimated that she was making at least 25' per bound and she was going for all she was worth, right?
Here's the thing, that little stinker came within a whisker of catching her! Until we'd seen that, we'd heard bears couldn't run downhill, didn't run that fast anyway....... The bear in the video walked up to those guys compared to what we saw jaguartx - that's the only way I can put it. One of us described it as a blur of motion.
So that taken into account and talking to other folks like my buddy in the Yukon who has been there when a lot of bears shuffled off this mortal coil, I'm planning on getting one shot - if I'm extremely lucky - before it gets up close and personal. The shot may be at contact range - that's to say stuff the barrel on it's neck, etc and pull the trigger.
The target - as I imagine it only - will be the center of the blur coming my way. I run the big Dual Glo beads from Tru-Glo on any social arms I modify as they're about as good as I've found for low light. I envision putting the big bead in the middle and praying that the Good Lord guides it to something vital.
On the same topic, we absolutely discuss shot placement on a bear which has a person down. This is vitally important, as a chap in the Kootenays was being mauled by an interior grizzly and his son in law shot it off him with a .338. The bullet exited the grizzly, blew the guy's knee apart and he ended up getting the leg amputated as I recall.
This is in no way a condemnation of the son in law either, as the situation would be chaotic at best and the person being mauled would be flailing all limbs at first, or surely could be.
Our plan is to place a slug through the hip socket/pelvic girdle first in that situation, then reassess and see where the next one can be sent safely.
Anyway, I hope that made sense and was useful to someone out there this morning. As well it goes without saying that I hope and pray no one needs to use the training or equipment to prevent or stop a bear attack.
Dwayne Dwayne (and jag), Sorry I missed this post before I wrote my previous reply. Here's how I was trained, and as Gary Shelton discusses this in his books, the way folks still train today. Shot placement on a charging bear is necessarily going to be aim for the middle of the biggest part and shoot. That means the chest, although the head may get in the way, which is okay if you're shooting slug or bullet. Buckshot, not so much, although I don't know anyone who knows his bear business who actually recommends buckshot. You're not shooting a 100-pound leopard, here. As you say, Dwayne, these are very fast animals and charges are very quick. One technique that I think is gaining a lot of credence in Africa and maybe here as well, is dropping to one knee if you have time. This puts your bore more in line with the axis of the charging animal, and increases the probability of a stopping hit. If the bear is mauling someone in your party, getting down to one knee to shoot it off your pard greatly reduces the risk of hitting human body parts on a shoot-through. Just some non-expert but carefully considered thoughts, again.
"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 12,126
Campfire Outfitter
|
|
OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 12,126 |
Doc;
Thanks for the reply and for your input to it, I always appreciate your well articulated thoughts on matters under discussion.
It's funny that you mention the "African Carry" method as that's how I've been packing both the meat packing shotguns and my primary hunting arms for years now. I find its a good way for me to control the muzzle - carry cold anyway when I'm moving in the shin tangle up here - but still like to control the muzzle and it's quick to deploy when needed.
As mentioned I did use a 94 as a camping arm for a wee bit, but gravitated back to the pump gun which I've had for so many decades and put so many rounds through.
One thing mentioned by a couple fellows from up Churchill, MB way on a similar thread on a Canuck forum is that a shotgun is typically less expensive and sometimes a tad lighter than even an iron sighted rifle. The idea is to have the shoo bear arm with you and if one doesn't have piles of hard earned cash tied up in it, one might not mind having it out in tough conditions or weather as much as a rifle costing 3 to 5 times as much. Of course the weight question has a lot of variables attached, but I will say that the little 14" barreled Turkish pump gun is noticeably less heavy after a bit of time passes.
Anyway sir, again it was good to hear from you and I hope you and yours have a wonderful summer.
Dwayne
The most important stuff in life isn't "stuff"
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005
Campfire Ranger
|
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005 |
Well, I’m glad you found my ramblings to be of some value, my friend!
And I do agree anything that makes you more likely to keep your bear defense firearm on your person at all times is a good thing. Which is why I took to carrying a sidearm while hunting down here in the Lower 48 as soon as I could legally do so, back in the mid-90’s. I have no illusions about the relative effectiveness of a handgun compared to a rifle or shotgun, but a magnum DA revolver can be effectively deployed at very close range with only one hand, should you not have time to stop the attack with your primary.
This business of having it on your person is why I have come to favor the little Marlin Guide Gun and the Winchester 1886. The slim receivers of these rifles (which also happens to be the center of balance) makes them very handy to carry in one hand, more so than any bolt rifle or scattergun. The cost of a modern Marlin GG isn’t much more than a pump shotgun, so a fellow really doesn’t have to think of it as a prized possession that has to be protected from the elements.
Just an observation.
"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars
|
|
|
|
|
153 members (257 roberts, 35, 10Glocks, 44mc, 7x57Hunter, 7887mm08, 14 invisible),
1,978
guests, and
819
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,191,280
Posts18,467,699
Members73,928
| |
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|
