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

Wrong thinking--a griz can run about 5 times faster than a man. I'd rather have the pistol.

I can see bear spray working in certain instances and not being a viable choice in other instances, but again that was not the question the opening post asked. Just because you weren't the first to get off topic, doesn't mean you weren't off topic

A firearm isn't viable for every one either, but for some one that can use it it is the best IMHO&E

to shoot yourself? because if I'm going to shoot the bastid I'm doing it with 4500 ft. lbs. of .338, not with a pop gun. and I'm not wasting my shooting time laying down a rifle and drawing a a pistol.

the "running for my life" was obviously a joke, I'd be climbing for my life, once that .338 went dry.

The point is that you don't always have your rifle in hand, while a holstered sidearm is always within easy reach.

FPE is not conserved in an inelastic collision as this diagram clearly illustrates

It was against a black bear in Arizona. I believe both guys in the tent got mauled to some extent before the bear was shot.

That's the job of the guide to carry a handgun AND a rifle to protect the client so the client doesn't have to protect himself, all the client have to do is hunt.

I see you have the Eastern mentality when it comes to Grizzlies. Hopefully, you will always have a competent guide with you to protect you. And I'm not being a smart azz.

where do you get this stuff? the guide has to keep his dudes intact, but nobody sez they have to have a handgun. and, yea, i've guided a few hunters...carried a Ruger tang safety in .338 WM. only. and get this, my outfitter carried a .257 Roberts and no sidearm. we never lost a dude and not one suggested we were under armed.

and i don't recall ever seeing a pic of Phil Shoemaker wearin a pistol...

one of the silliest things I've ever seen was way up the Pole Creek drainage in Idaho, two hombres elk hunting with big ass magnum rifles and tied down super blackhawks.

tell me the scenario where you fight the bear with a handgun instead of your rifle.....you drain the four rounds in your magazine and don't even slow the bear down enough to reload? Then with the bear on you, you quick draw and whack him and the .44 mag does what you couldn't do with a big rifle. I mean, I guess it could happen, but it's pretty far fetched.

of course, everybody should do exactly what blows up your skirt.

BTW, there was no outfitter or guide around on that trip.

and it has been my experience that the flatlander sports are far more obsessed with bears than the local boys.

Apparently you don't hunt with horses. Riding a horse your rifle in in a scabbard on the horse or some even put their scabbards with rifle on the pack horse. If your horse bolts and you find your self on the ground with your horse heading down the trail with your rifle you'll be dang glad you have a handgun with you. If you get off your horse to take a whiz or whatever and your bolts for whatever reason and there goes your rifle you'll be glad you have a handgun on you.

When doing camp chores it's nice to have a handgun with you just in case. It's not likely you will have your rifle strung across your back.

When taking a crap it's nice to have a handgun with you just in case.

When gutting out an animal it's nice to have a handgun with you just in case. It's a long reach for that rifle leaning up against a tree.

When climbing that tree and your rifle is on the ground as it will be it's nice to know you can shoot a Grizzly as he tries knocking you out of the tree.

The way I look at it the old timers carried handguns and rifles for a reason.

But hey, you Easterners can do whatever you want, no skin off my nose if you become bear poop for lack of a handgun.

like I said, whatever blows up your skirt.

we hunt with horses, and nobody carries a handgun when they're rifle hunting.

now, if I don't have a rifle, I'll damn sure carry one, but otherwise not.

BTW, I DO take my rifle to the latrine at night. starting right after I saw the griz track in the crick bed about a pistol shot from the head.

DD, when was the last time you actually went hunting?

No kidding, "Dude" lives up to his name.





What BS.

I take a handgun with me when I feed my sheep. I carry a handgun with me when I watter the greenhouse. I carry a handgun when I deliver produce. I carry a handgun when I go the the refrigerator (that is out the door and into the basement next door, no refrigerator in our house) I take a handgun with me to the grocery store.

Why in the flying hell would I leave it at home when hunting? Ant I just live in black bear and cougar country.

those skeery scenarios of DD's sound like something out of an old Russel Annabel story in Outdoor Life, made up on a bar stool in Anchorage.

"So there I was, thrown from my horse, the rest of the packstring run off, and the giant grizzly roaring toward me"

Because unless you're bowhunting, you're most likely carrying a RIFLE.

Couple of points to ponder.

In current CQB training the transition from the carbine/rifle to the pistol is a skill that is practiced intensively. I would venture you will be unable to find any recognized authority on rifle fighting that would recommend leaving your pistol at home because you are carrying a rifle and don't want to carry the extra weight.

With the unbelievable loads carried by our troops the pistol still is worth the extra weight to those who actually get into real fights. Believing that your rifle could never fail or you will always have it in your hands might not be the best plan.

Might be kinda funny to tell the next real deal warrior you meet that he is stupid for carrying a pistol when he has a rifle.

The point being that those who have been exposed to a lot of real fighting like and carry pistols even while carrying rifles.

The silver lining is that most hunters in bear country will never need either a rifle or a pistol and will never have to pay a price for taking the easy way out.

I would venture a wager that those who would skip the pistol would have second thoughts if they absolutely knew they were going to have a mortal conflict with a bear on their next hunt.

I also would love to see someone effectively shoot a hunting rifle while carrying an elk quarter in a pack. Video anyone?

As to the idea that you will simply lean your rifle on a tree and it will be immediately available to you in the event you need to defend yourself is also fraught with problems.

When the bear charges do you really think you will be able to travel to your rifle, pick it up, cycle the action, and kill the bear before he has his way with you? Maybe you are going to leave it leaning against a tree loaded to save time? The bear might be the least of your worries if you make it a habit of leaving a loaded rifle leaning on trees.

Add a few mules and horses that are not real happy about having elk quarters loaded on them to the rifles leaning against trees and hope you like buying new rifles and scopes. Oh were the rifles leaning on trees loaded? Hope you like buying new mules and horses.

I have 2 personal friend who live in my town of 300 that were attacked by grizzlies and were unable to use the handgun they carried to stop the attack. Both times the handgun was carried under clothing and the bear caught them before they could draw.

Both guys are now none the worse for wear but one required a life flight due to a puncture wound very close to the femoral artery and the other has a spotting scope with some pretty cool grizzly bear teeth marks in it. Both guys still carry a handgun just in better holsters.

Learning to draw effectively (you are not born with this skill) is most likely more important than the handgun being drawn.

An elk hunt is not CQB with azzholes shooting at you.