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Check out the guntalk podcast from 23 August (I believe the 3rd hour) where Tom Gresham interviews a guy from Alaska who was out walking his dogs when a Brown bears charges him from behind only 60' away! The guy is carrying a Ruger Alaskan (2 or 2.5" barreled 454) and dumps 4 rounds into the bear breaking it spine (luck shot really) and the bear slide past him on its chin while the guy is falling over is own feet literally. While a heart of lung shot may have killed the bear in time, what damage would that ticked off bear do to you???

Anyway if I was concerned about bears, I would carry the largest caliber I could shoot effectively. Just my 2 cents.

I was just thinking of that. I seen it posted on the falfiles the other day.

Friends,

Have I got a story for you guys!

King season is over, and since i had a day off before silvers start, i thought i would go for a walk! this occurred at 11:16 am this morning (Sunday), just 2/10 of a mile from my house, ON OUR ROAD while walking my dogs (trying to get in shape for hunting season, ironically!) for the record, this is in a residential area-not back in the woods, no bowhunting, no stealth occurring...

I heard a twig snap, and looked back...full on charge-a huge brownie, ears back, head low and motorin' full speed! Came with zero warning; no woof, no popping of the teeth, no standing up, nothing like what you think or see on TV! It charged from less than 20 yards and was on me in about one-second! Totally surreal-I just started shooting in the general direction, and praise God that my second shot (or was it my third?) Rolled him at 5 feet and he skidded to a stop 10 feet BEYOND where I was shooting from-I actually sidestepped him and fell over backwards on the last shot, and his momentum carried him to a stop past where I fired my first shot!

It was a prehistoric old boar-no teeth, no fat-weighed between 900-1000 lbs and took five men to DRAG it onto a tilt-bed trailer! Big bear-its paw measured out at about a 9 1/2 footer!

never-ever-thought "it" would happen to me! its always some other smuck, right? well, no bull- i am still high on adrenaline, with my gut in a knot. feels like i did 10000 crunches without stopping! almost puked for an hour after, had the burps and couldn't even stand up as the troopers conducted their investigation! totally wiped me out-cant even put that feeling into words, by far the most emotion i have ever felt at once!

No doubt that God was with me, as I brought my Ruger .454 Casull (and some "hot" 350 grain solids) just for the heck of it, and managed to draw and snap shoot (pointed, never even aimed!) from the hip! Total luck shot!

All I can say is Praise God for my safety and for choosing to leave the wife and kids at home on this walk! Got a charter tomorrow, so gonna TRY to get some sleep now!

talk to ya soon, -greg

Greg & Sherri Brush
EZ Limit Guide Service
PO Box 4278
Soldotna, AK 99669
907-262-6169
www.ezlimit.com
 
I think I have read this story befor!! WOW!!! Good for your, I hear more storys of hunters found dead with the loaded rifle next to them, not able to draw a rifle fast enough!!

I really dont think I will run into a bear that big... If I did have a bear encounter I belive it would be a black bear... Last time we went shooting at the pit, a black bear cub ran acrost the road, we almost hit him and we were only about a 1/4 mi from where we shoot. I did not stop to see the mama!

Has anyone had any experience using 357 on B-bears?

PS Im almost as impressed by the size of the fly next to your finger as I am the bear
 
That wasn't me.
I just cut and pasted the story and pics from another forum.

More to the point is handling a .454 or any gun for that matter under stress and how you won't notice recoil or how loud it is.

That was was some outstanding shooting, lucky shot or not.
 
heres my thought on this very subject.
I hunt almost every year and I aways wear a sidearm because they can be weilded much quicker than a rifle,,,,,especially a scoped rifle that may be set at 9X power. I used to always carry a 1911. knowing that I can hit anything any time with it. well it only works if the 45 acp bullet can get to the vitals. There is a lot hair and skin/fat to slow that already slow bullet down. So now I got a 44 magnum, you get 6 shots and if two of those hit anything its going either slow it way down so i can use my rifle or it will stop it completely. and luckily in all the hunting I have done I have seen a bear twice. and that was while waiting over a deer gut pile for one to come around to get shot.
 
What nonsense. Yes, you'll piss him off, as much as you would a man-sized target with a hit from a .357. You'll likely piss him off to the point he runs away or collapses dead. That's "pissed off" enough for me.

Black bears in lowland-WA don't run that huge that a .454 Casull is a "must have" deterrent. When in grizzly territory, I'll "upgun" to a .44 magnum - but for black bears in WA a .357 is going to suffice as tons of hunting experience has shown. Bear trackers even host hunts with calibers such as .45acp and less - though I don't personally think that's humane or sensible.
I'm so sick and tired of people saying"you can kill a bear with a 357, or a 270 is a good elk gun if you pick your shot"

You can kill a grizzly with a baseball bat if you hit it right! Does that make a baseball bat a good choice for self defence of a grizzly? NO! Unless it's all you have.

The pre mentioned guides that take people black bear hunting with 357's or 45 acp's.
those guides all pack shotgun's or 45-70's as back up, and are usually the one who end's up killing the bear.

Short of a 50 cal. or a BFR revolver in some large rifle caliber,no pistol is appropriate to stop a charging bear. The bigger the pistol,( the more kinetic energy it has)the less inappropriate it is.

Do not confuse an appropriate hunting caliber with one suitable to stop a pissed off charging bear.When hunting bear,unless you hit them in the head,spine or break their shoulder's,they will run off. Then if you and your bullet did your job,you wait a while and go find your bled out bear.
If you are one of the astronomically unlucky people in WA or OR that actually gets attacked by a bear then your going to want the pistol with the most kinetic energy you can handle. Period!
Anyone that tells you otherwise is a fool or does most of their hunting at their computer.
 
Although bear spray is potent stuff, the downside is that a moderate wind from the wrong direction can really crap all over your defensive plan. The .454 is a better idea and you can't go wrong with the Taurus Raging Bull. It takes a bit of practice but is well worth the effort. I have one with that's become one of my favorite guns to shoot.:s0155:
 
.40 super and most of the other hot auto rounds might make decent ballistics, but they don't use the right kind of bullets for something like a 'pissed bear'.

You want hardcast lead,big meplat, flat nosed bullets. Autos don't typically run very well with ammo like that.

That's why a big revolver is better, IMO.
We are starting to see grizzly in the Cascades, but the odds of running into one are worse than having a tree fall on you.
I'm more worried about weird people, maybe big kitties..esp when snowmobiling.
For that, a .357mag with 158gr Gold Dot's is plenty.
If I were to head to Alaska, then even my .44mag is too small.
 
Stay with the .357 - you will shoot it more than the 454 and it is cheaper. I have a friend who once owned a .454 - he said he fired it once and then sold it - it was not fun to shoot. I've had .357's for a long time and they shoot great- and you can shoot .38 spc in them also. + ammo is cheaper.
 
Stay with the .357 - you will shoot it more than the 454 and it is cheaper. I have a friend who once owned a .454 - he said he fired it once and then sold it - it was not fun to shoot. I've had .357's for a long time and they shoot great- and you can shoot .38 spc in them also. + ammo is cheaper.
.357s are great guns, just not great bear guns......;)
 
454 casull on the other hand takes some serious getting used to and trigger time to be worth buying. Id say find some one to let you shoot one a few times before you ever buy. Its a pretty awesome gun wicked powerful. But can be far too much for some. Others shoot it one handed all day.

If push comes to shove, you can try one at The Place To Shoot. I don't recommend that range as I think they're overpriced, but if you want to shoot a .454 Casull revolver, they do have one there as a range gun.

And I wouldn't trust a .40S&W, no matter what hot load you're using, for bear.
 
necropost.jpg
 
Well like the title says, I'm looking into a new revolver... mostly for open carry in the wooks, worried bout black bear, as I just found prints in my back yard from a bear.... So.. I have a 357 but im in the middle of rebuilding it, and was thinking it would be cool to have a 4" 454 casull tracker.

How is the 454 stack up against the 357 for recoil?

Would my 40 super JHP be ok against a bear?

or should I think about the 357/454.
Ian,

Just took a look at Taurus's website. They don't make a 454 Tracker. They do make a 454 Raging Bull, though.
...FYI, just in case that makes a difference.
However, I was going to suggest that you split the middle and do a .44 Mag (which is offered in the Tracker series! :s0023:).
More power than the .357, easier to handle than the .454.
...and, I am also of the belief that a .40 S&W might be just a little on the light side for dispatching a bear.



Dean
 

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