JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
I always bring an AK style shotgun with 14 rounds of 12 gauge along with me when I go bear hunting.
Too close for comfort?
Drop the sniper,
go for the Large gauge piper, and blast away.
 
That was the part that got me too. Why leave rifles behind? :confused:
I mean you have to know you are in a part of the country that is well known to have the large Browns, so pack a pistol and leave the rifles. :confused:
Especially since it's not your average person but was a professional guide who brought a satellite phone and "they would locate it on their gps, next they would have a recovery team come in". Not like it was first time hunting or something.
 
Last Edited:
I admit I skipped over most of the video, but what I did see was pretty entertaining. Elk in velvet, posed handgun shooting, 'recovery team', etc. etc.. Speculation on the 'professional guide quals' is kind of ify. Long story short, over 20 years ago, money, a cowboy hat and a horse allowed urbanites to buy an outfitter business. They then hired some "locals" to become "guides". Bottom line is that while the video is 'entertaining', it does have a stank like bovine excrement. Caliber size "may" make you comfortable but it is not a "guarantee"! Bear country means being 'bear aware' ALL of the time. There is no 'one solution' for your safety! Pucker up buckeroos!
 
I admit I skipped over most of the video, but what I did see was pretty entertaining. Elk in velvet, posed handgun shooting, 'recovery team', etc. etc.. Speculation on the 'professional guide quals' is kind of ify. Long story short, over 20 years ago, money, a cowboy hat and a horse allowed urbanites to buy an outfitter business. They then hired some "locals" to become "guides". Bottom line is that while the video is 'entertaining', it does have a stank like bovine excrement. Caliber size "may" make you comfortable but it is not a "guarantee"! Bear country means being 'bear aware' ALL of the time. There is no 'one solution' for your safety! Pucker up buckeroos!
I'm glad I'm not the only one bothered.
 
I ran bears with dogs for many years (it is a young man's sport and anyone claiming it is no challenge has never done it), and have been present or taken part in numerous kills as a result. (Though the vast majority of treed Bears were allowed to survive.) Handguns, while handy for the chase are decidedly NOT preferred for the final use. The "Belle of the Ball" for this type of hunting is a Remington 141 pump rifle in .35 Remington: still perhaps the very best combination of light weight and power.

Having killed two ("incidental" : shot while I was hunting elk) Black Bears with bow and arrow, I thought it very unnerving that in BOTH instances, with mortal wounds, each of those bears returned to "the scene of the crime" almost immediately after their first reaction of running off at high speed. (Perhaps looking for that handgun with the front sight still attached.)

One of them returned close enough to allow me to launch another arrow. I can only surmise they came back to investigate whatever it was that had injured them.

In another instance upon approach to a downed elk, a Bear ran off the carcass, only to return 5 minutes later (as I stood right next to the elk). Only the presence of my Arkansas Plott Hound made him leave again.

When one sees a bear in the woods, the natural "categorization" process comes to mind with difficulty: Sightings are pretty rare, and so "Bear" is not high on the list of critters (or beings) it might be. Prior to settling on "Bear", Hefty bag being propelled by a breeze has come to mind, even Gorilla. Guy wearing a Hefty bag for raingear has also ranked higher on the list of possibilities.

Part of this momentary confusion is caused not by mere appearance, but the way a Bear acts in the woods: They travel unhindered by fear of their surroundings (entirely unlike any other creature there).

They act like they own the place because they do; walking and behaving like an unwelcome Brother-in-Law who thinks he has a right. In normal travel, little attention is given to sneaking or quiet walking, and stopping to rip a log open or break off a branch for the same purpose is conducted without hesitation or a second thought.

There is a reason why some Native Americans believed Bears to be just another tribe.
 
I always bring an AK style shotgun with 14 rounds of 12 gauge along with me when I go bear hunting.
Too close for comfort?
Drop the sniper,
go for the Large gauge piper, and blast away.
How do you manage two long guns? Seems pretty cumbersome to me. As long as I have a rifle I am good with my sidearm being a g20. Everybody will find their own comfort zone I suppose but after trying several different combos this is mine.
 
How do you manage two long guns? Seems pretty cumbersome to me. As long as I have a rifle I am good with my sidearm being a g20. Everybody will find their own comfort zone I suppose but after trying several different combos this is mine.
My Spidey Sense indicated that post (AK, etc.) was less than genuine; at the very least not propelled by any real-world experience, and at the worst merely a baited hook.

Your reply granted it the only dignity it holds.
 
How do you manage two long guns? Seems pretty cumbersome to me. As long as I have a rifle I am good with my sidearm being a g20. Everybody will find their own comfort zone I suppose but after trying several different combos this is mine.
I gots two hands!
 
of course ammoland will be biased in favor of guns. Ive also read other studies that showed bear spray was equally effective but had less physical injuries to the person.
If I was recreating in grizzly country Id favor spray with a handgun as a backup. After killing a black bear with a rifle the last thing Id want to do is shoot any bear with a pistol, regardless of caliber. At close range under stress of a charge your going to have a physical fight on your hands....

That is a great story. Guy had great presence of mind that am not sure I would have, especially when he racked the slide to chamber a fresh round. You know sh!t is getting real and up close when the hair of the beast is preventing your gun from going into full battery.
 
They stopped using .45 acp back in prohibition days because of lack of penetration on automobiles. I guess it takes a ways for some to learn.
 
That is a great story. Guy had great presence of mind that am not sure I would have, especially when he racked the slide to chamber a fresh round. You know sh!t is getting real and up close when the hair of the beast is preventing your gun from going into full battery.
I like to share that story because it puts the whole "best caliber" debate into perspective....
And that was just a black bear....
 
I admire his moxie, but question his ammo choice and decision to keep his mag downloaded by 4 rds. I can't help but wonder if some of the earlier shots might have penetrated deeper and ended the fight sooner if more appropriate ammo had been chosen.
 
I admire his moxie, but question his ammo choice and decision to keep his mag downloaded by 4 rds. I can't help but wonder if some of the earlier shots might have penetrated deeper and ended the fight sooner if more appropriate ammo had been chosen.
Exactly. Iirc when this story first broke those were the criticism s many people had justifying their 10mm use.
Not that I disagree either. I carry a 10mm for bear defense, but I also added bear spray to my setup...
The last thing i want to do is shoot a bear with a pistol.
 
In regards to the video, I think its helpful to separate the "likely facts" such as what the wildlife people found, the shot(s) that bounced off the head, calibers used, etc from the "story".

To me some some of the "story" elements are likely "embellishments" by the author (as soon as the author said how elk tiptoe through the meadows I rolled my eyes). Some artistic license in the retelling is to be expected I think so you just have to roll with it. For example he kept saying fish and wildlife laws required them to do this and that, as if to go way overboard that these guys were following every rule. I also think the "recovery crew" may be fiction. Seems to me the guide and/or people wanted to get the word out about their experience, which is cool, but wanted to make extra, extra, sure everybody knew they were diligently following every letter of the law (can't blame them I suppose). So glean from it what you can I guess. I do think the number of shots, calibers used, and shot placement info is helpful.
 
I admire his moxie, but question his ammo choice...
Sounds like he did, too. 2nd to last paragraph:

"But he's alive and and considering the merits of heavier, deeper-penetrating bullets in 10mm cartridges designed for bear defense, to carry in his GLOCK."

A lesson learned the hard way, perhaps?
 
I don't understand people and their desire to fight bears with pistols here in the US. It's plain stupid. You don't see professional hunters in Africa recommending a pistol to stop a buffalo, lion, elephant, or anything that will kill you. No, they use rifles that penetrate. But not here in America where we seem to try and use the smallest thing possible for everything.
Here's all you need. BFR .45-70...

45-70Pistol.jpeg
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top