Crazy bear story.

[mrblond]

I remember reading a while back about a problem brown bear that was killed in Alaska and when they skinned it they found the back and neck area was full of bullets, 9mm/357 up to 44 .
I will see if I can find that article again.

 

[bbbass]

I wonder how he could tell what cartridge it was based on the bullet?

Probably weight, as well as maybe some base still left intact. I've seen them do that on that show that has the scanning holographic/laser crime scene camera.

 

[bbbass]

Friends that live in Alaska don't shoot bear in the head... not with any caliber period. Apparently not everyone goes by that.

When I was fishing in Canada, I carried a combat shotgun with a mag extension. The first shot was #8s to try to blind the bear and more importantly, to mess up his nose so he couldn't find me very well. The next loads were all slugs intended to go in the body or break down legs. 8rds + the one in the pipe. I'd have had a .44mag as a backup, but CanaDA wouldn't let me have one while visiting.

 

[bbbass]

I've seen .45ACP bounce off 2x4.... it's a soft tissue round basically. But we're always told it will kill you if it even hits you in the arm.

Remember the cop that shot the perp, what, 18 times with .45ACP? Basically ALL his mags worth. He now carries 148rds of 9mm. LOL

 

[Wombat of Doom]

My anti bear pistol uses a 45 cal projectile. .454 casull. If that doesn't do the trick, I am in serious trouble

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I've seen that as well. My dad tried to put down a deer with his .45 Glock using HP ammo. I have that deer's skull plate with a .45" dent in it.

I hate to ask, for fear of sounding like a jerk, but do you have a picture? Mine is more of a, that sounds really cool post than the pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Xaevian]

I hate to ask, for fear of sounding like a jerk, but do you have a picture? Mine is more of a, that sounds really cool post than the pics or it didn't happen.

I have provided photo evidence on this site and still called a liar by a member on this forum before. But, your request is a reasonable on, so:

 

[No_Regerts]

Guess you never judge a thread by its title. I was expecting some stories about:

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Guess you never judge a thread by its title. I was expecting some stories about:

View attachment 738804

You were not the only one....
Andy

 

[ron]

Love the Bear stories. Keep it going good thread. Closest I ever came to a grizz was years ago in the Anchorage airport.
They had a stuffed standing Grizzly. Wow it was BIG. Found a picture on line.

Defense Against Bears with Pistols: 97% Success rate, 37 incidents by Caliber

Using a pistol to defend against bear attacks seems to be a viable option.

www.ammoland.com

 

[jbett98]

My favorite story from the posting above.

1. Grizzly shot with 9 rounds of .45 from a Glock 21 from gunnerforum.org reported August 22, 2009


"Roy called to report the incident, and they came out and brought a metal detector to locate spent extracted shell casings. Roy was found acting within his right to protect himself against the grizzly bear attack. But they said, they wished he would have used Counter Assault Bear Spray. Roy did not have any, so they gave him a can, plus some 12 ga cracker shells, and some other 12 ga shells will rubber bullets in them."


"Roy came into town and purchased a Glock 20 10mm auto now."


"I'm glad Roy is okay."

 

[Koda]

I don't like being called a liar. I hit a deer, two deputies arrived to write a report. The first tried to shoot it with a .45 acp and it failed to penetrate the deer's skull. The second attempted with a 9mm and was successful.

I believe you this happened, but this doesn't mean anything conclusive about the effectiveness of either caliber...
Bullets can do random weird things, we also dont know if the 45 cop aim was on. Skulls are round and are known to defelect. Ive heard many urban legends about Grizzlys deflecting 30-06 off their skulls with a direct hit...

 

[awshoot]

Man -- that must have been a bear of headache!

 

[HaveGun]

Ive heard many urban legends about Grizzlys deflecting 30-06 off their skulls with a direct hit...

If you look at a Grizzly's skull from the side, I can very well imagine that a bullet would have little chance of penetrating it from a direct hit to the front...

 

[awshoot]

I used to shoot old junk cars with the .45acp loaded with ball/fmj.. it'd bounce off the glass and panels like crazy. The 9mm would hole them both sides.

So do I mark this useful info or laughing? I can never tell when you're joking.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I have provided photo evidence on this site and still called a liar by a member on this forum before. But, your request is a reasonable on, so:
View attachment 738803

That is cool. What is interesting to me is looking at that and seeing how the bullet kind of punched through the first layer of bone. It looks like the spongy bone in the middle must have acted a bit like a crumple zone in a car. Very cool. I may have to attach a pic of my great uncle's lucky penny. It became his lucky penny after it deflected a bullet.

The story goes he got shot escaping from a POW camp in Europe. (He ended up escaping from 2 in 1944) This was in his left breast pocket. It is a 1944 penny. He lived to be a ripe old age and died about 4 years ago. He was a highly decorated vet. We found out after he died. The only story he would tell of WWII really was the one that launched a backpacking excursion across Europe after having to bail out of his bomber.

 

[The Heretic]

Ok, look at a bear's skull, or a deer for that matter, head on.

It slopes. If you are shooting either of these animals face on, and it isn't perpendicular to the bullet path (which it probably would not be), you stand a good chance of the bullet glancing off the skull - especially with the bear skull which is known to be rather thick face on and in the top rear too.

So yeah, don't shoot a bear in the skull with a handgun, even my .460 magnum, if you have a choice. The general practice for bear defense I have read, is to reduce their mobility by going for their hip/shoulder joints first, front shoulders, then rear hip - with a properly penetrating load/bullet, this breaks those joints, making it hard for them to move forward towards you. Once that is done, then take a side shot thru the lungs and heart. Bears are tough - they don't know that they are dead - so stop them first, then kill them.

FWIW, I have more than once shot small animals (one a large wild feline, the other a hedgehog {I was asked to}) injured by cars, with both a .45 ACP and a 9mm and it took multiple shots to put them out of their misery. I did not take head shots.

 

[CLT65]

I believe you this happened, but this doesn't mean anything conclusive about the effectiveness of either caliber...
Bullets can do random weird things, we also dont know if the 45 cop aim was on. Skulls are round and are known to defelect. Ive heard many urban legends about Grizzlys deflecting 30-06 off their skulls with a direct hit...

This reminds me of a guy who once told me that a 270 Winchester was lousy for deer, but 30-30 was far better. He'd shot a deer with a 270 once that took multiple shots, but every deer he shot with his trusty 30-30 dropped in it's tracks.

This is why anecdotal evidence is so unreliable.

 

[P7M13]

The bear went to Chitcago to see a Bears game.
Hooked up with some sows in the area, had a raucous night, which ended when he caught a "stray" bullet in the head.
They rolled him.
He woke up in a forest, starving, no money, no clothes, splitting headache.
Smells the food, wanders over, and there's some honcho over the barrel....

 

[ARFrog]

Irrespective of caliber, this is the same reason that some defensive handgun courses tell you to go for the eye/nasal "box" when doing head shots so you get proper kill shot penetration. You don't want to take your chances with either bone penetration or hitting the bone and then having the bullit "sliding" along between the skull and skin/hair.