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One of the maintenance guys was in my office tonight painting and we were talking about hunting and guns. He's going way deep into the Idaho woods into Grizzly country to set up a bear bait barrel. So the talk turned to defense against bears.
He said whatever you do, don't pick a .45 acp for bear defense.
Seems last year, he was set up over a bait barrel and a nice black bear came in and he shot it once with his old 8mm Mauser and dropped it. It was a nice bear, so he took it to a taxidermist to have a bear rug made.
When he went to pick it up, the taxidermist informed him that he found a .45 acp slug splattered against the skull, under the skin.
Apparently, somebody shot the bear in the head once with a .45 acp and the round failed to penetrate, but apparently stopped the attack, or whatever, since no more wounds were found. The guy said the bullet was completely mushroomed out and about the size of a quarter. I asked him what type of bullet it was and he didn't know. He said he still has it and will bring it in next week for me to inspect.
That's a pretty amazing story and I would love to know the circumstances of what led to a bear being shot once in the head. No local stories of bear attacks for years, and the bear was only a few years old, so who knows.
I'll get pics of the bullet as soon as he brings it in.
I know I witnessed a deputy attempt to dispatch a wounded deer hit by a car years ago. He used a 1911 and shot the deer in the head. The bullet bounced off the skull and dazed the poor animal. A second deputy used his Beretta 9mm and the bullet penetrated the skull and ended the deer's suffering.
He said whatever you do, don't pick a .45 acp for bear defense.
Seems last year, he was set up over a bait barrel and a nice black bear came in and he shot it once with his old 8mm Mauser and dropped it. It was a nice bear, so he took it to a taxidermist to have a bear rug made.
When he went to pick it up, the taxidermist informed him that he found a .45 acp slug splattered against the skull, under the skin.
Apparently, somebody shot the bear in the head once with a .45 acp and the round failed to penetrate, but apparently stopped the attack, or whatever, since no more wounds were found. The guy said the bullet was completely mushroomed out and about the size of a quarter. I asked him what type of bullet it was and he didn't know. He said he still has it and will bring it in next week for me to inspect.
That's a pretty amazing story and I would love to know the circumstances of what led to a bear being shot once in the head. No local stories of bear attacks for years, and the bear was only a few years old, so who knows.
I'll get pics of the bullet as soon as he brings it in.
I know I witnessed a deputy attempt to dispatch a wounded deer hit by a car years ago. He used a 1911 and shot the deer in the head. The bullet bounced off the skull and dazed the poor animal. A second deputy used his Beretta 9mm and the bullet penetrated the skull and ended the deer's suffering.
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