walking in black bear country

[ZigZagZeke]

Personally in bear country I like a ruger redhawk loaded with 454 Casull. It is substantially lighter than a 12 gauge to carry.

as an owner of an Olde English Bulldogge, My female, who passed on was really far superior to a gun when it came to facing a mountain lion. She put fear into that cat. And after seeing what she did to raccoons, (I had to hold her back from attacking the Puma) my money would have been on an injured dog and a dead puma if she had gotten at it. My male is a grand old man and his days of bear deterrent are behind him, but those dogs are amazingly loyal and tough. Remarkably fast and agile which they don't look like at first glance. And I have never met a dog smarter than that female. For reference, I grew up with border collies. My male is no dunce, but that girl was a special kind of smart. The only downsides really are they live in the 10-16 year range and they are tough to train and stubborn. They are fiercely loyal but incredibly hierarchical.

Boomer in his prime was hell on bears. He could strike, trail, and tree all by himself. Pair him with his daughter, Sky, and that's all you would ever need. Just a good .357 mag pistol or better and you were set.

 

[Tlock]

Boomer in his prime was hell on bears. He could strike, trail, and tree all by himself. Pair him with his daughter, Sky, and that's all you would ever need. Just a good .357 mag pistol or better and you were set.
View attachment 1295830

Good looking dog!

 

[Member 34319]

Guys, gals, OP, have you heard of our lord and savior?



10mm

 

[Tony617]

Start a Weight Watchers hiking club, bring some human shields.

Rule number 1 is cardio.

I would get bear spray and carry the largest gun you feel comfortable in carry and you can shoot well.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Good looking dog!

He was the last of my bear dogs to pass away. A Cameron bluetick, a 50 year old line bred by Del Cameron for bear hunting in Montana. They don't come any stronger, braver, or smarter. His daughter, Sky, was not just a good bear dog, but also great on the bench.

 

[Tlock]

He was the last of my bear dogs to pass away. A Cameron bluetick, a 50 year old line bred by Del Cameron for bear hunting in Montana. They don't come any stronger, braver, or smarter. His daughter, Sky, was not just a good bear dog, but also great on the bench.

View attachment 1295835

Wow! How did the do on cats? I need a good all around dog. Basically a trapline dog

 

[DirectDrive]

Currently I have the

Hornady Critical Defense

loaded.

That's for shooting 2 legged threats.
Bear hunters say that quick expanding bullets are not good for bear defense (read thick skull).
Hard cast bullets are recommended for bear defense.

A Glock G20 (10mm) or SIG X-Ten (10mm) would be my choice for "woods carry".
Not too heavy and good firepower for black bear.

You probably could do 9mm, but why not remove the "probably" and just go 10mm.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Wow! How did the do on cats? I need a good all around dog. Basically a trapline dog

He was a natural on cats. Smartest hound I ever owned. Sired some gorgeous pups when we crossed him with our Uchtman female. Sky was one of the results of that cross, all ears and built like a tank.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Guys, gals, OP, have you heard of our lord and savior?



10mm

But .454 Casull. Because a howitzer doesn't fit in a holster.

 

[OldBroad44]

Guys, gals, OP, have you heard of our lord and savior?



10mm

Sure. 10mm is supposedly an adequate substitute for 357 mag for those who don't know how to shoot a revolver and don't need anything more powerful. At least high power 10 mm and high power .357 mag loads are comparable in power. (Those who claim 10 mm is more powerful than .357 mag are invariably comparing high power 10 mm to low power 357 mag.)

Manufacturers do make bear loads for 10 mm. However, bear loads are designed to penetrate deeply doing as much damage as possible, which they do by having hard cast bullets with large-diameter meplats--flat tips--and sharp edges on the meplats. Unfortunately ammo with such bullets won't feed in semiautos. So compromises must be made. The bear loads for 10 mm have much smaller-diameter meplats with rounded edges compared with bear loads designed for .357 revolvers. They look more like a round nose bullet than a real bear load such as can be shot by revolvers. I am not impressed. I'll stick with revolvers that not only have enough power to deal with critters like black bears, but also are capable of shooting the optimal bullet for the job.

 

[Tlock]

He was a natural on cats. Smartest hound I ever owned. Sired some gorgeous pups when we crossed him with our Uchtman female. Sky was one of the results of that cross, all ears and built like a tank.

View attachment 1295846 View attachment 1295847 View attachment 1295848

To bad you didn't have that bloodline anymore. I would be begging you to let me buy one!

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Sure. 10mm is supposedly an adequate substitute for 357 mag for those who don't know how to shoot a revolver and don't need anything more powerful. At least high power 10 mm and high power .357 mag loads are comparable in power. (Those who claim 10 mm is more powerful than .357 mag are invariably comparing high power 10 mm to low power 357 mag.)

Manufacturers do make bear loads for 10 mm. However, bear loads are designed to penetrate deeply doing as much damage as possible, which they do by having hard cast bullets with large-diameter meplats--flat tips--and sharp edges on the meplats. Unfortunately ammo with such bullets won't feed in semiautos. So compromises must be made. The bear loads for 10 mm have much smaller-diameter meplats with rounded edges compared with bear loads designed for .357 revolvers. They look more like a round nose bullet than a real bear load such as can be shot by revolvers. I am not impressed. I'll stick with revolvers that not only have enough power to deal with critters like black bears, but also are capable of shooting the optimal bullet for the job.

I like my semi autos, but for a pistol to have a prayer against a bear, my 8 shot 357 redhawk is the bear minimum. (bad pun intended) If ti wasn't so clunky, I would say my desert eagle would be an adequate semi auto as well. 44 mag or 50ae would probably do fine.

 

[Member 34319]

God forbid folks learn that 350 Legend is basically 357 more better good.




Being serious though, 10mm is more than adequate. It will blow at least one maybe two arms off of the bear. Anything more is just unethical!

 

[The Heretic]

9mm, .357 mag, .40, .45

With the right ammo and proper placement, I would not feel under-gunned with any of these.

I would go with at least a JSP of 147 gr or heavier and +P power levels.

Note: you can get 9mm ammo that is 185gr @900 fps: https://seismicammo.com

 

[Tony617]

If I was hiking in Grizzly Bear country I might to step up to shotgun and have Brenneke Black Magic slugs instead.

https://www.brennekeusa.com/hunting-ammunition/black-magicr-magnum/

 

[ZigZagZeke]

To bad you didn't have that bloodline anymore. I would be begging you to let me buy one!

There are lots of his pups around southern Oregon. Those guys used to go to CA to hunt bear with hounds. Look around Grants Pass, Medford, and Eagle Point. I sold two of his pups to a vet in Hermiston too. Look for "Gunna Boom-it" on pedigrees. That was Boomer's official name. All our dogs were UKC and AKC registered. The dam was Uchtman bred, Mt. Hoods Blue Molalla, just "Mo" for short.

 

[oremike]

Sure. 10mm is supposedly an adequate substitute for 357 mag for those who don't know how to shoot a revolver and don't need anything more powerful. At least high power 10 mm and high power .357 mag loads are comparable in power. (Those who claim 10 mm is more powerful than .357 mag are invariably comparing high power 10 mm to low power 357 mag.)

Manufacturers do make bear loads for 10 mm. However, bear loads are designed to penetrate deeply doing as much damage as possible, which they do by having hard cast bullets with large-diameter meplats--flat tips--and sharp edges on the meplats. Unfortunately ammo with such bullets won't feed in semiautos. So compromises must be made. The bear loads for 10 mm have much smaller-diameter meplats with rounded edges compared with bear loads designed for .357 revolvers. They look more like a round nose bullet than a real bear load such as can be shot by revolvers. I am not impressed. I'll stick with revolvers that not only have enough power to deal with critters like black bears, but also are capable of shooting the optimal bullet for the job.

I load truncated cone bullets for Bear loads. 180's in 357 and 10mm. 300's in 44 Mag.


This is the 10mm 180gr TC 1300 FPS

 

[OldBroad44]

9mm, .357 mag, .40, .45

With the right ammo and proper placement, I would not feel under-gunned with any of these.

I would go with at least a JSP of 147 gr or heavier and +P power levels.

Note: you can get 9mm ammo that is 185gr @900 fps: https://seismicammo.com

Thanks for the tip on the new seismic 9mm 185 grams ammo. Interesting.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

God forbid folks learn that 350 Legend is basically 357 more better good.

View attachment 1295893


Being serious though, 10mm is more than adequate. It will blow at least one maybe two arms off of the bear. Anything more is just unethical!

In all reality I would prefer to be overgunned.

 

[The Heretic]

Thanks for the tip on the new seismic 9mm 185 grams ammo. Interesting.

That is the ammo I would carry in my 226 if I were worried about black bears (which I am not really, even though they are here on my mountain). If they are as advertised (I have not tested them yet), then they would be comparable to the same weight bullet from my .40 & .45 ( https://www.northwestfirearms.com/t...olden-saber-185gr-velocity-comparison.425257/ ) and have better sectional density.

Also, the mag capacity for the same sized mag in the 226 would be 20 rds, vs 15 for .40 in the same gun, 20 v. 14 for the SIG 227 and 20 vs 13 for the G21.