MATTITO:
Thanks for the vote of confidence...just so you know, I'm a trained fighter. I trained with Grizzly Adams, and O'l Moe (the guy who took on the brownie with a pocket knife) <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>
If one is to maintain one's reputation as a true Alaskan, one must have at least one freezer that is always full of fish and game.
I, desperately needing to feed my ego, and feel superior to the "average" Alaskan, went out and bought TWO large freezers! I keep both of them full of salmon, halibut, moose, caribou, sheep, and the occasional bear.
Consequently, anyone that hunts with me, ends up with a some of the above, and must leave a contribution paying homage to the ego boosting freezers.
The Polar Bear is the largest carnivore on land. He too can be killed with substandard weaponry, but you had better have a pack of sled dogs at your disposal when doing it.
I have a friend from Kaparuk security who was involved with an incident on the Slope a while back.
The polar bear, in its never ending quest for food, had come upon a building that had food smells in it. While the men inside where lounging around, it decided to see what was for dinner, and blithely broke the window, and climbed in.
Working for a Politically Correct company, the men inside did not have proper weapons do defend themselves, and thus were at the mercy of the bear...except for one rebellious new arrival, who had just happened to smuggle his 12 gauge loaded with slugs (sorry Blain), into the facility.
The shotgun was propped up against the wall in his bedroom, and he had to get by the bear, while it was eating on his friend, and then he had to lay down low on the floor to shoot the bear, so that slug would travel upward, thus minimizing the chance of hitting the bears dinner.
The 12 gauge with SLUGS did the job, and lives were saved.
That's the mentality of the Polar Bear, it is a hunter, and man is just another form of protein...like seal and beluga whale, but hopefully, with les fat
When you combine this with it's musculature and density, it becomes a formidable opponent. If you can ever get a hold of the video "Man Hunter" which is about a bow hunt for a polar bear, by dogsled, it will shed a lot of light on the subject for you.
In my estimation, a fight between an average Polar Bear and an average Griz, unlikely though it may be, would not last long. The Polar bear would win. When you start bringing the large coastal browies into the arena, the Polar Bear will have a harder time of it, but will still prevail in the end.
I don't have specific skull or brisket dimensions for you, but hopefully you get the idea.
Blain:
The comparison between buck shot and a .223, is a very apt one, when speaking of defense weapons against grizzly bears. Both are inadequate...though I'll give you that the buck shot is a bit more potent than a .223, unless it's on full auto, with a large capacity mag...But isn't kinda like fantasizing?
Superstrike:
You sound like a man that knows his stuff. I agree whole heartedly about a pistols role in bear country. I too use a .44 mag (may be switching to a 454 soon) for defense against bears, only because it is the most powerful thing that I wish to carry every where I go while in the woods.
Your 320 gr load sounds exactly like the one I use.
<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle> If You Ain't Hunted Alaska, You're Still Just Practicing <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>