Originally Posted by
elkman30
I thought this topic was about what pistol would or could kill a bear if needed. Or at least dissuade a bear from attacking further. From your posts mrbb, it sounds like you are talking more about hunting a bear with a pistol specifically which is something entirely different. I agree a large caliber rifle or a 12 gauge with slugs is preferred but this topic seems to be about what to carry if you're only carrying a pistol while hiking, biking, fishing or field dressing an animal and your rifle is not immediately next to you. I guess you can say that a pistol has not always worked against bears. The article above mentioned something like a 3% failure rate of the cases examined. The article didn't say that it only looked for successful cases and not failures. I would imagine one could find cases where bear spray, rifles and shotguns didn't work also. The point I took away is that a pistol can work if you place your shots well and timely. Or you can bring along your personal howitzer.
I'm sorry if you mis took what I posted as I most certainly posted about pistol calibers, or why you think I was talking a bout hunting them as I wasn't at all! as a FACT I only mentioned rifle calibers to show that there is NO magic bullet in them either!
as its NOT just the caliber that matters, not sure why that fact missed you, but the BULLET used makes HUGE difference in how it performs or doesn't on a big hairy thick skinned and boned animal!
a simple example is, if you carry a 9 amm as loaded with personal defense ammo, your not going to be very happy with what it does to a BIG bear unless you get LUCKY, the bullets for self defence are BNOT made for hunting and there are reasons why I stated the BULLET matters maybe more than the caliber, BUT nothing replaced WHERE the bullet ends up!
and to post a information that mostly ONLY shows success can lead folks into bad corners!
I have a ton of time along some of the best bear biologists in the world, so, I have some experience on bears many here don't, I am NOT claiming to be any expert, but I sure have a LOT of experience dealing with bears in many aspects!
I also have personal experience talking to folks that HAVE been attacked by bears,!