James B

Many under estimate the stopping power of a 300 Plus grain Handgun bullet at close range. Would I rather have a 12 Ga with Dixie slugs? yes but a 44 mag or larger handgun is no slouch either. I would be pretty happy with the 7600 Remington in 30-06 or 35 Whelen or the Marlin in 450 or 45-70.

homers brother

My buddies and I used to practice scenarios such as this one - though this was way more open. We practiced in an alder thicket.

You all can certainly do whatever you want in a situation like this. If all you have is a handgun, you'd better use it. Me - I'll always take my .375 H&H over ANY handgun. Quite obviously, you're taking your life into your hands in a situation such as this. What odds do you want toplace on your living through such an encounter?

MinnFinn

I'd agree that a high-power magnum rifle with a partition or bonded core bullet would be the first choice, if it came to defending yourself from imminent charge. However, if you have a target running at you and your rifle is scoped, within 50 yards, the rifle would become much more difficult to get off an aimed shot than a magnum revolver of .44 or more powerful.
Let's hope we never have to use either for that purpose.

nethunter

.50 AE has more energy and more penetration than a 12 ga. slug. Worst case, if the bear gets you, you might still be able to shoot.

Ideally you pop it with a big rifle before it gets too close. Cleaning a kill? Rounding up some firewood? You might not have that rifle.

ironranger

I'd seen another encounter on Easton hunting show where the bear charged from a river bank at these guys in a raft. The guide fired a warning shot in front of bear (Hit water) and turned it. I'd seen this Cabelas show in the video and that was the only thing I questioned is why he didn't try a quick warning shot in front of bear when it first started coming as he had alot more time than the river charge. Of course I wasn't there so it's easy to be an armchair quarterback here too. It was just really unfortunate for the sow and cub in this case but better that than lose of human life...

mnss1

check these out, i would feel a little more comfortable with a belt full of these!

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=377126

LlindeX

My son lives just out of Fairbanks. He tells me that more nasty bear encounters occur after a hunter has made a kill than any other time. I know for a fact, we had a bear come running to us immediately after we'd taken a Dahl Sheep. We were well above the timberline and could see her about 3/4 mile away before taking the shot at the sheep. However, when the rifle went off, she turned and came toward us in almost a run. It was like the rifle going off was her dinner bell. Luckily, she held up at about 100 yards and just really looked us over for awhile. Made me a bit nervous to be on my knees field dressing a sheep and having a bear watching it all happen. Needless to say, I don't know how I could have gotten it done if my son hadn't been right there with me to stand up and keep the bear in sight the whole time. I guess that's why you don't hunt alone in Alaska.

Regards, & Good Huntin',
LlindeX

pats102862

Did anybody take notice, The guide had open sites on his rifle. you can't be messing around trying to get her in the crosshair of a scope in that situation.

Double Droptine

The way I look at it there are only 3 options. 12 ga. pump shotgun, pepper sprayor nothing at all.

Based on what I've read the preferrable shot placement is a brain the size of a pop can. Factor into that formula a bouncing moving target and a large amount of excitement. If hiting the brain is the only viable option of stopping the griz than using a hand gun is out. (I'm figuring most of us are not great shots with a hand gun).

If pepper spray only works under the best conditions (e.g. mountain winds) this may be a better option than the hand gun but not the best option.

The option I'm leaning toward is the pump shotgun with either 00 buck or slugs. Probably the 00 buck in the chamberfollowed by another 00 and thanseveral slugs. At 20, 30, or 40 yards I know I could get a lot closer at hitting that pop canevery time with the shotgun over the hand gun. I think I also could get back on target quicker after the previous shot with the shotgun.The first shot will be in the air to scare off the bear.

If there are several of us hunting together and if my friend gets attacked I don't want to be shooting using the 00 buck or the hand gun nor do I want my friend shooting at the bear, if withina few feet of me, with the 00 or hand gun. If someone is hit with a bulletthey could be in worse shape than a mauling. Remember we're probably a few hours from help.

The draw back to carrying the shotgun is the size but a sling would help nicely with that.

The other thing to consider is if you're hunting with another person or two maybe more people would help stop a charge and expecially if more than one person is shooting.

I believe Winchester makes a nice pump (name excapes me at the moment) for about $300.

Let's hope we'll never have to find out which option is best.

SouthDakotaHunter

I was thinking the same thing as I was watching it... Right when the animals started their direction I was saying to my self "shoot one in the dirt in front of her"....