Calibers that can drop a Grizzly: Need details please.

[Nathaniel Bronis]

I am looking for a caliber and gun style recommendation as now realize that a 357 is likely not enough to stop a moose or a grizzly bear.

Got any info here ?

[kl]

Bear spray first! With a person in a rush and a moving target/animal coming at you - not good odds you will hit the location needed to stop it. I do carry The Judge by Taurus. Shoots 45 long colt (and 410 shotgun), I use 250 grain round nose. Not a fast cartridge, but hopefully delivers some energy. Whenever I can, I carry a shotgun with a sling on my shoulder with slugs. But that of course is a pain to carry so I don't carry it much. Moose -- just don't mess with the moose. Twice in years past, I have been on my little Honda 70 which is very quiet going downhill. I have come around a corner and had to slam on the brakes: once a black bear was feet in front of me and the other time a moose just feet in front of me. I was more afraid of the moose. As we looked at each other, I was thinking how I could dive off the bike and over the edge of the logging road if she made a move, lots of laughs now but that is the closest I have been to bear and moose.

[Nathaniel Bronis]

Yes, I will be getting some bear spray but I want something else also for the 1 in a million chance that I need it.

I have been close to Sasquatch a number of times ( within 25 feet ) and know that if I got in the wrong situation, I would want something in hand that could drop it should I need to do so.

[Nathaniel Bronis]

My wonderful wife got my a Glock 20 for my birthday in 10mm ( I know I am the luckiest man on earth ).




I should be pretty safe now when I am crawling around in the bush on my own, 10mm can take any animal in North America in FMJ.

[charleslamica]

I agree with Kevin... Bear spray is a great deterrent for bears, dogs, people, or pretty much anything thinking of harming you. It will stop about 99% of attackers. There is anecdotal evidence that some bears that are seriously intent on making a meal out of you can ignore the pain of the bear spray and continue their predatory behavior. As for it's effectiveness against people, when I was an instructor at a police academy I sprayed hundreds of students with pepper spray. About 1% of those students had no serious reaction to the spray. Those guys would get sprayed then usually say something like, "Thank you, Sir, may I have another?"

If you want a back-up in case the bear spray doesn't work I would recommend a .357 caliber or larger. .40 caliber, .45 caliber, 10MM, etc. Using a handgun on a predatory bear is pretty much a weapon of last resort. The bear is going to have to be on top of you for any handgun to be effective. Even then, it's iffy. When I was a trooper in Alaska we sometimes had to shoot problem bears. It never happened to me, but I've had troopers tell me stories of shooting a brown bear with a 12 gauge rifled slug only to have the slug mushroom out so quickly that it failed to penetrate through skin and muscle and never reached a vital organ. Even when shot with high powered rifles, it is not uncommon for a determined bear to sustain multiple hits before it is stopped.

I know this answer doesn't really help much. The question of which gun to carry for bear protection has been asked and debated for as long as guns have been around, and no one yet seems to have the perfect answer.

[CAL Tony]

I also have been thinking about getting a gun for extra protection (or maybe to get a false sense of security).

Last month I was exploring an area in the Emigrant Wilderness when I had an unknown animal growl at me.
I had bear spray but I did not feel very safe or secure with just that.

I was hiking solo in an abandoned trail and climbing a north facing mountain.
The animal that made the sound did not come in the open.
I immediately stopped, pulled my bear spray and flipped the clip.
I looked left to right in front of the trail and nothing came out.
Then I backed off about 20 spaces, before I turned around and left.
On the hike down, I kept looking back but never saw or heard anything following me.

The growl was very loud and menacing (whatever it was did not want me there).
At first I thought it could be a bear (because I saw some big bear footprints in the morning by camp) but later on rejected that idea after researching that bears don't growl.
Don't think it was a cougar, even tough it sounded like a bengal tiger!
It could have been a BF, but I will never know. I did hear a whistle about 10 minutes before.

The other item that I need to buy is an air horn.
Shelly lent me one last year when I was hiking solo in the Indian Heaven Wilderness (in addition to my own bear spray).
I think an air horn is a good safety item to bring.
And, I probably use them first before the bear spray.
See link below for a canister similar to the one Shelly lent me.


www.amazon.com/Shoreline-Marine-Air-Horn-1-4/dp/B01NCSJGGC/ref=asc_df_B01NCSJGGC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312151608179&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5625865760119009590&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-570635563845&psc=1

The only reason I have avoided getting a gun, is that my eyesight and aiming is not very good and I probably am terrible a hitting a target.
I will need lots of training at a shooting range before I can get comfortable carrying one.
So far in life, I have gotten away with backpacking all over the US West, without having to carry a gun.
But, as Norseman says, it only takes one time with a rogue animal to change my mind.

[kl]

Cal Tony, have you watched the TV survival show Alone? I do believe they provide them with an air horn and bear spray and that is all they have for their "defense."

[Treycon]

Regarding "Alone" they also seem to have some fireworks they called "bear poppers"...not sure what they are. Some sort of flash bang thing they shoot out of their shelter.

I look at carrying a gun as a sort of last ditch insurance policy...better than nothing for sure, a lot better. Also great for whack job protection on the off chance you run into that.

[norseman]

Bear spray. Works great in perfect conditions. How many windy days are there in the Rockies? Every day? Is the Bear attacking upwind or downwind? Is there alot of vegetation? A lot of variables. Little time.

Guns.

The BEST pistol? Is a rifle. I pack a .45-70 guide gun. You want hard cast bullets. Garrett, Buffalo Bore, etc They get length ways pass throughs on cape buffalo in Africa. Leave yer shotgun at home. Its a fowling piece pressed into deadly game service. Big bore rifles are designed to deal with deadly game. For our line of work, find or make something short and handy. Make sure it has night sights and or a tac light mount. Marlin is the AR of the lever action world. Tons of after market support. Thats my choice. I would stay away from semi autos.... they jam. If you choose a bolt action stay with a mauser controlled feed action. If something goes wrong with chambering a round you can jack that round out. You cannot do that with a push feed.

There are plenty of Grizzly around our area. Ive seen Griz on Barnaby Butte in the Kettle crest while mule packing. And ive seen them in the Selkirks while Elk hunting. Rocky mtn Griz are notoriously cranky. No salmon runs anymore. Tough life. Be safe out there.

[Nathaniel Bronis]

Dec 6, 2019 8:24:12 GMT -8 norseman said:

Bear spray. Works great in perfect conditions. How many windy days are there in the Rockies? Every day? Is the Bear attacking upwind or downwind? Is there alot of vegetation? A lot of variables. Little time.

Guns.

The BEST pistol? Is a rifle. I pack a .45-70 guide gun. You want hard cast bullets. Garrett, Buffalo Bore, etc They get length ways pass throughs on cape buffalo in Africa. Leave yer shotgun at home. Its a fowling piece pressed into deadly game service. Big bore rifles are designed to deal with deadly game. For our line of work, find or make something short and handy. Make sure it has night sights and or a tac light mount. Marlin is the AR of the lever action world. Tons of after market support. Thats my choice. I would stay away from semi autos.... they jam. If you choose a bolt action stay with a mauser controlled feed action. If something goes wrong with chambering a round you can jack that round out. You cannot do that with a push feed.

There are plenty of Grizzly around our area. Ive seen Griz on Barnaby Butte in the Kettle crest while mule packing. And ive seen them in the Selkirks while Elk hunting. Rocky mtn Griz are notoriously cranky. No salmon runs anymore. Tough life. Be safe out there.

Very true, not many good situations to " be charged " in the mountains, even when well prepared. I am hoping to get a 45-70 Gov in the near future, I love lever guns anyway.

[kl]

So many choices, Nathan. Here is just one list. Maybe you will have a new one under the Christmas tree! Merry Christmas everyone!   

[Nathaniel Bronis]

I am going to be getting the 6 inch barrel by Lone Wolf for my G20 in 10MM, I can run hot-n-heavy loads for bear with this upgrade. One of my coworkers knows the guy who runs the Lone Wolf site so I am working and angle to get a good deal, fingers crossed.