AK: Hiker Stops Charging Brown Bear at 6 Feet with 10mm Pistol

Gun Watch ^ | 6 August, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The 10mm is becoming increasingly popular as a wilderness defense gun in Alaska.  Fully loaded it is as light, and a bit more powerful than a loaded, small frame .357 magnum.

The Glock 20 holds 15 rounds versus five or six for a .44 or .41 magnum revolver.  In this case near Homer, Alaska, on the Kenai peninsula, it did the job in stopping a charging brown bear sow. It happened on 29 July, 2016, a Monday afternoon about 4 p.m.  From homernews.com:

A Homer man shot and killed a charging sow brown bear at Humpy Creek last Friday. Kim Woodman, 57, shot the bear five times with a 10mm handgun before the bear fell about 6 feet from him. While backing away from the sow, Woodman fell and accidentally shot himself in the left foot. 

(snip)

Blackwell said Woodman surprised a brown bear with two cubs while hiking about 4 p.m. July 29 off the trail along the southwest fork of Humpy Creek in Kachemak Bay State Park. The bears were probably feeding on pink salmon in the creek. Woodman filled out a defense of life and property report, and Park Ranger Jason Okuly and Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jason Herreman went to the scene and found the dead sow bear. They reported the sow had two gunshot wounds, one below the right eye and one in the chest.

Woodman had another defensive bear shooting 24 years ago, in 1992. In that case he was hunting moose. In 1992 he fired his rifle at close range when the bear was stalking him.

Falling down while backing away from the danger you are shooting at is a significant problem.  Backing away from an attacking animal or person is natural and can be effective.  But without eyes in the back of your head, falling down is a serious danger.

It is possible the bullet that struck his foot stopped the bear.  We may never know for certain.  Woodman is shunning publicity.  Maybe we will see an official report after it is published.  The superintendent of State Parks for the area said "it was fairly close".   The investigating officers confirmed the six foot distance.

The recent video of the well trained Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Deputy shooting his armed adversary shows him backing away while doing so.

To clarify, consider this.  You are backing away as an 800 lb bear is charging you at close range.  You are firing your 10mm handgun.  You trip, but you stay focused on the threat, firing as you go down.  As you press the trigger, you foot flies up into the line of fire as your back goes down to the ground.  The bear is 10 feet away.  It is easy for me to see how it could happen. It is not uncommon for people involved in self defense situations to inadvertently wound themselves or others.   The action is often fast and chaotic.


©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.  Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

I have interviewed Kim Woodman. A followup article with details on the shooting, bear, ammunition, and foot wound, will be out in the next few days.

[KC_Lion]

Alaska Ping

[Yo-Yo]

This should put to rest once and for all the arguments ad nauseum on the gun boards about what to carry for bear protection.

[poobear]

I look forward to the interview.

[mad_as_he$$]

A hat tip to Cooper.

[Charles Martel]

A 10mm to the foot? That’s gotta be an ugly wound.

[Mercat]

What happened to the babies?

[BlueStateRightist]

“...Blackwell said Woodman surprised a brown bear with two cubs...”

This man is so inhumane to orphan those cubs! /src

[SJackson]

Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

But wait a minute. Why didn’t he call 911 and patiently waited for help while getting eaten alive?

[elcid1970]

Hillary will admonish him to carry bear spray instead along with a lecture about trespassing on the bear’s territory while expressing sympathy for the cubs deprived of a single mom.

[elcid1970]

Roasted brown bear cub tastes a lot like veal and yields a cute little rug for the bathroom. Nothing is wasted.

;^)

[freeandfreezing]

True, but shooting through your foot to avoid getting killed by a bear is a pretty good trade off.

[Mr. Douglas]

This should put to rest once and for all the arguments ad nauseum on the gun boards about what to carry for bear protection.

---

What about a .45 ACP?

[Mr. Douglas]

This should put to rest once and for all the arguments ad nauseum on the gun boards about what to carry for bear protection.

---

This is interesting. They seem to see the 10 mm as an “animal” shooting gun.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=436385

[DuncanWaring]

Ping.

[farming pharmer]

A 10mm to the foot? That’s gotta be an ugly wound.

For sure. We had a patient in the hospital who unintentionally shot himself in the left foot with a 243 win. Took off a good portion of the left side of his left foot.

[D Rider]

The 10mm is roughly the ballistic equivalent if a 41mag. But since it is a semi auto a woman can handle one pretty well, even with the hit rounds.

[FreedomPoster]

I wonder what bullet he was using? I’m thinking for this use case, you would NOT want an expanding hollowpoint.

Any thoughts?

[rjsimmon]

Hiker Stops Charging Brown Bear...

The jokes write themselves...

-How much did he charge the bear?

-He never should have charged the bear in the first place...

-Once the bear is done being charged, how long does it run?