Skip to comments.
AK: Hiker Stops Charging Brown Bear at 6 Feet with 10mm Pistol
Gun Watch ^
| 6 August, 2016
| Dean Weingarten
Posted on 08/18/2016 5:05:44 AM PDT by 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
TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: 10mm; banglist; bear; selfdefense; wildlife
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-90 next last
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.
1
posted on
08/18/2016 5:05:44 AM PDT
by
marktwain
To: marktwain; cracker45; Tainan; Jet Jaguar; SENTINEL; redpoll; ArmyTeach; Eska; hattend; hosepipe; ...
Alaska Ping
2
posted on
08/18/2016 5:10:08 AM PDT
by
KC_Lion
(Never Killary!)
To: marktwain
This should put to rest once and for all the arguments ad nauseum on the gun boards about what to carry for bear protection.
3
posted on
08/18/2016 5:10:38 AM PDT
by
Yo-Yo
(Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
To: marktwain
I look forward to the interview.
4
posted on
08/18/2016 5:12:34 AM PDT
by
poobear
(Socialism in the minds of the elites is a con-game for the serfs, nothing more.)
To: marktwain
5
posted on
08/18/2016 5:13:16 AM PDT
by
mad_as_he$$
(Poo poo the polls at Trump's peril.)
To: marktwain
A 10mm to the foot? That’s gotta be an ugly wound.
6
posted on
08/18/2016 5:13:57 AM PDT
by
Charles Martel
(Endeavor to persevere...)
To: marktwain
What happened to the babies?
7
posted on
08/18/2016 5:14:52 AM PDT
by
Mercat
To: marktwain
“...Blackwell said Woodman surprised a brown bear with two cubs...”
This man is so inhumane to orphan those cubs! /src
8
posted on
08/18/2016 5:15:22 AM PDT
by
BlueStateRightist
(Government is best which governs least.)
To: Iowa Granny; Ladysmith; Diana in Wisconsin; JLO; sergeantdave; damncat; phantomworker; joesnuffy; ..
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.
9
posted on
08/18/2016 5:16:42 AM PDT
by
SJackson
(The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do !)
To: marktwain
But wait a minute. Why didn’t he call 911 and patiently waited for help while getting eaten alive?
To: Yo-Yo
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.
11
posted on
08/18/2016 5:18:06 AM PDT
by
elcid1970
("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam. Buy ammo.")
To: Mercat
Roasted brown bear cub tastes a lot like veal and yields a cute little rug for the bathroom. Nothing is wasted.
;^)
12
posted on
08/18/2016 5:20:36 AM PDT
by
elcid1970
("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam. Buy ammo.")
To: Charles Martel
True, but shooting through your foot to avoid getting killed by a bear is a pretty good trade off.
To: 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.
What about a .45 ACP?
14
posted on
08/18/2016 5:22:04 AM PDT
by
Mr. Douglas
(Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
To: Yo-Yo
15
posted on
08/18/2016 5:23:51 AM PDT
by
Mr. Douglas
(Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
To: kanawa
16
posted on
08/18/2016 5:30:45 AM PDT
by
DuncanWaring
(The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
To: Charles Martel
A 10mm to the foot? Thats 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.
17
posted on
08/18/2016 5:30:52 AM PDT
by
farming pharmer
(www.sterlingheightsreport.com)
To: Mr. Douglas
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.
18
posted on
08/18/2016 5:31:19 AM PDT
by
D Rider
To: marktwain; All
I wonder what bullet he was using? I’m thinking for this use case, you would NOT want an expanding hollowpoint.
Any thoughts?
19
posted on
08/18/2016 5:34:18 AM PDT
by
FreedomPoster
(Islam delenda est)
To: marktwain
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?
20
posted on
08/18/2016 5:34:31 AM PDT
by
rjsimmon
(The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-90 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson