Posted on 08/05/2025 6:02:51 AM PDT by marktwain
On the evening of May 21, 2025, Justin Lee and his brother-in-law, John Long, were charged by a grizzly bear and were forced to shoot it in self-defense.
They were hunting for mushrooms along Spring Creek, on a property owned by Justin, a few miles north of Choteau, Montana. Both men are longtime residents of the area. The creek has lots of mature cottonwoods, waist-high dead grass, and a fair amount of brush in some areas. Justin and John drove to the property on a side-by-side four-wheeler. When they were close to the area where mushrooms had been found, they parked the side-by-side and proceeded on foot.
Justin is 57 years old, and John is 43. Justin is disabled and cannot move fast on foot. John was about 50 yards ahead in the woods when Justin saw him running back toward him, saying, “There’s a bear! There’s a bear!” John said he had seen a bear and a cub.
The bear was south of them. Justin could see and hear the bear moving cross-wind toward the east, trying to get wind of them. The wind was mostly from the northwest, about 15 mph. In complex terrain, wind forms eddies and swirls around in complex patterns.
They saw the bear moving toward them from about 50-70 yards away, now southeast of them. The bear stood up, sniffing and looking. She appeared to get their scent and started jogging toward them. Justin thought: she is trying to work herself up to a charge.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
If a grizzly is charging, will the capacity advantage of a semi-auto over a revolver actually come into play?
A .357 seems on the light side to reliably stop a grizzly, unless you're really accomplished with a handgun. In traditional revolver loads, it seems a .41 Rem mag is the minimum for large bears. While not quite a .44 mag, a .41 mag is more powerful than a 10mm, particularly with HP bear loads. The 10mm gains its advantage at bullet #7 which is in the magazine while the .41 mag's bullet #7 is hopefully in a speed loader in a readily-accessible spot. How often does bullet #7 come into play?
10mm is a very punchy pistol round. We were shooting then through truck tailgates when the 9mm would only make a dent.
10mm is a very punchy pistol round. We were shooting then through truck tailgates when the 9mm would only make a dent.
Not for a sow grizzly in Montana. From the Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks information page on grizzly bears:
In the lower 48 states, the average weight of grizzlies is 400 to 500 pounds for males and 250 to 350 for females.
Yes, the ammunition, mostly unmentioned on the thread but critical. The 10mm would be a slight drop in energy with Buffalo Bore, perhaps offset by capacity. I might have some concern about the feeding reliability of that ammo in a semi auto, at least without testing.
LOL! Good thing I was between gulps of coffee when I read that--you would have owed me a new laptop!
GP 100 with Hardcast...
I’m Set.
.
I need to spin around More.
Thanks
Those would be “Dwarf Grizzles”, I suspect.
Can still put a hurtin on you.
Well sure, but only if you go hiking without the slow guy.
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