Posted on 04/06/2022 5:11:57 AM PDT by marktwain
In 2016, this correspondent and others started searching for incidents in which a handgun was fired to defend against a bear or bears, and failed to stop the attack by driving off or killing the bear.
Access to a defensive tool, such as a shotgun, rifle, bear spray, handgun, hatchet, or knife all presents similar problems. Therefore we only considered cases where a handgun was actually fired. If we were looking at the effectiveness of bear spray, we would only look at cases where the bear spray was actually sprayed.
To prevent selection bias, all cases where a handgun was fired defensively against a bear or bears, which could be documented, were included.
People on the Internet claimed handguns were ineffective in defending against bears. Over years, we found 120 cases where handguns were effectively used in defense against bears.
The three failures included failures against the three bear species found in North America, one each of polar, grizzly, and black bears.
Here are the details of the three cases, presented in chronological order, followed by analysis and commentary:
Kiepertoyo Hinlopen Strait, August, 1995
Another five people of the crew set out separately with only a .22 pistol and a flare gun. After an hour’s march, the second party were met by a bear, 75m away and openly aggressive. The bear was distracted neither by warning shot nor flare and attacked one of the party. As he did so, he was shot, from a range of only 15m and turned against the man who had fired at him. This man tossed the gun to the first, who shot again.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Seems like this is a repeat article that comes up every few months.
Was anyone surprised a .22 pistol failed to protect against a polar bear? Man, that’s some really stupid preparation for going into an area known to have polar bears.
By this time, all prudent men will know that, when in griz country, carry either a Marlin 45-70 Guide Rifle or a 12 gauge pump loaded with 3 1/2 inch slugs.
We’re the bears hit or just scared off?
That bears repeating.
My 450 Bushmaster may have an impact?
Da…Bears…
Yeah. I never head into polar bear country without at least a .380 auto. What were they thinking?!
Heh
I’d choose a Karelian Bear Dog AND a gun.
I am well prepared for polar bears and usually chose one of my magnum revolvers. I have a three-inch S&W model 657 41 magnum, a six-inch S&W model 57 41 magnum, and a 9 and half inch Ruger RedHawk 44 magnum with a 2x Leopold. I guess deterrence works cause I’ve had no polar bears trouble since I’ve lived in Alabama.
There are updates, probably what you are recalling.
This is the first looking specifically at failures.
Shoot the flare gun at the polar bear?
Flares are commonly used to scare off polar bears.
I wonder if a .500 Magnum can stop ‘em.
The most commonly used is the .44 magnum. 37 cases of the 123, all successful.
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