Handgun Defense Against Brown Bears: How Many Shots Are Fired in Grizzly Bear Encounters?

AmmoLand ^ | May 3, 2026 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Sources: books, articles, papers, interviews, FOIA requests

In the ongoing study of how effective handguns are when used as a defense against bears, this correspondent posted an article on AmmoLand showing the distribution of the number of shots fired vs the number of cases. The most common case was one shot fired, with the least common cases having the most shots fired. On examining the data, there is a significant difference noted among bear species.

In cases involving brown bears, grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, (ursus arctos) more shots are fired per case.

There are 109 total handgun-only cases involving Ursus arctos, of which 93 cases had known shot numbers. One case had an indeterminant outcome. There was a single failure. One case was indeterminant because both a handgun and bear spray were used, and it could not be determined which weapon was decisive.

As in the previous article, the largest number of cases involved one shot fired, but the percentages differed for brown bears. As in the previous article, unavoidable selection bias will tend to exclude successful warning shots, because many will not consider it necessary to report incidents in which no bear or human was injured. Of the 93 cases where the number of shots fired is known or reasonably inferred, the distribution is as follows:

1 shot – 18 cases or 19.4% of the cases where the number of shots is known.  5 cases involved a warning shot(s).  4 of the warning shot cases were successful. In one case where one handgun shot was fired, killing the bear, two warning shots were fired with a .22 rimfire rifle. Those shots were unsuccessful. It was decided to include the case because the .22 rifle shots were not effective and not aimed at

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: banglist; bear; defense; research; wildlife

[marktwain]

Grizzly bears take more shots than other bears. Not really a surprise. They, on average take a bit more, but 76.3% of the incidents are still resolved with six shots or fewer.

[Mariner]

12 gauge in Brown Bear country.

It’s foolish to have less.

[lowbridge]

Who needs a gun when you go into the woods with a friend you can outrun?

[Carry_Okie]

According to Spanish monk, Juan Crespi (the diarist for the Portola expedition to Alta California), it took 7-8 shots from .58 caliber Escopeta muskets from horseback to bring down a griz. Shoot it through the heart and it has up to 20 seconds to live.

[TheThirdRuffian]

I would say it would take all of them.

I’ve been on a team to eliminate a problem brown bear that had been listed for being put down in a residential neighborhood. I nailed it with a single .300 Weatherby at about 25 yards. Not much of a shot, but because of where we were, we were very strictly instructed to keep all shots under 50 yrds, preferred under 25 and to take great care with back stop. (My back stop was the front end of a parked garbage truck with a big diesel engine.)

As you can tell from the distances above, this was an animal that had zero fear of humans. Or trucks. In fact, liked garbage trucks.

[marktwain]

Fascinating. What happened when you shot the bear?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

15, 16, 19 and 31 shots? How many hit? What was he (they?) shooting?

[BB62]

“12 gauge in Brown Bear country.

It’s foolish to have less.”

That may be the case, IF you can carry such a weapon. In National Parks, you may not have that option.

[kawhill]

“As in the previous article, unavoidable selection bias will tend to exclude successful warning shots”. A bear is after my ass and I’m going to fire a warning shot?

[marktwain]

15, 16, 19 and 31 shots? How many hit? What was he (they?) shooting?

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15 shots -Bear was down in about three shots, father said to son dump the mag into her to be sure. 10mm pistol.

16 shots - Alaska, two former seals with 10mm. Bear charged from cover, very close. Both got 8 shots off before the bear was completely down and dead.

19 shots - Montana, three buddies all with pistols responding to a close charge. Most of the shots fired after the bear was down, but they wanted to be sure. As I recall, .44 mag, 10mm, .45 ACP.

31 shots - Montana Guide and Elk hunters. One elk hunter had his .45 acp with human self defense loads, and was a proficient pistol competitor. He is the only one I know of who was able to reload and keep firing during a bear charge. The guide had a 10mm with bear loads. The bear was hit multiple times, and finished off after it stopped with a 10mm to the brain. Guide said several of the .45 hollow points did not penetrate past the fat layer. They did not do a necropsy. The other elk hunter did not have a firearm with him. The guide had 15 shots in his pistol, I think the hunter had 14 or 15 in his double stack .45.

[marktwain]

Lots of warning shots are used. They are pretty effective on black bears. Not as effective on brown bears, but they do work some of the time.

A person I interviewed, who has probably shot more brown bears in self defense than any other man alive (rancher on salmon stream in southern Alaska) was surprised when I asked him about warning shots. To him, they were so common, and sometimes effective, he did not even keep count.

[TheThirdRuffian]

It fell like a wet sack immediately. Round did not punch through the other side. It was a fairly soft bullet. Can’t recall the exact round. Dropped plenty of elk with it, though.

My back up shooter was a game warden with an AR-10 (basically a .308) and a dot site.

We literally got out of a pick up and shot it. Standing on pavement. Engine still running.

[poinq]

Just so everyone understands graphs, this one says most often people shoot more than 3 times. I don’t understand saving the bullets unless you are worried there are more bears. Leaving the bear alive is not good for anyone. And may be quite dangerous to you or anyone who runs across the injured bear.

[MeanWestTexan]

Ah, a dumpster bear.

I don’t have any figures or studies, but I’m willing to make a wager this is the most commonly eliminated of all problem bears.

Also, probably the most dangerous to people.

Good shooting, albeit patently unsportsmanlike.

[Red Badger]

Depends what kind of gun the bear has............🤔

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks for the additional detail. Those are staggering numbers. Being cool enough to reload a mag during a bear charge!? Wow. He must have been a combat veteran.

And .45 hollow points not penetrating past the fat layer. Double wow. Must have been in fall right before hibernation.

I hike a lot and it's always unnerving when these encounters are in the areas close to where I've hiked in the past. I'm generally closer to towns, but even in that proximity you are not completely safe. There was an encounter a couple years ago where a guy was out berry picking just north of Columbia Falls, MT and got charged by a grizzly. He killed the bear.

[Billthedrill]

Yup. In Hollywood you take a single perfect shot, blow the smoke out of the barrel, and twirl the gun a few times before re-holstering. In the real world it’s mag dump time. Ammo’s cheaper than funerals.

[Seruzawa]

Unfortunately a bear, like a dog, will usually chase after the one that’s still running.

[Seruzawa]

Alaska guides also recommend 45-70. 400 gr Hardcast.

[xone]

How about all I have?