Alaska bear attack: A shot too late

Alaska Dispatch ^ | 11/4/2010 | Craig Medred

[Saije]

Geesh. My life is so tame.

[Salamander]

You tell ‘em how they shoulda done it....:)

[Saije]

“You tell ‘em how they shoulda done it....:)”

I have no idea! I think I’d opt for not being there at all.

[oldvike]

I never thought about it but it makes sense. If you’re shooting at a bear to end an attack pray that you hit bone and not a vital organ. Weird. The energy from the bullet hitting bone will knock the bear on its ass whereas a fatal organ shot just pisses it off until it finally dies with you half way down its throat.

[bigbob]

Wish it’d been a Mama Grizzly and Ma’am Boxer

[Chode]

iirc their heart only beats like 12 times a minute, you can shoot them right in the pump and not even slow them down...

[ikka]

Guy I know grew up in Alaska, his parents were both wildlife mgmt workers. They never left for work without TWO .44 magnum revolvers.

[Question Liberal Authority]

Maybe next time.

[fso301]

Hunting Kodiak Island with a .375-caliber H&H rifle, Oberlitner always figured he was pretty well protected. The cartridge traces its history to the British company Holland & Holland, which designed it in 1912 for hunting dangerous African game -- lions and tigers. I

Was he deer hunting or bear hunting? Was the deer they shot bear bait? The .375 H&H is a way oversized for deer.

[CedarDave]

Interesting juxtaposition: The story with a picture of Sarah’s “Mama Grizzly” immediately below.

[Mariner]

A .375 H&H packs a wallop. A BIG wallop.

About 2.5times the energy of a .06.

Only a 12 guage, 3.5in mag with slugs would be a better choice.

[ccmay]

They never left for work without TWO .44 magnum revolvers.

I have heard, don't know if it's true, that there is no confirmed record of a grizzly bear charge successfully being stopped with any handgun, ever.

The guides in Alaska always recommend you file down the front sight of your revolver, so it doesn't hurt quite so much when the grizz shoves it up your a$$.

[rickb308]

“Bears sometimes decide they want the deer a hunter has killed and take it away.
Fifty-three-year-old Ned Rasmussen of Anchorage is believed to have died in a confrontation with a bear that wanted a deer he’d shot in 1999 on one of the smaller of about a dozen islands in the archipelago”

The bear can have it. Heck, I’ll shoot a dozen more for Mr. Bear if he wants.

[ThunderSleeps]

You tell ‘em how they shoulda done it....:)

Grin, I'm thinking standoff weapons, like BVR standoff.

Or maybe an airstrike while I have a beer in the bar, then I'll go out and pack in the meat in the back of a pickup.

Tough being at the top of the food chain when the local fauna doesn't agree...

[TomasUSMC]

“She bit me on the leg. She bit me on the butt,” he said, “and then she threw me on a log and cracked some ribs.”

typical date of odumbi and michelle.

[The KG9 Kid]

... This just goes to show, it doesn't matter how big a gun you have," said Oberlitner

I'm not so sure I agree.

[rickb308]

This guy definitely used a rifle.

[oldenuff2no]

It is all about displacing energy in the bear. If the bullet passes through the bear much of that energy is lost.

[Mariner]

That bear could SLAP your head off.

[Disambiguator]

I have heard, don't know if it's true, that there is no confirmed record of a grizzly bear charge successfully being stopped with any handgun, ever.

Go here and click on the dropdown for "Bear Encounter."