Posted on 07/31/2013 5:41:45 PM PDT by Kip Russell
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. Failing that caliber. Failing that lots of shots on target. To wit: “The hiker, who has not been identified by Alaska State Troopers, had set out from the Rainbow trail head at Milepost 108 of the highway Sunday morning, said Tom Crockett, a park ranger. He was near the first Turnagain Arm viewpoint, about a half-mile up the trail toward McHugh Creek, when he spotted the bear . . . The man called, “Hey, bear,” hoping not to startle the animal, he said. The bear turned and charged, the hiker later told rangers. The man fired the AK-74 he was carrying . . .
The bear stopped after the first volley of shots, and then charged again. The man fired once more. That time the bear folded into a ball, rolling and running downhill and thudding to a stop in a clump of birch trees about 100 yards from the trail.
newsminer.com reckons the hiker needed 13 shots to take down the 500 – 600 pound bear. Like I said.
Quantity has a quality all its own.
Mine was 5.45X39 ... jammed a lot.
I have heard stories about .44 magnum rounds at point black range ricocheting off the skull of a grizzly bear too. I have a 500 magnum which I think is capable of cutting down a hardened utility pole but I hate to think about only having 5 shots in a pistol to deal with an enraged grizzly bear at full charge-especially if that handgun is of the short barreled variety.
... for a deer
... He never said nutin’ ‘bout bears
I don't really like field dressing deer either, but I have it down to a pretty quick procedure (dental floss, a folding 3" Buck and a plastic garbage bag . . . ) But once it's field dressed I have 2-3 friends who would help me butcher it for a small percentage . . .
I can remember when the Soviets used to design American vacuum tubes into their radar equipment. The tube identifications were right there in the specifications.
In a lot of ways, the AK-74 is a nice weapon.
It has less recoil than the AK-47, probably similar reliability. The bullet turns sideways (nearly all rifle bullets pitch or yaw on hitting flesh) but doesn’t usually fragment.
It doesn’t have the accuracy of the M-16 in rapid fire. Moving pistons jostle the line of sight, so to compensate, Russia teaches soldiers to shoot two or three bullets. That isn’t a half bad approach, especially with an enemy that uses camouflage to disguise exact position.
The bottleneck 39mm case is a bit more efficient than the straighter 45mm case of the 5.56x45 M-16, but that doesnit matter much because powder is cheap and light. The difference between them doesn’t drive either flash or recoil.
The point of the smaller bullet is you don’t just shoot at your known enemy, you shoot at where he is, or where he might be. That can suppress him even if he is hidden, and give your side fire superiority (many going his way, fewer going yours). Then your side can maneuver to his flanks and rear, and when he realizes it, the enemy can psychologically break: freeze or try to run away. Either way you will big.
Combine that with thermal goggles so you can see him very well and you have a big advantage. The Soviet Union was very very effective in 1945, and would have been a tough adversary up until its final days. Russia would still be a very tough adversary, though their best units are far smaller than they used to be. (so are ours!)
But, but, but . . . an AK-74 is an ASSAULT WEAPON, and everybody knows that an assault weapon will blow an elephant into tiny little pieces, shattering bone and punching through both sides, showering blood, hide and brain everywhere.
Maybe the journalist is dyslexic?
Are you suggesting that a journalist got their facts wrong about a weapons identity? Is that what you think might have happened? Well, I guess it is possible.
The 47’s round has long been considered obsolete by the Russian army. Their 5.45 is lighter, uses same good feed casing tapper and it’s more accurate, as it also does not drop at 300 yards like the 7.62.
The last deer I killed was with the gun I happened to have on me. It was a Glock 17 loaded with some of those old nylon clad HPs. Not a very hot load but I hit him exactly right between the eyes.
I had to go to my parents house (I was visiting) and got Daddy’s Honda 4 wheeler. When I got back to the deer, to my surprise it was still moving. I had to shoot him again. It was a spike but really large. In fact so heavy I could not get the gambrel up without help.
My parents who both grew up on a farm did most of the dressing and cleaning. It turned out not to be very good and they turned it into sausage.
I determined then I was not going to kill anything else except for snakes etc. I am not opposed to hunting, I support it as it is good for the game to have pressure on it. I just no longer enjoy it.
I do still enjoy walking through the woods tho and want to have something in my pocket just in case. That is usually one of the little Hungarian copies of the Walther in .22 LR. The little thing is very, very accurate.
I also believe it is partly hollowed bullet breaking inside and stopping enemies more effectively than the 7.62 making clean holes.
If the hiker had stayed in his car this would not have happened. /Trayvon
She is right.
The FN/FAL is a heavy beastie.
One shot, maybe, but the news today said it took 13 rounds.
Turnagain Arm trail closed after hiker kills charging bear
A man hiking on a popular Turnagain Arm trail near the Seward Highway killed a charging brown bear with a semi-automatic AK-74 rifle Sunday, prompting Chugach State Park rangers to close a section of the trail.
The hiker, who has not been identified by Alaska State Troopers, had set out from the Rainbow trail head at Milepost 108 of the highway Sunday morning, said Tom Crockett, a park ranger. He was near the first Turnagain Arm viewpoint, about a half-mile up the trail toward McHugh Creek, when he spotted the bear. It was on the edge of a birch and spruce forest with abundant blueberries and serviceberries.
“The bear presented its rear end to him,” Crockett said.
The man called, “Hey, bear,” hoping not to startle the animal, he said.
The bear turned and charged, the hiker later told rangers.
The man fired the AK-74 he was carrying, Crockett said. The bear stopped after the first volley of shots, and then charged again.
The man fired once more, Crockett said.
That time the bear folded into a ball, rolling and running downhill and thudding to a stop in a clump of birch trees about 100 yards from the trail.
“There it expired,” Crockett said.
The man called 911 and asked for help.
Crockett and an Alaska State Trooper who responded found the man in the same spot on the trail where he encountered the bear. He wasn’t willing to walk out alone.
“He told me he’s never been so scared in his life,” he said.
Crockett estimated the bear weighed 500 to 600 pounds. The animal bore marks of an eventful life: He had a “big hulking” scar running over the top of his head, likely from a tussle with another bear.
“It was sad to see him go because he was a beautiful specimen,” he said.
It’s not unusual for people recreating in the Chugach to arm themselves with guns for bear encounters, Crockett said. But the gun used in Sunday’s encounter isn’t a typical choice for bear defense.
The AK-74 rifle is an updated version of its cousin, the better-known AK-47 assault weapon. It fires a smaller caliber round than the AK-47 and remains popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union, where it was produced in the 1970s.
“Most people carry something larger caliber,” he said.
It’s legal to carry a gun in Chugach State Park, but guns can only be discharged in defense of life and property or legal hunting.
Crockett says he believes Sunday’s incident met the defense criteria.
The bear’s head and hide were removed and turned in to Alaska Department of Fish and Game for sealing and confiscation, said area wildlife biologist Jessy Coltrane. That’s legally required in incidents of defense of life and property.
The rest of the carcass is still at the spot where the bear was killed, Crockett said. It would have been impractical to remove because of the terrain.
“It’s a heck of a lot of bear to haul out,” he said.
Crockett said he has been fielding calls from residents of Rainbow Valley, who heard the semi-automatic gunfire coming from the trail. Some have raised concerns about the carcass remaining near the trail. Bears protecting a food cache like the carcass can be especially defensive and dangerous.
Bear sightings are reported each summer all over the Turnagain Arm trail.
Crockett said he’d heard a report of a sow and cubs a few miles away on a section of the trail near Windy Corner Monday.
People should hike in groups, make noise and be aware of their surroundings, Coltrane said. “Surprising a bear is usually the worst thing you can do.”
Bear spray can be an effective deterrent.
This is the second time a brown bear has been killed in defense of life and property in the Anchorage area this summer, Coltrane said. A brown bear was killed in Chugiak earlier.
The trail remained closed Monday afternoon. A yellow sign warning of hikers of the presence of a bear carcass was posted near the trail head.
The carcass near the trail will attract other bears, Crockett said.
“This guy is going to get recycled by nature,” he said.
People should stay away.
“My fingers are going to be crossed that a trail runner doesn’t just blow through the warning signs, thinking, ‘Oh, it’ll be OK this time,’ ” he said.
Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/07/29/2997953/section-of-turnagain-arm-trail.html#storylink=cpy
Geez, this guy is lucky, I think. I would be carrying a 45-70 and a .44 Magnum sidearm MINIMUM.
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