Posted on 10/05/2020 6:26:58 AM PDT by marktwain
Most conflicts between bears and humans are not reported to the authorities. Of those which are reported, only a small number are reported in the local or national media. Of those reported in the media, many do not include information about the firearms used.
A few months ago, Editor-in-Chief Fredy Rehl of AmmoLand News and I were discussing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests which might result in information of interest to AmmoLand News readers. I suggested FOIA requests be submitted to agencies dealing with bear attacks.
Fredy's persistence and hard work have borne fruit. A FOIA request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has resulted in a pdf file of over 1500 pages of forms and pictures. It represents a fraction of human and bear conflicts which have been reported to the authorities.
A brief study of the 1500+ pages shows they represent 59 cases where humans were involved in acts of defense of self and others against grizzly bears. The vast majority of the cases were not found in searches of local and national media.
The cases range from 2005 to 2016, all involve grizzly bears, and except for one case, barely across the border in Idaho, all were in Montana and Wyoming.
While this is only a fraction of all cases, it is a significant sample of self-defense cases. All of the cases involved firearms. A few involved firearms and bear spray, a couple involved pistols and bows. Of the firearm cases, about 13 were pure pistol defenses. There were five combination pistol and long gun defenses, as I recall.
Many of the stories are worth telling. About 10-15% were briefly covered in the media to one extent or another. Even in those, the official reports reveal details not reported in public media.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
We were hiking in Glacier last week and saw two different grizzlies. Up close and personal. No bear spray. There were some female hikers that came up on them as well and if the bear charged, I was just going to trip them.
Loads of grizzly’s in Glacier
The women or the bears?
;-)
Thanks for posting. Always figured the Winchester Mod 12 20ga was sufficient at indoor range with 6 shot and appreciate absolute confirmation.
Lots of black and brown black bears around here. It’s bear season now. With it being so dry they’re coming around for food and water. I’m always on alert. Never had an incident where I needed to shoot one except one time I shot over its head to scare it off. Thank God there’s no Grizzleys around here. I carry a .357 with hollow points just in case. A pistol is better than a long gun. Although I’d rather be able to swing my assault rifle around if need be with the 30 round magazine and armour piercing rounds
Bear attack in Duxbury, Minnesota, 525 lb black bear killed with knife.
https://www.kare11.com/mobile/article/news/local/mn-hunter-survives-brutal-bear-attack/105752366
...the hunter had a full choked Remington 870 12 gauge pump shotgun, loaded, as required when hunting migrant fowl, with only three shots.
Nope. Not advisable at all.
I’ve come across 3 black bears over the years while hunting.
The closest was about 4 or 5 feet. Both the bear and I retreated in different directions. I leave them alone as long as they leave me alone. Worst thing that can happen if you shoot is that you have a wounded pissed off bear, and that’s something I’d like to avoid.
I was hiking with my daughter in the spring and we ran into a very grumpy Momma bear with two cubs. We retreated in opposite directions and took another trail. A half hour later, we ran into Mamma with two cubs again, pretty sure it was the same bear. We retreated and climbed a tree.
I sat on a branch lower than hers with my ka-bar knife (anti-gun state) until an hour before sunset, a little nervous but mostly enjoying the relaxing chat with her. She asked how I thought I would do against a bear (back when she was young and “Daddy” could do almost anything), and I told her perhaps not well but still well enough that the bear would rather go away since we were no threat. I am VERY glad I never had to find out.
Messing around while bird hunting with the Browning, I can get off 3 shots from the hip in a bit aver a second, call it a second and a half max. Aimed shots from the shoulder, are slower at 3 shots at say 2.5 seconds. I don’t think there’s a pump made that can match that plus there’s always the risk of short stoking into a jam.
It frustrates me to no end that 16ga shells are so rare to find on the shelf. I am much more accurate with the 16ga as the 12ga has greater barrel rise so takes longer to get back on target plus there’s the added gun movement just from the body motions of racking the slide.
At Sportsmans Guide they have 16 gauge buckshot, slugs, and birdshot.
Oops! Sorry, all out of stock!
If I may, I suggest jacketed soft points rather than jacketed hollow points. Hollow points are designed to promote expansion which is not ideal for bears. Penetration is more important.
I have a had several semi autos. My favorite was a Beretta Model A606 Sporting Clays.
Every now and then it would pull off 2 shots on one trigger pull, usually with the 1-5/8oz 6 shot loads.
I remember seeing an Inuit/Eskimo man on a documentary, describing how he had to defend himself from a polar bear attack, using an M16 (from the national guard armory, IIRC?) He survived the encounter, the bear did not.
At the opposite end of the 'hardware' spectrum, was the guy back east who grabbed a single-shot .410 when he heard his chickens making a racket out behind his house. Expecting to find a fox or similar, he was more than just a bit surprised when a black bear charged him, straight out the chicken coop door. He shouldered his gun and fired, more instinct than anything else - and the bear dropped dead (guess God was looking out for him, and he hit it in just the right place ;^)...
Thanks... I’ll give them a look tonight. Bookmarked.
The only high end shotgun I’ve used is a Kreighoff 16ga over under for skeet shooting. A friends brother had a private range at his farm in SE Oklahoma. Next to the range, the owner of everything had a small building with his own little private automated reloading setup. Just filled the bins and 16ga shells started chunking out. Nice, especially since each us were shooting 100-150 shots per day.
I probably used the Kreighoff loaner more than my Browning semi 16ga and the Kreighoff was a bit faster and better targeting than my field grade Browning. It should be for what those suckers cost. I just love that station where your back is at the low house and the high house is right to your front. Two shots so fast it almost sounds as one.
One other shotgun I shot one and only one time at that farm was a double barrel 10ga. If I ever see a 10ga again I’ll just take off running the other direction. I’ve never been kicked so hard in my life.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.