Posted on 12/23/2022 4:53:07 AM PST by marktwain
On July 20, 1993, near Paulabren, Norway, three people fought off a polar bear using two handguns. Paulabren is part of the Svalbard archipelago, under Norwegian administration, north of the arctic circle, south of Longyearbyen.
This story was uncovered as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by AmmoLand. The names of the individuals involved were redacted. The original account is a translation. Names have been added to make the report more understandable. The report has been lightly edited for ease in reading. The attack was by a single sow polar bear, on polar researchers in their camp.
Paul was sitting outside the tent in his sleeping bag. John and Ian were also outside the tent. Suddenly Paul became aware of a bear coming towards them at great speed over the moraine heap that was about 5 m away. The bear came directly at the three people being outside. First, it looked like it was coming at John, who was standing, but suddenly he realized that it was
coming at himself.Everything happened very fast, in about 2 seconds. Paul had a revolver, a Smith & Wesson, lying on his left side. The same moment he saw the bear he bent over and grabbed the gun. Before he had the gun ready to fire, the bear was at him and he pulled his legs back. The sleeping pad he was sitting on had claw marks on it.
Paul kicked out with his legs and fired the gun. He didn’t see if he hit, but he was sure he must have, at that range, about 1 m. He fired one more shot immediately. The bear then turned around and ran away. John could not see if the bear was bleeding from a gunshot wound.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Climate change claim scam does yield a consequence.
Poor polar bear.
The only good bear is a dead bear.
I personally like to see bears in the wild. Though I have no compunction against shooting one to death if need be
When I read the headline I just wondered where he got the guns, haha.
It’s early here I didn’t see the word stopped.
I often am stopped by revolvers, particularly at gun shows.
“This one is different. Tell me about it!”
So, how hard is it to acquire .44 Mag revolvers in Norway?
It may be easier to get .44 magnum revolvers there.
Norway is somewhat less restrictive than most European countries.
In Svalbard, nobody is allowed to travel outside the city without a firearm. This is the world’s northernmost populated city.
Lots of polar bears in Svalbard. If she was still up and looking for food by now she was pretty hungry and probably pissed off to boot.
Pretty close. As long as some members of small groups are armed, not all members have to be armed.
Bear Spray is not allowed as a protection against bears.
Energy levels are required to be sufficient.
Minimums exist for rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Handgun energy levels are about full power .44 magnum. Some .41 magnum loads could make it, I think.
The 10mm does not have enough energy to be included.
“I personally like to see bears in the wild. Though I have no compunction against shooting one to death if need be”
Good for you!
I live in the land of brown/black bears and grizzlies...just a few months ago a sow and two cubs were checking out my driveway and one of the cubs tried to climb into my truck bed (overnight camera footage).
I do NOT ever want to see a polar bear or Kodiak in person after being WAAAAAAY too close to two Alaska brown bears one summer outside of S. Naknek at around 11:00 PM... BIG bad a$$ mo-fos them!
No reason why it needed to be a 44 magnum. It didn’t kill the bear - and a 44 magnum has a poor chance of killing a bear too!
Bears, including grizzlies, often take off after being shot by 9mm and 38s. Maybe the noise, or the sudden sharp pain they didn’t expect. Now, if it was a mama protecting its babies, that might be different.
Lots of bears are killed with pistols, but the purpose of a defensive use is to stop the attack.
I knew a guy that worked in a dump in Alaska. He was new, and one day they sent him out to “shoo away the polar bears.” How, he asked, does one do that? They put him in the bulldozer, and told him to lift the bucket up off the ground and just advance slowly toward the bear. Well...easy enough. When he got close, the bear stood up, made eye contact, and dropped its front feet down, hard, on the bucket. Here endeth the lesson.
Can you rent a gun at the city limits?
😊
“When he got close, the bear stood up, made eye contact, and dropped its front feet down, hard, on the bucket. Here endeth the lesson.”
I’ve driven two different front-end loaders - I get the ‘word picture’ you painted better than most will.
Wow!
it didn’t “need” to be but the 44 mag is far and away the most popular revolver for bear defense in far northern areas.
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