Aggressive bear shot in Denali National Park and Preserve

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ^ | July 6, 2008

[AnAmericanMother]

I once got accidentally sprayed with capsicum. Long story -- partly my fault.

If it doesn't incapacitate a plump 40ish (at that time) matron with a desk job, it is definitely NOT going to incapacitate a thug OR a bear. All it did was make my eyes burn and make me VERY embarassed.

[ApplegateRanch]

Does pepper spray protect people from bears?

Only from very insular ones, who do not like spicy foreign foods.

[AnAmericanMother]

Center of mass for the first shot - I would go high chest, I think, but not neck. Too easy to miss when the panic's on.

Followup shots to the neck and head, however, would be a really good idea.

I have to disagree about 12 ga. when the chips are down. I want a nice big Nosler with serious muzzle energy behind it, and I want a bunch of them in that bear in quick succession.

[ApplegateRanch]

after enough people find out the hard way that it doesn’t, the bear is preseasoned

OH!

You mean, you're supposed to spray the BEAR; not yourself?!?

I thought the idea was to make you taste terrible when it tried to eat you. *<];-)

[AnAmericanMother]

I thought the proverbial "Bear Medicine" was a .348 Winchester Model 71 lever action with the big 250 gr Silvertips.

At least that was what my mom had. My dad was going to buy the .375 H&H, but mom turned up pregnant with me instead.

[Mashood]

The operative word is “seasonal” Park employees. They’re part-timers...

[Little Ray]

Dunno.
I got this from my Father-in-law, Dr. Garret Brass - he was a technocrat for the Federales and had his own little fleet in of icebreakers... Been to the North Pole 5 times.

What I have READ (if I have any choice, you won't catch me close enough to bear, esp. a polar bear, to actually shoot it...) is that you aim for the shoulders. The object is to shatter the shoulder blade and stop its charge. Apparently a bear will keep coming on a bit before he figures out he's dead.
The guy who wrote this shot 3 Grizzlies in AK, one right after another, when they attacked him. Seems it was the end of the hibernation period and they though he and his wife looked like a easy meal...
He used a big game rifle, though.

[Hacklehead]

“1. Undergunned. 12 gauge is a great tool for aggressive humans. It ain’t enough for aggressive black bears. “

By all accounts a 12 G w slugs is plenty for a black bear, and is even acceptable for Griz at close range. The failure in this case was due to poor marksmanship. A hit in the same spot from a 375 H&H would likely have the same result. Not following up on the wounded bear was unforgivable.

[absolootezer0]

spray yourself? why would you spray yourself with seasoning? i guess it might work if it was a vegan bear..

[allmendream]

Yes, and a bear in my back yard took a 12 gage slug in the shoulder that broke its shoulder bone, made mincemeat of its heart and lungs; and it still ran about a hundred yards crashing through thick brush before it fell.

[Little Ray]

Sounds like that would do the trick. I just know that my Father in Law said his folks carried 12 gauges with slugs.
Maybe they WERE undergunned...

[cowdog77]

I do have a question about shot placement though... “
______________________
It was a lousy shot.

[ApplegateRanch]

why would you spray yourself with seasoning?

Because spraying the bear is just going to cause it to lose whatever it had left of its gruntle.

A partially disgruntled bear is bad enough, but a totally disgruntled one is worse.

[Political Junkie Too]

...conducting a botany field study...

That's a tough environmentalist quandry, plants or bear.

I guess the plant won.

-PJ

[Little Ray]

That is scary. I’m glad he ran away rather than at you!

[Soliton]

Tasty chicken-fried bearsteak and gravy. Yummm!

[allmendream]

Very scary. But I wasn't there, it was my step dad and my brother and THEY were up a tree stand they built for that purpose. Smart move. That bear was over 6 feet tall sitting on its ass. It was Halloween night and I was down in Chico CA for some cold beer and hot women.

[Mashood]

They were probably all stoned and paniced when the bear got frisky. Why didn’t they jump into their truck and leave the area? ...to continue their botany field trip.

[allmendream]

Also the angle of the shot was towards the heart from the shoulder. Hard to get that angle on a 7 foot tall bear when you are on the ground! Tree stand highly recommended for shooting large bears!!!!

[Hacklehead]

“I have to disagree about 12 ga. when the chips are down. I want a nice big Nosler with serious muzzle energy behind it, and I want a bunch of them in that bear in quick succession.”

A 375 H&H has ~4660 ft #s of energy with a 300 gr bullet. A 12 g magnum slug at 75 caliber, 437 gr bullet with <3500 ft #s. That’s pretty serious and most people have a 12 G in their closets rather than having to buy a $3000 rifle.