Father Uses .44 Magnum to Shoot Grizzly Bear off Son

Ammoland ^ | 30 October, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

On the morning of 24 September, 2017, David Buckallew, 63, and his son, Rory, 35, were hunting black bear. David was along as an observer. Only Rory carried a rifle, a Remington model 700, semi-customized in the wildcat 6.5mm-06 caliber. Dave carried a Taurus Tracker stainless steel 4 inch .44 magnum in a Montana Holster shoulder rig made by Norm Schertenleib. Rory carried a Glock model 20 in 10mm.

The morning was cool with a light frost in low spots at Kalispell, Montana.  There was little wind. Sunrise was at 7:28 local.  Before 9 am, the men had spotted a black bear and were attempting to get in position for a shot. They were moving through thick cover on the steep side slope east of the Hungry Horse reservoir.

Then they heard it. A large animal was crashing through the undergrowth. It was moving along the side slope angling up the hill, above them. As it came directly above them, about 30 yards away, they could see bushes move. It changed direction and charged down the hill at them. Neither man knew what it was. It was coming directly at them. Both men fired a shot in front of the beast in an attempt to divert it or scare it off. David fired his .44 magnum Taurus, Rory his model 700 bolt action Remington rifle. The animal was only 7-8 yards away, but the cover was so thick, they could not see it.

In a split second, the bear appeared as it slid to a stop only two feet from and just beyond Rory.

[marktwain]

Bella Twin, Little Woman with a Little Gun, a Big Bear, and a Cold Front

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2017/06/bella-twin-little-woman-with-little-gun.html

Hard to argue with success.

[Cen-Tejas]

........you mention “bear spray”........I can’t pass up commenting on one danger of bear spray. I spend a large part of my summers on the Yukon, mainly just floating down the river but I have had many bear sightings and a bear in camp once. It’s also noteworthy that I’m always alone.

Anyway, that “once” I didn’t feel really threatened by the bear because I’m pretty use to being in their backyard and it was not a real big one and it was not exhibiting threatening body language just hungry and nosey behavior.

So, I had my Remington 870 Magnum Tactical in hand with safety off and ready to fire. It was loaded with 000 Magnum shells and would have annihilated the bear had I shot as he was only about 50 feet away. So, with maybe 2 minutes to think things over I sort of employed the bear spray. At about the time I was going to squirt the spray, it dawned on me that there was a slight breeze to my face so if I shot the bear with the spray at least some of it definitely would have come back in my face and almost surely have incapacitated me.

So, my point to all reading this is that, arguably, the spray in a “bear situation” is quite likely to get you killed if you make ANY mistake in employing it.

I still carry it because I do not want to KILL a bear. But, I’m not a goofy liberal and I will kill it if I feel threatened.

[MileHi]

The FWP officers told Dave if he had bear spray, he might have avoided having to shoot the bear. Dave noted the FWP officers were all armed with shotguns and had loaded pistols on their hips.

Yeah, you first, officer.

[Manly Warrior]

I too piled on ungraciously. I too have been the victim of age and not enough coffee.

Mea Culpa.