Details of Bear Defense with .22 LR Revolver in 1962

AmmoLand ^ | February 6, 2023 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In the research done by this correspondent and colleagues, much credit must be given to those who sent detailed information about bear attacks and pistol defenses.

As incidents of defense against bears with pistols mounted, some did not have enough information to be considered documented. One of those was mentioned by Warden Louis Kis in “More Alaskan Bear Tales” by Larry Kaniut on page 276. In previous articles, it was mentioned as an incident requiring more information. Readers were asked to provide information. The information was presented thus:

Early 1960s, North Fork of the the Flathead river in Montana, .22 H&R 9 shot revolver, grizzly bear.

The worker approached a bear in a black bear snare. The bear charged the worker, who shot it with the .22 revolver. The bear died, but it took some time to do so, as told by game warden Louis Kis. p. 276, More Bear Tales

There was no name of the person who did the shooting, no date, and no specific location.

The request for more specific information has been answered.

Allen Schallenberger is a long-time Montana resident. He was a helper of Chuck Jonkel in 1963. Jonkel had killed the grizzly bear the previous year, in 1962. Chuck told Allen about the incident and allowed Allen to shoot the H&R revolver he had used to kill the grizzly. The incident was well known in Montana Fish & Game, which is how Lois Kis heard about it decades later.

“It is not surprising that Kis got most of the story correct but did not have all the details and got one or two things wrong.  Allen continued with Fish & Game and did significant grizzly bear research in Montana. Here are excerpts from the letter by Allen Schallenberger:

[gundog]

Her ancestors drove the ancient Cave Bear to extinction, using pointy sticks.

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[muir_redwoods]

Agreed, a .22 is a pretty hopeful choice for bear hunting.