? for you ballistic gurus

[JDHasty]

If I were in bear country a lot and wanted a relatively compact sidearm that packs enough of a wallop I would go with a S&W 1006 or 1076.  They are getting pretty spendy now though. 

[b23]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

[Bob33]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

Since 2000 there have been 27 fatal bear incidences in North America, resulting in 29 deaths. Fifteen were in Canada, three were in Alaska, two were in Tennessee, and single fatal attacks happened in New York, New Mexico, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah and Montana.  Seventeen of those attacks were perpetrated by black bears, and 10 by grizzlies.

[Yondering]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

Since 2000 there have been 27 fatal bear incidences in North America, resulting in 29 deaths. Fifteen were in Canada, three were in Alaska, two were in Tennessee, and single fatal attacks happened in New York, New Mexico, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah and Montana.  Seventeen of those attacks were perpetrated by black bears, and 10 by grizzlies.

Do you have info on how many more involved non-fatal injuries?

[mountainman]

Quote from Boneaddict...


"Yes, I got attacked once.  A big boar.  Charged, stuck a round in his chest at about 10 feet and closing faster than you can ever imagine.   30-30 round single through a contender.  Bear had enough velocity after the shotto hit me and knock me down.  When he hit me, I went rolling down a steep bank, my hat came off my head.  He pounced on it. When I stopped rolling, I hat another round chambered,  I came up and hit him in the shoulders.  That put him down.  He had been fighting with another boar."

Remember the Methow bear hunting days. Have a few scars from them, but what fun, eh Bone??! ☺

[jay.sharkbait]

Remember the Methow bear hunting days. Have a few scars from them, but what fun, eh Bone??! ☺

Did you wrastl'e  with a big Black'r?

[mountainman]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

Most of the time..most..

[b23]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

Since 2000 there have been 27 fatal bear incidences in North America, resulting in 29 deaths. Fifteen were in Canada, three were in Alaska, two were in Tennessee, and single fatal attacks happened in New York, New Mexico, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah and Montana.  Seventeen of those attacks were perpetrated by black bears, and 10 by grizzlies.

Staying Safe in Bear Country

Black bear attacks are extraordinarily rare though many hundreds of thousands of people live, work and recreate annually in black bear country throughout Washington. In 2015, there were about 7 million people living in Washington State but fewer than 10 total bear attacks have ever been recorded here.  The only known bear-caused human fatality in this State occurred more than 40 years ago.  Attitude surveys of outdoor recreationists and sports hunters reveal that in fact, these people feel that bear sightings are far more likely to enhance one’s wilderness experience than to spoil it.

Rest of the article can be read here.
http://westernwildlife.org/black-bear-outreach-project/black-bear-safety/

[mountainman]

Even in defense of their cubs, aren't black bear attacks, extremely, uncommon???

Since 2000 there have been 27 fatal bear incidences in North America, resulting in 29 deaths. Fifteen were in Canada, three were in Alaska, two were in Tennessee, and single fatal attacks happened in New York, New Mexico, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah and Montana.  Seventeen of those attacks were perpetrated by black bears, and 10 by grizzlies.

Staying Safe in Bear Country

Black bear attacks are extraordinarily rare though many hundreds of thousands of people live, work and recreate annually in black bear country throughout Washington. In 2015, there were about 7 million people living in Washington State but fewer than 10 total bear attacks have ever been recorded here.  The only known bear-caused human fatality in this State occurred more than 40 years ago.  Attitude surveys of outdoor recreationists and sports hunters reveal that in fact, these people feel that bear sightings are far more likely to enhance one’s wilderness experience than to spoil it.

Rest of the article can be read here.
http://westernwildlife.org/black-bear-outreach-project/black-bear-safety/

good read.

[Biggerhammer]

Beware of Washington black bears ( AKA... Mobile tape worm transporting, timber rats) with "Jedi" like skills in man eating!!

[Alchase]

Hammer, I don't think I am alone In thinking you are probably a closet bullistic nerd in your real life. In fact I am betting you know the bullistics of most of the possible loads for each of the calibers you shoot. You can admit it, we won't tell anyone about the tears.
It's OK your with friends



LOL

Besides everyone know "ghost" bears are the bomb!

[JDHasty]

Deer kill far more people than bear do and I attribute that to most people having a healthy respect for the latter and not so much for the former. 

It is all fun and games until someone looses a fight with a wild animal.   They are all harmless...  until they are not!! 

That being said:  Unless a bear is determined to end any threat, YOU need to end it pronto. 

People just do not put themselves in a position to be mauled if they know that a bear mauling is on the table.  But, you don't always know and it only makes sense to be prepared with more than a first aid kit and being prepared to roll yourself up in a ball and wait out the outcome of a bear attack.   

Back when we could bait bear I was heading into a bait site with a McDonald's pickle bucket full of Tiger Tails and Snow Balls and was just not paying attention when I "saw" my black lab move through the brush twenty feet to my right and then heard my dog at my left heal. 

This is not a comfortable position to be in when that bear is on a bait site and all I have is a bolt action 77/22.  What I did was to drop the bucket and back away slowly while assuring my dog that the best thing to do was not to leave my side.

I used to pay neighborhood kids to unwrap my bait and use their feet to compress the pastries into a solid block of bear goodies.  That bear opened the bucket up by tearing it in two.  AND did so as soon as I decamped.   

It very well could have been hiking a trail and a bear was moving into a blackberry thicket and seen me as a competitor.  Being that I was in an area that a lot of contact with humans was likely and the bears there did NOT decamp...  you do the math. 

Having a side arm capable of me deciding when we were finishing any contact is a better option than me letting a bear decide when the threat to it's groceries has ended.  It is just common sense, instead of letting a bear decide, and since that day and I carried a 3" Model 13 357 loaded with rounds that will ruin that revolver if fed a steady diet of them.   I have a chest holster and it was not one or the other and if I needed it that Model 13 is "right there." 

I never shot a single one of those rounds out of that Model 13, but I shot them a little out of my 581 just to see where they impacted at twenty-five feet.  With the Model 13 it was just a matter of being able to deal a decisive blow before I ran out of ammo at hand to hand fighting range.

Just a bit of insurance and the cost of paying the premium for that insurance policy was less than two pounds in a holster that made carrying it no issue.

Better to have something than nothing and the something just cannot be a 22 mag or a 38 special. 


You only get to die once. 

   

 

[mountainman]

.454 worked fine here!

[mountainman]

Carried an old 3 screw in .41 mag for years. With it's 4 5/8" barrel, proved handy when in close when bears bayed up on the ground..

[dontgetcrabs]

Deer kill far more people than bear do

WHAT??? That can't be true?