20ga Bear Defense While Upland or Waterfowl Hunting

[drakeallterrain]

Hello,

First time posting. I have scoured many forums about this, and there does not appear to be a reasonable solution for non-toxic ammo in 20ga that would work to defend against bears in this scenario “legally”. There are very niche manufacturers of “tin” rifled slugs, but they don’t come in 20ga. Steel 20ga (petal?) rounds must not be shot in choked barrels. Can’t legally hunt migratory birds/upland while in possession of lead ammo.

What I did was order 5x custom TSS rounds 20ga #BB 1-5/8 payload. I expect to never use them, but in addition to sometimes bear spray carried I wanted another option.Their cost shipped is $70/5 rnds, which is fine. In a 7lb. O/U I expect these rounds to take a chunk out of my shoulder.

At defensive range and within reason, what could I expect from this while choked at Improved Cylinder to Modified vs. bear face? I expect it to work for any other predator, but bear is the primary concern. I know its no slug but I imagine I can’t ask bears to be patient while I swap chokes.

[CP]

At defensive range and within reason, what could I expect from this while choked at Improved Cylinder to Modified vs. bear face?

You should expect to die a horrible and painful death via a pissed off bear. 

Maybe just bring some bear spray.

[Bob33]

I don't think that would work very well on a grizzly. I wouldn't worry about a black bear.

[Feathernfurr]

Unless you’re waterfowl/upland hunting in grizz country I wouldn’t be worried about bear defense. If you’re dead set on it I would be carrying a side arm. Dump two rounds of bird shot in the face and eyes, then transition to your sidearm.

[freshgrease]

Posts like these are bizarre as can be lol.

Just buy a pistol if you are truly afraid of bears.

[MADMAX]

As others have said
Pistol or bear spray

[drakeallterrain]

No grizzlies, would not expect that to work at all. Black bear is main concern. JBLM maintains there is increased black bear activity. IME with black bears their unpredictability has been associated with people knowingly/unknowingly feeding them, and that area is surrounded with people.

Tungsten #BB shot while technically “bird-sized shot” is marketed and used to shoot bucks and hogs with penetration tests passing clean through 2x shoulder bones @40 yds. Expecting a usage within 8-15 yds would create a fairly narrow shot column with a small reduction in velocity ~1200fps. The difference between 2oz/rnd carried for the season vs a sidearm carried is significant enough to entertain this.

People been telling me “yer gonna die” for decades, still here but enjoy the discourse. 

[wadu1]

A cousin in Canada uses Federal Premium Vital-Shok 20 Gauge Ammo 2-3/4" 275 Grain Trophy Copper Tipped Sabot. He hunts deer with them in the shotgun only areas. His area has bears, cats and wolves. They are $13 -14 a box of 5.

[tgomez]

Bring a pistol with you is my two cents. I wouldn't trust that load at all on a black bear.

[kselkhunter]

As many have said, just carry bear spray and a pistol.

If you were to get into reloading, there are options.  There are pressure tested bear defense loads for 12 gauge with TSS that guys use in Alaska, and the dealer I buy from provides recipes.  I'm sure he has tested 20 gauge load data as well.  The bear defense recipe that I load for 12 gauge is twenty 30cal TSS balls per shot (you can get up to .36 cal as well, fewer per shell of course). Remembering TSS is harder than steel and 60% denser than lead, so flies farther and penetrates deeper.       

[wadu1]

The poster hunts JBLM, caring a handgun may not be an option. I'm not sure about spray but I doubt it would be OK.

[Lalo]

Not sure why everyone is so negative. At 10 feet, a shotgun load of tss or bismuth would not open up at all and would basically be like a slug, and I would prefer it over, say, 10mm any day. (Then again, your bird shot would also be similar to a slug at 10 feet). I have actually considered a similar problem, though I have more options, because I carry a 12 gauge. Hevi-shot Dead Coyote, for example. However, if the bear is close, who wants to be fumbling with taking bird shot out of your gun and putting a heavier round in? In that sense, the naysayers are probably right that if you are quick and accurate with a handgun, and if it is legal, probably better to hit the bear with bird shot, and then draw the pistol.

[7mmfan]

This is just my  . If you shoot a bear in the face at 10' - 15' with a load of #4 steel, he's not likely to be a problem for you anymore. At the very least you're going to blow his eyes out, and he won't be able to see you. That's if the group opens at all. Otherwise, it's like others have said, that is basically a steel slug headed his way. If you're using bismuth or tungsten, it's lights out.

[ducks4days]

If you are this scared of bears you should stay out of the woods.

IDK if you have ever used a hammer to dig a hole, it can be done but its a lot easier to use a shovel. Or a tractor if you have access to one. If you need to defend yourself, you should not try to get one tool to do two jobs because it will do each poorly. You should not try to rely on cycling out your active shell and loading a specific shell from your pocket if you need to do it quickly. Youll just die.

Use some common sense and get purpose dedicated tools for whatever it is you are trying to do. If youre in grizz areas just buy a G20 in 10mm, load it with hard cast bullets and practice a couple times a year drawing and firing from standing and from your back on the ground. Youll probably never need to use it or the training but its the right tool for the job. If youre not in grizz areas, go out and get a pair of testicles learn how to be around black bears. They arent that scary.

[Feathernfurr]

I haven’t cackled that hard in a long time😂