? for you ballistic gurus

[Dan-o]

I was treed by a charging cow moose who stayed by the base of the tree for a couple minutes, if that counts.

I was young and could climb then.    I'd be screwed now....

[Jonathan_S]

Yeah moose are terrifying  I'd say that counts.

I've been "attacked" by a bear cub that jumped out of a tree to chase me down.  I was terrified because I knew mama was probably close but he was very small.  Boot got a few scratches but that's it.

[jackelope]

Never been attacked, or bluff charged for that matter. My wife and I walked up on a little grizzly on Slough Creek in Yellowstone ~10 years ago. Popped up about 30-40 yards from him. We were too focused on the cutts rising to bugs and not paying attention to the local wildlife. Also surprised a momma black bear with twins in the Pend Oreille refuge. They all stood up on their back legs wondering who or what the heck we were, but that's as western as that got. Yelled at her a few times and they wandered off.
Pretty cool encounters really, you know, since we didn't get eaten.

[bearpaw]

I've been in many situations where pistols of all sizes have been used in all types of circumstances to kill bear, sometimes as a primary weapon, sometimes to finish them off. From what I have seen as a rule a .357 is the minimum I would want to be packing to protect myself against bear. I've never seen less than about a 4" barrel used, but I know a 4" barrel .357 will kill a bear. I also know that .38's shot out of a .357 or out of a .38 probably won't kill a bear very quickly, it might scare the bear away? You need the extra energy of the .357 to kill a bear quickly! One exception, if I had to pack a smaller pistol it would be a .22 magnum, they get fairly good penetration which is what the .38 is lacking. Keep in mind a .22 mag is not legal to use for hunting bear, except for self defense. That Keltec with the 30 round clip is a pretty neat pistol! I would definitely recommend a .41 magnum or other caliber with larger case capacity if you plan to use your pistol to hunt bear! In my experience bear are tougher to kill than most anything else in WA, except for maybe moose.
Hope that info helps!

[mountainman]

"In my experience bear are tougher to kill than most anything else in WA, except for maybe moose."
Hope that info helps!

They can be tough for sure. No 2 animals are the same, but a big blackie has some heavy bone structure and can be pretty hard to give up the ghost. Those that have been around enough of them and in varied situations know that. To deny that shows inexperience generally..

[jay.sharkbait]

"In my experience bear are tougher to kill than most anything else in WA, except for maybe moose."
Hope that info helps!

They can be tough for sure. No 2 animals are the same, but a big blacker has some heavy bone structure and can be pretty hard to give up the ghost. Those that have been around enough of them and in varied situations know that. To deny that shows inexperience generally..

I'm surprised that there are any "blackers" left.

[JimmyHoffa]

The old bear trappers (Washington black bears) I've read about, IIRC, would carry comfortable little .38s with them.  In the cases where they would get attacked, the bear was on them so fast that they never really got to aim.  They just stuck it into the bear and worked it like a staple gun until the bear stopped, usually a couple shots.

[Biggerhammer]

Their just big tape worm infested fuzzy forest rats!

[jay.sharkbait]

The old bear trappers (Washington black bears) I've read about, IIRC, would carry comfortable little .38s with them.  In the cases where they would get attacked, the bear was on them so fast that they never really got to aim.  They just stuck it into the bear and worked it like a staple gun until the bear stopped, usually a couple shots.

My Great Grandfather was a well known logger and cat Hunter on the west side.

He carried a Colt woodsman and a 25-35.

[mountainman]

"In my experience bear are tougher to kill than most anything else in WA, except for maybe moose."
Hope that info helps!

They can be tough for sure. No 2 animals are the same, but a big blacker has some heavy bone structure and can be pretty hard to give up the ghost. Those that have been around enough of them and in varied situations know that. To deny that shows inexperience generally..

I'm surprised that there are any "blackers" left.

[Bob33]

Blacker bears matter.

[b23]

Maybe take a look at the S&W model 69 44mag.  It's a 5 shot 4in. 44mag built on their L frame.  I've never shot one but I had one in my hands at a shop about a year ago.  For obvious reasons, it felt just like my 686.

[Bofire]

I have seen a wounded black bear shot 3 times with a 44 mag, 240 grain soft point factory winchester ammo at about 10 feet, had to be killed with a rifle. I saw a wounded black killed with a glock 19 9mm at about 6 feet one shot, and a black wounded killed with a 357 158 grain HP, two shot to the face about 2 feet.
Carl

[jackelope]

My good friend/hunting buddy killed a black bear in a full on charge in AK at about 10' with a .25-06 to the face.

 

Shot placement is king.

[JDHasty]

6 of one and half dozen of another...  A 2.5" barrel has less velocity and resultant energy but it is a pretty moot point. If you really need it then the belly gun will suit you better because the animal will likely be on you.  If you have the time to admire the longer sight radius and higher energy of the longer barrel then you really don't need it because it is likely less than 1:1,000,000 that it is actually a life threatening situation.

Out of curiosity, has anyone on here ever actually had to defend themselves from an imminent or actual attack?  I've known a lot of people to get pretty worked up because there is bear sign in an area but I have never really worried about it, I almost always go armed but am more worried about scumbags than bears or other wild animals.

Teacherman - maybe things have changed but my experience with Buffalo Bore has been the worst of any ammunition I have ever experienced. I have personally handled three firearms their ammo has destroyed and helped drive out two slugged barrels from their ammo. I know they have some blistering velocity and good bullet choice but I would personally never use it again.

I had the short barreled 500 S&W for a number of years and it was quite the handful. I learned quickly that when shooting full horsepower loads that if I wanted to save the skin on the web of my palm I should put a little oil on the backstrap so it didn't peel it off. Great gun though, I liked mine a lot but it was just too much overkill.

My buddy Dave had someone give him some reloaded 35 Rem ammo that kinda' worked, but he didn't really care because he rarely shot a bear further than 20 feet away.  Dave was tying the dogs back when a second mediocre size black bear he had not seen bum rushed him and grabed him on Artondale Golf Course (now Gig Harbor Golf Club I believe). 

It got hold of him by the leg and he was wearing logger's dungarees w/Stihl suspenders, Redwing Romeo's and a hickory shirt.  He said that he got lucky because it had him by the knee, but he turned and the bear's mouth slipped off his knee and all it had hold of what the side seam of the pants in it's mouth.  Then it started to shake him like a terrier would do with a rat until a suspender button cut loose and he flew out of his pants.

The bear still had the pants in it's mouth and was worrying them something fierce and Dave still had his 35 Rem Marlin in his hands and he finally managed to get it open and another round into it and let the bear know that the party was over. 

Dave was like black colored from pretty much head to foot for pert near the next week and then he was kinda the color of an Italian plumb that had areas that faded to greenish color for another week. 

He refuse to shoot reloaded ammo to this day.  I have pointed out to him that he was well aware that the ammo he was given was not to spec and should never have been used to begin with, but he doesn't want to hear it.   

This happened around 1960, about the time the golf course was first there.  The info on his color is courtesy of Dave's wife.  I got to hear the story the first time back in teh early 1980's after offering to reload some ammo for him.