Really? I guess just bumbling in the woods won't get you into trouble as long as you have a .45 on your side.
The point of my post was that situational awareness is the most important tool you have (which it sounds like you disagree with). Also, spray is a generally a good option...... and that if you decide to carry a gun, make sure you understand how to use it. Know the anatomy of the animal and have the confidence to accurately use the weapon under pressure. Firearms are not the best solution for everybody. I'm a gun guy, it sounds like you are, but not everyone is.
The problem with using 9mm, is that it lacks the penetration that heavier calibers have. If the round gets well enough into the brain, 9mm can do the job. Problem is that bear skulls are thick and have a shape that encourages bullet deflection. Not saying it can't be done, but a hard cast, heavy bullet will give you a better chance at obtaining adequate penetration.... and .45 Colt/.44 Mag or Dave's .500 Linebaugh (as far as handguns are concerned) gives you better options for that task.
BTW, I forget. What is that Linebaugh built on?
I tried to link the Anchorage Daily News story but its no longer available. Some guy had to defend himself against a larg Brown Bear and stopped and killed it with a 9mm. Pure luck Im sure but there is a bit of empiracle evidence.
Having talked to a number of old timers here in Alaska, a number of them in the past used .357 Magnums. They reported great penetration on bones, skulls etc. Of course shot placement is important. That is why I shoot at least a thousand rounds a year (lately since its hard to find reloading supplies). Have to know how to handle a handgun.
Woodrow, my .500 Linebaugh and .475 are built on the Ruger Bisely frame. My .500 was built my John himself and my .475 was built by Jack Huntington. Both great smiths!
Im picking up a Freedom Arms 500 AE today.
Here is the article as someone copied it.
Fisherman shoots, kills grizzly BEAR! BEAR! Man plugs lunging bruin with 9 mm pistol on Russian River. http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/1618619p-1736211c.html Fisherman shoots, kills grizzly BEAR! BEAR! Man plugs lunging bruin with 9 mm pistol on Russian River. By Zaz Hollander Anchorage Daily News (Published: August 18, 2002)
A fisherman shot and killed a sow grizzly as she charged him in the early morning darkness Saturday on the banks of the Russian River. The bear surprised Garen Brenner and two friends about 2:30 a.m. as they packed up their gear at one of the Kenai Peninsula's most popular fishing spots, said Larry Lewis, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife technician on the peninsula.
Brenner heard his friend yell "Bear! Bear!" and looked downriver to see the sow a few yards down the bank eyeing the friend. The bear lost interest in Brenner's friend after he backed into the water and threw his shotgun at her. But then she turned, looked up at Brenner and lunged, said Lewis, who interviewed the three men Saturday.
Brenner fired at the center of the hulking shape closing to four or five feet away. He fired twice. The sow, estimated at 400 to 450 pounds, went down. Then Brenner fired three more shots into her head. He shot the bear with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. Lewis said such a low-caliber gun ordinarily doesn't pack enough punch to kill a bear. But Brenner loaded the pistol with full-metal-jacket bullets that penetrated to the bear's vital organs, he said. "I think that's what saved his bacon," Lewis said.
The bear most likely was protecting her yearling cub, which waited well behind her above the steep bank, wildlife officials said. After the shooting, the cub ran up and down the bank near its mother's body, bawling in distress. "It would stop and smell the bear, the sow, and then it would go into the water a ways, then it would come back," said Bill Shuster, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
Local fishing guide Brandon Maes ran into the cub as he fished the Upper Kenai River near its confluence with the Russian. The cub charged, and Maes waded across the swift, chest-deep river to an island. The bear backed off but not before charging the guide's buddies in a boat nearby. Soon after, Lewis tranquilized the cub, tagged and collared her and moved her to the south side of Skilak Lake.
The encounter was the latest of several close calls between people and bears along Southcentral rivers and streams. The Russian is thick with spawned-out sockeye that draw bears. Authorities are looking into whether the dead bear is the same sow that attacked a Soldotna mother and son hiking Resurrection Pass Trail on Friday afternoon about three miles from Cooper Landing. That bear, also accompanied by a cub, raked the mother's face with her claws and bit the son.
Nonetheless, people going into Gwin's store expressed dismay Saturday that Brenner killed the brown bear, said Linda Krack, a Washington state resident working there on Saturday. "I'm not from here, but locals were pretty angry," Krack said. "Rumor had it, it wasn't necessary, but I sure don't know. I wasn't there. I didn't have it charging after me." Lewis, who interviewed the fishermen on Saturday, dismissed such criticism. "That's absolute nonsense," he said. "He got a hearty handshake and a 'job well done' for saving himself and his buddies."
Reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at
zhollander@adn.com or 907-257-4591.
