Grizzly -vs- .454

[JCavSD]

I'd just soil myself and hope that the smell would drive him away.

 

[DWK2]

The one time I had a very close encounter with a Brownie, the opposite happened. Digestive tract was a bit tight for awhile!

DancesWithKnives

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

i saw a pic years ago of a 60 ish native woman that shot a large charging grizzly through the eye. This was with a single shot .22 and she dropped it.
That beats anything I have heard of for lucky shot except it was not luck. Been out shooting with some natives in saskatchewan and when you are poor you get used to hitting whatever you shoot at, shells cost.

 

[H2H907]

I'm sure this won't be very popular with most but we should MAKE bears afraid of humans everywhere. (Just as the gentleman in the article suggested

I'm very much of this mindset. We have what is turning into a serious wildlife problem in Anchorage and on the peninsula, because our appointed F&W officials have deemed it more prudent to manage people than wildlife. In part they're acting on the wishes of the bunny-hugger lobby who've moved to Anchorage since the oil boom. These people seem to think wild animals are pets who can live peacefully among people. Last year within Anchorage city limits, we had three bear maulings, two of which were nearly fatal. There have been many moose tramplings over the past twenty years, two of which have been fatal.

This is the result of a tolerant/enabling attitude, as well as ending the moose hunt on the edge of the city back in the early '80s. The moose lost their fear first and began causing problems. Then the bears, which eat the moose, got bolder as well. When I was a kid you'd occasionally see a moose in town, and never a bear.

This policy has also been a failure at fishing spots outside of town that have been used for decades, with no bear problems until fairly recently. In answer, they're policing people, closing trails and shutting down fishing spots. The more they do this, the more bears show up and the closer to town they get.

 

[riddleofsteel]

With handguns it's more about bullet type and design than caliber. The story of Larry Kelly in Alaska comes to mind. A bear tried to get in the cabin he and friend was sleeping in. Six shots from a .44 mag did little to the bear but run it off. This was with 240 grain HP's. The next week he killed a big brown with 300 grain hard cast bullets out of the same gun. Of course careful aim as opposed to firing wildly in a dark cabin had a factor too. Good story if you can find it. It was online somewhere last time I looked.
For me give me a hard cast 300 grain Keith style SWC over a max load in my 4 5/8" Blackhawk .45 Colt if I can not have a long gun.