I personally can never get enough of the "bear vs pistol" threads : )I hate to start another bear pistol thread, but I just became aware of this story, which apparently happened earlier last fall, and the facts are a bit noteworthy.
Known and respected Alaskan guide for over 30 yrs, Phil Shoemaker was forced to shoot and kill a grizzly bear to protect himself and his clients while guiding a fishing trip. His handgun in this episode was a 9mm S&W 3954, loaded with Buffalo Bore 147 grain RNFP hardcast ammo. He likely fired 8 rds, obtained hits with all. There are at least two printed articles on the episode.
Shoemaker's the real deal, no tinhorn by all reports. I've read some of his stuff over the years, seems very well thought out. What lead him to carry the 9mm 'Smith would make for an interesting conversation. Likely has been around and in contact with bears as much or more than anybody. I wonder, would he carry it again? Is he still carrying it?
A bullet that will penetrate five feet of ballistic gel is likely adequate to penetrate the thick skull of a grizzly or brown bear. I suppose the fact that it took eight rounds is notable.
A bullet that will penetrate five feet of ballistic gel is likely adequate to penetrate the thick skull of a grizzly or brown bear
I hate to start another bear pistol thread, but I just became aware of this story, which apparently happened earlier last fall, and the facts are a bit noteworthy.
Known and respected Alaskan guide for over 30 yrs, Phil Shoemaker was forced to shoot and kill a grizzly bear to protect himself and his clients while guiding a fishing trip. His handgun in this episode was a 9mm S&W 3954, loaded with Buffalo Bore 147 grain RNFP hardcast ammo. He likely fired 8 rds, obtained hits with all. There are at least two printed articles on the episode.
Shoemaker's the real deal, no tinhorn by all reports. I've read some of his stuff over the years, seems very well thought out. What lead him to carry the 9mm 'Smith would make for an interesting conversation. Likely has been around and in contact with bears as much or more than anybody. I wonder, would he carry it again? Is he still carrying it?
Link?It looks as though Federal is now offering their own Bear Defense load.
Apparently they're making a new line of ammo called Solid Core which is intended for Animal Defense.
Larry and his wife were fishing with me, and because we were going to a small stream I had fished before, which had numerous large male brown bears, I decided to take my Smith & Wesson 3953 DAO 9mm, rather than the S&W 629 .44 Mag. Mountain Gun I have carried for the past 25 years, as the larger boars are usually less of a problem than sows with cubs.
Two days ago I was guiding a couple from NY on a fishing trip and decided to pack my S&W 3954 pistol. When we were approaching the stream we bumped into a large boar who must have been sleeping as we were talking loud just so we wouldn't surprise one. Over the past 33 years I have lived and guided here on the Alaska peninsula I have never had to kill a bear in defense of life but this bear was different.
We were in thick brush and I was only 8 or 10 feet from the bear when he started growling and huffing. I began yelling and it eventually ran around, behind my two clients, into the brush. But within 15 seconds it came charging back from the area behind us and popped out of the brush 10 feet from me! I had the little S&W in my hands and was thinking I was probably going to have to shoot it but as it cleared the brush it headed toward my clients. The man had enough sense to grab his wife and fall backward into the tall grass. The bear seemed to lose track of them, even though it was less than 3 feet away from them and it was highly agitated! It then swung toward me, I was 6 or 8 feet away, and I fired the first shot into the area between the head and shoulder. It growled and started wildly thrashing around, still basically on the feet of my clients. My next shot hit it in the shoulder and it began twisting and biting at the hits and I continued firing as fast as I could see vitals. Five shots later it turned into the brush and I hit it again and it twisted and fell 20 feet from us!
Well, sorta.Shoemaker took the DAO 3953 S&W 9mm because he incorrectly did not expect any issue with bears.
We make “Bear Loads” in Smaller Chamberings such as the following:
★ (Item 24F) -- 9MM +P+ PENETRATOR
★ (Item 24L) -- 9MM +P OUTDOORSMAN
★ (Item 20H) -- 38 SPL +P OUTDOORSMAN
★ (Item 19A) -- HEAVY 357 MAG OUTDOORSMAN
★ (Item 23F) -- 40 S&W OUTDOORTSMAN Std Pressure Low Flash
★ (Item 21C) -- HEAVY 10MM OUTDOORSMAN
We do this because a lot of people own those guns and don’t want to buy a 454 Casull or 44 mag. I would have no problem defending myself against a black bear attack (and have done so) with the proper 9MM ammo. I prefer a more powerful/bigger cartridge, but the 9MM will get it done, even on grizzlies, if you take their brain with a flat nosed, non-expanding bullet. Of course, making a brain shot under such duress, will take practice and cool nerves.
Yes, this seems to be a more accurate assertion.tipoc said:He did not anticipate that there would be high danger from the bears in the area.
Shoemaker DID have a choice, and he chose to carry his 9mm given the circumstances.But, as Sundles and Shoemaker say, if you have a choice take a more powerful gun and learn to use it.
Larry and his wife were fishing with me, and because we were going to a small stream I had fished before, which had numerous large male brown bears, I decided to take my Smith & Wesson 3953 DAO 9mm, rather than the S&W 629 .44 Mag Mountain Gun I have carried for the past 25 years, as the larger boars are usually less of a problem than sows with cubs.
He says he knew there were many large boars in the area where they were going but said they were "less of a problem". "Less of a problem" is clearly not the same thing as no problem, but it would be pretty similar to saying that he felt the danger was lower than usual.
We were in thick brush and I was only 8 or 10 feet from the bear when he started growling and huffing. I began yelling and it eventually ran around, behind my two clients, into the brush. But within 15 seconds it came charging back from the area behind us and popped out of the brush 10 feet from me! I had the little S&W in my hands and was thinking I was probably going to have to shoot it but as it cleared the brush it headed toward my clients. The man had enough sense to grab his wife and fall backward into the tall grass. The bear seemed to lose track of them, even though it was less than 3 feet away from them and it was highly agitated!
Before we reached the stream, while we were walking through dense brush and tall grass, we heard a growl and deep “woof” of a bear approximately 6 feet to our right (behind me in the secondary photo). We had been talking loudly but must have startled a sleeping bear. It sounded like it made a movement toward us, and I shouted loudly and the bear ran back through the brush to the right in the photo. Within 15 seconds, we could hear it growling and charging through the dense brush from the opposite side.
I had my pistol out by then, and the bear first appeared from where the photographer in photo No. 2 was standing. It went straight for my clients; Larry and his wife fell backwards in the deep grass. She said the bear’s face was close enough to hers that it could have bitten her!
The bear was highly agitated and standing within 3 feet of my clients when I decided I could take a shot without endangering them.
It was in the sense that no bear stalked them or charged them.Had that been the case things very likely would have turned out worse.
Shoemaker is an honest man so he tells us...