Bear attack in your tent

S

sapello

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Have just finished watching a TV show with a bear tearing a tent to pieces with a manequin dummy inside that was attacked badly. I own a Glock 23 and 27, 40 cal. as well as a S&W long barrel 357 revolver. I know I would not shoot unless it became necessary and that I could have packed a bear spray; could have been careless with any food smell inside the tent, etc.; but that is not my question. What would be my best carry of the above three pistols to effectively kill an attacking bear? What type ammo, FMJ or JHP?
Hope I am not going to get responses and lectures other than to cover my question. Whatchathink?
 
i would for sure choose the 357 mag i'm not much into the semi auto's small calibers and with the 357 you will get great penetration at close ranges and i would also go with a mixed cylinder one hollow, one fmj and so on. Hope that helps
 
Overall your chances are not good to start with as you would probably be asleep and the bear would be crashing your tent on top of you. Finding a weapon might not be hard but a suitable target could be.

In this instance the bigger, badder and shorter rule wins and you can still lose the big one without a lucky hit.
 
This along with feral dogs is the main reason I wanted a Glock 29. Just picked it up Friday night. It will be my vacation gun in the Hiawatha National Forest and the Smoky Mountains. I have a Colt Delta Elite, but wanted something a bit smaller. In your case, I'd probably opt for that G27 with heavier solid loads.
 
I would say you probably don't want to use bear spray inside of a tent.

As for the gun to use, I say go with the highest capacity pistol you have, using fmj ammo.
The .357 isn't going to shut the bear down like flipping a switch unless you get really lucky.
I think your best bet is putting as much lead as you can into the bear as fast as possible in an attempt to change it's mind and make it stop the attack.
 
Bears

A few years ago I saw a video of a ranger re-locating an adult grizzly that was causing problems in Yellowstone. The Bear was in a big steel cage/trap in the bed a a pickup. The Ranger opened the cage door, no dought the usual is for the bear to hi-tail it outta there. This bear however jumped down turned and whacked the cage knocking the ranger to the ground. The Bear then chomped down on the rangers knee, he said he could feel and hear his knee being crushed in the bears jaws. The ranger grabbed the bears ear, stuck his .357 to his head and started shooting. On the fourth shot he moved to the base of the bears skull and finally severed the bears spinal chord.

So, yes. A .357 killed the bear and saved his life but I think I would feel safer with at LEAST a .41 Mag in grizzly country!:eek:

If we are talking black bears I'd opt for the .357 over a .40 but I'd still prefer a bigger gun.
 
In this scenario a .44 magnum revolver with loaded with 240 grainers at minimum, and hopefully with hard cast bear loads, will be of much greater utility to you then a thumb stuck up in between your "pillows" ;)

I've read accounts of people having been awakened by the grunting of the bear while the bear was still outside their tent, and I think chances are fair that you would have time to get your blaster ready. I know that I am a very light sleeper, especially when I'm sleeping in the woods, and the sound of a bear rummaging around the campsite would definitely get my attention in the quiet of the night.
 
I'd definitely think about that 44 mag as my least case if I was hiking in bear country.

Honestly,after reading about bear attacks (and mountain lion,wild boar,coyotes,rabid foxes and raccoons and deer,yea-deer striking with the antlers:rolleyes:),I'd feel much better with a semi auto high powered rifle or slug pump shotgun with me at all times plus the magnum handgun.

And I would load all my firearms with rounds that were designed to work on large game.

I know my luck,I'd put the food in the tree a hundred yards away from the tent and the sum a gun would still be nosing in my tent door.

I see bear face in my tent door,I'm shooting.

I won't be coming out to have a nice talk with Mr.Bear or any of his hungry buddies that are hanging around either.

Mr.Bear is going to think that Mount St.Helens just opened up on him.

And if I have to shoot a bear,I'm packing the heck up and getting back to civilization too asap.

Let the park rangers come back for the carcass.I won't be around for some other bears dinner.
 
I take my .357 camping simply because I don't have anything more powerful (9mm, 40 S&W and .45 auto take a back seat in bear country). As others have said, it would take a GOOD hit with any of these calibers to stop a bear. The first one or two hits would get his attention just long enough to really **** him off & then you're in DEEP trouble.

15 rounds of 9mm or 40S&W might be a tad better then 6 rounds of .357, considering you're not going to know what part of the bear you are hitting but there isn't going to be any magazine changing & resuming fire once the gun is empty. In fact, he'd be all over you so badly that your semiauto may not cycle properly, having several hundred pounds of bear crushing it between you & himself (better practice malfunction clearances while inside of a sleeping bag, inside of a tent, with at least 200-300 pounds of your preferred bagged fertilizer thrown on top of you- have the friends who pile the bags on jab at you really hard with pitchforks while you're doing it). No, I think a wheelgun is the best choice here, & the bigger the better.

I had a close encounter with a bear on a camping trip about 15 years ago. I was alone, having gone out first to set up camp while others worked that friday. My tent was very close to a big rock & I was bedded down against that side of the tent. When the bear squeezed between the rock & my tent, he nearly crushed me (& our bears are SMALL). Being as low to the ground as I was, it couldn't have been the bear's body that made contact with me, just a foot & part of a leg. Even still, if he had fallen over on me (without attacking or intending harm) I wouldn't have been able to shoot even if I already had my gun in my hand. Thankfully, all of the food was stored in the truck, out of sight & far away from the tent.

Prevention goes a long way. Don't cook or eat near where you sleep & bears have no reason to bother you.
 
IMO, nothing smaller than a 41 and if I spent alot of time camping in big bear country a good short barreled 12 ga. would be part of my equip.
 
Bear

Until the laws change most bear areas are off limits to carrying a firearm. This is disgraceful and evil. No bear is worth a humans life. No one can visualize a bear charge until they've been there. I hesitate to go anywhere an armed person is not allowed anymore. Just my two cents worth. Also anythig is better than nothing in a bear encounter.
 
Wonder what he recommended for a bear stick. Jellystone rangers and rangerettes use to carry .40 S&W glocks. One guy who 'patrolled' between Lewis and Shoshone lake carried pepper spray and sang and recited poetry loudly.

For bear I'm guessing biggest, heaviest widest meplat cast would be the best, but not the most convenient.
 
If a bear is tearing into your tent, your best immediate weapon is a sharp knife. As the bear comes in one side, you exit the other, after creating a escape hole with your Gerber. Be sure to take your flashlight and firearm with you. Then wait until the bear exits the tent before you act.

The key is not to fight the bear in the tent.
 
But the bear in the documentary that the OP was talking about just dragged the tent away, with the manequin still inside, like an oversized grocery bag.

I guess maybe you could find a knife and a gun while bouncing around inside your tent, now converted to a sack, being dragged through the brush. I'm not sure I could. :eek:

WE LOVE BEAR THREADS!!!
 
Bears

I've gone deer hunting in the Trinity Alps in N. California many times. I back-pack in about 5 miles from the end of the road and the black bears can be relativeley thick in there. I see lots of fresh poop,tracks,diggings all over the place. I've only actually seen 2 bears in there but 3 out of 4 nights my partner and I had a bear sniff around outside of our tent. One night while we were eating dinner in the dark a bear was in the creek bed about 25 yards away making huffing and kind of "barking" at us.
We are always carefull to never have any food in the tent. We have never had any problems with the bears and I think it's pretty cool to have them around, as long as I'm armed of course!
Once, at a different area a bear got a hold of my deer, hanging off of a tree and ate most of the lower end. I had carried that deer on my shoulders about 3 miles and I was pretty ****** at that bear.:mad:
 
:eek:

Having been stationed in Alaska for 5 years, I have had 4 Close Encounters of the Grizzly Bear Kind. There is a difference between a close encounter and an all out attack. In each situation I was ready with my .44, not pepper spray. Whether or not I was bear food, was up to fate, my job was to not be an easy meal. Thankfully, every encounter was uneventful.

One thing you might do as well,...an early alarm might be a good idea, seeing how bears know nothing of trip-wires. String 100lb test fishing line around your entire camp, and rig empty cans, a gong, or whatever, anything that's gonna make a hellish noise when an intruder comes in. My best defense was I hardly slept, I can't sleep when uncomfortable, taking only cat-naps at best. Paranoid is not necessarily a bad-thing in bear country.

Hind sight is always 20-20,...but it's also good for future reference.
 
There wouldn't be anything left in my tent except a large pile of poo and a hole stragely shaped like a screaming fat man in the wall opposite the side the bear was trying to get into.........
 
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