Best Rifle for Stopping a Charging Grizzly Bear?? -- Photo

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LanceOregon

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This photo below was recently taken of a Russian relative of the Grizzly Bear. If you were faced with this situation, what would you do? Is there a sure way to know what the bear is thinking at this point in time, as it locks its eyes on you and heads towards you?

What rifle would you want to have with you? And what would be the closest range you would let the bear come to you?

Fortunately this photo was taken with a telephoto lens. The photographer was not harmed.


000431w5
 
That picture reminds me of the rule one should use when hunting dangerous game.

Always hunt with someone slower then you.
 
At a minimum, Browning 86 or Marlin carbine in same (.45-70) caliber, the former if a camp-site scenario; latter if specifically hunting (with same gun). These'd be the most handy/likely to have around. Not saying a .460_(whatever)_ or .500 Nitro Exp (.375 H&H minimum) wouldn't be the ticket--if you had the time--but for fast handlers, the above carbines would be it, with a .454 or .44 Redhawk or. Mountain-type Smith or Ruger Alaskan on the hip.
 
A friend of mine met with a sleeping griz while bow hunting on a dog hair slope.
He and his hunter partner were sneaking up this slope in the early morning light, when they are just below the ridge they both see this sleeping bear laying on an elk.
The bear wakes up at the same moment, and charges.
Both bow hunters have 44's, and pepper spray. And they had talked about just this type of situation.
They both started spraying this charging bear, covering his nose and eyes.
The bear stopped 10 feet from them, turned, and ran away.
My friend told me he had no plans to ever return to that place.
 
In a charging bear situation, I always thought the best gun was a 12 gauge, loaded with OO buck, or slugs.. That would be my choice.
 
Never use buckshot for large charging animals !!! You can't depend on the shot penetrating into the vitals !
Heavily loaded 45-70, 338Win, 375H&H,458Win are the more appropriate cartridges.
 
what ever you are happy with.....I have been to Alaska and the firearm I saw the most of, that was carried by locals, were AR-15s. I figure the people that live with them and not just traveling through as tourist hunters know best.

30 rds in a mag with stop any animal.
 
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According to John "Lofty" Wiseman, when it comes to a bear the last thing you want to do is run or climb a tree. A Grizzly bear can run up to 30 mph, so you can't outrun it. They can also climb trees very well and sometimes intentionally will tree prey, also not a good situation to be in. Your only real hope is to do what it doesn't expect in hopes of making it second guess itself, stand your ground and make yourself as big and intimidating as possible. If you have on a jacket flare it out and roar at the top of your lungs. That's a reaction bears, especially larger ones, are not used to seeing and will usually cause them to break their charge in hesitation. That's your opportunity to take a shot if you're armed, but keep in mind that if you don't kill the bear with that shot it will go into survival mode at which point you can go ahead and forfeit your life. There aren't many things in the world that will fight as relentlessly as a wounded Grizzly.

I'll leave it to others to discuss calibers and weapons but I would probably take John's advice and hope to break the charge and walk away rather than provoke a confrontation. :o
 
Grizzly bears have been known to bluff charge. don't count on that.

I personally know of a charging grizzly that was stopped with a .357 pistol. It can be done, it is not smart. any rifle 308 or above could stop a grizzly, most times, with a single hit to the vitals. So can pepper spray.

The fastest, easiest, cheapest way to protect yourself against bear, IMO, is a short pump shotgun with a 3 inch magnum 12 gauge slug that is capable of blowing through it like a quart of metamucil. Would I rather hit it with a .700 Nitro Express? Yep. What would I choose to carry out into grizzly bear country on other business, just in case of a bear encounter?

Depending on how serious that risk seems to be, a .357, a .44 magnum, or a 12 gauge compact shotgun with magnum slugs.

As to when to shoot, the second that thing locks eyes with me, I am going to my knees. It may leave when it feels it has cowed me. If it makes even the first sign of hostile moves, I am going to shoot. I don't care if it is 100 feet. I am not going to take the risk that I miss a bear that is coming at me like a freight train, I will kill it where it stands if I feel threatened enough.
 
stand your ground and make yourself as big and intimidating as possible. If you have on a jacket flare it out and roar at the top of your lungs. That's a reaction bears, especially larger ones, are not used to seeing and will usually cause them to break their charge in hesitation.
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NO!!!!

You can sometimes intimidate a black bear. Not a grizzly. Most experts agree that the best thing to do for a grizzly is to stand down. Squat, back away, be silent, and hope that this belligerent behemoth dismisses you as not a threat, and not the end of a week long fast.

You will not intimidate a grizzly.
 
This photo below was recently taken of a Russian relative of the Grizzly Bear. If you were faced with this situation, what would you do?
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Probably I'd die.

But if I were to have any sort of a chance I'd be wishing for a very reliable pump or semi-auto 12ga with slugs.
 
I personally have had two potentially dangerous encounters with bears. My first was when I was 12 I had a black bear charge me behind me house. Luckily my dad was there and was able to scare him off before the bear got too close to me.

The second time was a grizzly when I was 18. I was hiking with some friends and woke up to a grizz scrounging through our campsite. I was the second person to notice the bear that morning. The first person threw a cooler at the bear and kind of ****** him off. The bear bluffed that kid and he ran behind his tent. I made a stupid move and threw a rock at the bear and it didn't hit him, but he started to charge me. I was able to get the bear close enough to use bear spray, and he did turn tail and run back into the woods. We left immediately after this encounter and never went back to get our cooler and left our food there.

All this to say: if you do run into a bear, always stand your ground and never let it have what it wants. If you do, it will only want more. Intimidation, aggressiveness, and persistence will always upset the balance of nature in a bear's eye. To it, there is nothing that can come up and match it's power. If you are able to make it seem like you might be able to hurt him then he will probably steer clear of you. Of course, in a more urban environment where bears are fearless of people. A gun is unfortunately your best option. Rarely will a bear flee from a person waving his coat around here in the city in Alaska. Most of those people get either killed, or they just end up running away as fast as possible. Just don't take any chances either.

On to the topic of guns, I never leave home to go hiking or camping without my Mossberg 590A1 loaded with 9 shots of 3" magnums, and I always bring a friend and it's mandatory that he/she carries my dad's Remington 700 in .300Win Ultra Mag just in case I am rendered unable to defend during an encounter. And, if a third buddy comes along, he/she carries my Mosin. I really don't like taking any chances on my, or my friend's safety. Not to mention... In a survival situation we could feed ourselves very easily.
 
In the case of hunting, I have to say that I would want to start at a 300 magnum, 45-70, 35 whelen, or reasonable equivalents of the above.

Hunting and general defensive carry are two different things, right?

I would personally want something other than a bolt. I can't work a bolt quickly, a bolt, in my hands, is a single shot. I don't know why I waste time loading the magazine.

If I was hunting, and he was in that position, I'd spend the rest of the week laughing about how Mr bear tried to scare the guy with the gun by exposing his vulnerable spots. Chances are pretty good the guy would have gone over on his back, vomited blood, and expired.
 
always stand your ground and never let it have what it wants. If you do, it will only want more.
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I get the feeling there is something you are not telling us about your bear encounter. Were all friends here, you can talk to us
 
Camping? use bear bombs. Wrap cans of pepper spray in bacon and leave around the perimeter of your area, 40 feet or so out from camp. The smell of the bacon will draw the bear before it reaches the tents. Some people say to use an opened ziploc to minimize wind blown smells, so you won't draw them from hundreds of yards away.

one of them exploding in a bear's mouth will invade his sinuses and eyes.
 
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Camping? use bear bombs. Wrap cans of pepper spray in bacon and leave around the perimeter of your area, 400 feet or so out from camp. The smell of the bacon will draw the bear before it reaches the tents. Some people say to use an opened ziploc to minimize wind blown smells, so you won't draw them from hundreds of yards away.

one of them exploding in a bear's mouth will invade his sinuses and eyes.
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This may be the worst advice I have ever seen on the internet
 
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