.300 Weatherby Mag
New member
.450 Nitro Express Double Rifle....
Best Rifle for Stopping a Charging Grizzly Bear?? -- Photo
- Thread starter LanceOregon
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Tangentabacus
New member
I rather not speak of it...
Tangentabacus
New member
By the way... Bear bombs are a completely horrible idea. The best way to not get attacked by a bear is to avoid them completely.
bear defense
Take this with a grain of salt since I have never encountered a bear in the woods. I would want the a rifle that shot the hardest hitting round I could shoot accurately enough to save my life. That rifle would have to be something that could make a fast follow up shoot if needed. That eliminates a bolt action for me. Some kind of semi-auto or lever gun that shot BIG HEAVY DEEP PENETRATING bullet would be what I would want to have with me.
Take this with a grain of salt since I have never encountered a bear in the woods. I would want the a rifle that shot the hardest hitting round I could shoot accurately enough to save my life. That rifle would have to be something that could make a fast follow up shoot if needed. That eliminates a bolt action for me. Some kind of semi-auto or lever gun that shot BIG HEAVY DEEP PENETRATING bullet would be what I would want to have with me.
thinkingman
New member
The springtime bear thread...two days late this year.
If you must carry a rifle, 45/70 lever with solids.
You may make a heroic shot on an animal moving at the speed of a horse, pumped with adrenaline, and the target the size of a paper plate.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...for me a shotty with 2 or 3 loads of lead birdshot...7's, 8's 9's, backed by buckshot.
A pattern of birdshot to the face of the bear can or will disable his ability to target me, and a bear that can't see me is less likely to inflict damage.
My goal in a bear encounter is to not get hurt.
If I disable that bear's ability to see me, I have a reasonable chance of escape, when or where the bear dies is of little interest to me.
Saving my ass is.
I'll let the other guys be heros.
If you must carry a rifle, 45/70 lever with solids.
You may make a heroic shot on an animal moving at the speed of a horse, pumped with adrenaline, and the target the size of a paper plate.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...for me a shotty with 2 or 3 loads of lead birdshot...7's, 8's 9's, backed by buckshot.
A pattern of birdshot to the face of the bear can or will disable his ability to target me, and a bear that can't see me is less likely to inflict damage.
My goal in a bear encounter is to not get hurt.
If I disable that bear's ability to see me, I have a reasonable chance of escape, when or where the bear dies is of little interest to me.
Saving my ass is.
I'll let the other guys be heros.
Kreyzhorse
New member
+1. Short and direct.
If I were being charged, I'd hope for at least a hot loaded 45-70 gov't and the time to get a few good shots off.
It wouldn't hurt for this thing to be a little more specific as to exactly what the bear is doing. Charging? Dancing in a little dunce cap while someone throws peanuts? digging through trash cans, glaring through the bars of a cage? Every one of them has a different set of needs, too.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I want a Remington 1100 loaded with the nastiest slugs I can find, probably Remington Core-Lokt Ultras, and I want a LARGE can of VERY potent pepper spray attached to the front of the gun with a switch on the forward grip.
If pepper spray and 12ga slugs don't solve the problem, well, "For me, to live is Christ, to have died is gain."
If pepper spray and 12ga slugs don't solve the problem, well, "For me, to live is Christ, to have died is gain."
Scientific tests have repeatedly confirmed that at that point, the bear is thinking "YYYUUMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmm! Soft! Crunchy! Juicy! YUUUMMmmmmmmmmmmmm!"
Anything from 338 Win Mag to 375 H&H. Anything much bigger and it's tough to fire repeatedly and load quickly. If you doubt this, try loading a 460 Weatherby after just firing 3 rounds quickly, you will find you are impaired.
Truthfully I'd use whatever I'm carrying.
Now if I'm big game hunting in bear country where I think I have a good chance of running into a grizzly then I proabably wouldn't hunt with anything less than a .30-06 and 180 grain premium ammunition. Hunting for the big boys I'd probably use my .338-06, .35 Whelen or .375 Ruger, again all with premium bullets starting at 225 grains and going up. Now if I'm upland or small game hunting then I'll be stuck using a shotgun or small caliber rifle and I'll keep shooting until the bear gets me, or he gives up.
Now if I'm big game hunting in bear country where I think I have a good chance of running into a grizzly then I proabably wouldn't hunt with anything less than a .30-06 and 180 grain premium ammunition. Hunting for the big boys I'd probably use my .338-06, .35 Whelen or .375 Ruger, again all with premium bullets starting at 225 grains and going up. Now if I'm upland or small game hunting then I'll be stuck using a shotgun or small caliber rifle and I'll keep shooting until the bear gets me, or he gives up.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
crghss said:
Research has shown repeatedly that bear spray is more effective than firearms.
kodiakbeer
Moderator
99% of bear "charges" aren't charges at all. They're just territorial or threat displays.
If you watch the video below of a coastal brown/grizzly, you'll see me avert one incident at 1:02, and stop a "charge" at 1:40. How? Just be lowering my head and looking at the ground. At 1:02, the camera (and my face) pans down and the bear immediately looses interest. At 1:40 he actually makes a run towards me and while the camera actually pans right it's because I'm moving it away he can see my face - I just look at my feet (I'm no threat!) and he stops his "charge" immediately. He's inside 30 yards at that point.
If he'd come any closer, I'd have begun yelling and intimidating him, or zapped him with pepper spray.
The general situation is that I saw the bear on the beach at dawn, and approached so that he had a clear exit to the brush - I approached along the beach. The bear ignored me, but then ran through the water chasing salmon until he was opposite me offshore, so that I was directly blocking him from cover. That's when he got nervous. The vid is a series of clips strung together, and between each short section, I'm moving laterally away from him down the beach, or trying to, but he keeps running up and down and getting close to me. After a 4 or 5 minutes of this, I just backtracked off the beach at about 45 degrees facing him (don't move directly away from bears!), and when I was at 75 yards or so, he totally lost interest in me.
Anyway, to summarize - relax! Most bears are shot for no good reason. Grizzlies will run towards you, woof at you, snap their jaws at you - and it means nothing more than "You are too close!" Pepper spray works. Shotguns and rifles also work, but they just aren't necessary in the vast majority of cases. The Ideal situation is to have one guy armed with a large firearm, and another guy ready with pepper spray.
I'm no tree-hugger, but don't shoot the bears unless it's the real deal! If he's puffed up - ears up, he's only playing mind games. If he's low to the ground, ears down, he's really attacking. Know the difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt86lKjaA7c
If you watch the video below of a coastal brown/grizzly, you'll see me avert one incident at 1:02, and stop a "charge" at 1:40. How? Just be lowering my head and looking at the ground. At 1:02, the camera (and my face) pans down and the bear immediately looses interest. At 1:40 he actually makes a run towards me and while the camera actually pans right it's because I'm moving it away he can see my face - I just look at my feet (I'm no threat!) and he stops his "charge" immediately. He's inside 30 yards at that point.
If he'd come any closer, I'd have begun yelling and intimidating him, or zapped him with pepper spray.
The general situation is that I saw the bear on the beach at dawn, and approached so that he had a clear exit to the brush - I approached along the beach. The bear ignored me, but then ran through the water chasing salmon until he was opposite me offshore, so that I was directly blocking him from cover. That's when he got nervous. The vid is a series of clips strung together, and between each short section, I'm moving laterally away from him down the beach, or trying to, but he keeps running up and down and getting close to me. After a 4 or 5 minutes of this, I just backtracked off the beach at about 45 degrees facing him (don't move directly away from bears!), and when I was at 75 yards or so, he totally lost interest in me.
Anyway, to summarize - relax! Most bears are shot for no good reason. Grizzlies will run towards you, woof at you, snap their jaws at you - and it means nothing more than "You are too close!" Pepper spray works. Shotguns and rifles also work, but they just aren't necessary in the vast majority of cases. The Ideal situation is to have one guy armed with a large firearm, and another guy ready with pepper spray.
I'm no tree-hugger, but don't shoot the bears unless it's the real deal! If he's puffed up - ears up, he's only playing mind games. If he's low to the ground, ears down, he's really attacking. Know the difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt86lKjaA7c
kaylorinhi
New member
Simple Question
What Gun?
+1 for TangentAbacus
Ghost Rings and probably have the Bayonet attached as well!
*If it must be a rifle, M-4A1 with Eotech and Multiple Thirty round P-Mags jammed with 62gr OT Match. I can fire faster scared than he can run mad and I know that weapon like the back of my hand!
What Gun?
+1 for TangentAbacus
Ghost Rings and probably have the Bayonet attached as well!
*If it must be a rifle, M-4A1 with Eotech and Multiple Thirty round P-Mags jammed with 62gr OT Match. I can fire faster scared than he can run mad and I know that weapon like the back of my hand!
sc928porsche
New member
I hunt bruins with a 378WBY.
SavageSniper
New member
Something belt fed 
If I'm caught in THAT situation, I'm gonna shoot. Sorry but I know me. He looks like a starved fat boy dropped off at a buffet. I have heard all the stories of bears bluffing but I could not tell you one from another.
If I'm caught in THAT situation, I'm gonna shoot. Sorry but I know me. He looks like a starved fat boy dropped off at a buffet. I have heard all the stories of bears bluffing but I could not tell you one from another.
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