Probably More Than Anyone Wanted to Read
Grizzly’s and black bears are wide spread here in western Montana. Also, mountain lions and wolves are pretty common. Moose are also around and a cow with calf or a bull during the rut can be just as dangerous. Most of the time you will never see the predators even though they may be very close – moose are seen quite often.
Montana (L48) grizzlies aren’t particularly large when compared to coastal or inland grizzlies of the far north. Although extremely variable depending on the season, adults are around 185 centimeters long (Foresman 2012) and weigh around 200 kilograms (440 Lbs) in males and 130 kilograms (287 Lbs) in females (Kasworm and Manley 1988). Black bears are typically smaller. This in no way diminishes the unbelievable power of these bears. Bears in the 800 Lb range are occasionally reported (one was killed by a truck several years ago), but are very unusual.
Although highly unlikely, every year hunters in Montana have bear confrontations (both grizzly and black). Bow hunters are particularly at risk (emulating elk smells and sounds attract predators). It is legal to carry a firearm while bow hunting, although it may not be used in any way to harvest a game animal (this includes “finishing off” a wounded animal) during the archery only season.
There are going to be situations where you are just SOL. You will not be able to use you’re chosen method of defense (handgun, rifle, shotgun, or bear spay). Up close surprise attacks as an example – where you will have to fight for your life while on the ground (rifle/shotgun not much use) or play dead. There will be other times that you will have an opportunity to defend yourself. There are no guarantees – you can only do what makes you most comfortable in situations you can control.
In addition to bow hunting elk, I’m in large predator country walking the dogs almost every day, year around. I usually carry two guns. I pocket carry a Kahr CW45 loaded with Buffalo Bore 255gr hard cast flat points and for the most part strong side carry a .44 Mag (either S&W M69 or 329PD) loaded with 260gr WFNGCs over a max charge of H110. I say for the most part because being an “enthusiast”, I’ve been known to carry heavily loaded .45 Colts, .454 C, .480 Ruger, .475 LB and 500 JRH. For the most part however, I prefer double action handguns that you can be fired one handed with either hand and from any position – therefore the aforementioned .44s or a .480 Ruger Alaskan. There is no way I’m carrying a rifle/shotgun when engaging in any of the above activities
There are a lot of different handguns in the woods (also a lot of bow hunters and other recreationists) – these will vary from .22 LR to .500 S&Ws depending on the individual’s perceived threat. For me, the .44 Mag loaded for the largest potential threat is about as small as I prefer to go. With that said, my son feels more comfortable with a 10MM glock 20 (he’s more worried about wolves).
I would rather have a handgun and not need it than not have one and need it.
Here’s a real interesting story about GPS tracking of Grizzly’s following hunters:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014...rizzlies-as-follow-hunters/?intcmp=latestnews
FWIW,
Paul