New week, new bear attack - with .357 goodness!

K

kodiakbeer

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http://www.adn.com/2010/06/22/1334988/bear-mauls-geologist-near-rainy.html

Bear mauls geologist near Rainy Pass Lodge

(06/22/10 06:58:10)

A geologist who was mauled by a bear near Rainy Pass Lodge is reported in fair condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

The Anchorage Daily News reports 54-year-old Bob Miller was attacked Sunday afternoon as he was walking to a helicopter picking up a Millrock Exploration survey crew. The lodge is 125 air miles northwest of Anchorage in the Alaska Range.

Lodge owner Steve Perrins helped provide first aid.

"He stayed conscious with us the whole time, was coherent, even had a sense of humor a couple times, which is pretty tough to do because he was in rough shape," Perrins said. "It was good, it was the perfect scenario for something like that to stabilize someone until we could get him in the medevac."

Tony Kavalok with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says Miller tried to defend himself.

"He was charged by the bear - he had a .357 Magnum revolver, fired at the bear," Kavalok said.

It's unknown if the bear was hit. Perrins and others couldn't find it Monday.

"There had been a sow and yearling cub spotted by one of the crew members," said Kavalok.


 
I can talk a good game about getting hits in with a handgun. Faced with a charging bear, I think its entirely conceivable to empty something belt fed and miss with every shot.
 
If it had been a ranger it would have more likely been the bear getting a rough time of it, this poor guy was a geologist and no idea of his woods background. I know faced with a charging bear how my back end would look based on the performance of a buddy of mine who is more of a woodsman than I am. :eek:
 
regardless of whether you have a .577 nitro or a .25 acp, this one seems to be the perfect example of "it really helps if you hit it."

But, otoh, it's possible that there was no evidence found that the bear was hit because all of those piddling little .357 rounds bounced off of its nose.:rolleyes:
 
Forget all the ballistics, penetration and marketing hype by handgun makers - just think about saving your life by hitting a bouncing softball.

A bears brain is the size of a softball and approaching at 40mph, AND bounding up and down. You might as well be under attack by a rabbit, because the only sure stop is to hit a target that size and moving at that speed.

If you can hit a flushing quail, you can stop a bear charge.

Anybody hunt quail with handguns?
 
We're just gonna have to stick that video in EVERY bear thread. From now until we're all shooting laser cannons instead of boomthings.

That thing's got MOVES. Better than most people. Literally.
 
I can shoulder my Marlin .444 just about as fast as getting my .357 Ruger GP100 out of a holster. You need something that will drop a bear with a center of mass shot. Kodiak is right, looking for a brain shot with a charging bear is simply not a feasible reality. Still better than nothing to have .357, but not by much.
 
"The Bear Attack" is always a lively discussion regarding what to have "on hand" in the unlikely event it happens.
Number one is the fact that "the event" is usually anticipated as remote as winning the lottery--so going in armed with a .458 rifle or other is the last thought.

The thought is usually an afterthought. Take a handgun "just in case."

The handgun "afterthought" means a portable and convenient package that doesn't feel like a ball and chain. Ergo .357 or .45 ACP 1911 or some other easily carried outdoors handgun.

Let's be civil and rule out all long arms. Carrying a long arm is limiting to the usual unexpected event unless we expect to hunt with it.

The .357 could be carried easily. But just as easy to carry would be another revolver in a better caliber for the unlikely event.

My choice to carry would be either a .41 or .44 magnum. Furthermore, I would not opt for a barrel length less than 6" in either one.
 
"The Bear Attack" is always a lively discussion regarding what to have "on hand" in the unlikely event it happens.
Number one is the fact that "the event" is usually anticipated as remote as winning the lottery--so going in armed with a .458 rifle or other is the last thought.
Click to expand...

While I appreciate the point from your perspective, the reality is that in Alaska (particularly coastal Alaska) you WILL run into a bear if you go poking around in the bush. One grizzly per square mile - do the math...
So, what are you going to have for those inevitable encounters? The great majority of those encounters will be benign or at worst, easily defused with yells, pepper spray, etc.
Yet, sometimes for reasons known only to the bear, it responds with instant aggression. When it happens it's fast (faster than you can imagine), without warning and comes from close range...
 
I know a guy who worked for NPS in Alaska last Summer. They provided him with a shotgun and a little training. He left the shotgun at his cabin when he went out. Crazy guy.
 
kodiakbear,

There is a Ruger Old Model 3 screw 7.5" Super Blackhawk on sale by consignment in one of my local gun dives. I bought the 27-2 from the same collection I've posted here. The wife lives nearby and no longer lives in Alaska where her husband worked outdoors carrying the SB for his protection. It has a lot of holster wear and has been fired quite a lot.

I am not sure what his outdoor job was but his wife told the gun place that bought these revolvers he "carried the SB on his hip every day" he worked in Alaska.

Despite your opinion on a revolver or handgun being too little to rely on this man did. I also believe a lot of other Alaskans carry a .44 magnum like it.

A single action revolver is the fastest gun cocked and shot out of a holster.
 
Here's hoping the geologist's report is the last straw in getting an oil well started in the area of Alaska in which he was shot. I still see no reason to allow bears to draw breath outside of a zoo. I realize i am in the minority on that, but that is how i feel.
 
We've got that recent documented case of three rounds out of a Ruger Alaskan 454 stopping a 900lb bear dead from a very close charge. Actually dropped dead where the shooter was standing, he had to dive aside to avoid getting squished by the corpse.

So without question SOME handguns can do the job.

Can a 357Mag? Um...man, I doubt it. Well, a 400lb blackie mebbe but anything brown or white? Nope.

Yes, hit that teensy little brain shot drilling in below the eyebrows and maybe.

But I ain't that good.
 
Let's be civil and rule out all long arms. Carrying a long arm is limiting to the usual unexpected event unless we expect to hunt with it.
Click to expand...

Not sure why anyone would want to exclude the use of a lever gun for bear defense seeing how you get double the killing power or more of a .454 that took out the 900 pound grizzly up in Soldatna. I really do not know how well I would be able to handle a .454, but my .444 is like a 20 ga in recoil and very quick to the shoulder. I would venture that many that do go into the bush even for non hunting purposes have a Marlin guide gun or similar. It just gives you so much defensive power in a manageable package. For me, my .357 is my carry near town, my .444 for out in the boonies.
 
The .357 Mag will work. Elmer Keith recommended that you stick the barrel in the bears mouth and keep pulling the trigger for as long as you still have a hand or the bear stops.

But otherwise under about any condition I can think of (except the above where you shove it upside the bears head) it is too light a round for bear defense. .357 Mag is a mid bore caliber. Bear defense, with a handgun if that's all you have, begins with a big bore.

However, if you meet that bear with a stick, it will knock the gun out your hand before you can shoot. Or toss the stick at you and knock you out, take your money and eat you at his leisure.

tipoc
 
We've got that recent documented case of three rounds out of a Ruger Alaskan 454 stopping a 900lb bear dead from a very close charge. Actually dropped dead where the shooter was standing, he had to dive aside to avoid getting squished by the corpse.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and if you read the follow-up, he states that he got incredibly lucky and spined it.

And you miss my point - perhaps intentionally? Nobody is going to argue that a handgun can't take out a bear. I know people who have taken the big local Kodiaks with handguns and even bows, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for their sportsmanship.

The point is getting a CNS hit (brain shot) on an attacking bear.

You've got two seconds to put a round in this bears snotlocker - do you want a handgun or a shotgun?

BearCharge.jpg
 
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