lets see your thick bush guns!

Well Kevan, you have to realize that most of these posters have never seen a grizzly let alone had to deal with one inside 50 mtrs...............my closest lethal encounter was about 8-10 mtrs.........the grizzly did not survive it..........and the last thing I would have wanted in my hands was a lever gun for a pistol cartridge, I'm with you Kevan, my rifle was putting out over 5500 ft lbs of energy and it was just enough, in my opinion............
 
j_06 said:
Why does every thread pertaining to handy rifles in the bush end up being a bear defence thread? People do go out into the bush without the constant fear of a bear charge deciding what rifle to bring.
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I like to tie dead birds and fish on the tassel of my buckskin shirt while moisturizing my skin with bacon fat when i am in the bush, i feel that my concerns are legitimate.
 
Kevan said:
We are all entitled to our opinions and I respect yours.
Having said that I do not know how many bears you have had to face down...if any, but I can certainly tell you one one thing and that is when you are within 35 - 40 yards facing a fair sized boar Grizzly as I have done the 8 lb. 458 that I held seemed very small as did the 600 gr. Barnes load in the chamber that did the job.
For what it's worth you can carry your 6 lb. toys, I have several too, but when the chips are down I'll take the heavier rifle.... And no, it's not unwieldy at all, none of mine fIt that description.... Thank-you...
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There is only one time I've ever wished for a smaller gun while bear hunting. I was using my 458 wm with a 25.5" barrel on a self climbing tree stand. A small black bear surprised me and climbed up the back of the tree right up to the stand. Ever try to lean over a roll bar of a stand that's not locked to a tree with a heavy recoiling rifle. Haha ya it sucks. If I'd had my 45/70 I could have one handed the shot. To my luck it was a curious bear and not aggressive even after punching it. The 458 wm at 6' from the muzzle works though. No tracking
But otherwise I agree with you. I'd love a sweet little 44 but I have a healthy respect for big bears and I've only dealt with blacks. Big bores are a lot more versatile than ppl give them credit for. They may be heavier and kick harder but if the gun fits you it won't be slow and the results will be much more expedient death
 
c-fbmi said:
Well Kevan, you have to realize that most of these posters have never seen a grizzly let alone had to deal with one inside 50 mtrs...............my closest lethal encounter was about 8-10 mtrs.........the grizzly did not survive it..........and the last thing I would have wanted in my hands was a lever gun for a pistol cartridge, I'm with you Kevan, my rifle was putting out over 5500 ft lbs of energy and it was just enough, in my opinion............
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I have been confronted by a gaggle of nasty tempered 2-500 pound blackies over the years and frankly, the last thing I would have wanted is a pistol cartridge carbine... except of course, for those times when I only had a belt knife, then I would have been all over a dinky '92.
 
I have a great backup rifle, my Ruger 77-44 loaded with 305 gr is very potent, there is something about 44 caliber... JP.
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WOW guys you talk like bears are hard to kill = they aren't put the bullet where it needs to go and they die.

I shot my B&C record book grizzly with my 375RUM loaded with 300gr Partitions @ 2800fps.

My son shot his grizzly with my 300RUM loaded with 200gr A-Frames @ 3200FPS.

I worked solo for 7 years in the most remote areas of BC & Alberta packed a 6 shot shortened to 4.25" Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull when in grizzly country I loaded it up with 360gr - 405gr WLNGC's I felt perfectly capable of taking down the largest bears I encountered.

This spewing that you need a freaking cannon to kill a bear is just that spewing.
 
Camp Cook said:
WOW guys you talk like bears are hard to kill = they aren't put the bullet where it needs to go and they die.

I shot my B&C record book grizzly with my 375RUM loaded with 300gr Partitions @ 2800fps.

My son shot his grizzly with my 300RUM loaded with 200gr A-Frames @ 3200FPS.

I worked solo for 7 years in the most remote areas of BC & Alberta packed a 6 shot shortened to 4.25" Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull when in grizzly country I loaded it up with 360gr - 405gr WLNGC's I felt perfectly capable of taking down the largest bears I encountered.

This spewing that you need a freaking cannon to kill a bear is just that spewing.
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This made me laugh...

On the one hand bears are "easy" to kill and on the other the two you ACTUALLY shot were with a .375 RUM & 300's and a .300 RUM with 200 A-Frames....

And then you carried a pistol that made you "perfectly safe" but never actually used it.

For the record, I feel perfectly safe with a belt knife... BUT when you encounter an aggressive and/or predatory bear, whatever you are holding doesn't feel like enough... hunting and defense are two wildly different things...

Most of my hairy encounters were tracking wounded bears for clients... which generally means, in the dark and often on "hands & knees," certainly not circumstances to inspire confidence.
 
Camp Cook said:
WOW guys you talk like bears are hard to kill = they aren't put the bullet where it needs to go and they die.

I shot my B&C record book grizzly with my 375RUM loaded with 300gr Partitions @ 2800fps.

My son shot his grizzly with my 300RUM loaded with 200gr A-Frames @ 3200FPS.

I worked solo for 7 years in the most remote areas of BC & Alberta packed a 6 shot shortened to 4.25" Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull when in grizzly country I loaded it up with 360gr - 405gr WLNGC's I felt perfectly capable of taking down the largest bears I encountered.

This spewing that you need a freaking cannon to kill a bear is just that spewing.
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I think the only spewing is coming from your keyboard...
 
At least it's a very informed keyboard and I never said I didn't kill bears with the handgun you're just assuming... :rolleyes:

I carry all levels of firearms its my passion tell me you ever legally carry a handgun in the bush you ever kill anything with a handgun you have any idea of the capabilities of a powerful handgun = I do and I have... :cool:
 
Bears are not hard to kill.... But they are slow to die..... And I have seen lethally shot bears do all sorts of odd things after the shot.... They have a very slow heart rate compared to ungulates and such...

If you worked in the bush and have shot "bears" with a handgun then perhaps you need to learn bear avoidance techniques and better bush behaviours....
 
So of the hundreds of bears I encountered/avoided each year to the couple I had to kill each year you figure I should learn better bear avoidance techniques wow you guys are really grasping.

Now that I do not have my ATC for handgun carry my bush carry guns are more than likely my single shot 14" barreled T/C Contender carbines in 375JDJ & 45-70.

Why do I carry single shots cause bears die easily and I can actually hit what I'm aiming at:rolleyes:...
 
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Just trying to get back on topic. (The only worry here on the island is Black Bear, Wolf or Cougar)

A couple of lever guns I toted around for a while (but are now in other hands). I seem to be on a bolt action kick and have purged the lever guns

336 xlr (chopped)


336ss


336ss


336 35rem


BLR 358win


444P
 
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I have a bunch of brush guns but none of them are very thick. The 6.5x55 is actually pretty slender as is the 7x57. The 35 Whelen is a little chunky and the 338 is big all around. The 30/40 is pretty average too. It has done most of the bear killing. I don't worry about them too much. We get along OK, mostly.
 
I miss the days when crying back and forth bull#### like this thread has turned into was only found in the Black Rifle Threads. It's no wonder a lot of the older guys that used to make this place great have disappeared in the last couple years. #### me
 
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