Grizzly attack
- Thread starter canuck
- Start date
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Indeed, we're blessed here in the Yukon and BC. Between us we have about 85% of Canada's Grizzlies, the remainder split between Alberta and other territories.
One watershed with an area of about 150sqkms had a count of 80, and likely missed bears, those are resident bears as well not a seasonal influx. The difference here is the terrain on the north coast is so severe all the Grizzlies funnel to tiny valleys, and the abundance of food makes the numbers possible. Lots of conflict between the bears though, and lots of cub kill, most males sport impressive battle wounds. Fun, and challenging place to work. I feel for the fishing guides who have a can of spray and a set of high tensile shorts.
I've been nose to nose a couple times with grizzlies sure get your heart racing
Me my brothers use to rob Fish Creek in Hyder Alaska ( poaching salmon ) as a young teenagers we be fish right beside grizzly bears seem perfectly normal to us
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Hole lee Fruck! Dude, put down the god damn phone and get to town!
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I wrote this for a Facebook post that asked a fishing guide I know and work in the same area as if it was time he started packing a gun instead of spray. He works in those two grizzly bears per square km areas more than I do right when the salmon have attracted both him and his clients, and the bears to the water at the same time.
There's good reason Why Companies hire Bear monitors who are usually trapper,hunting guides and first nation
Nobody knows how person will react their first conflict with the grizzly gun or no gun
But with experience You know when a attack is coming and are ready but you also know how to discourage bears as well
Nobody knows how person will react their first conflict with the grizzly gun or no gun
But with experience You know when a attack is coming and are ready but you also know how to discourage bears as well
That was the story of Hugh Glass as mentioned in post #4. The older movie about Glass was "Man in the Wilderness" back in the 70's, with a not-as-good bear attack scene.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The fact remains that the bear ignored the spray. Marksmanship is not the problem in circumstance where the target is 10' from the shooter. The problem is controlling one's fear so that you can put the bullet where it needs to go, and knowing how to use the available indexes to determine bullet placement that effectively ends the threat. The people most likely to choose firearms over spray are big game hunters. Big game hunters are predisposed to a lung shot, and the lung shot isn't a stopper by any stretch of the imagination. The bear comes in head first, so shoot for the brain or the spine. A target at a range of 10' is not a technically difficult shot to make, since the target is 3" wide and 3' long, but the problem is complicated by the emotional state of the shooter, the speed of the action, the motion of the target, and the fact that too many people don't consider the problem until they're faced with it.
The way to overcome the problem is practice. Not only must snap shooting become second nature, but you must train yourself to concentrating on the mechanics of the shot to the exclusion of anything else. If your mind is fully engaged in solving the marksmanship problem, it isn't concerned with extraneous issues related to one's immediate peril. Of course this is written on a forum where the response to questions of bear defense is frequently answered by, "If you're too scared to go into the bush, stay home!" so training to the level required must be only for wing nuts.
Crazy story...I just spent 2.5 days packing moose off a mountainside in Alaska that we had routinely seen grizzly bears on including a sow with 3 cubs. The guide and I made lots of noise both approaching and leaving the kill site, discussed what to do should an encounter happen under various scenarios and we always had one one rifle with us with the guide carrying it on the way in and me carrying it on the way out (due to my pack loads being lighter than his). We never had a problem or even saw a bear but we were about as well prepared as we could be which is really the moral of this story. Be prepared...your plan may not be perfect or even work but at least you have one.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
I'm wondering why he was even carrying a handgun? He must've thought he'd have to time to use it if the spray failed.
Oh ........this Phil Shoemaker
[url]http://www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.com/
https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2016/8/10/alaska-outfitter-defends-fishermen-from-raging-grizzly-with-9mm-pistol/[/URL]
I have been guiding brown bear hunters and fishermen and bear photographers from our homestead within Becharof National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for 33 years and have had numerous close encounters with bears. Until now, I have never had to shoot an unwounded bear to protect either myself or clients, but the other week an event occurred and my good fortune changed. When it happened, I was fully aware of what was going on and how big the bear was. I also managed to stay aware of where my clients were, even when the bear was directly between us. The woman I was guiding said that while she did not remember smelling the bear’s breath, it was close enough to her face that it could have bitten her!
I have killed enough bears to know how important shot placement can be, even with large-bore rifles. I was well aware of the limitations of my 9mm pistol, even with Buffalo Bore ammo. I was aiming for a vital area with each shot; because it all took place between 6 and 8 feet, they were not far off. But hitting the head and brain of a highly animated and agitated animal is a difficult shot.
The two photos shown here tell a pretty good story by themselves. The secondary photo (embedded at the bottom of this story) was taken from the point where the charging bear first erupted from the brush. I am on the left and Larry, my fishing client, is on the right. The bear was within 2 feet or less of Larry and his wife when I shot it. You can see the dead bear to the left of Larry. The main photo (embedded to the right) shows Larry and me with the dead bear and shows its size.
Larry and his wife were fishing with me, and because we were going to a small stream I had fished before, which had numerous large male brown bears, I decided to take my Smith & Wesson 3953 DAO 9mm, rather than the S&W 629 .44 Mag. Mountain Gun I have carried for the past 25 years, as the larger boars are usually less of a problem than sows with cubs.
Before we reached the stream, while we were walking through dense brush and tall grass, we heard a growl and deep “woof” of a bear approximately 6 feet to our right (behind me in the secondary photo). We had been talking loudly but must have startled a sleeping bear. It sounded like it made a movement toward us, and I shouted loudly and the bear ran back through the brush to the right in the photo. Within 15 seconds, we could hear it growling and charging through the dense brush from the opposite side.
I had my pistol out by then, and the bear first appeared from where the photographer in photo No. 2 was standing. It went straight for my clients; Larry and his wife fell backwards in the deep grass. She said the bear’s face was close enough to hers that it could have bitten her!
The bear was highly agitated and standing within 3 feet of my clients when I decided I could take a shot without endangering them.
My first shot was at its neck, and then it began growling and spinning toward the impact. I wanted to hit the head but the bear was moving so fast I simply began shooting each time I could hit a vital area. I hit it six times before it turned to run off, and my seventh shot was into its pelvis area as it ran. When it dropped within 6 feet of the last shot, I checked my pistol and found I had only a single round left in the chamber so decided against walking in and finishing it.
My pistol was loaded with Buffalo Bore 9mm +P Outdoorsman 147-grain FN hard-cast loads that have a muzzle velocity of 1100 fps. I had previously tested, compared and proven such loads with my .357 and .44 mags., and I was convinced they would work.
[url]http://www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.com/
https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2016/8/10/alaska-outfitter-defends-fishermen-from-raging-grizzly-with-9mm-pistol/[/URL]
I have been guiding brown bear hunters and fishermen and bear photographers from our homestead within Becharof National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for 33 years and have had numerous close encounters with bears. Until now, I have never had to shoot an unwounded bear to protect either myself or clients, but the other week an event occurred and my good fortune changed. When it happened, I was fully aware of what was going on and how big the bear was. I also managed to stay aware of where my clients were, even when the bear was directly between us. The woman I was guiding said that while she did not remember smelling the bear’s breath, it was close enough to her face that it could have bitten her!
I have killed enough bears to know how important shot placement can be, even with large-bore rifles. I was well aware of the limitations of my 9mm pistol, even with Buffalo Bore ammo. I was aiming for a vital area with each shot; because it all took place between 6 and 8 feet, they were not far off. But hitting the head and brain of a highly animated and agitated animal is a difficult shot.
The two photos shown here tell a pretty good story by themselves. The secondary photo (embedded at the bottom of this story) was taken from the point where the charging bear first erupted from the brush. I am on the left and Larry, my fishing client, is on the right. The bear was within 2 feet or less of Larry and his wife when I shot it. You can see the dead bear to the left of Larry. The main photo (embedded to the right) shows Larry and me with the dead bear and shows its size.
Larry and his wife were fishing with me, and because we were going to a small stream I had fished before, which had numerous large male brown bears, I decided to take my Smith & Wesson 3953 DAO 9mm, rather than the S&W 629 .44 Mag. Mountain Gun I have carried for the past 25 years, as the larger boars are usually less of a problem than sows with cubs.
Before we reached the stream, while we were walking through dense brush and tall grass, we heard a growl and deep “woof” of a bear approximately 6 feet to our right (behind me in the secondary photo). We had been talking loudly but must have startled a sleeping bear. It sounded like it made a movement toward us, and I shouted loudly and the bear ran back through the brush to the right in the photo. Within 15 seconds, we could hear it growling and charging through the dense brush from the opposite side.
I had my pistol out by then, and the bear first appeared from where the photographer in photo No. 2 was standing. It went straight for my clients; Larry and his wife fell backwards in the deep grass. She said the bear’s face was close enough to hers that it could have bitten her!
The bear was highly agitated and standing within 3 feet of my clients when I decided I could take a shot without endangering them.
My first shot was at its neck, and then it began growling and spinning toward the impact. I wanted to hit the head but the bear was moving so fast I simply began shooting each time I could hit a vital area. I hit it six times before it turned to run off, and my seventh shot was into its pelvis area as it ran. When it dropped within 6 feet of the last shot, I checked my pistol and found I had only a single round left in the chamber so decided against walking in and finishing it.
My pistol was loaded with Buffalo Bore 9mm +P Outdoorsman 147-grain FN hard-cast loads that have a muzzle velocity of 1100 fps. I had previously tested, compared and proven such loads with my .357 and .44 mags., and I was convinced they would work.
I bin pepper sprayed Before By the RCMP two cans directly in the eyes all it did was piss me off (in my younger wilder day's)
I certainly would not advocate shooting every bear on a bluff charge. But when the spray fails and you're attacked - not once, but twice - and very lucky to be alive, I think its safe to say he would have liked to have had the pistol in hand.
