oh no, bear gun thread!

[migrant hunter]

If you meet a CO on crown land is he more likely to give you grief if you're carrying a rifle or a shotgun? Like if your carrying a scoped rifle for "defence"?

 

[geologist]

I much prefer a rifle for bear defense.
A shotgun with slugs or buckshot is poor medecine for large polar bears or grizzlies.
Testing out on a 3 day old dead 850 lbs polar bear in the arctic showed the regular 12 Gauge REM AND WIN SLUGS FLATTENING OUT ON THE SHOULDER BLADE LIKE SILVER DOLLARS. Yes, the shoulder blade was cracked. Big deal.
Buckshot (SSG) penetrated just through the 2 inch fat layer under the almost 1 inch thick hide in the neck/shoulder. Pellets were found just into the muscle layer.
Shotguns on large polar bears are good only for close range head shots.
Shotguns should be fine as general self protection on bears up to about 400 lbs.
That includes then most Alberta black bears and Alberta Grizzlies.
A rifle in the .308Win. class and up with good strong bullets 180-200 grain would deal with any bear likely to be encountered in Canadian territory.
Most commercial slugs are made with deer hunting in mind. That is where the US market is at.

Brennekes may have performed better penetration wise. TBS I'm a twisty guy for bear defense.

 

[rhshooter]

I'm pretty sure that I have read that Boomer often uses his 12g as polar bear defense... He seems to know a thing or two about what is required for this...

Jeff

 

[Canuck444]

If you meet a CO on crown land is he more likely to give you grief if you're carrying a rifle or a shotgun? Like if your carrying a scoped rifle for "defence"?

if you are legal to carry it in that area and not being an idiot you shouldn't get any grief.