Bear defence - again

H Wally

H Wally

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I know it has been done to death, but I thought I'd do my own thing with it. Until lst year my hiking options were bear spray, bear bangers, and being able to climb faster than my companions. Now I have some better options. My question is: I hike in an area that Black bears, and grizzlies are fairly regular. My question is: bears are friggin fast when they want to be, do people think that semi-auto's are preferable in a strictly defence role? My options are enfields, mosin nagants, some 30-06 bolt guns, and a cz 858. Would the tradeoff in caliber be worth it for more shots? I prefer to give bears their space and keep to mine. That being said, I'd rather not have to clench my sphincter and pray it's a false charge - cus that has been my option so far:puke:
 
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I have used a mossberg 500 with a 18.5" barrel for the last 10 years. Its powerful, short and accurate.
I would much rather shoot a slug at a bear than a .223 etc.
and with that being said, I have always been able to yell at a bear to get him to go away.. its the cougars I am far more concerned about.
 
Dam, another bear defence thingie, now if everyone just shot every dam one they saw, all the time, there would not be any defence needed in urban and rural areas, now if you where keen on them, you would have to way out to get or even see one.
Man can not be at the top of the food chain if you let something run around that will kick your a$$ and then eat it.
Bears=SSS
 
Canadian Bush Wacker said:
Dam, another bear defence thingie, now if everyone just shot every dam one they saw, all the time, there would not be any defence needed in urban and rural areas, now if you where keen on them, you would have to way out to get or even see one.
Man can not be at the top of the food chain if you let something run around that will kick your a$$ and then eat it.
Bears=SSS
Click to expand...

So your solution is to kill every bear in sight!?!:rolleyes::kickInTheNuts: I hope you were trying to be funny.
 
I don't need the .22 - a swift kick to the side of the knee should do it. In the unfortunate even I'm with someone I like however, who's got the vote for semi and whos for bolt action? I've got a sportered ross lurking around here that looks to be pretty decent for short range fast action shooting...
 
First is to find a semi auto that is absolutely reliable. The advantage of this action is that you just have to concentrate on sight picture and trigger squeeze, and solves the problem of short stroking a manual action.

Chances are if you haven't solved the problem with one or two rounds, you're dead, so large capacity magazines are not particularly advantageous. When choosing a bear gun, you must consider the effectiveness of a single round, rather than the effect of a fusillade.

A pal of mine (Pounder) had a BAR built in .458 Winchester, now that was an interesting bear gun.
 
Interesting thread, I have shot a bear in defence with a semi. It was a Beretta ES-100 shotgun with a rifled slug barrel. This Inertia action used on these shotguns is the Benelli design and is well proven and extremely reliable.
I think that a GOOD semi is more reliable than most any human trying to cycle a bolt, pump or lever under duress!
I pulled the trigger at least ten times in the split second I had to shoot yogi... the gun only held three and they all went downrage where I pointed them.
 
I guide bear hunts and moose hunts in black/grizz territory. I feel very confident with a .458cal levergun. hasn't let me down yet.

would you really trust a semi? I wouldn;t.
 
If I were to pick a weapon, bear defense thread, out of the arsenal available it would be a semi auto shot gun. What gauge, what shot, damn if I know.
Having said that, most of the time I am using my " go to rifle" for hunting and after the animal is down it is my bear defense rifle. I do find it strange that I pack my rifle with me after the animal is down. Grizzly Bears have moved into our neck of the woods and only a damn foll would not give them a lot of respect.
 
I ride and hunt in big bruin country also. My gun isn't what gives me confidence. Every single time that I've come into close quarters with a grizz, had he/she decided to attack...my weapon could not have been drawn fast enough to make a difference. Doing the right things and being alert has been my best line of defence.

Only today, we rode into sheep country, we came across a tipped over rock that all three of us estimated to weight 400-450lbs. That had to be a big bruin to tip a rock that big. Had we come around the corner and surprised that bear, well let's just hope that he didn't mind sharing his lunch, otherwise we'd been hooped.

Bottom line is I don't think that caliber choice is as good of a defense as just having "bear smarts" out there. :)
 
Hugh,

Given the options you listed, I would go with the Enfield. Totally not my first choice if I had more to chose from, but the options you listed are pretty minimal. The only semi you listed was in 7.62x39 and even though I like the round, I would not chose it over a full power .30 cal. The rest of your rifles are so similar in stopping power, only the Enfield's fast bolt gives it an edge.
 
"I ride and hunt in big bruin country also. My gun isn't what gives me confidence. Every single time that I've come into close quarters with a grizz, had he/she decided to attack...my weapon could not have been drawn fast enough to make a difference. Doing the right things and being alert has been my best line of defence. "


Best advice yet.
 
MD said:
"I ride and hunt in big bruin country also. My gun isn't what gives me confidence. Every single time that I've come into close quarters with a grizz, had he/she decided to attack...my weapon could not have been drawn fast enough to make a difference. Doing the right things and being alert has been my best line of defence. "


Best advice yet.
Click to expand...

Yup, too much emphasis put on calibre and action, not enough on brains.

Do what you can to avoid the situation in the first place. And if you slip up and get taken off-guard, use what you have. If you have nothing, use that.
 
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