best gun for polar bear protec/hunting

Thanks Boomer, incredible insight and great pics. Been to Churchill lots and you are SO right, the bears just blend right in and they are smarter than any other bear in N America in my opinion, loved those pictures man!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
On a recent trip boat trip to Northern Labrador my father took both a 12G and a lever 30-30 for Bear defense, fast shooting with minimal recoil if a white bear happened to try and climb in the boat.

My choice would be a 6.5 x 55 carbine loaded with Barnes 140G XLC but I'm partial to the little Swede...
 
Wow Boomer, thanks for those awesome pictures and stories! Great to hear from the experts on these boards! Glad to hear your wife stayed in the jeep and she is OK.

I have never hunted polar bear, but I travel to the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut all the time with work, and I speak with a lot of the Inuit guys that hunt there. They often shoot them with .223, 22-250, or even .220 Swift. These three cartridges specifically I was told first hand buy guys that have shot them. I asked how many shots, and they said usually 2 or 3.

A guy who lives in my Condo in Yellowknife here has a beautiful Polar Bear hide, and I was chatting with him about such small cartridges (in my humble opinion) of choice for shooting PB's. He said that the polar bear tends to be fairly delicate, and will lose fights with Grizzlies (even though, technically, same species... I was in Sachs Harbour in Northwest Territories about a week after that Pizzly Bear was shot several years ago). He said that the grizzly will roll in dirt, and their hide tends to be full of sand so it takes a real heavy bullet to get through it, whereas a Polar Bear doesn't have such "armour" if you will.

Anyway, I don't have an opinion on this as I have never hunted a grizzly/polar bear but just to add to the data.

Barry

P.S. Well, I guess I do have an opinion. I would take a 30 cal rifle (308, 30-06 etc) and have a friend along with another one.
 
In a world of half baked bear defence threads Boomer points out the #1 bear defence tool hands down- your brain. Having worked with and around black bears for many years I have yet to see a problem that was solved with firepower that couldn't have been prevented with brains.

Congrats to your missus on some nice pics too! :D
 
Agreed about the brain thing. I work real close to lots of grizzlies on the coast here and we carry 12 ga, but if you need your 12 ga you're in a real bad spot of trouble. we usually avoid anything real sketchy by being proactive about bears and not getting into surprise situations.

The average grizzly isn't that big, I'm pretty sure you could put one down with anything you'd consider adequate to kill a black bear. I do think that the 12 ga pump is probably the best bet because it's easy to use, powerful, and resilient to dirt and water which there's lots of in the bush and along the rivers on the coast in the fall.
 
Hey Boomer;

I spent 3 months in Churchill in the summer of 1991. What a great experience working at the Northern Studies Centre!


For "protection" I carried a 12-gauge marine shotgun filled with cracker shells followed by two slugs. As you know, in the summer heat, most bears just want to wade in Hudson Bay and have no interest in making chase. I started with a 303 Enfield, but the bloody thing was too heavy and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. :)

However, as you already noted, my main "protection" were my eyes and being aware of what was going on around me at all times, as I did an 11 kilometre loop in the tundra each morning collecting measurements from various climate measuring stations. This was solo -- unless you consider the millions of ginormous mosquitos company. :D

I once awoke in my cabin (are they still there at the Northern Studies Centre?), to a 1500 lb + male polar bear looking at me through my bedroom window. Let me tell you that I woke up REAL FAST that morning!! :eek:

Thanks for sharing the photos and putting things in perspective for the rest of the readers here.
 
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Just to add to an earlier comment... Polar bears are no more delicate than Grizzlies. As has been stated many times before, you don't necessarily require large calibres to take large game. Its all about shot placement. Where most polar bears are found and hunted, there can be plenty of distance for follow-up shots if necessary. I have never taken a bear but I have observed Dene and Inuit hunters in action.
 
Boomer is correct.

The thing is usually that even if small, light calibers are perfectly capable of taking down large bears with good shot placement, the person has to realize that perfect shot placement is not always possible. The compensation of less than perfect shot placement is usually a bit more power, and in defense, if you can handle larger, it's usually better.

If you can shoot it well, go bigger. 30-06, 338-06, 300Win, 338 Win, 450 marlin/hot loaded 45-70 with a heavy, hard bullet, 12ga with 000 buck and hard slugs... All good options. Just remember to keep the bullet weight high and to choose a bonded bullet, a partition bullet, a solid, a thick jacketed soft point... Just something that will retain a lot of weight.
 
Here is my choice for polar/grizzly bear defense my factory barreled shortened to 21" by Guntech Rem 700 LSS in 375RUM loaded with 350gr TSX @ 2450fps sights =rear XS Sights Tall Weaver ghost ring backup and NECG banded front sight.

Only scope I use now is a VX3 4.5-14X40mm B&C reticle with Leupold QRW rings & bases when the scope is on I load my 260gr Accubonds @ 3020fps it is zeroed for 200 yards and the second B&C reticle line down is dead on @ 460 yards.

Finished_21_Inch_Rem_700_LSS_in_375RUM_Dec_2009_011.jpg
 
^ I don't know what would be worse, getting the recoil from that rifle or getting a swat from the grizzly. That rifle must rattle ones teeth. :D
 
It has a Magnum model Kick-Eez recoil pad that reduces felt recoil better than any other recoil pad on the market so yes it recoils but the felt recoil is nothing near to what you would think...

I will agree this is definitely not a rifle for a recoil shy shooter I reduced the velocity from 2520fps with the 350gr TSX to the far more manageable 2450fps which was a very managable recoil/getting an aimed second shot off quickly trade off for me...


:)
 
The Kurgan said:
Hey Boomer;

I spent 3 months in Churchill in the summer of 1991. What a great experience working at the Northern Studies Centre!


For "protection" I carried a 12-gauge marine shotgun filled with cracker shells followed by two slugs. As you know, in the summer heat, most bears just want to wade in Hudson Bay and have no interest in making chase. I started with a 303 Enfield, but the bloody thing was too heavy and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. :)

However, as you already noted, my main "protection" were my eyes and being aware of what was going on around me at all times, as I did an 11 kilometre loop in the tundra each morning collecting measurements from various climate measuring stations. This was solo -- unless you consider the millions of ginormous mosquitos company. :D

I once awoke in my cabin (are they still there at the Northern Studies Centre?), to a 1500 lb + male polar bearing looking at me through my bedroom window. Let me tell you that I woke up REAL FAST that morning!! :eek:

Thanks for sharing the photos and putting things in perspective for the rest of the readers here.
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Two of those Akudlik houses burned down and the third was moved last year.

Did you spend any time at Nestor 1 or 2? Lots of bear action out there. We probably know some of the same people. I bet you remember Lindy and Clifford and perhaps the Eagle. In '91 he was still flying for Midwest, but he bought 3 of his own machines and started Hudson bay Helicopter, and was bought out a short time later by Great Slave Helicopters, but they still operate here as HBH.
 
Boomer said:
Two of those Akudlik houses burned down and the third was moved last year.

Did you spend any time at Nestor 1 or 2? Lots of bear action out there. We probably know some of the same people. I bet you remember Lindy and Clifford and perhaps the Eagle. In '91 he was still flying for Midwest, but he bought 3 of his own machines and started Hudson bay Helicopter, and was bought out a short time later by Great Slave Helicopters, but they still operate here as HBH.
Click to expand...

This is going back some years, but I do recall a helicoptor pilot who flew us around, he had a grey beard and carried a 44 magnum revolver (chrome)? Do you remember Mitch (red headed guy with beard) and his white Sheppard (Kida?) that worked at the NSC? I also remember a mechanic that worked there, he had a Springer Spaniel named Molly. There were many faces I recall, but I'm bad with names, perhaps better with dog names :) I took many photos of my time there. Perhaps I'll post a few of the interesting ones.

One day I'll share a horror story related to a few local shotgun toting a$$holes who decided to destroy hundreds of roosting black Ravens while they slept in an abandoned hanger. If I had caught them, I'd still be in jail today.
 
Same as shooting a Brown bear. 30/06 with 220gr bullets would definetely do the job. 338 & 375hh would be perfect if you go out to buy a rifle specifically for a Large Bear.

I have scene several Television shows, were the Officers use a 12 gauge with Bangers to try to scare them away, and then they load the 2nd and 3rd round with either buckshot or slugs, just in case.

The "Bangers" are really loud, and that works almost always.

If it were me, I would have a 5 round shotgun, loaded with the first 2 rounds with the exploding "bangers", and then the 3rd,4th, and 5th round with buckshot. Odds are, you already own a 12 gauge also.
 
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