The 30-06 Will Do
Hello
I have never hunter the white bear. But I lived in Nunavut for several years and have traveled the high arctic in the NWT several times. I have spoken to many Inuit who take polar bear regularly. I have also spoken to many Wildlife Officers who worked in remote locations in Nunavut and the NWT.
When I lived there, the Government of Nunavut was purchasing Ruger M77 in 30-06 for polar bear defense. The man responsible for the acquisition told me that they wanted to buy a batch of stainless steel, synthetic-stocked rifles with iron sites. But they could find no such model in the Ruger lineup. So they bought a batch of M77s without sites and had a gunsmith fit them with iron sites. Every person I asked believed that the 30-06 was more than sufficient to kill any polar bear. The universal opinion was that polar bears are far easier to kill than a grizzly. One very seasoned Inuit hunter told me that he used a 25-06 and found it entirely adequate.
Mitch Taylor, perhaps the foremost polar bear biologist in the world, told me he keeps a 44 magnum revolver with him when he travels on the land. But I understand that he also keeps a shotgun with him, as well. He is licensed to carry a revolver, lawfully, but he told me it was a giant pain in the ass to get a permit. In any case, he said the 44 magnum had sufficient power to kill a white bear. I do not know if he ever used his 44 in action.
I used an FRS 8 7.62 X 51 NATO rifle for polar bear defense when camping in Nunavut. I kept it within my tent, which led to my nickname “man who sleeps with a gun.” The problem was, the rifle always had light rust on it by the end of the trip, though I wiped it down with an oil cloth each day. I found that the wiping generally prevented rust on the exterior of the rifle. But if I ever fired the rifle, then the interior barrel was always rusted by the end of the trip. However, the rust was always light and easily cleaned up.
An experienced Inuit Wildlife Officer told me that the preferred way to sleep out on the land is as follows. You sleep in an igloo. Outside of the igloo, approximately where your head will be, you lay your rifle. You never take the rifle into the igloo. Inside the igloo, you keep a snow knife or axe. When you hear the bear, you cut a hole in the igloo, lay hands on the rifle and blow the bear to hell. It sounds crazy, but apparently it works and keeps the rifle free of rust.
How this can be adapted to sleeping in a tent, I do not know. But perhaps the rifle can be laid outside the tent at a suitable zipper opening, where it can be brought into action when required.
