Shot gun or rifle for bear defense?

stoop14 said:
What has more stopping power a 12g slug or a 45/70? I'm basically down too these 2 firearms.
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So what province did you just move up here from?f:P:
Just kidding. Strickly bear defence, a 12g pump.
Or at high speeds the front bumper of your quad will get a grizzly moving.
 
bisonhd said:
a .223 cause it's the awesomist killer of big game and army mens uses it. Theys call it the 5.56 nato cus i kno i seen it on the internet saying so. Hop this helps save yus from big bad bears cus thems dangerous and everybody gets attacked evry time theys go out in the woods.
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hells i can't e'en leave da ha trailer wit-out dem dar barrs cummin afer me. all ya all best gitchyer best pitchforks and torches out and we'll have us an ol fashin bear burnin! just like dem witches in dem oldem days and that thar book burin we had last week! pffft the bibles the only book we needs! evlolution dag nabbit ai't no such thang! I ain't no a-rang-or-tang! *scrathes head and take a big bite of bannaner*
 
stoop14 said:
What has more stopping power a 12g slug or a 45/70? I'm basically down too these 2 firearms.
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45-70, no doubt. Better stabilized and lots of thump. Looks tame on paper, but enough to take anything in N.A. Factory loads are very low pressure and don't have much or any power advantage over a 12, however handloads in a Marlin or other strong rifle can be pretty steamy.

If you don't handload, the .450 is loaded hotter but slightly different dimension and belted just so it can't be stuffed in an old trapdoor. I would suggest reloading for either though as the price to shoot them is pretty sick.
Cast is way cheaper.

I went with the 45-70 just for availability; that and there was no advantage other than hotter factory loads for the .450.

Merry Christmas, all.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bisonhd
a .223 cause it's the awesomist killer of big game and army mens uses it. Theys call it the 5.56 nato cus i kno i seen it on the internet saying so. Hop this helps save yus from big bad bears cus thems dangerous and everybody gets attacked evry time theys go out in the woods.
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Quote by ndb86:
hells i can't e'en leave da ha trailer wit-out dem dar barrs cummin afer me. all ya all best gitchyer best pitchforks and torches out and we'll have us an ol fashin bear burnin! just like dem witches in dem oldem days and that thar book burin we had last week! pffft the bibles the only book we needs! evlolution dag nabbit ai't no such thang! I ain't no a-rang-or-tang! *scrathes head and take a big bite of bannaner*
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Last call for alcohol!
 
Brutus said:
It's interesting that a small grizzly bear population is there, I guess on the shores of Jame's Bay right Boomer?
Okak Island just off mainland Labrador, once had a small population of barren ground grizzly as well according to old skulls & bones found there. In the mid-1990s the Canadian magazine Equinox, did a story on these bears. Apparrently one very old Inuit elder remembers himself and another man went hunting these bears on Okak Island, a few years before WW2(?) While he was tracking it, he himself was ambushed and his hunting companion barely saved his life, killing the attacking grizzly bear.

According to Hudson Bay records, a small HBC store in Northern Quebec, somewhere on the shores of Ungava Bay, recorded grizzly bear hides brought in during the late 1880s. It was recorded in thier ledgers. They were few and far between even then.
The bear hides where said to be smaller than polar bear, and mostly greyish brown in color.
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Following the Hudson Bay coast, the entrance to James Bay is about 650 miles south east of us. When I first heard of a grizzly sighting here, I assumed it was just a bear from the Baker Lake country who went exploring. But since that time, there have been enough sightings to suggest a small population has indeed taken up residency, perhaps around Broad River, some 50 miles south of Cape Churchill. Maybe these bears have been here all along, and have just been seen since the increased human activity in that part of the country. Wapusk National Park opened in 1996, and since that time Parks Canada's people have had an increased presence inside the park, resulting in more helicopter and ground travel in the area. Wapusk's boundary extends from Hudson Bay to the North, south to the Nelson River and from Hudson Bay to the east, to an irregular western boundary.

Its interesting that grizzly hides were brought into a Bay Store as far east as Ungava. At one time grizzlies were said to inhabit much of North America though. Your description matches the pictures I've seen of these grizzlies, about 400-500 pounds, and grey brown is as good a color description as you'll get. A few years back Bronco Mudder posted a pic his brother took from a light aircraft. He didn't say where it was, but if I was a betting man, I'd guess around Dymond Lake, about a 15 minute flight northwest of the airport. In any case, the prospect of a grizzly population here is extremely exciting.
 
When I'm on the tundra in the NWT we have serious grizzly issues. We carry a bolt action Winchester .308 with Super X rounds. Mind you like it was previously said we have to do everything humanly possible to scare the bear away before actually taking it out, however grizzlies can be quite a bit more persistant than the black bears. We don't have to worry too much about the range on a rifle since there isn't exactly a hell of a lot out on the tundra, so we go with the rifle for its takedown power over say a pump.

Oh ya, iron sights with no scope. This is close range bear defense, not hunting.
 
Brutus said:
Thank you for your very informative reply Boomer.
I always enjoy reading your posts!
Myself, I never get tired of tales from our north country, even if we stray a bit off topic.

Cheers......
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Same here. I think of Boomer as our Canadian version of Elmer Keith.

Too bad there isn't more big bears that were legal. Nice to watch them regardless. Last fall, I went to Fort St. John for a few days to visit and seen a nice griz., and a small blackie a few times. Got pretty close to the black, but couldn't get him to grow. Really didn't want to bring something home that looked like I shot an ewok. The bear I wanted was that griz. :(
 
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