Smaller Calibers in Grizzly Country

I can say that I was glad to have a rifle in my hands the day I was charged by a black bear over 20 years ago. He was at about 20 yards when I first saw him, and he just put his head down and charged. I put a round in his chest under his chin, and he spun to run away. He took a second round in the chest on his second jump, and then a finishing shot at about 25 yards, when he gave me another good shot at his vitals, as he was floundering.
It all took place over just a few seconds, and was quite the experience. I was glad that I was carrying a lever action that I was very familiar with, chambered in 375 Win with 200 gr power Points. While not the most powerful cartridge. it definitely packed enough power and penetration for this encounter at short range.
I have never had to use the pepper spray, but do have it and carry it, but also have a rifle or shotgun too.

My brother used to work cutting siesmic lines and had an encounter with a grizzly on the side of a mountain. He played ring around the pine tree with an angry g bear, and used both his cans of pepper spray. He said the last shot of the second can was straight down the throat of that bear at about 2 feet, and finally dettered the bear. The rest of the crew came to his rescue with chainsaws running. They ran their chainsaws all the way down the mountain, and that bear followed them all the way, but never got closer than about 20 yards to them again. When they returned to that worksite a few days later, they had a Bear Watch guy with them. The bear did hang around the area for the rest of the project, and backed the crew off the mountain again on another day while the Bear Watch was at the camp dealing with a black bear. Again the chainsaws seemed more effective at keeping the bear back than the pepper spray did. I know he doesn't trust the pepper spray.
 
Blackjack21 said:
You may laugh, but bear spray is a more effective deterrent against a bear in a close encounter than any hunting caliber you use- because shot placement is absolutely critical in order to stop a charging bear. Just try and make that shot while a bear is charging at you running 35 mph.
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I’ve not used bear spray, but I was trained to use OC spray on people and it’s not always easy to get in their eyes.
 
Blackjack21 said:
You may laugh, but bear spray is a more effective deterrent against a bear in a close encounter than any hunting caliber you use- because shot placement is absolutely critical in order to stop a charging bear. Just try and make that shot while a bear is charging at you running 35 mph.
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I agree....Leaded bear spray words just fine, the peppered stuff is not so good
 
pounder said:
No bear spray is allowed on any site we are guarding. Unless Boomer brings it and that's for his sandwich.
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A pinch of pepper on a sandwich makes the coffee taste better. If someone wants to carry spray to supplement his gun, that's his choice, but I sure don't advocate spray replacing the gun. First off, I'm a gun guy, so when considering problem solving, a gun always tops the list, but when the subject of spray comes up, I am forced to consider what might go wrong. Even if we discount being contaminated with blow back in the wind, or from residual spray on leaves and branches, what would I do if my canister is depleted and the bear returns before I can exit the area? Certainly things can go badly with the gun I carry, but if I'm still alive after it runs dry, I can reload it. You can't reload a can of spray.

Pounder's problem is not typical of most enjoying the outdoors; providing bear security on works sites, or for groups of tourists creates interesting problems. On a work site, there is usually a defined boundary which you are responsible for, and bears are simply encouraged not to enter, or loiter within this boundary. Tourists, on the other hand, are strange critters. At the start of the day you will have a safety briefing about what to do if a bear approaches the group, and the importance of the group being together; yet you blink just once, and these people are strung out over a quarter mile. Bear monitors around here are often heard muttering to themselves about herding cats. Anyway, back to spray.

In circumstances where you are responsible for the safety of a group of people, even if spray works as advertised, you don't want a bear running blindly in an unpredictable direction. To some extent, a bear can be directed away and steered with cracker shells, and since he can see what's around him, the flashes from the exploding crackers work in concert with the sound they emit. A bear that has become desensitized to the sound of cracker shells, can be reconditioned with a combination of cracker shells and rubber slugs, and steered out of the immediate area.

Those just wanting to enjoy the outdoors, and opt for spray over a gun, should perhaps consider some possible scenarios. You're in you tent in the evening, and a bear sticks his head through the flap . . . do you fire up the can of spray? You arrive at your cabin to find the cabin robber still investigating the contents, do you fire up the spray? You are approached by a female bear accompanied by her second year cubs, she is locked onto you and a predatory attack is imminent: spray in hand, how will you use it? The weather deteriorated and the mild fall morning is now a miserable afternoon. Your hands are stiff and cold, and wet from the horizontal freezing rain. There is a bear on the trail ahead of you, and is indifferent to your yells. If you need to defend yourself, will you be able to manipulate the spray canister? Unknown to you a bear has a fresh kill hidden from sight in the rocks ahead of you. Suddenly he appears just a few feet in front of you, his head and entire front soaked in blood, the sight is shocking; can you draw the can of spay and enable it for use quickly enough to save you? On a camping trip with your family. While you attend to camp chores, your small for his age preteen son is fishing off the bank of the nearby river when a predatory bear goes for him. What good is your spray at a range of 150 yards?
 
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Slimbo said:
Anyone on here tried the .277 160 grain partition? I think it’s a semi-spritzer?
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If I wanted a big bear specific bullet for a .270, there are two I would consider without hesitation, the 160 gr Partition and the 180 gr Woodleigh. The 180 Woodleigh requires a fast twist to stabilize the long bullet, which tends to wobble when fired from a 1:10, but a 1:8 would work. If I was shooting a .270 with a normal 1:10 twist, the 160 gr Partition would be my first choice.
 
Haven't seen this stated here yet = there is a big difference between stopping a charge and killing an unaware bear...
 
Camp Cook said:
Haven't seen this stated here yet = there is a big difference between stopping a charge and killing an unaware bear...
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indeed. for stopping a charge i know that the 300 savage with 180 grains works very well on average black bear. i ve been charged 2 times by black bear and the 300 savage saved my bacon 2 times ... the last rifle to go from the home ...
 
Camp Cook said:
Haven't seen this stated here yet = there is a big difference between stopping a charge and killing an unaware bear...
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Yep, one takes better shot placement. :d It’s 95% shot placement 5% chambering, and that likely gives the chambering too much credit.

In cartridges for dropping Grizzlies there really isn’t much difference with one notable exception; faster is better. The top three most impressive Grizzly bang flops I’ve seen guiding were in this order, .300 Ultra 180gr (Dogleg’s bear incidentally), 7mm Rem Mag 140gr, and .375 Ruger 300gr. All with fairly malleable soft points.
 
I've fired exactly 1 bear banger at a black bear, it exploded within a few feet of the bears head, the black bear didn't even flinch, let alone run or move off.
 
My largest grizzly 24 3/16" interior bear made it 80 yards after a 300gr Partition from my 375RUM @ 2800fps left a hole in its off side chest appr 6" - 7" in diameter only hit the lungs though no heart or bone I had aimed to take out the lungs but also to break the offside front leg bone but the bullet only passed thru muscle.

Shot placement is critical for a charge stopper imagine a bear's head appr 20" - 24" wide (hair to hair) the target area on that skull is only between the eyes 3" - 4" if you hit outside of the eyes your bullet will only pass thru muscle.

I have the little cartridge guns but I'm just more comfortable packing a rifle chambered in a cartridge that has a lot of thump to it when I'm hunting/prospecting in big grizzly country.
 
MiG25 said:
I've fired exactly 1 bear banger at a black bear, it exploded within a few feet of the bears head, the black bear didn't even flinch, let alone run or move off.
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I've heard more stories of the banger going off behind the bear resulting in the bear running at the person.
 
There was an incident up here where a cracker shell fired at a bear bounced off the ground under the bear exploded and put a hole in her inner thigh. She bled out leaving 2 cubs orphaned. So be aware that you should never hit the bear with a cracker shell.
 
Good luck on that perfect shot placement when they are charging or flopping around when wounded..
Better to get any shot then no shot at all..
Back a few years the client killed the guide the next day on the wounded bear from the day before..south of Houston B.C.
 
I had several charges over the years. One had extremely long-gated teeth and claws that I never witnessed before. I just kept on talking to myself to remain calm, don't panic, keep the sights on the head, breath deeply. Well, I had no choice but to shoot..........most vicious, diabolical gopher I encountered on the prairies. It was only after that my nerves kicked-in when I realized how much my life was in danger.;););)
 
Our guards use a banger pistol, or a dedicated short brl. single shot shotgun for cracker shells. I don't want anyone carrying a shotgun to play whats in the chamber game. Also cracker shells are very dirty and leave your brl. a complete mess or on the odd occasion will leave a wad or other obstruction in the brl. not good. This guy just wandering between the 2 teams we had out that day. No shots fired I am sure that we humans are just entertainment for some bears.
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