JMO - I've got a 14" pump an a 19" semi. I've cycled both 'till empty and practice when I can at the range. Good for 5-quick ones on a pie-plate at 25, I hope. I've seen blacks at the range occasionally. There's not much shooting activity most days, so they're complacent and wander around often.
Suggestions for a bear defense shotgun
- Thread starter Doolittlethehyena
- Start date
steamy teabag
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Inside the Turd Reich
Practice makes perfect, under stress even better. We kept a Mossy 500 pump action with a security barrel as the camp SG for years but have since moved up to a SA. Short stroking under stress is an issue. Breneke slugs perform well but just about any reputable manufacturer slugs or 00B will work. My 2 cents.
With respect to slugs .... Foster slugs that are designed to flatten will not penetrate! A very poor choice .... they might not reach the vitals of larger bears.
(This is a Foster slug that was shot into a sand bank. It expanded and flattened into a pancake!)
Here is a penetration test .... Brennekes are ok ..... Challengers are better ....
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1635960-Unofficial-12ga-Slug-Penetration-Comparison
.
And buckshot ...... well .... I would not trust my life on buckshot ...
Buckshot penetration test:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1724640-Penetration-Test-II-Buckshot
.
All in all .... the right ammo might be more important than what shotgun you use .....
(This is a Foster slug that was shot into a sand bank. It expanded and flattened into a pancake!)
Here is a penetration test .... Brennekes are ok ..... Challengers are better ....
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1635960-Unofficial-12ga-Slug-Penetration-Comparison
.
And buckshot ...... well .... I would not trust my life on buckshot ...
Buckshot penetration test:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1724640-Penetration-Test-II-Buckshot
.
All in all .... the right ammo might be more important than what shotgun you use .....
Last edited:
steamy teabag
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Inside the Turd Reich
Beretta 1301T has replaced the Mossy pump action as our camp SG. Short stroking was becoming an issue and the wife and daughter although comfortable with using a pump like the SA better. One less thing to screw up in a high stress encounter. Finer motor skills are getting long in the tooth, just like me.
This little guy holds 3 1oz slugs in the tube. I figure if that's not enough, well, I'll have run out of time with a charging bear anyway.
And you are going to take the "little guy" on your next canoe trip in the Canadian wilderness?
Or just to the shooting range in case bears show up?
Oohhhhhhhh wait ..... are there bears in France?
Last edited:
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Oui. They be protected though in the region.
https://wilderness-society.org/bear-crisis-in-the-french-pyrenees/
Spent my whole life working/playing in the bush.
I have had dozens of bear encounters over the decades.
All but one were resolved peacefully with me backing away and taking a
different route. Not to say they weren’t exciting/scary but nonetheless no scratches
on either side.
The one bad one was fatal for the poor bear and had i missed probably fatal for me.
I carry bear spray always. Usually carry a 12” barrelled 870 with slugs.
Whistle to make noise etc.
The gun is to allow me to back away.
Hopefully i never have to use it again but still practise with it often.
I have had dozens of bear encounters over the decades.
All but one were resolved peacefully with me backing away and taking a
different route. Not to say they weren’t exciting/scary but nonetheless no scratches
on either side.
The one bad one was fatal for the poor bear and had i missed probably fatal for me.
I carry bear spray always. Usually carry a 12” barrelled 870 with slugs.
Whistle to make noise etc.
The gun is to allow me to back away.
Hopefully i never have to use it again but still practise with it often.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
On a parallel subject, those of us with numerous wilderness encounters, I ask u good folks have u ever encountered a boneyard in the forest.
In my instance, a rocky top in the boreal forest many various skeltons of animals in a small area.
Thoughts? Black bears? Cougars? Doesn't look like any wolf pack behavior I have ever seen before.
Informed opinions needed.
Thx
In my instance, a rocky top in the boreal forest many various skeltons of animals in a small area.
Thoughts? Black bears? Cougars? Doesn't look like any wolf pack behavior I have ever seen before.
Informed opinions needed.
Thx
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Is it bear defense Monday again. Has the tradition faded so much, that now, we need to resurrect two year old bear defense threads.
I have a shorty Canuck pump.
Short, light, simple, and loaded with slugs. Short and light is mostly important so you will actually take it.
I have a shorty Canuck pump.
Short, light, simple, and loaded with slugs. Short and light is mostly important so you will actually take it.
Can these be purchased in Canada? I never managed it, had to go second hand just to get 10.
Humans?
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Well. It wasn't really an easy place to get too. Southern approach was about 350 yards up a semi steep grade. The other side had about 120 yards of thicket to push through.
Your suggestion would make more sense if it was an easy drive up. There was moose calf bones right alongside dog or coyote carcasses. Various smaller mammals I could not recognize.
My opinion only sir....
Edit: I didn't see any evidence of gunfire damage.
But with all the soft tissue & meat long gone(and hide too), how much veracity does this hold?
Last edited:
If humans are that unlikely then I have to say it's the work of a single predator, probably a bear that would have no problem hauling the carcasses up there to defend them for a few days until they were eaten up. And the smaller predators like the 'yotes perhaps showed up for a meal and got killed instead.
