Suggestions for a bear defense shotgun
- Thread starter Doolittlethehyena
- Start date
I like this as well, anyone know what shotgun this is by chance?
Made me look this up, I am surprised he pled guilty:
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(Not letting me link, It’s a CBC News Edmonton July 5, 2023 article by Stephen Cook “ Alberta hiker fined $7,500 for shooting black bear in Jasper National Park”, easy to find, or if someone can link it? I don’t have forum privileges to link yet.)
It sounds like there was no signage about firearm prohibition. The Judge even asks him about checking website for this info, with poor cell service in the park, so not sure how one could be expected to do that.
Granted not knowing a law is not a defence for breaking said law. I think the “urgent peril and whether shooting the bear constituted a defence of necessity” would have stood up.
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The federal govt does not care one bit if you get mauled to death by a bear in a national park. They would defend their prohibition on firearms in national parks ... to the death.
Like about everything to do with bear defence, this advice has been posted many times, but consider keeping a pump action bear gun in camp loaded with no round in the chamber and the safety off. That way if a bear appears all that has to be done is to work the pump to have an effective weapon in hand, something anyone in camp can understand. When you start dicking around with safeties is when people lose it in a panic situation.
mossberg 940 pro turkey 18.5", Carlson IC flush or extended choke, challenger slugs, 4+1, the plug you can throw in and out is literally drop in/out pencil for bird legal, it weighs 7.0 lbs, has a very nice 4.5 lb trigger, oversize controls, very fast and goes 1500 rounds between cleanings, also has the optic cut out for some sweet reflex sights, I'm running holosun eps green on mine, it's around 38-39" oal depending on choke flush or extended, has like 5 different color front sight inserts, full adjustable for lop and cast etc. I dropped mine to just over 13" lop for handiness, should prove a very good multi-purpose set up, not just defence, I have only tested and zeroed for challenger slugs so far, which apparently the deepest penetrators out there, definitely in top 3...and with the IC Carlson extended it was shooting ragged one hole triangles so not much paper between triangles at 40 yards! it still shot the M and F chokes well enough to kill anything up to 75 yards but this IC set up would be no prob at 100 yards
it's same as the 940 pro tactical 5-shot but lighter wall barrel so 1/4 lb lighter and has a disarming cool old school camo dip...I pulled the front sight off mine completely for just the 32 moa green circle reticle in the holosun eps, zero distractions, it's a sweet set up, if the fur is inside the circle you just hammer down, if a deer is about half the circle diameter then you know it's around 100 yards and hold a few inches high...I liked the turkey model 18.5" over the tactical better, it's a sleeper of a defence shotgun that can double down for actual turkey, calling coyotes/wolves, big game work etc.
I modified a gg&g shockwave mount with grinder and notched the fore end to sit flush so I can put a light on it night duty, tlr-1 or 7 I have either option. couple esstac 5 round shell cards work perfect on the side of action and butt stock, the 6/7 rounders are too long imo...5 is the way.
it's same as the 940 pro tactical 5-shot but lighter wall barrel so 1/4 lb lighter and has a disarming cool old school camo dip...I pulled the front sight off mine completely for just the 32 moa green circle reticle in the holosun eps, zero distractions, it's a sweet set up, if the fur is inside the circle you just hammer down, if a deer is about half the circle diameter then you know it's around 100 yards and hold a few inches high...I liked the turkey model 18.5" over the tactical better, it's a sleeper of a defence shotgun that can double down for actual turkey, calling coyotes/wolves, big game work etc.
I modified a gg&g shockwave mount with grinder and notched the fore end to sit flush so I can put a light on it night duty, tlr-1 or 7 I have either option. couple esstac 5 round shell cards work perfect on the side of action and butt stock, the 6/7 rounders are too long imo...5 is the way.
14 to 18 inches
I carried a Mossberg for work when in the role of bear monitor, IIRC it had a 18.5" barrel. Also a Rem870, but I can't remember the barrel length, maybe 20".
Back home I have carried a 12.5" pump & 9.8" double barrel o/u
steamy teabag
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Inside the Turd Reich
Mossberg 500 pump action with a 18.5 inch barrel was the campsite SG. Still have it but moved up to a 1301T. Short stroking was becoming an issue for the other half and motor skills are getting long in the tooth for a high stress encounter.
Thats what I use. 500 with a clip on front sight like this because I find the bead too low on the security barrel with no rib. Doesn't look the greatest, but it does exactly what I wanted which was to raise the front "sight" and make it really pop when you look at it, and I'm a function-over-beauty kind of guy:
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
12.5”-20” but 14” with rifle sights is the sweet spot for me.
Thats what I use. 500 with a clip on front sight like this because I find the bead too low on the security barrel with no rib. Doesn't look the greatest, but it does exactly what I wanted which was to raise the front "sight" and make it really pop when you look at it, and I'm a function-over-beauty kind of guy:
looks like the way to go, heard that about the 18.5" 940 tactical also, no rib, little fibre optic tight on the barrel, guys say that you hit high of aim point that way, so getting the sight up higher is required to get the lead to hit where the bead is...
if one does like the semi auto idea for this and the benelli/Beretta are maybe out of budget there is a new semi auto that passed that 500 burn down test also, the 940 pro....they have 18.5" tactical and 18.5" turkey pro 5-shots....the tactical having that low bead no rib and heavier chrome lined barrel, the turkey pro has a rib and a very good front sight with 5 interchangeable fibre optics even a solid white one etc....it's a 1/4 lb lighter also, the smart play is the turkey model over the tactical for this sort of thing, the mossberg is a few bucks less than the expensive Italians but is now a real competitor in reliability, features, function, speed etc....it got this non shotgun guy to open wallet, mine is shooting 2" ctc groups at 40 yards with the stout challenger slugs with Carlson extended IC choke....I've named her Rita (loud round mound of sound)
it can be seen instagram at 65grendelhunters or will try to attach here but my cache is full here and no idea how to clear it to post again, old guy issues and lack of give a fack
When I was packing along an 870 bear gun in small canoe or sea kayak groups, I used to load it with alternate rounds of non-magnum 00 buck and slugs with the idea it would allow for maximum effectiveness in case of panic shooting, shooting in the dark and so on, especially on the part of someone who was not used to shooting at all. Those were situations where I learned the idea of leaving the magazine full with the chamber empty and the safety off, the idea was that hopefully anyone who had to pick the thing up and use it would be able to work the pump and shoot in situations where the safety might defeat them. Would this have worked? Never had to find out.
Most enforcement agencies use 870. 15 years as a park ranger and the only things I shot at bears (Black and Griz) were bangers, screamer rockets, bear spray and a few times rubber slugs or tranquilizer. Those rubber slugs were always followed in the mag by 1 1/4 lead - which in my case was never required. I like bears.
Kind of my theory, followed by a slug, the intention being to get some kind of hit, first shot.
