The Department of Bear Defence

fed007

fed007

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Alright I need a quick reply - I am going a quad trip soon, bringing my mossy.

Someone was telling me I could only have 4 shells in the tube at any one time?! wtf?!?

Also should I have a combination of shells in the tube? like slugs + 00 buck? or just go all sluggers?

Let me know I don;t want to have to deal with an overzealous noob ranger trying to tell me I was "poaching" with an illegal round count.

thx

F7
 
Take more than 3 shots , and you need some practice, which would be a good idea to do some. A few from the waist or chest high @ a target low to the ground at 10 feet, then a few quick aimed shots , no more than 1 second per shot. That should give you a warm fuzzy on how well you can handle a charging bear.
My guess , you will have to make many trips in the wild to have a shot at a bear running at you:D Oh and yes slugs, 2.75 inch ones:)
 
that sounds like fun practice !

yeah - I have been bear bait for some 15 years - all of a sudden I get a shotgun and now I get to play the bear defence game. I'd expect the only confrontation would be in camp while I was in my tent. So unless bears charge into tents (which is very rude) I probably don;t need the cowboy action shooting.

Maybe just a warning shot. - Should I load a bear banger shell in the first shot?

thx -

F7
 
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Although I have not too much experience, bear bangers have been know to jam in the barrel, well part of it. The next shot hits the obstruction and you will need a new barrel and new shorts! Just stick with slugs. Penetration is key with big game. I wouldnt shoot a deer with buck let alone a bear. If you cant hit a chest sized target at 15m, consider just bringing a liberal with you! :D Preferably one fatter and slower than you!
 
I take federal 2.75 1 1/4 oz slugs. Sure they kick hard, but you won't be thinking about that with a bear charging you. I hear great things about brennekes but I don't have any first hand experience. Hope this helps.
 
If you are going to use cracker shells, get yourself a starter pistol that shoots them. We have pretty much given up using live ammo and crackers in the same guns as for the reasons mentioned above. The pistols work fine, and I got to put the run on a polar bear last week using ours, we chase off dozens each year. Once he's running exploding the crackers high in the air keeps him running. By the way - bangers seem to work better than screamers.

Until bears grow feathers load up with slugs. There is almost no advantage to using shot - if the bear is close enough to be a threat the shot pattern won't have time to open up so the gun must be fired as accurately as a rifle and individual pellets have poor penetration. I said almost no advantage - the only time I load shot is if I'm in a populated area and I'm afraid that a slug might exit the bear and injure someone such as in a camp ground or town.

I don't know what part of the country you are in, but in Manitoba a loaded firearm cannot legally be carried on a quad. Walking, horseback, bicycle, or a canoe OK, but no loaded firearms on or in motorized vehicles including motorboats and quads. In a bear gun there is no limit as to how many rounds can be carried in the shotgun.

A fun drill is to tie a 5 gallon plastic oil pail to the back of the quad, and have the line extending past the shooter to the pail. The quad takes off, and you try to hit the jumping and rolling pail as often as you can before it gets to you. I set up the pail at 25 yards, and I can sometimes score 2 hits with my .375.
 
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haha - thats probably the best pracitce for a charging bear. Maybe I'll scam someone elses pillow for that test and watch the feathers fly ... IF I can hit it.

F7
 
We should almost have an entire forum devoted to bear defense threads. Between the shotgun / rifle / pistol / ammo questions that come up in just about every other forum it would probably see a lot of use.

Although a lot of the 'bear defense' questions are the same thing over and over again, there are quite a few valid questions or new suggestions that come up, such as the round-count question fed007 has asked.
 
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