Tragic bear attack in Wyoming

HARPERC said:

Each time I've read the story around the 9mm it has seemed to me the bear was just confused. It had opportunities to inflict damage and didn't.

Too close to wait for someone to get hurt before engaging, but it sounds like it woke up surrounded by human smell, and couldn't find the exit.

Bear and humans legitimately scared s@#$!less for a bit.

Click to expand...

Now that I've seen a photo of this pooh-bear, I think it woke up looking to nurse milk from its momma, and confused the guide for mommy. I could have whooped that newborn with no firearm at all. Just holler boooh!

Thank God the momma didn't show, because odds are good this story would have ended with momma bear posing in the photo over the guide, chewing on his 9mm peashooter. A bear snack.

PS: I expect pepper spray would have ended this encounter. Momma bear? All bets are off.

Semi-autos can be more prone to misfeeds and jamming.
I'd make sure my 10mm auto was thoroughly tested with the ammo of choice, before I retired a revolver.
Six certain shots from a double action revolver, compared to ??? shots from a high capacity mag.

If he/she still gets me after 6 rounds fired, I have little expectation my next 6 would have made the difference. The bear will have cried uncle after 6, or I'll be a goner...

phorwath said:

Semi-autos can be more prone to misdeeds and jamming.
I'd make sure my 10mm auto was thoroughly tested with the ammo of choice, before I retired a revolver.
Six certain shots from a double action revolver, compared to ??? shots from a high capacity mag.

If he/she still gets me after 6 rounds fired, I have little expectation my next 6 would have made the difference. The bear will have cried uncle after 6, or I'll be a goner...

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, trust me I don't take anything for chance. The glock was WELL tested with the load intended for my protection.

Rick Richard said:

Oh yeah, trust me I don't take anything for chance. The glock was WELL tested with the load intended for my protection.

Click to expand...

Good for you! Function testing is critical with semi-autos.
With revolvers, the biggest risk of failures to feed is if the heavy bullets jump their crimp under heavy recoil. So they must also be function tested - no denying that.

phorwath said:

......I could have whooped that newborn with no firearm at all. Just holler boooh!
.........Thank God the momma didn't show, because odds are good this story would have ended with momma bear posing in the photo over the guide, chewing on his 9mm peashooter........

Click to expand...

For a little bit I bet it looked Boone and Crockett!

The point you usually make in these threads, that size, age class, and intent of bear has great effect on the outcome when evaluating various defensive strategies. It's possible hollering boo-or hey Boo-Boo may have worked in this situation.

phorwath said:

Good for you! Function testing is critical with semi-autos.
With revolvers, the biggest risk of failures to feed is if the heavy bullets jump their crimp under heavy recoil. So they must also be function tested - no denying that.

Click to expand...

The two most critical factors in a defensive encounter is a gun that goes bang 100% of the time under any conditions.

The second is that the ammo chosen is 100% reliable.

One of the bigges problems you can get into during close encounter with a semi auto is that if you jam it into your target in most cases it will not fire because it breaks the slide lock.

Unless you physically jam the cylinder or hammer a revolver will fire 100% of the time.

I'll take the reliability of the revolver and the added energy/penetration of the .41, .44, or .45C loaded with heavy jacketed plus p heavy for caliber bullets any day over any of the semi autos when it comes to big bear or boar protection.

I once saw a cop have to reload three times with his .357 trying to put down a big boar that had been hurt in an accident and then got up and attacked the victim and first responders. They were shooting pretty hot but cheap jhp's that expanded rapidly.

There's not really a right or wrong answer here, it's all personal preference other than choosing a 9mm. Bring enough gun to kill momma instead of one that takes 9 shots to kill a small cub.

Many years ago I kind of lost the friendship(?) of a fellow. We were up just North of Jackson Hole hunting elk. We stopped at a trail head that had a big brown sign that stated, among other things, "you are entering grizzly bear country". After we got out of there, I told him I was never going there again. Man, that was a bad day of hunting. He got mad and said we only went to the areas I liked. We never hunted together again. I kinda felt bad about it but...Grizzly vs. bow, I don't think so!

HARPERC said:

For a little bit I bet it looked Boone and Crockett!

The point you usually make in these threads, that size, age class, and intent of bear has great effect on the outcome when evaluating various defensive strategies. It's possible hollering boo-or hey Boo-Boo may have worked in this situation.

Click to expand...

Scream like a little girl, run like hell and remember if it's a black bear he can out climb you if you go up a tree but the Grizz will probably ether push it over, shake you out, or wait you out if he's really hungry.

newmexkid said:

Many years ago I kind of lost the friendship(?) of a fellow. We were up just North of Jackson Hole hunting elk. We stopped at a trail head that had a big brown sign that stated, among other things, "you are entering grizzly bear country". After we got out of there, I told him I was never going there again. Man, that was a bad day of hunting. He got mad and said we only went to the areas I liked. We never hunted together again. I kinda felt bad about it but...Grizzly vs. bow, I don't think so!

Click to expand...

You can't fix stupid and in a bear encounter stupid will get you killed.

If the guy was that temperamental and stupid you didn't lose much.

HARPERC said:

For a little bit I bet it looked Boone and Crockett!

The point you usually make in these threads, that size, age class, and intent of bear has great effect on the outcome when evaluating various defensive strategies. It's possible hollering boo-or hey Boo-Boo may have worked in this situation.

Click to expand...

I very much appreciate when the discussion goes this direction. To me, situational awareness and behavioural awareness are a huge part of hunting. As a hunter, I enjoy developing these skills.

When it comes to bear encounters, the best learning comes from experience. I've learned that not all bears share the same culture. I don't think anyone belongs in bear country without some local intelligence, some tools and a plan.

Most of the fellows I consider backcountry experts have put down more than one bear out of necessity. On a long enough timeline, it's not 'if' it's a matter of when. Talking to someone who has done it with a knife is pretty sobering...

I am not yet an expert by my own standards, so I really have no business preaching. It's good to learn from the mistakes of others though.

We tend to focus a lot on the 'tool' (gun, bear spray, walking stick), when in reality a tool is of no use if we are not prepared to use it.

What's really scary is when someone with tools, preparedness and a plan gets mauled... It's rare, but it goes to show how stealthy and how fast members of the Ursidae family can be.

Something that can run down a racehorse is a predator to behold. Give me heavy gun 44 mag minimum and heavy for caliber cast bullets. Sure the 41 or 10 will probably do it, but for me i prefer the heaviest, wide flat nose possible. Caliber does not kill bullets do.

Just remember that the lowly 30-30 has more capability than pretty much every side arm.

Steve

HARPERC said:

Each time I've read the story around the 9mm it has seemed to me the bear was just confused. It had opportunities to inflict damage and didn't.

Too close to wait for someone to get hurt before engaging, but it sounds like it woke up surrounded by human smell, and couldn't find the exit.

Bear and humans legitimately scared s@#$!less for a bit.

Click to expand...

suggested reading: https://www.ammoland.com/2018/02/de...tols-97-success-rate-37-incidents-by-caliber/

summary on 9mm - We have found four cases where 9 mm pistols were used to defend against bears. All were successful. (3 of the 4 cases were grizz, 4th was black).

While I'd rather have more power, if all you've got is a 9mm, they've been used effectively.

Only bad thing about a long gun is you usually have to prop it up against a tree while caping out or quartering your trophy. With a gun strapped to your chest at least you have a chance if the bear is on top of you. You can unholster and fire into the bear. If i was carrying a rifle it would be large caliber not the 30/30. I have a 35 whelen and that would be small even to me with the heaviest and best constructed bullets available. 375 hh would probably be a safe bet, with the best bullets available.