Tragic bear attack in Wyoming

I don't hunt in grizzly country, but if I ever do a hunt where there are grizzlies, I would probably want a shotgun with buckshot & slugs or something like an AR10 in .308 as part of the equation if working on a downed animal. One in the barrel and a full magazine. I would want something that will kill the bear asap, not deter it.
As far as pistols go, I have read reports where trained police officers have fired every round from their service pistol in a CQ (about 10 yards) shootout with a thug, and never hit their target, and this is a trained police officer. Shooting a pistol under the stress of a charging 800+ lb killer with sufficient accuracy is probably a pretty tall order for most of us. I have read a grizzly can reach speeds of 30 mph, that is about 44 ft / second. Not much time to react.
Very sad news about this guide, husband, father loosing his life this way.
 
Yeah. Bear spray was a bad idea at the time of that prior Thread, and a worse option today, now that it's been further tested on real life bears that were playing for keeps.

Unless you work for the USF&WS, US Park Service, or state F&G. They'll be the last organizations to stop pumping the advantages of bear spray in their advice and fact sheits to the public. And the manufacturers.
After all, firearms could hurt one of THEIR bears, permanently.
 
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When I went to Alaska, my father in law asked me why I wasn't bringing my .17 HMR........Told me I could take myself out perfectly well with that when a bear was chewing on me, and it would be much easier and lighter to carry......we had a laugh about it, but there's a lot of truth in it.
 
Buck Buster said:
Just found out a couple hrs. ago the gun they had was an empty 9mm ! Not good !
Click to expand...

Is this confirmed?? If so then wow, just wow...

Ironically on another (non-hunting-focused) shooting forum, I blocked some guy who was intent on defending the value of the 9mm as a grizz defense tool...

Events like this really stick with me as I relate them back to my own experiences. Last season I was lucky enough to get a bull elk in the back country. Problem was my new hunting partner was not up to the task and ended up being much more a liability than an asset. We got back to camp 3-4 miles from the truck and he was intent to stay the night there...in a narrow pass grizz funnel, with a backpack full of bloody elk meat, and my clothes tainted with elk blood. I had no choice but to pass out in the tent for a few hours from sheer exhaustion from doing the work for both of us, but when I came to, I insisted we leave enough stuff behind that we could get us and the meat back to the truck and out of there. No way I was spending the night in grizz country smelling of elk blood...
 
Hand Skills said:
I think this is a keen insight. Bears get injured - more often than we may care to acknowledge. The chances of running into an injured bear is higher than many of us realize.

A case of starvation could explain the unusually low weight, and the aberrant behaviour. 250lbs is really light though... Initially I suspected it was a case of mistaken units (kg became lbs), but with the information we have it's not clear.
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Bears are awfully hard on each other. I've seen video of a sow and boar grizzly going through their mating ritual and both were pretty chewed up by the time it was over. They are worse than big cats.

I've also seen sows take a real beating defending their cubs from both other sows with no cubs and boars and they get pretty brutal.

Nature is not the least bit kind.
 
Ckgworks said:
When I went to Alaska, my father in law asked me why I wasn't bringing my .17 HMR........Told me I could take myself out perfectly well with that when a bear was chewing on me, and it would be much easier and lighter to carry......we had a laugh about it, but there's a lot of truth in it.
Click to expand...
It would be great for "camp meat", foxes and such but anything else it would just likely get you in more trouble than you could outrun.
 
ATH said:
Is this confirmed?? If so then wow, just wow...

Ironically on another (non-hunting-focused) shooting forum, I blocked some guy who was intent on defending the value of the 9mm as a grizz defense tool...

Events like this really stick with me as I relate them back to my own experiences. Last season I was lucky enough to get a bull elk in the back country. Problem was my new hunting partner was not up to the task and ended up being much more a liability than an asset. We got back to camp 3-4 miles from the truck and he was intent to stay the night there...in a narrow pass grizz funnel, with a backpack full of bloody elk meat, and my clothes tainted with elk blood. I had no choice but to pass out in the tent for a few hours from sheer exhaustion from doing the work for both of us, but when I came to, I insisted we leave enough stuff behind that we could get us and the meat back to the truck and out of there. No way I was spending the night in grizz country smelling of elk blood...
Click to expand...
Well at least one of you was smarter than your spare tire.

I've had people look at me like I was crazy but I've always considered gut piles and fresh kills ideal bear and mountain lion bait which is where possible I'll always get a tag for each of going with a friend on any hunt in bear or cat country.

Usually the activity of people dressing and packing out a kill is enough to keep them at bay but as soon as things calm down the predators and carrion eaters will start to appear.
 
LaHunter said:
I don't hunt in grizzly country, but if I ever do a hunt where there are grizzlies, I would probably want a shotgun with buckshot & slugs or something like an AR10 in .308 as part of the equation if working on a downed animal. One in the barrel and a full magazine. I would want something that will kill the bear asap, not deter it.
As far as pistols go, I have read reports where trained police officers have fired every round from their service pistol in a CQ (about 10 yards) shootout with a thug, and never hit their target, and this is a trained police officer. Shooting a pistol under the stress of a charging 800+ lb killer with sufficient accuracy is probably a pretty tall order for most of us. I have read a grizzly can reach speeds of 30 mph, that is about 44 ft / second. Not much time to react.
Very sad news about this guide, husband, father loosing his life this way.
Click to expand...
On advice of many friends in AK if I'm going where I feel a need for bear protection and don't have to pack it all day I carry an M1A SOCOMII with heavy FMJ's.

I had no idea how popular they were in AK until I first broached the subject with a friend who had been guiding there for decades.
 
LaHunter said:
I don't hunt in grizzly country, but if I ever do a hunt where there are grizzlies, I would probably want a shotgun with buckshot & slugs or something like an AR10 in .308 as part of the equation if working on a downed animal. One in the barrel and a full magazine. I would want something that will kill the bear asap, not deter it.
As far as pistols go, I have read reports where trained police officers have fired every round from their service pistol in a CQ (about 10 yards) shootout with a thug, and never hit their target, and this is a trained police officer. Shooting a pistol under the stress of a charging 800+ lb killer with sufficient accuracy is probably a pretty tall order for most of us. I have read a grizzly can reach speeds of 30 mph, that is about 44 ft / second. Not much time to react.
Very sad news about this guide, husband, father loosing his life this way.
Click to expand...
Police officers in general get very little training with their handguns and only about 1% will ever fire one in the line of duty.

Never rely on the ability of a cop to shoot to save your life. Most will never shoot more than enough to meet their annual or biannual qualification requirement which is no more difficult that most concealed carry qualifications.
 
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