Bear country pistol

[Rosebud]

I was in Alaska in the mid 70s. There were no brown bears around anchorage. Never saw one or heard another person say they saw any. A few black bear. Now they are in peoples yard and attacking moose in their driveway. Fatal bear attacks on walking trails around the city. I had to drive about an hour towards willow to start finding bears along the creeks. It's gotten crazy there.

 

[osok-1k]

My comment on the Linebaugh as well as any other large magnum cartridge is that followup shots, effectively placed take much more time than one would likely have. Therefore not an optimum choice. a 10mm semiauto with substantial capacity would be better since it can be controlled and several well place rounds are possible. If I were in that environment I would opt for a short semiauto 12 gauge with some solid copper slugs which will drive deeper than lead slugs or something like the 375 Ruger guide gun with dangerous game heavies but then you're limited to just a few rounds and quickly manipulating a bolt gun under stress ain't easy. A Browning semiauto 300 win mag with heavy solids may work as well but ti's a lot to tote as a JIC weapon. I've been in tose environments in Colorado and Canada and seen some amazingly huge grizzlies in Canadian Rockies. A 50 cal M2 wouldmake me feel safer but I ain't John Wayne and this ain't Hollywood.

 

[Cholla]

I can't say. How many shots can I get off in three seconds and how many are going to hit where they should? My inclination is a 10mm semi-auto. But they have a thick dished skull so a headshot could glance off. A body shot can take a long time to take effect and in the meantime, it can be doing a lot of damage. They also have a great deal of body fat which can cause a soft bullet to mushroom to the point it doesn't make it through the ribs, so a shotgun may be worthless. How about a short-barreled AR in 450 Bushmaster and a 20-round mag hanging from a single-point sling?

 

[Cholla]

When I was in the USCG I was stationed with some guys that had been stationed on Kodiak Island. The joke was the USCG issued everyone new with a .44 magnum and the advice to file the front sight off, that way it wouldn't hurt so much when the bear shoved it up your butt.

 

[comfisherman]

I was in Alaska in the mid 70s. There were no brown bears around anchorage. Never saw one or heard another person say they saw any. A few black bear. Now they are in peoples yard and attacking moose in their driveway. Fatal bear attacks on walking trails around the city. I had to drive about an hour towards willow to start finding bears along the creeks. It's gotten crazy there.

Lot more black bears for sure, wife has a house off the green belt and we certainly see them from time to time but having been raised out west manage our stuff so we've not had any run ins at the house. Have a few friends who got tore up, most of that has to do with millenials commuting on bike paths with headphones in.... mom and cubs on opposite sides or the path and poor situational awareness. Reality is most of the lower 48 was fully domesticated by out grandparents, so folks my age have poor situational awareness with critters. Since anchorage is 90% transplant vs local it causes a lot of interactions since its a big city surrounded by wilderness. Occasionally a genuine Un preventable attack occurs, but the overwhelming majority are due to the modern gene pool bring bubble wrapped to long.

Heck all my negative encounters save maybe one or two were me not having good awareness.

When I was in the USCG I was stationed with some guys that had been stationed on Kodiak Island. The joke was the USCG issued everyone new with a .44 magnum and the advice to file the front sight off, that way it wouldn't hurt so much when the bear shoved it up your butt.

We all figured that was just something the coast guard was in too, you know modern times and all that....

 

[blvette75]

This comes to mind
View attachment 542898

Yep, not a whole lot you can do in that situation, except play dead.

 

[blvette75]

Well have a 44 mag for griz and 357 magnum for black bear may have to switch to a 10 mm. But can tell ya for griz, thinking, slug gun backup. Have my 375 ruger for hunting those bad boys.

 

[snox801]

FN510 hands down. Comes with 22rd mag. If 20 or 21rds doesn't stop or alter the thought process of any bad attitude brownie, you can always use the last 1 or 2 on yourself. It's my fave 10mm for function and I have had a lot of them over the yrs

Beat me to it. That's what I have. Doesn't matter caliber capacity wins in this situations imo. But the fn510 does both.

 

[blvette75]

I hunt in grizz country and used to carry a S&W 44 mag but only 6 rounds scared me so now I carry a 15 round S&W 10mm semi auto with an extra mag loaded with 200 gr hard cast.
Just my opinion as I have been face to face with grizz and it is scary!

Well was on a vacation in Russia and in the mountains they had a dancing grizzly bear, you had to put a sausage on his paw and he would dance a jig for you. The tour guide asked me if I wanted to give him some sausage I declined. That was one huge animal up close stood over 10 ft tall, that big guy even behind bars looked like he could grab you and pull you through the bars.

 

[blvette75]

My comment on the Linebaugh as well as any other large magnum cartridge is that followup shots, effectively placed take much more time than one would likely have. Therefore not an optimum choice. a 10mm semiauto with substantial capacity would be better since it can be controlled and several well place rounds are possible. If I were in that environment I would opt for a short semiauto 12 gauge with some solid copper slugs which will drive deeper than lead slugs or something like the 375 Ruger guide gun with dangerous game heavies but then you're limited to just a few rounds and quickly manipulating a bolt gun under stress ain't easy. A Browning semiauto 300 win mag with heavy solids may work as well but ti's a lot to tote as a JIC weapon. I've been in tose environments in Colorado and Canada and seen some amazingly huge grizzlies in Canadian Rockies. A 50 cal M2 wouldmake me feel safer but I ain't John Wayne and this ain't Hollywood.

I agree although I am accurate with my wheelguns, I don't know how well I would do with a grizzly charging me, more I think about it the more I think a M4 shotgun with slugs.

 

[Byrdman13]

I don't live in griz territory only black bears around me. Usually they are more scared of humans and run away unless there are cubs nearby. Around here I only carry 45 acp with 13+1 underwood 255gr flat nosed hard cast bullets. If I go anywhere in griz territory I carry the same because it is what I have and also carry bear spray to hopefully keep some distance and give me a little more time. Maybe someday I'll go bigger if I get to griz territory more often.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Remember folks, the OP was asking in context of a fishing protection weapon. I would argue the same for bow hunting.

375 H&H or Ruger does't cut it here. Unless of course you have the coin to have your paid PH to carry something to protect you fishing in Griz country. But…that's another thread entirely and the PH will carry hat they want to carry, right?

 

[mackgee]

I frequently fish with bears around me…even in the river with me, and I carry a Wilson Combat EDC-X9 topped with +P Underwood Xtreme Penetrators. I never feel inadequate out there. I think it's important to note that you aren't out there hunting bears, you are just trying to get away from them.

Jeremy

 

[Thaifighter]

I had a chance to work an Appleseed up in Anchorage and one of our instructors in training was a bear safety a trainer up on the North Slope. I asked him this very question and he advised a .375H&H or a 12G with slugs. He said you can do with a .500 Smith, .460 or a .454 Casull, but he advised removing the sights. When I asked why he said "It'll hurt a lot less when the bear shoves it up your @$$..."