minimum sidearm for black bear country

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  • Brad69

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    Jul 16, 2016
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    Typically. 357 Mag or 10mm are considered the minimum for dangerous game.
    Black bear are not normally agressive.
    9mm should be fine might want use a load lIke federal critical duty?
     

    JAL

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    I'd carry a .357 magnum with 4" barrel and full load 158 grain jacketed soft points or jacketed hollow points. Shorter barrels lose significant muzzle velocity. Longer barrels are more cumbersome to carry and deploy quickly. A pair of galvanized steel trash can lids used as a pair of makeshift cymbals also works if you leave an avenue of escape and don't get between mama and the cubs. They hate the noise. Easier to carry the .357 while hiking or backpacking than the trash can lids, which we used decades ago around some cabins when bears would come foraging for garbage.

    All the black bears I encountered were relatively non-aggressive and generally didn't want to be around humans unless they'd been fed (by complete idiots) or otherwise lost the natural fear . . . provided a mama wasn't protecting cubs and you didn't challenge them for whatever food they had seized. They'll defend that too if they think you're trying to take it away from them.

    Edit:
    Ensure the revolver can handle full load. Example: given a choice between a Ruger SP101 and GP100, I'd use the GP100. Also just looked up some current ammunition. Found Hornady makes a "LEVERevolution" round for .357 magnum (I've used it in .45 Long Colt). This is definitely a full load and an appropriate jacketed hollow point. Alternatives are the Buffalo Bore but be certain the revolver can handle a +P with those. Most if not all the Buffalo Bore are +P and even thought the .357 aren't described as such, they're hot loads. They're made for large and dangerous game. IMHO the heavier bullets in the 140-180 grain range are better than higher velocity lighter bullets.

    John
     
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    sheltowee

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    Aug 18, 2013
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    Seymour
    Perfect..... I'm considering a taurus 66 with 4 inch barrel. I kinda like the blued over the stainless steel. I just like how a blued revolver looks, especially if I can find some walnut grips for it.
     

    MCgrease08

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    I'm kinda looking for an excuse to buy a revolver.

    Smith and Wesson makes a 460 bear kit. Totally impractical, but cool.

    P2380825.jpg


    God, Guns and Grits: Smith & Wesson loads up an emergency survival tool kit just for you
     

    JAL

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    Check out this article about handguns for bear country.

    https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/8/13/packing-pistols-in-bear-country/

    They highlight the 4-3-1 rule.

    The article is primarily about brown bears: Alaskan grizzlies and kodiaks. Having encountered both grizzlies and black bears, there's one helluva difference between an adult grizzly and an adult black bear in sheer size and aggressiveness. The other rule he doesn't mention is being able to handle the revolver and the load being used in it. A .454 Casull does no good if it cannot be controlled to get a second shot off fast enough. In black bear country I'm comfortable with a .357 heavy load, but if you think you need a .44 magnum, go for it. Go to a range and put the same full load rounds through it as you'll carry, and not just a few. Put at least 50 through it if not more, especially with a .44 magnum or more powerful. It's definitely not the same as a 9mm pistol. For grizzlies I'd want more than a .44 magnum, even with a heavy load. With brown bears, discretion is the better part of valor.

    Situational awareness in the wilderness is everything, whether it's rattle snakes (or other poisonous snakes), bears or predatory cats. It's better not to tangle with them if it can be avoided. I've never had to shoot at anything other than a rattle snake, and that's because I wanted it for dinner. Had to finish it off with a BFR (Big Flat Rock). Unless you're hunting or stalking for wilidlife observation or photography, don't worry about making noise. It tends to keep black bears, cats and coyotes away. Never encountered wolves but have seen foxes. The latter have always run when they spotted me.

    Finally, if staying in the great outdoors in bear country, learn how to protect your food from them, and it's not by putting it in the tent with you, which not only invites bears to pay a visit, it invites skunks, o'possum and raccoons. We always used bags suspended from tall tree branches they could not reach and rigged stuff the smaller climbing critters couldn't negotiate . . . and it wasn't near the tent either. NO food at all in tents!

    Edit: do not store food of any kind unattended in a car and if you have kids, get ALL the pogey bait completely cleaned out from every crevice, nook and cranny they can drop or stash the stuff or the wrapper in. Bears can shred their way in to get to it and it will total the car.

    Never had a confrontation problem with anything but rattlers in the early spring when they come out of hibernation as they're groggy and cranky.

    John
     
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    Expat

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    Feb 27, 2010
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    Me personally, I would want a .44 mag or .45 colt if i was taking a revolver. If semi auto, I would feel okay with a 10mm with heavier loads.
     

    Ithaca45

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    Apr 8, 2014
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    I carry a Redhawk 44 Mag with 240 grain lead flat nose bullets. They are full mag loads but not ridiculous. This comes from a recommendation from a gentleman who has been an Alaskan Hunting Guide for the last 25 years. Just a side note he also said he carries a 45/70 Guide Gun.
     

    The Bubba Effect

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    May 13, 2010
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    I have two Glocks with lights, set up pretty much the same, except I have a good light bearing holster for my 9mm and I do not for my 10mm. I could carry the 10mm in black bear country without the light, but instead I carry the 9mm with the light. If I find a holster that I like for the 10mm with light, I will probably switch to that. In 9mm I carry heavier HST's, in 10mm I carry Underwood hard cast, heavy and fast. I carried this quite a bit this summer in black bear country.
     

    Dwight D

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    Jan 11, 2011
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    I currently live and work everyday in black bear country at the Rodeheaver Boys Ranch near Palatka Florida on the N end of the Ocala National Forest. I don't know for sure how many black bears we have at any one time on the property but I can say I have identified at least 5 different individuals that show up quite often on my game cameras. I don't often see them in person unless I specifically go looking for them at night around our game feeders but have had quite a few day time sightings over the last year. There are 2 I keep an eye out for the most. One is a Mama bear with cubs and the other is a big ole boar I call Yogi. He is pushing the 500lb mark. When I first moved here I was told the Florida black bears don't really get all that big. Not true, as I have pics to prove otherwise of Yogi and also there have been other very large bears on game cam from neighboring areas I have seen. Our local game warden told me about a 600 lb road kill. That being said, I started handgun hunting in Indiana in 1986 which was the first year it was legal. I have killed close to 50 deer with various handguns. Hunting and self protection shooting are 2 different scenarios. In one you get to pick your shot and wait for optimal placement and can pass on the shot if you want to. In the other, you may just have to start shooting and hope for the best. There is a huge amount of difference in the power of a 357 mag and a 44 mag. Depending on variables such as load and barrel lengths any comparison can be skewed somewhat but comparing standard loads such as a 158 JHP in the 357 and a 240 JHP in the 44 mag, the 44 mag has over twice the energy. But before you think that is a lot, compare that to a somewhat anemic load in a rifle such as a 30-30 and you won't feel so great about even the 44 mag. On this 800 acre ranch I often have boys with me as we go about our business either work or play so I have to always be ready. I'm a gun guy so I have quite a few guns and anytime we are going to be outside of our main living area in the daytime I go strapped. At night, I don't step outside the house unarmed, as we have had bears up on our porches when someone violates protocol and leaves garbage out. My EDC gun is a GEN 3 G20 10mm with a stream light in a custom holster I had made in Indiana by the Amish before I moved down here. I carry the Doubletap load with a 200 gr Nosler that runs an honest 1200 fps from my gun. I often have a SW 629 in a holster under the seat in my truck, in it I carry 240 gr JSP Win white box or a hand load with Barnes 300 gr bear busters. On my ATV I have a Rem 1187 police loaded with slugs. Just for giggles I also keep a Marlin guide gun in 45-70 around as well. Frankly If I knew I had to shoot a bear in self defense the 12 gauge auto with slugs would be my only choice but having that in hand all the time is just not practical. Id rather have the SW 29 then the G20 for a bear encounter but frankly bad people are a more realistic threat then bad bears, especially out in the Ocala National Forest. There are some rough characters out there I have run into from time to time. Any idea of carrying a small gun like a 9 or 357 will likely go out the window the first time you are within 30 yards of a true adult male black bear pushing 500 lbs. I and a buddy were out one night doing predator control in an electric golf cart and were moving from spot to spot all blacked out. We came around the corner of the field and I was looking through the thermal as he drove when all of a sudden I see this huge heat signature right in front of us. I hit the big light bar quick and it was Yogi. He was about 35-40 yards away and while not aggressive, he did not run, he walked away into the brush. No little guns for me.
     

    Thegeek

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    I have a friend who lives way up north and hunts bears. He, and many others say, if you're asking what gun for protection, you're asking to be dead. Guns are absolutely the wrong tool Get bear repellent. Black bear you really don't have to worry about unless you get between a sow an her cubs. But a grizzly will hunt you and you won't even know it. By the time you realize it, good luck getting a shot into a kill zone. Repellent doesn't need accuracy.
     

    jamil

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    Jul 17, 2011
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    If you're a dark-side user, force-choke or force-lightening abilities would be ideal to end the threat satisfactorily. If you're light-side pansy, using animal-bond would at least prevent being mauled by the beast, but then you have to ride it. Face it. That's kinda lame. Force-choking a bear just before unleashing the power of the dark side lightening attack would be way cooler and impress your friends.

    Seriously, as Thegeek said, avoidance is probably better but, I mean, hey, if that doesn't work, you have to have some last resort. Maybe get the .357 you really wanted.
     

    roscott

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    Mar 1, 2009
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    I've carried a 9mm in (black) bear country and felt reasonably confident, but I much prefer a .357 or .44. I have a 629 .44 that I carry in a guides choice chest rig in bear and moose country, although if I'm anywhere outside camp, I bring a rifle. Having run into black and brown bears, and once a moose, the bigger the gun the better.

    A note on bear spray: bring a gun. You need one for two-legged predators anyway, and having lived and worked in the Alaskan bush, bear spray was held in pretty low regard. It seems to work much the same as OC spray works for cops: if they are just acting tough, it works great and they quickly change their mind. But if they are intent on tearing you apart, spray doesn't seem to stop them.

    IMHO, I think the successful bear spray statistics result from spray being used much more liberally on less aggressive bears, resulting in lots more "successful" defenses. I know I would have used bear spray numerous times, but I've thankfully never had to pull the trigger in self defense.
     
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