# Best gun to have



## shaolin (Dec 31, 2012)

I recently went hiking and had a black bear jump out of a tree on me about 20 yards away. It took off running as I grabbed for my gun not the camera as some asked me later. I know I have asked which gun and caliber is the best to have before but in this case I was glad that I just had a gun "Glock 23" with 180gr FMJ when I am in bear country. I though about what is the best gun to have and came up with the one that you carry because of size & weight I didn't mind having a Glock on during this particular hike sometimes on long hikes I only have a 38spl but at least it gives me a fighting chance. Members of the forum remember that the .44mag will most likely be home when you need it so carry a gun that will leave the house and give yourself a chance at seeing tomorrow. I am happy the bear didn't need to be killed or injured and even more happy I didn't get hurt either. What do you carry when in the woods?


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## PT111Pro (Nov 15, 2014)

Popcornsmilie
:smt084 :smt068


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## SailDesign (Jul 17, 2014)

At the risk of being less than funny - your best defence is a friend that doesn't run as fast as you do.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

shaolin:
I guess it all depends where you are and what kind of wildlife you're likely to encounter. If you are in bear country a .44 Magnum would be the minimum. When I am out in desert I carry an S&W Governor with shot loads and a .45 ACP for anything else. I don't want to kill anything either unless it's absolutely necessary.


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## GCBHM (Mar 24, 2014)

If I were going to be in an area where that kind of wildlife is common, I would get a Glock 20 10mm or one of the large hunting rounds like the 454 Casull or the .500 S&W mag.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

I would carry my Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum 5 1/2" barrel if weight was not a concern (it wasn't when I was younger and hunted with it). As for semi-autos that could serve dual purposes (both bi and quadrupeds) the Glock 20SF (10mm) loaded with Underwood 180gr JHP Speer Gold Dot appeals to me the most when in bear country (of course the aforementioned .44 Magnum is a better choice).


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Me? A 12ga pump, loaded with slugs.

Actually, unless you get between a sow and her cub, black bears are pretty easy to chase away.
Grizzlies: Not so easy, people tell me.


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## Spike12 (Dec 10, 2008)

Don't want to kill? Bear spray but have multiple bottles in different places. After the first attack you might not be able to reach your only bottle. One bottle might not be enough.
Shoot? You want penitration. Avoid JHP. Go hard cast 357 or larger, look at Buffalo Bore, Black Hills, etc. Buy short barrel revolvers, forget semi's, fixed sites, Ruger Alaskan. 
Shotgun slugs? No penetration. Blind w/shot? Cruel and useless plus somebody else will just have to go in and clean up your mess. 
Best advice? Make noise and they'll usually avoid you and you'll avoid the issue all together.


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## shaolin (Dec 31, 2012)

Spike12 said:


> Don't want to kill? Bear spray but have multiple bottles in different places. After the first attack you might not be able to reach your only bottle. One bottle might not be enough.
> Shoot? You want penitration. Avoid JHP. Go hard cast 357 or larger, look at Buffalo Bore, Black Hills, etc. Buy short barrel revolvers, forget semi's, fixed sites, Ruger Alaskan.
> Shotgun slugs? No penetration. Blind w/shot? Cruel and useless plus somebody else will just have to go in and clean up your mess.
> Best advice? Make noise and they'll usually avoid you and you'll avoid the issue all together.


Good advise. I carry two cans of spray one for bear and the other is Fox 5.3 for people and bears just in case. I have been thinking of taking my Ruger GP100 .357mag with buffalo bore hard cast loads on hikes instead but after 70 miles it gets really heavy. That's why I try to have something. I know that a .38spl will more than likely just tick the thing off but it might be scared of the noise and pain and heck if it is a good luck shot it will kill the beast at least that way if it gets me it can be identified later. I just want to have a gun with me during my next hike on the AT through the Smokey Mountains National Park. 99% of the time nothing will happen but it boils down to how much insurance policy I want. Primary defense will be the bear spray followed by a pistol to kill or get the animal off of me or just make sure his experience with a human is a bad one to save someone else.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Spike12 said:


> ...Shotgun slugs? No penetration...


They seem to work pretty well on pigs. (I've never had to kill a bear.)
In some states, they're all you're allowed to use, during hunting season.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

Spike12 said:


> Don't want to kill? Bear spray but have multiple bottles in different places. After the first attack you might not be able to reach your only bottle. One bottle might not be enough.
> Shoot? You want penitration. Avoid JHP. Go hard cast 357 or larger, look at Buffalo Bore, Black Hills, etc. Buy short barrel revolvers, forget semi's, fixed sites, Ruger Alaskan.
> Shotgun slugs? No penetration. Blind w/shot? Cruel and useless plus somebody else will just have to go in and clean up your mess.
> Best advice? Make noise and they'll usually avoid you and you'll avoid the issue all together.


A hard lead core and or a well designed controlled expansion bullet is okay for black bear in a large and powerful handgun caliber. Frangible, light, or rapidly expanding bullets are out of the question for these animals. FMJ is okay as long as you can break the animal down and either hit his heart in the process (side on shot should be at the front shoulder) or manage to hit his brain stem or brain in a frontal shot.

I used to have picture of a man who shot an Alaskan Brown bear with a .44 Magnum along a creek bed at 90 yards. I believe the man was Robert Peterson. Don't recall what load or bullet he was using but that bear was big.


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## shaolin (Dec 31, 2012)

SailDesign said:


> At the risk of being less than funny - your best defence is a friend that doesn't run as fast as you do.


True I don't have to outrun the bear just the person next to me. Since I am 100% Disabled Gulf War Vet that leaves me in the clutches of the Bear. Even if the bear kills me I want to make it an awful experience for the bear so it won't prey on others later in life if it lives at all because I plan on shooting it with everything I got and then pepper-spray the critter to spice it up before I eat the bear myself.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> They seem to work pretty well on pigs. (I've never had to kill a bear.)
> In some states, they're all you're allowed to use, during hunting season.


The bear hunter at Outdoor Life Magazine agrees with you. He says,

_"With a shorter barrel and either slugs or 00 buck, it will pack a huge punch if a bear is close and coming hard. The biggest advantage of the shotgun, especially with buckshot, is that it's much faster and more forgiving than a rifle when you're trying to get lead into a moving bear. *This is probably the best bear defense gun you can have*."
_

Best Grizzly Guns: 9 Great Guns for Brown Bear Hunting and Backcountry Defense | Outdoor Life


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

Your next trip on the AT is in my neck of the woods. I carry my 1911a1 most all the time when I am in the woods around here. The main other that I carry is a Charter Arms bulldog .44 spl. When hiking I know weight is important but more important is function. What you carry must do the job or it isn't worth caring. Making noise is the best prevention to avoid a problem with the 4 legged varmints, then there are the 2 legged ones and you can't expect calling 911 to be much help.


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## shaolin (Dec 31, 2012)

tony pasley said:


> Your next trip on the AT is in my neck of the woods. I carry my 1911a1 most all the time when I am in the woods around here. The main other that I carry is a Charter Arms bulldog .44 spl. When hiking I know weight is important but more important is function. What you carry must do the job or it isn't worth caring. Making noise is the best prevention to avoid a problem with the 4 legged varmints, then there are the 2 legged ones and you can't expect calling 911 to be much help.


Amen to that. I think I will take the Glock 36 on my hike through the GSMNP. I really want a 10mm for the black bears in my neck of the woods but from what I have seen most of the bears want nothing to do with people but there is always an exception. I am more worried about the 2 legged varmint. So from what I have figured a .38spl with lead isn't really that much of a bear killer. Bummer cause it is so light weight and I can always have a gun with me. My choices are either a Glock 36 or 23 with FMJ although I do have a Kimber Pro CDP 2 .45acp and a Ruger GP100 .357 mag too. It is my understanding that most handguns are poor bear stoppers that you must get the Nervous System or deep penetration to reach the vitals and hopefully he will die or run off. Carrying a 12 gauge on the AT is not practical nor legal, so I must only carry a handgun.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

A model 66 with 3" would be light weight and still be .357 Mag. the bulldog would be better and only about 15 oz. more


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

I'm not going to expect much of anything good to happen if I meet an angry brown bear, but I would prefer to go down swinging. 

I shoot my 10mm Glock pretty well, and it holds 16, so I could still be shooting 180 grain FMJs into it, right up to the very last second...if I didn't succumb to the urge to run away screaming like a little girl. That idea appeals to me more than the possibility of standing there in horror, snapping an empty 5-6 shot revolver that I have already missed with a few times.

I've read somewhere that black bears actually kill more people than brown bears. That could be for a variety of reasons, but the one that grabbed me was that, often, black bears that kill humans are hungry and eat them. Apparently, brown bears attack humans for reasons other than that. Anyway, I'm not going hiking anywhere that I would be likely to run into either.


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## jdw68 (Nov 5, 2011)

"In an article published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, University of Calgary professor emeritus Dr. Stephen Herrero, University of Calgary graduate Andrew Higgins, and colleagues from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and Brigham Young University analyzed the circumstances of all recorded deaths inflicted by non-captive black bears in North America between 1900 and 2009. The study found that 63 people were killed in 59 incidents in Canada, Alaska and the lower 48 states. The researchers determined that the majority (88%) of fatal attacks involved a bear exhibiting predatory behaviour, and 92% of the predatory bears were males."

The above article suggests that black bear fatal attacks on humans is very rare (only 63 in 109 years).


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## otisroy (Jan 5, 2014)

.22LR?

What .22 Rifle did Bella Twin use to Kill a World Record Grizzly in 1953?


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

jdw68 said:


> The above article suggests that black bear fatal attacks on humans is very rare (only 63 in 109 years).


That averages roughly one fatal attack every two years and suggests that they are killing for food. Do you have anything on brown bear attacks?

EDIT: Here is a link to what I read that prompted my assertion in the post on this subject (above):

http://www.adn.com/article/lone-predatory-black-bears-responsible-most-human-attacks


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