I am going into Yellowstone backcounty this summer. I will be 28 miles back in & in an area none for several bear attacks last year. Just wondering what handgun should I take???
I have a 38 Colt Official police MK III I traded for several years ago. I would amagine that gun on Grizzlies would be like a BB gun on me.
I am cosidering selling that gun or trade but what is the better gun.
I was looking into a 40 cal auto or a 44 magnum. I have always wanted to get a semi auto pistol but wonder if it will be big enough if needed (hopefully not just want to be prepared)
The energy with the 44 magnum sure seems a lot more than the 40.
Any ideas.

New to the forum. I sure like it & it is very informative. Thanks

If I was really concerned about Grizzly attacks I wouldn't even consider anything smaller than the 44mag. If you can handle a more powerful cartridge than that is what you should consider.

Personally, I'd take a 454mag with max loads and hard cast bullets. The 4" 50 S&W was probably made with BIG bears in mind.

Unlike elk and moose, bears fight back!

If you are really worried about bears take a 12g shotgun loaded with slugs. Get one that will hold 5 rounds. Load it with Lightfield Hybred EXPs then enjoy your trip.

The only handgun worth its weight for large bears is the 4 inch 500 S&W

If you're inside the Park, firearms are not allowed.

That's what I was going to say. No guns allowed.
So if your going to take something, it might be better to have it small and packable/ concelable.
The new Ruger SRH Alaskan in 480 might be nice.

There's an interesting thread in the Big Bores forum about adequate cartridges for bear attacks. You should take a look at it. There's a lot of Alaska experience over in that forum. Go check it out. I've never shot a bear before, but I would imagine that you would want the biggest, hairiest, nastiest caliber that you are capable of handling along the lines of the .500 Smith, .475 Linebaugh, or .454 Casull. As Lar45 mantioned the new Ruger SRH Alaskan was made for just such occassions. Just my thoughts.

Exceelent point on no guns in side the park.

Keep in mind that MOST people who buy a 44 mag or larger can MAYBE get the first shot off somewhat accurately. Any quick shot after that is just hoping to hit anything.

Problem is 98%of the 90 % who cant shoot that big a gun wont admit it. Its better to shoot a smaller one you can handle, than a bigger one that you cannot handle.

The bigger problem is that 99.9% have never shot ANY firearm under that amount of duress. That is why a long gun should be prefered. Having said that, any gun is better than no gun.
My Redhawk 500 Linebaugh is enough gun but I would not take it for that purpose. Improperly held it could (and has in one instance) break the hand that holds it, rendering the gun usless for reasons totally unexpected. A good 44 Mag with 300 grain hard bullets or even a 41 Mag with full-house good quality 250 or 275 grain hard bullets will do the job as long as the shot is true.

what about pepper spray?
(let us know how you get on!)
i"ve shot lots of big things, no bears, but i"d love to hunt bear with a a handgun.
i vote with crawfish. if i was to need a gun that bad(and i"m a huge .44 fan), i"d rather bet my life on a shotgun with slugs.
good luck and good shooting

A dog [expendable, for warning], pepper sray[ the special bear kind] and the largest handgun you can handle well.

We wont be inside the park the whole time. The trail starts 20 miles outside the park. That is where they had the problems last year. Later in the year though.
The outfitters that are taking people in all have a 44 mag strapped to them from what I have been told.
Its probably more of a security thing than reality (May sleep better at night).
I am looking into this now so I can get some pracice time in with it also.
Bear spray is just good enough to keep youre buddy away.

mete is correct, a dog would be the best first choice. If you decide you want a handgun, you will need something that you can get into action in a flash, not a 4 pound paper weight. Also, you are defending yourself, not hunting the bear. A .40 or .45 auto with TMJ bullets would be an acceptable tool (if you fancy auto's), as would a S&W 640 in .357 (more reliable in a wrestling match). The S&W's internal hammer would ensure that the guns workings don't get hung up in bear hair or your clothes. Most attacks are at very close range and happen so fast that it is difficult to get your weapon in action. A dog could give you more time or better yet, could help avoid the encounter altogether.
It is likely that your only target will be the head, mouth and neck of the bear as it is on you or almost on you. For this, you don't need a hand cannon, just a bullet in the brain or neck vertebra. Hardcast or TMJ.

A quality 4"-5" .44mag or .45colt w/ hard cast LFP is my choice. I carry a 4 5/8" RugerBH in .45colt, loaded w/ 300grLFP @ 1000fps, when hiking on bear turff. Penetration is extreme. Many guys will tell you a DA rev. is better, but it's what you are comfortable with that counts. If I was serious about packing a semiauto, it would be a 10mm w/ 200grLFP.

If I carried a .40 or .45 for protection against a bear weighing upwards of 1,000 pounds I would make sure the front sight was filed off and smooth. That way I could stick it up my a$$ and pull the trigger before the bear killed me!

Your very best armament for Grizzlies (and other dangerous animals) is knowledge. Learn everything you can about the bears and their habits. Avoid confrontations at all costs. Whistle, talk with each other, anything to let an unseen bear know you're there. They will avoid you under most circumstances. Don't violate the "no guns" rule of the park. There are plenty of places to hike where carrying a firearm is legal and advisable.

I heard somewhere that bear spray is not a repellant. Apperantly if you spray it on the ground around your campsite, it attracts bears to the smell. I guess there was a video of bears comeing in to roll in it.

Frist off in that area you well not find any bears in the 1000 lb range. the largest most likely well go 500. I would vote for a good 357mag class or bigger stainless revolver or TI. loaded with good bullets.
Do a some research and you will find lots of bear attacks that have been stopped with a good hand gun. You well be much better off with a handgun that you have with you then a rifle or shotgun you left at home because it was to big or heavy to bring along.

There are many fine ones out here even some very light weight ones from Smith and Taurus. I might even go with glock in 357 sig 15 shots of 357 mag power in a good fairly light weight auto loader has a lot to be said for it.

Depending on budget, my choices of purchase would be a Ruger in .44 Mag or .45 Colt in the short barrel persuasion. A Bisley model with a 5.5" barrel is the berries in my opinion. If my operating cash were such, I'd go ahead and get a FA Model 83 in .454 or .475 Linebaugh with a 6" barrel. Serious ammo is available in these calibers for those who do not reload.

If I were packing to make this trip, I'd put my FA .475 Linebaugh in my luggage and carry it. The size and 6" barrel make this a very portable (at least for me) powerhouse that easily rides on my hip until needed. I know .44 Mags will kill a small bear readily, but with my luck; I'd would bump into the largest bear ever recorded and he would have just developed a taste for Mississippi redneck and horse.

I lived in Alaska for 7 years and have hunted with a handgun for over 30 years and I have taken big Bears, Moose, Bison,etc with big bore revolvers and in my opion serious, power starts @ 45 caliber and goes upthe 45 colt loaded with 325 grain LBT style lfn, works well and of course the 475,500JRH,500 Linebaugh. Notice I didnot include the 500 smith from what others have reported to me of their use on Bison the 500 didnot penetrate as well as the others that I listed when bullet speed is slowed some then the 500smith penetrated well. In my personel experience the 435 grain class bullets in the 500Linebaugh didnot penetrate well enough and their performance was lacking,but loaded with 500 to525grain lfn bullets penetration and performance is quite impressive.If you would care to look on www.Buffalobore.com under field photo's there is a picture of a Bison that I took with one shot with the 525grain in 500 Linbaugh penetration was complete[Bullet exited the animal] I have seen this type of penetration with the 45colt 325grain lfn,454 360grainlfn,475 420grain lfn these that I have listed will work extremly well if you are able to hit what you are shooting

quote:

Don't violate the "no guns" rule of the park. There are plenty of places to hike where carrying a firearm is legal and advisable.

I'm a stickler for rules, and even following them, but never put a rule before common sense if you're going to be in a dangerous area. Ask yourself this - is it worth your life if you have an incident vs. paying a fine or the penalty for carrying a gun in the park in the first place.

Also keep in mind, that in bear country, if your gun is in your pack, you may as well not have brought it at all. **MAYBE** get a fanny-pack you can wear around your belt at your waist and keep it in there, but even then, avoidance is the best policy. Whistle a lot, or even memorize your favorite bear recipes and preach them loudly and often as you're walking ... sort of let the bear know you know how to cook it ... it might not matter really what you say, but it's that little psycological edge that I like.

Dogs are great if you have some to bring along. Just try to either get a dog that's extremely brave and foolhardy, or get a slow dog that you can outrun... because you're not gonna outrun the bear, and chances are you won't have time to grab your pistol from your fanny-pack, or even a shoulder holster.

A gun in it's holster is going to be false peace of mind, and not much more... same with pepper spray really.

Read up on general rules for hiking in bear country - keep your food far from your camp and out of reach, etc. And if you wake up and the bear is eating the pop-tarts in your pack, it's the same as spear-fishing SCUBA diving and a shark swimming up wanting your stringer ... he's welcome to them, and with my compliments.

What's your life worth? If you're in dangerous territory and you're not planning any malicious activity or to use the gun for anything except immediate personal defense, then I'd say bring it anyway, but be sure you're willing to accept the consequences.

Personally, I'd rather pay any fine, or even spend some time in jail if it came to that, than be killed and eaten because I followed the "rules".

That said, Mossberg makes a nice little short-hafted 590 defender, or some name like that, that holds 9 rounds of 2.75" or 8 rounds of 3" slugs. It's not as easy to conceal, but with a long coat, folding stock and shoulder sling, it is possible, and I believe you can still get folding stocks for them pretty easily. If 8 rounds of 3" slugs don't at least make the bear reconsider, then not much else you could reasonably pack is going to get it off you either.

Ben you are operating under false assumsions that bears always attack with out warning or completely surprise you.

The more you study bear attacks you soon find out that many of the victims had warning or had time to defend one self. Sure there are the cases of complete surprise. But there are also many cases were the victims had time to react. Most trained pistol shooters can draw and get hits on close targets in 1.5 seconds. Sure if the bear is closer to that in time he his on you.

But what if he steps on a limb or growls or is following you. one would have plenty of time to react. The few times I had to face off bears I have had more then enough time to draw and get set.

When going into these encounters one has to have the proper mine set to win and be prepared to act and save ones life. one of the biggest reasons a person is defeated is they pre defeat themselfs. That is they have a losing mind set.

They are to big ,they are to fast ,I will not have a chance. Bull shit A lot more bears are killed by people every year then the other way around. Carry a decent weapon and know that the SOB is going to die if they attack you. Do not give up before hand.

Study train and WIN.

P D SHOOTER,


you are totally 110% correct no matter what weapon you have plan on WINNING

I don't think that most people are well advised to depend on a handgun for protection against aggressive bears, especially Grizzlies of any regional "race". Having taught bear safety and coping techniques to hundreds of forestry workers while a supervisor in the B.C.Forest Service and private concerns, I have found that most people are not emotionally equipped for close range bear confrontation.

There is an article, written by Phil Shoemaker fairly recently in "Rifle" or "Handloader" that deals with this topic. Phil does the best bear writing that I have ever read and I can say, from experience over 40+ years, that his opinions are solid gold, period.

Actually, if hiking in Grizzly country the best device to warn bears is those little freon horns used by boaters and use these for warning only as overuse can make bears ignore them. If, you feel it is necessary to also carry a gun, use the rifle that you are most familiar with, loaded with heavy for caliber, controlled ex. bullets, I use a .375H&H-300 NP, a .45-70-400 SAF and have used various others.

You are correct about most people and and powerfull handgun not being a good choice for them I took the oringal question as to what type of hangun to be of adequate power for use against these bears in an extreme situation while Phil is accurate in his opions on bear he also admits that he has not seen these handguns in use against bears and from my experience the ones that I listed in my original post work with the very best being the 475 and up as I see it ,it goes without saying that you must be proficent with what ever weapons that you choose and these big bore revolvers are only mastered by afew individuals with whom can apply their awsome power properly no amount of horse power will make up for poor shooting as I have used the 475[in 1987] in a close encounter with a grizzly I know first hand that if proper ammo is used then performance is simple unbelievably amazing and at close range I consider it superior to my 338 winn mag and no I do not believe a faster 338 to be more effective at close range.Just my take on the question

Good point and I don't doubt your word, I also do not care for higher velocity rifles in any "normal" magnum caliber. I guess my major concern is that too many guys get a powerhouse pistol, shoot it a few times and then consider themselves both armed and ready for whackin' ornery Grizzlies. I think that this is a good way of getting hurt or dead and thus do not use or recommend handguns, although I have done.

P dog shooter's mis-spelling is the best. Mines! Packy

I own the S&W 500 w/ 8 3/8 barrel. It is the most powerful handgun in the world I would say the 500 in the 4" barrel would be better tho.

Seems to be a popular topic these days.My two cents.I pack a 4" SMITH 629,stoked with 270 gr hardcast lead bullets.Never had to use it to fend off a bear.I worry more about the two legged variety of predators!!
I shoot alot,been out to the range on numerous occasions where somebody had just purchased a new smith 500 or ruger redhawk 454,this is going to be their bear protection,both well suited for the intended purpose.So they touch off their new bear protection,recoil is so bad thye cant even hit a man size target at 15 yds,single action!!! Now think of this a bear is charging you full bore,lots of stuff happening,lucky to maybe get one shot to connect!! I am not saying dont pack a handgun bear protection,get something you can control and shoot!!!

For me it would come down to if it was legal for me to be carrying the gun where I was. If it were legal then it would be a S&W M657 4" .41 Magnum shooting a hardcast 250-285 grain LBT style bullet. Recoil for me seems more managable than a 4" .44. CorBon and Federal both make 250 grain hardcast loads.

If the gun HAD to be out of sight then it would be a S&W 60-10 3" .357 Magnum with 180 grain hardcast loads either my own or factory. Bagmaster make a concealed carry pouch called the Vertical Carry Pouch that looks more like a binocular case than a CC fanny pack. Comes in different colors and draws little attention. Has a very strong belt loop or can be clipped to a belt or packstrap. It is what I use for hiking when there are a lot of Yuppies around.

I read Mr. Shoemakers artcle in HANDLOADER Magazine and it is the only one I have ever read that made complete sense.

Reguardless...unless the Park Service is going to send an armed guard out with each group of hikers they do not have the right to dictate how one protects themselves from the little furry creatures in the woods...two legged or four.

Bob

It seems to me that plinking at an attacking bear with a .45 ACP, .357 or one of those other whimpy autos would enrage the animal, increase it's adrenaline and make it really tear into a person. A full magazine would just make him bite harder.
Better start thinking about STOPPING power and full penetration.
Don't believe me? Kick a big, mean dog once.
There is quite a difference between hunting one and trying to stop one that is intent on killing you. Also, if you are hunting, you will have a back up with a BIG rifle to protect your butt.
If you can't handle a big revolver, stay out of bear country. If you assume you can spend years, unarmed, in big bear country without being scared witless, you would probably let your daughter jog at night around DC or in the park in NY.
I wouldn't carry less then a .44 with at least 320 gr. LBT's and most likely would take a bigger gun. Too heavy to carry? Walk slower!

quote:

Originally posted by R. Walter:
If you're inside the Park, firearms are not allowed.

You may consider taking bear mace instead. If you insist on a gun I recommend the 44.

7mm. guy

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Childers:
Seems to be a popular topic these days. My two cents. I pack a 4" SMITH 629, stoked with 270 gr hardcast lead bullets. Never had to use it to fend off a bear. I worry more about the two legged variety of predators!!
I shoot alot, been out to the range on numerous occasions where somebody had just purchased a new smith 500 or ruger redhawk 454, this is going to be their bear protection, both well suited for the intended purpose.

So they touch off their new bear protection, recoil is so bad they cant even hit a man size target at 15 yds, single action!!! Now think of this a bear is charging you full bore, lots of stuff happening, lucky to maybe get one shot to connect!!

I am not saying dont pack a handgun (for) bear protection, get something you can control and shoot!!!

Yes. Take the biggest revolver you can ACTUALLY shoot AND hit something with. If it weighs too much, take less stuff. This is not the area to scrimp.

It doesn't matter if you have "The biggest, baddest gun in the world"
IF YOU CAN'T HIT ANYTHING!

Ok...so lets say you have the time to react. No trees big enough to climb and you can not out run the bear...nor your partner..

The bear is now coming....do you:
a) remain standing and take the shot.

b) go to kneeling and take the shot.

c) go to sitting and take the shot.

d) go to the fetal position, wait till he gets hold of you and then try a point blank shot.

My thought is that since I am about to get knocked to the ground anyway I would rather already be there and have a better chance of retaining control of my gun...any thoughts..

Bob

Well I would remain standing and shoot. Because that is how I train. That and changing to a different position is going to take to much time. If the bear is charging you will have time to get one maybe 2 shots off so you better make them good and not wasting time getting into the perfect postion. Besides dont know how well you can hold on to your pistol when the bear gets one of his big old paws on you and the his nawing on you might throw off your aim a bit. Of course any one with experiance on the last point can correct me if Im wrong

Reamain standing and shoot the SOB as many times as possiable. Falling down means you have all ready given up, standing would give you a better chance of driving the bullet into some vital. Going kneeing takes extra time that could be used to get in the needed killing or stopping shot.

i live and hunt in g-bear country the dogs aren't a great idea they can warn you when there
is a bear around but they are also known to bring
trouble right back to you.I own a 44 not my first choice for a bear gun but like someone
wrote better than a sharp stick 99 times out
of a 100 a g-bear will run the other way but
not always you'll probally get a hundred different answers on what gun i usually pack
a rifle hunting season a 340 summer a 45-70

My remote area carry guns start with a Colt Delta Elite and Glock 20 chambered in 10mm. Here in canada I can only have a max mag capacity of 10 rounds but you guys in the States can now have standard capacity 15 round mags.
If your looking for a light easily controllable gun that has lots of power 10mm is the way to go........
My main carry handgun when the big bears are out is a 7.5" SRH in 454 casull with 360gr hard cast bullets @ 1520fps.
I will probably stand and shoot but also move if possible and if I have time or can even think too move, move as fast as possible. Who knows maybe I'll just freeze and become lunch.

I have spent quite a bit of time in the backcounty around Yellowstone and have had some very close encounters with the grizzleys. I have and do pack a pistol into my camps, but the only thing that it is realy usefull for is something to hold a roll of toilet paper on when going to the shitter. I feel much better when a bear is in camp with a shotgun loaded with slugs and a flashlight taped to the barrel and a buddy backing me up with a large rifle. A GOOD bear dog is worth its weight in gold when you have a bear messing with you, the best one that I have been around is a mean assed old blue healer. I watched him put the run on 5 different bears on one trip. Also, be very carefull packing heat into Yellowstone. They are very cagey about monitering the boundries these days and will nail you when you don't excpect to see anyone, trust me.

From the natioanl Park Service website.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/rules/index.htm
Do what you want, but I suggest that if you're that concerned about bear attack, consider vactioning somewhere else. Having to look over your shoulder because wou're worried about being eaten alive by Mr. Bruin or arrested by Mr. Ranger doesn't sound like a fun vacation to me.