410 proves to be enough bear gun. A Kalispell MT. man investgating some thing in his chicken coop walks out side with his 410 and is charged by a sow grizz. One shot up the nose at 15 feet with bird shot does the job.

He should try out for the lottery sometimes.

If true , that guy has to be the luckiest sob in Montana........

I read the story this morning. "The wad was stuck in the bear's nose." Wow. Here's the story...

Two aggressive grizzly bears have been shot, one by a hunter and one by a Fortine homeowner.
A Kalispell man shot a stalking grizzly bear in the Swan Mountains and a Fortine man shot a grizzly at close range, narrowly escaping as the bear charged from a chicken coop.

James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear emerged with a chicken in its mouth.

The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired, with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman's feet.

It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light gun and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail hunting.

But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable place on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the nasal cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the bear's nose.

"What's the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who couldn't have made a kill like that. He's just a lucky, lucky guy."

Kelly said the shooting was a "justifiable case of self defense."

The bear was a 350-pound female.

Warden Jim Roberts and Tim Manley, the grizzly bear management specialist in Northwest Montana, have been pursuing the bear's two cubs-of-the-year. At one point, the cubs were chased high up a tree, too high to dart with sedatives because of the risk of them being hurt in a fall.

In a separate bear encounter on Oct. 3, Dr. Roger Brown, a Kalispell plastic surgeon, shot a grizzly bear high in the Swan Mountains.

Brown had been scouting for mountain goats in preparation for a hunt with his son and grandson. He was returning to camp in the evening, hiking in rough terrain just south of Holland Peak and Rumble Lake, when he encountered a grizzly bear along a small creek.

According to a written account Brown provided to wardens, he tried to slowly back away from the bear, but it continued to approach, then stopped, then approached again.

After 20 minutes of advancing on Brown, the bear approached within 30 yards and then charged him. Brown fired his rifle at the bear, and it ran off.

John Fraley, information officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said the bear was clearly exhibiting aggressive "stalking" behavior.

Brown went back to his camp. The next morning he returned to the spot he had seen the bear. He followed a blood trail for about a half mile, but then stopped looking for the bear, thinking it had probably survived to travel much farther, Kelly said.

Brown finished his hunt, hiked out and reported the shooting to wardens on Oct. 7.

"This is a justified shooting," Kelly said. "There is no doubt about it. We've reviewed this with the county attorney. The only thing I don't like about it was the delay in reporting it. Legally, everything he did was fine."

Kelly said it's unknown if the bear survived. The delay in the report made any kind of follow-up pursuit of the bear with dogs impossible.

Except in cases of self defense, it's a federal offense to kill grizzly bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Ski+3

"Except in cases of self defense, it's a federal offense to kill grizzly bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act."

Then what about the hunts in AK?

It was such a dry year out here that the bears have had a tough time feeding for hibernation. they are starting to get desperate.

A neighbor had a great old apple tree absolute ruined by a big black bear. It climbed out on all the major limbs for apples and its weight broke all the limbs off. Despite scaring it off several times it continued to raid the tree.

We have been having a record amount killed here on I15. They smell road killed deer and then hop the fence to eat them. A black bear at night is impossible to see until your right on it,hence many of them are getting hit.

FN in MT

A man in Warwick NY just shot a black bear that was chasing him and his children. Got a ticket for shooting within 500 feet of a residence and one for taking a bear out of season. No reason and logic in this state.

Well this is just great. Killing a grizzly with a .410.

I have a .375 that I will trade for a .410.

I have a .416 that I will trade for a 20 gauge (I don't think that .410 is big enough for elephant, but I didn't think a .410 was big enough for grizzly so what do I know?)

I've been overgunned too long.

Regards,

Terry

Apparently the man was not aware that simply opening his arms and chanting, "I love you", will appeal to the bears natural goodwill and make killing unnecessary. Anyone who has watched the discovery channel should know this. Of course a chicken stealing bear may be another matter altogether. Regards, Bill.

There was a fellow living here in Whitehorse who had told me that while he was living on the artic coast in the NWT. that he had killed a Polar bear with a .410. He had said that the bear had come into the front porch of his home. He shot the bear in the head from only a few feet.

I quess if a .410 is all you got... it's beats a video camera in it's bag.

Daryl

Any gun in better then no gun. Stick a .22 bullet up the nose into the brain and you well have a dead bear. Not my first choice for bear defense but sure beats my knife or the rock you have just picked off the ground. And sure the heck beats trying to talk nice to them.

"But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable place on a grizzly skull. "

The bear didn't have eyes? Interesting.

Leighton

DDUNN, Alaska is the only state in the US that allows Grizzly hunting. All Grizz are protected in the Lower 48

My Dad in 28, he was 16 at the time, out in swamp rabbit hunting, crawled over a big log,and met a black bear face to face.Dad had 20 ga pointed
out in front of him as he was going over log
and shot the bear with the gun barrel in its mouth.In 1946 one evening he was driving by a
friends pasture and there was a big black bear
trying to kill a horse.Dad stopped car, jump out
and started throwing rocks a bear.Bear heads for Dad, and he got into car and rolled up window,
as the bear put a big scratch on his arm.Dad starts car, backs up, goes ahead and runs over bear.Bear beat up by car heads to the woods.Dad
gets to friend who owns horse, which is ok, and
they get game warden and track down bear, that evening and kill it. It was one attacking a lot of livestock in the area.This was written up in the Sports Afield in late forties in the section called"It Happened To Me".....Me I have always
hunted with big bores, and have never seen a bear in the wild..Go figure..Ed.

I'd think the .410 a bit light for bear control but way too many folks underestimate the lethality of shotguns and bird shot at close range. I doubt any small arm is more deadly. I've killed hogs with a .410, and my preferred hog stopper is a 20ga. Ithaca 37, Mod. w/ #3 buck. The gun has stopped over 60 of all sizes and weights. None have escaped, only two required a second shot and that for humanitarian reasons, NOT to anchor them. I know a fellow that still hunts a lot and has killed several deer with birdshot, distances around 10-12'. Not defending that practice mind you, just commenting on the result.

My personal home defense weapon of choice is a SxS 12 and the Ithaca, stuffed with #6 or #8 shot.