--- NEW TO THIS FORUM --- Have a problem in Bear-Craft that I've found no clear answer to , these past few years . I've had a little experience around Ursus ( mainly Black Bear ) -- Son now lives in Alaska , -- I'm a retired Forester , -- Plan to spend a lot of time in the Rockies and Alaska , -- in the next few years .

For some reason Bears are very interesting critters to me . ( Was charged by a Black many years ago while unarmed ; -- maby that's what did it ) .

Here's the question ; -- I've been reading up on Bear Attacks lately , --- Doc Herrero , and a couple of other books and lots of articles .

Some say that since Grizzly and Browns are so difficult to stop in full-charge , -- and since such a high percent of apparent charges turn out to be bluff charges ( or multiple bluff charges ) ; the odds of survival are better if you wait to see if it's a real charge or not , -- and shoot only in the last few instants when the bear is very close ( sort of like African back-up shooters do ) . --- That way , if the bear pulls up short , and never makes contact , you're ahead of the game .

Others say if both of the Bear's front feet are coming down togeather , in the charge , -- it's the real thing . -- But if the animal is single-footing it , it's going to be a bluff .

Yet others say , -- " ..... they're too unpredictable , if the Bear is a Grizzley or Brown , you think it sees you , it's coming straight for you , -- try some warning shots or mud slinging shots , and if it doesn't turn off , shoot to kill " .

And finally , some say , straight-out , that if it's within fifty yards , sees you , and is coming straight for you , try to kill the bear .

Fully aware that , many times , you won't have time to consider these alternatives , -- I'd like to hear the opinion of Experienced Alaskan Hunters , Guides , and Outdoorsmen on the subject . --- If you have time , when is the best time to shoot ?

--------------------- MMCOUGAR .



Others say

This is an age ole question, something that needs to be addressed and I do not know if what I say, can help-maybe. I have lived here in the Interior of Ak. all of my life and am now 48 and still going strong. Most of the times spent either in the Brooks Range or in the foothills. I have had Grizzlies do many things but not ever directly attack or Black bears for that matter. I have been charged when they are some great distances away like a tank souped up by a couple of built in superchargers then turn like a whirl wind like they made the biggest error in their life and realized I was not what they intended-does that mean their eyes are bad at a distance-could be. Their was a time a cinnamon phase black came in to camp with my Belgium Shepherd chained close by and did not even hardly gave me a glance-just that stance of attack or defense towards my dog-I downed him with one shot with a Barnes in a .308 cal.-young bear. Inexperienced surely. One large Grizz knew, I took off to scout another lake, where I knew there was a large bull moose an I must of gotten back to where I set up my quick camp around the setting of the sun(dark) and noticed something amiss with my new NorthFace tent. It was down. Big pile of bear poop in front of what was once a front entrance and the sleeping again a new NorthFace with a new mat --tore up by the claws, all with one swipe mind you. The year before I take out a moose same spot and had a fellow head there after my kill to see if there was another moose around and noticed my skinning area was tore like a bulldozer went through there-is it the same bear pissed off-most likely. Anyways I stayed up all night and listened to that bear pad around my tore up area. I was pissed and kept a round chambered in my .338 and waited for the first opportunity to kill him, no way he came in. More instances throughout my years but all seemed if they knew they could get away with something they will. Can you trust em ---no way! You must be able to deliver the shot that will down them now when the time comes--suredly you will know. It is gonna be close for sure so carry something with sufficient power with the largest bullet that seems either fitting for your area or bigger. Their is not a bear behind every bush but in some areas of this State there is numbers as high as 3 1/2 bears per sq.mi. as in the case where I live. Hope this kind of helps. Oh yea keep a flash light handy so you can see how big it is before you shoot Good luck.

I am not sure of what fish & Game considers to be life threatening but if you kill a charging bear 20 yards away you gonna have a hell of time trying to defend that you needed to.

If you want to take a chance on determining if its a bluff charge or a real one, go for it.
Most of the time, the damn bear doesn't know what he is going to do, how are you supposed to figure it out?
I shoot every Black Bear on sight and if a Brown gets closer than about 50', he's dead, bluff charge or not.
I'd rather argue with a steely eyed game warden than a beady eyed bear.

I have a friend who just shot a 7'2" interior griz that almost ran over him on a trail .He shot it running through both shoulders at about 20 yards with a 338 win mag.He then shot it 5 more times as it spun around back towards him .The bear only had one eye and had just poked the other eye out not too long ago.He broke both shoulders ,the neck ,back and finally shot it in the head.You can never shoot a grizzley too many times or with too big of a gun.He had taken a griz with a bow two years before with one shot and it ran about 50 yards away from him.If it had of ran to him it would have been another story.A running bear is like stopping a charging elephant you cant use enough gun to flatten them running towards you.

Charge or not, if the bear is running towards me, I'm going to kill it. In that type of situation it's a "shoot first, ask questions later" kinda of deal.

I don't live in Alaska, but Montana. I've been bluff charged twice by grizzly in 32 years of tramping the back country. The criteria I used was that their ears were up and forward. I was always told that if ther ears are pinned back like a horse then you're in the middle of a gunfight so make it count. Right or wrong, I put a fair amount of faith in pepper spray especially if I'm packing my 300 H&H. Maybe that will give you a guideline. All the rest of those years grizzly or black didn't want anythging to do with me.

If a Bear is charging Bluff or for real shoot the SOB and keep shooting till he quits moving.
If you don't you deserve what you get.
DrB

--- REPLY TO GRIZZ007 ---

Grizz . --- Thanks for your insights both here , and on the " Big Game " Forum .

I don't know . -- Few years ago I was on the old Marlin Website , and got into a good exchange with the Editor of " Bear Hunting Magazine " -- ( who was also getting certified as an Arfican PH ) .

He said that for stopping Lg. Bear CHARGES , -- .458 Win. Soft Point , 500 Grainers , -- was about as good as it gets . -- That speaks a lot about the determination of Charging Bears .

But KUTENAY makes a good point too , -- that if you can't place the shot under heavy stress , ( too much recoil ) , -- all the power in the world won't change the outcome .

I've read knowledgable folks state all the way from -- " A brain or spine shot (CNS) is the ONLY placement that will stop a Bear in Charge with one shot " ; --- all the way to " One frontal chest shot from an African Class Stopping Cartridge ( .458 Win , and up ) , -- WILL get a Stop " .

Several opinions on this site and elsewhere , have mentioned 50 Yds. as a good range to begin firing . ( I figure that's a good judgement too , IMHO ) . But at Bear Charge speeds , that just gives the poor unfortunate human maybe 4 to 5 SECONDS to get hold of his rifle and try to place a shot . --- And that,s the easy part , many charges occur at much shorter ranges , -- maybe only 1 to 3 seconds . --- With all the adrenaline I'd be pumping , that sounds like Shotgun Country to me . -- What do folks in your area think of 3" 12 GA , Maybe with alternating Heavy BuckShot and Breneke Slugs ??

You can fire some of the new dependable Auto Shotguns at 4 shots per second . --- maybe that would give you a better chance at those closer ranges .

----------------------- MMCOUGAR .

mmconcolor

Good luck the topic of shotguns for Bear defense usually starts a s**t storm on ARF.

A 12ga w/ OOO buck will kill a bear but the closer the better 50yds is way to far to start shooting. 7-10 yds would be a good starting place. Even with a Auto two aimed shots would be max for most people.

I would go find a skeet range stand on #8 low house and see if you can hif the clay pigeon with your bear defense shotgun, you might decide that you want a little more range than a shotgun gives you.

If you want to solve one problem don't put a sling on your gun, it will already be in your hands where it belongs.

Dr B

As they say... "if it looks like an elephant and sounds like an elephant.... then it probably is an elephant..."!!

If the animal is close in a commences a charge you will have little time in which to decide its intentions, I do not have the good luck to live in a country with free roaming bears, but have experience in Africa.

I do not know the speed of a bear flat out, but believe they (grizzly and black alike) can out run a human easily, from 20 yards a grizzly will be on you before you have raised the rifle and snicked off the safety, I seriously doubt you would then have the time in which to interpret its actions, possibly some of those thatr have tried previously were buried as a result.

Personally, if it were me in the situation faced with an animal capable of giving a serious mauling, even if fatally injured in the process, I would shoot first and ask (or answer) questions later.

Seems you have a lot of sage advice already from people who actually have experience here, most of them too say shoot, if you don't and get it wrong you are in deep S***.

I have had good results by shouting at animals with an aggresive voice. I have not done this with a bear though.

If your wondering what I say it's "GO HOME"

If this does not work on a cape buffalo write me a letter.

Interesting thread...and like so much of what we read & write, all semantics compared with an actual situation.

That said, I do believe you're better off if you've at least considered some possible senarios before hand.

I just got back from an elk hunt in Wyoming's 81 (a little east of Jackson Hole--Togatee [sp?] National Forrest). I've heard that some won't hunt there because of the Grizz. Indeeed, we saw tracks right away, and on the 2nd day of the hunt, I came upon one!

It was about 50, 60 yards to my right, uphill, and standing over a log, facing away (quartering). I was still hunting with a friend, who was downhill, 30 yards to my left.

I had been standing still for a few seconds, looking uphill through an alley in the trees, when I noticed the bear. At the same moment, it looked back over its shoulder and we made eye contact.

At that instant, it bolted uphill, away from me. I had the gun in my hands, and only after it was gone for a few seconds did it occur to me that it would have been wise at least to flip-off the safety. And when people say a Grizz can catch a race-horse inside 40 yards (or whatever), I believe it! Its speed and quickness was astonishing!

On the flight home I sat next to a gentleman from the Kenai Peninsula. He guides bear hunts and commented that, had it "come for you, you'd have had time to get off one shot. And as you racked the second, it would have been on you."

I think, had it "come for me," I would have shot first and faced any legal consequences second.

And maybe I would have been dinner anyway!

Well, that's my 2 bits...

friar

I found myself with an eight foot brownie headed full speed for my section of terra firma. She was wounded and very upset. I did what any good bird shooter would do. Raise the rifle, find a nose in the 3x scope, pull the trigger and keep swingin. She slid to a stop at 21 paces. Not exactly bad breath range but enough to make my hands shake for a few minutes after it was all over.
The 250 grain WFS bullet entered the top of the neck and broke the spine. It was recovered with 90% weight retention in the back ham.

Ski+3

quote:

If your wondering what I say it's "GO HOME"

Personally I optimistically say "No Bears" going through the thick stuff, but switch to "PISS OFF!" while backing away and aiming for the shoulder once a bear is spotted. Its only failed me once(now a rug). Out of about 2 dozen or so bears I see per year I've only ever had 3 show interest in me. One had a broken jaw (killed a few days later), once I was unknowingly near a kill, and once got between a bedded moose (didn't see it) and the bear that was stalking it while I chased him.

Bob

20 yds. is 60-ft. --- about the length of one of the BIG Buses I drive for a living.
Assuming that a BIG Bear is 3 times faster from the get-go than a Human, and that legally in the U.S., 21-ft. can be closed by a Human in approximately 2.1 seconds, then at 20-yds., I'd be gettin' my gun ready to shoot a BIG Bear...

Maybe with a self-imposed rule of 'if a BIG Bear is within 50-yds., start gettin' ready', I'd be more comfortable!

Great thread guys, very interesting. I'd bet there's alot of truth in the "ears laid back" body language mentioned above - my horses do that when pissed. My own part of the country has plenty of Mtn Lions and a black bear or two. The only trouble I've had is with a Mtn Lion two years ago. I had two encounters with him one day and the second encounter that day ended at 18' with him having done his best to get me. A Marlin lever gun stopped him in a few frantic seconds of man vs beast. I always carry a rifle with me and always have one in my vehicle. Living in remote areas this is a good policy.

If I were in big bear country I'd feel plenty confident with my old .458 M77 with 500gr RN. In fact that's where my M77 came from - Fort Yukon, AK and was carried by it's former owner for exactly that purpose. It fits me like a glove and at 9.5 lbs it's a breeze to shoot even with 500gr/2125fps.

I admit to skipping over most of this thread as I'll bet most have never seen a Brown/Grizzly Bear.
I just completed my twenty-sixth bear season last week. My 21 year old daughter was guiding a client from Michigan and on day one, when stalking a large boar, she had a smaller bear charge from twenty yards as they were negotiating a brushy stream bed. She has grown up with bears and whispered to the client "don't worry - he is just charging"!! At twenty FEET !! the bear veered off. Of course she had her .416 pointed at him and was talking to him. Still she was certain there was no need to kill him.
Both of us, as well as our son, have been within feet of dozens of large Brown Bears and never had to kill one in self-defense in over twenty years.

MR Shoemaker I hope you do not take this the wrong way but your Daughter has a set that is for sure. Sounds like you raised a young lady with nerves of steel and a cool head. I freely admit if that was me I would have been putting my tag on that bear because he would have been dead. Sounds like your family carries the big 40 cals for guiding. Do you see much advantage with those over lets say a 375 Improved with 300gr Fail Safes? That is what I will be packing next fall on my trip.

dakor, There normally is not a whole lot of difference between the 375's and 40's but sometimes on the up close and personal dealings a little extra can make a difference and give you more time. As for hunting and killing big bears your 375 with 300 gr Fail Safes is ideal.

Thank you 458 and I hope you and your family have a successful season this year. Be sure to share some pictures as I know people on here would like to see them. This is off topic but I was looking through my Sierra reloading Manual the other day and saw your picture with that Dall Sheep. That is one hell of a sheep!!! What did he score?

Reply To : .458 Win. - PHIL SHOEMAKER --

Many Thanks for the post , Phil , -- it was your level of expertise that I was hoping for in this Thread .

I'm a Retired Prof. Forester and general Gun Enthusiast , -- my Son moved to Juneau last year so I'm anticipating logging time in AK. .

I was charged by a Med. sized Black , while unarmed , many yrs. ago , ( from which I learned nothing except that they move VERY swiftly ). -- I was in full galloping flight , -- he swatted my boot , on the run , -- then broke off and went back to whatever he was eating .

--- Been interested in Bear attacks ever since , -- and directly , in what Rifle/Cartridge and Shooting Strategy would yield the best chance of surviving a Real-Charge .

I'm relating all this because , in the next question or two , I'm hoping you won't think I'm , in any way , questioning your experience or knowledge . -- I greatly respect your experience and your life-style .

-- How did your daughter Know , ( or feel ) , that it was going to be a Bluff-Charge ?

-- Do you always or usually wait until the Bear gets that close , ( or closer ) , before you fire ? -- ( Because to my knowledge , that means only one shot to get a stop ) - ??

Do you aim center-of-mass , (Chest / aorta shot ), Head /spine /CNS , or Shoulder , ( to break the Bear down ) - ?? -- What is the best Survival-Shot ?

What Cartridge/Bullet combo. do you consider absolute best for stopping Bear Charges ,
( assuming you can hit well with it ) ?

Best Rifle / Action for the purpose,( Surviving a charge , - not Hunting ) .

And finally , for a critter with less experience than yourself , ( maybe a body that doesn't know Bear-Behavior from Granola ) ; -- at what range should a novice begin shooting defensively , ( when a Bear is aggresively coming straight for him ) -- ??

--- Highest Regards , -- MMCOUGAR .

quote:

Of course she had her .416 pointed at him and was talking to him.

What did she say and how did she say it?

I am fortunate to live in a wilderness area on the Alaskan peninsula surrounded by hundreds of bears. There were four in our immadiate yard last night. So I have learned to read bear sign language. If you have ever delt with dogs you already have a good understanding of bear language as well. I treat chargeing bears like I would treat a neighbor's dog (if I had any neighbors except bears) I don't wish to kill them and as long as they are just threatening me due either fear or protectiviness I will allow then within fifteen feet or so. In my experience on the Alaska peninsula (elsewhere may be different) maybe only one in a hundred charges are for real and even they can usually be avoided by a determained person standing their ground and firing a round into the ground in front of the bear. On the few times I have been charged that I felt was for real and marked and imaginary line that if the bear crossed I would shoot to kill. If I had time I knelt down (so to place the first round length wise thru the bear)
Depending on how fast the bear was coming this distance varied from ten to twenty yards.
Still in over twenty years and literally hundreds of charges we have never had to kill an unwounded bear.
As for the ideal rifle/cartridge combo. I have tried most of them and the .375 H&H, 416's and 45-70 work very well but I have more faith in my short 20 inch bbl 458 Win Mauser firing 500 gr Hornady round nosed bullets.

Phil Shoemaker ---

Thanks , very kindly , Phil . -- You put a lot in perspective in a few words .

-- Answered questions I've been looking for for a long time .

-- Everything has the ring of field experience and truth .

Highest Regards , --- MMCOUGAR .

If you are planning on waiting for the Grizzly to get really close before you shoot him I would suggest investing in a double barrel rifle, in something along the lines of a 470 Nitro. At that point you will have to do immediate structural damage to the bears major skeletal prupulsion areas, or you will have to brain him.

*** reply to : TOM FROM THE SHADE

----- Given all the water under the bridge on this subject ( this thread and others ) , -- You and I are of like mind .

Two fast shots from a Double Gun that is much shorter and faster to handle , -- because there is little receiver length in the weapon's design . -- A good idea .

Also , - a Big factor to support this choice ; -- you said IF you plan to fire at close range , -- according to stats. on Bear attacks , -- a high percent of the time the Bear , - don't leave you much choice as to the range ! -- In 95% of all Bear Aggressions , -- the Human first sees the Bear at 55 yds. OR LESS . - That gives the hunter 1 to 5 SECONDS to STOP the bear .

( I know I'm repeating this stuff , -- but think it's enormously important here ) .

For these time frames , the Double is Ideal ( in single projectile Bear Defense guns ) , -- i.e. , anytime the shooting is close-in , with the target closing fast , -- and you're probably not going to have time for more than two shots anyway .

That's the Legacy of a whole world of African Professional Hunting , -- not much can throw that into doubt .

Further , there's the issue of stone dependability of the weapon ; -- can't afford a " CLICK " at those ranges . -- The quality Doubles , in Stopping Rifles have an entirely separate firing mechanism , for each Barrel . If each mechanism is strong and durable in it's own right , -- that gives extra insurance .

Lots of hunters have been killed because of " CLICKS ".

---- Back to the subject , if you're going to wait till , say , 50 ft. or so to make sure it's not the frequent " Bluff Charge " ; -- then a strong Double like the .470 NE becomes just the right Medicine for Browns and Grizzly , ( especially large ones ) .

( Just My Humble Opinion , -- with little Field Experience ) . --- MMCOUGAR .

Regarding ears laid back. I once worked as an animal handler and in that time I was attacked three times by one particular captive wolf and saw three other attacks on other people by other captive wolves. It two cases the people were seriously injured. When a wolf makes a serious attack its ears are forward and its tail is straight out the back.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline


VBR,


Ted Gorsline

I remember reading in a article from Handloader Magazine about using a shotgun for bear. The author mentioned about the softness of the slugs encountered these days and penetration with these were minimal, considering a animal as stoutly built as a brown, especially a coastal grizzly.
He made the mention that Brenekke slugs (not specifically which one) are a harder alloy and outpenetrate some of the more common slugs. 000 Buckshot is a good stopper as well.
As for me, Best regards to you 458RugerNo1! I too have a Ruger M77 .458, and I love it to death. Got it from a elderly guide for $250 with dies, brass and a sling, it was in 90% condition!
A wise old buddy of mine, Terry, once told me the absolute hands down best gun out there for shooting a brown bear is a 155mm Howitzer.

Greetings, a real charge-

I was deer hunting on Afognak about 20 years ago with a friend and we were separated by about 200 yards when this happened, so I saw the end of the events but not the beginning.

Brad was on an embankment along a river and a sow came down to the river on his LEFT and started to work salmon carcasses up stream towards him. He stood up when she got to about 50 yards to make sure she had seen him and he got that "funny" feeling. Looking behind himself, he saw the two year old cubs came out of the woods to his RIGHT... When he turned back to the sow was coming! He got off one shot at six feet (I measured the distance from the closest track to Brads gear), hit her in the shouder and knocked her down the embankment. She got up and came again and he hit her in the base of the neck; she then veered off into the woods. Two very shaken up deer hunters skiffed back to the boat and drank most of a bottle of Jack Daniels. We came back the next morning and recovered the bear.

A couple of points. Brad had many previous safe encounters with bears and felt (erronously) that he had some control over the encounter. He accidentally found himself between a sow and her cubs. This would not be the normal bear encounter in wilderness.
He is a very experienced bird hunter who was using a Rem 30-06 pump very similar to his bird gun and had time for one aimed shot. The clip of 220 gr soft points he carried in his pocket "just in case" stayed in his pocket.

It really happened-I was there. Feel free to draw any conclusions you want. I never hunt with "deer" bullets anymore if there is potentialy dangerous game around.

Paul

quote:

Originally posted by ppod:
Greetings, a real charge-

I was deer hunting on Afognak about 20 years ago with a friend and we were separated by about 200 yards when this happened, so I saw the end of the events but not the beginning.

Brad was on an embankment along a river and a sow came down to the river on his LEFT and started to work salmon carcasses up stream towards him. He stood up when she got to about 50 yards to make sure she had seen him and he got that "funny" feeling. Looking behind himself, he saw the two year old cubs came out of the woods to his RIGHT... When he turned back to the sow was coming! He got off one shot at six feet (I measured the distance from the closest track to Brads gear), hit her in the shouder and knocked her down the embankment. She got up and came again and he hit her in the base of the neck; she then veered off into the woods. Two very shaken up deer hunters skiffed back to the boat and drank most of a bottle of Jack Daniels. We came back the next morning and recovered the bear.

A couple of points. Brad had many previous safe encounters with bears and felt (erronously) that he had some control over the encounter. He accidentally found himself between a sow and her cubs. This would not be the normal bear encounter in wilderness.
He is a very experienced bird hunter who was using a Rem 30-06 pump very similar to his bird gun and had time for one aimed shot. The clip of 220 gr soft points he carried in his pocket "just in case" stayed in his pocket.

It really happened-I was there. Feel free to draw any conclusions you want. I never hunt with "deer" bullets anymore if there is potentialy dangerous game around.

Paul

ppod;

thanks for relating that story. i have hunted afognak and know how dense and thick it can be. your comment about not hunting with deer bullets is sound. out of curiosity, what gr. bullets did your friend use on the sow? the 220's would have done damage.

Brad was using some factory Federal loads, possibly 150s or 165s. The first shot blew up in the superficial tissues of the shoulder, but must have knocked her off balance. The second shot, kissed by an angel, slipped between bones at the junction of the neck and shoulder and took out the left lung.

I was within line of sight. I heard the first shot and saw the second shot.

I suppose the 220s in his pocket might have done some damage if the bear broke a tooth chewing on them.

The next year I took my new 375 deer hunting on Kodiak instead of my old 270. It worked just fine on blacktails.

Paul

Getting back to the original question of the charge and to shoot or not to shoot. I've always heard that if they've got the head raised chest out, it's a bluff. They're trying to look big and intimidate the treat. As if any normal person wouldn't already bbe on the verge of shitting themselves. On theo ther hand if they come in with there head tucked, more of a defensive position that' the real deal. I'm not from Alaska, but northern Wyoming by the way.

7mm. guy

I've been pondering the right purchase for bear defense gun (while not hunting) for a while. I don't bump into many grizz, but I have our tracks overlap, and especially seeing the set of tracks of mama and cub, OVER mine, a mere hour or two after I hiked there in the dark, made me realize that they are probably a lot closer than I realize.

I've swung from coach gun, pump shotgun, to guide gun and back. And I can't make up my mind.

Number of shots, penetration, speed into action of first shot, speed into action for follow-up shot(s), portability, etc... I guess maybe a double rifle *would* be the best compromise. Just can't afford one.

Frans

I have not killed a large Brown Bear with a shotgun and the only two men I know who have tried (one is a state game warden and the other a guide) claim they will never do it again. I do hear that on typical Grizzlies and average Brown Bears that shotguns with the best slugs are effective. that, plus the ability to use non-lethal cracker shells, rubber slugs and bird shot first would make a short 12 guage my recommendation.

You know animals are wild things...and yes I suspect that patterns may exist...but I would never bet my life on...well his ears weren't back so I didn't thick it was a real charge...


and the thing about both feet hitting fist one foot hitting....like get real dude...anybody ever asked a bear what his attentions were...

Of course you are talking to a guy who when standing amongst a bunch of friends....one of the guys dogs walks up wags his tail...sniffs everybody and then promptly jumps up and bites me in the ass

No doubt I'd be in deep trouble with the law. But, being raised around cattle, brahma's in particular and some nasty attitude horses. I do believe anything within 50yds charging me would be enough warning to either get my ass outta the way, or start shooting and hope like hell I got the job done in time.

Once it was over, I'd have to pour the pee outta my boots and maybe even change my drawers.
IF I didn't get the JOB done, things would be totally different for sure, depending on the severity of the chewing.

So far, I've never been 'hit' by an animal, but, I've been kicked by several.

One time Dad had charlais bull that dressed out over 1800# the following week. Bull was in a patch of brush with a lot of horizontal limbs above my knee's and he refused to leave the area and drive to the other pasture. When I walked/crawled over/thru the mess to within 6' of him. He lowered his head and growled at me. What ever caused me to react as I did hasn't been figured out. But, I threw my ballcap as hard as I could and hit between his eyes hard enough the wife heard it pop at 50yds. The bull reared up, turned and went where he was supposed to be. Just as Dad was closing the gate after the bull went thru. He said: "watch that bull, he'll 'take you'. Then I got shook, hehe! Can't imagine doing something knowing I'd get chewed up. Nor would I have gone in there knowing the bull had that kind of attitude either. I'd nailed his ass with something hard enough to make him move instead. Just a little hindsight.

George