..another bear...

[RJM52]

...attack. Friend just saw this and forwarded it to me.

Biggest lesson learned is make sure you can get at your gun when you see the bear...

https://www.ammoland.com/2021/01/sur...sed-44-magnum/


It's also why I prefer to carry a DA revolver with no more than a 5" barrel in at least .41 Magnum. Semis are fine, carry one every day, but rolling around with a bear I only want to worry about hanging onto the gun and pulling the trigger and getting more than one round off if the first one doesn't do the job...

Bob

[ddixie884]

All's well that ends well. It could have been worse. I really like the Tanker style shoulder holsters for carrying Big revolvers in those kind of situations..........

[onelight]

It sounds to me like the bear attack victim did pretty good and is around to tell the story.
Glad he had his 44.

[rintinglen]

For a big gun, I prefer and recommend a shoulder holster , chest holster or a cross draw rig. If concealed by an outer garment, you can use your off hand to clear the garment and then draw. And if some big nasty has a hold on your strong arm, you can reach the gun butt with your off hand. My 7 1/2 " Red Hawk rides in a Bianchi Shoulder Holster, as does my 8 3/8" S&W m-29. My 4 inch Taurus rides in a pancake style holster or a Bucheimer Clark Cross Draw rig. I practice a few draws every time before loading and holstering my revolver.

[FergusonTO35]

We have black bears here. I carry a .38 or 9mm with hard cast slugs when I am in the woods. No, its not ideal for hunting bears but at close range I know these slugs will penetrate. If I lived in grizzly country I would probably carry a Marlin Guide Gun since I can't shoot a big bore handgun worth poo.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Lucky guy!

DG

[Drm50]

I ran into a bear while fishing when I was a teenager. I was trout fishing in small stream in chest highs. Stream was only 10ft wide. I came around sharpe bend and mr bear was rooting around some washed up wood. I very quietly backed up around the bend and waited about 1/2 hour before continuing. I did have a 22 pistol but didn’t feel the need to shot the bear. I was more worried about RCMP catching me with pistol. I kept on fishing but every little critter that took off in brush made me jump.
Spring Bear season was in at the time and didn’t see any bear while hunting that week. A month latter a Black Bear went on rampage and killed several people in a few days. It made Sports Afield the Canadian Army was called out and they killed it. Turned out it had severely infected Jaw.

[MrWolf]

I carry my SA Xdm 10 mm in a Kenai chest rig when in my woods. They killed a 450lb black bear near my house before I moved here and I have game cam pics of ma and three cubs not 100 yards up the mountain from my house.

[dddddmorgan]

I would agree with the sentiment of others, fortunate to be alive, fortunate to have enough gun.

And I would agree that having enough gun is not enough. I always harken back to the words of the great Elmer Keith as related to me by my acquaintance John Taffin "I would rather face a fool with a 44 than a well experienced adversary with a 22".

It's not enough to carry a gun, you must be willing to use it and you MUST know how to use it, this includes proper manipulation of the firearm from drawing to targeting.

[Larry Gibson]

"Before the attack Ken had fired his 629 Smith only once, to test it."

Very lucky to be alive...... no meaningful practice with the revolver, handgun covered up by coat and obviously no practice getting to it quickly, no practice with the speedloader........very lucky indeed.....

[Teddy (punchie)]

Lucky but sad, wrong place at wrong time. Very good post.

[725]

Living your life, the place & time of many events are just random. He was doing normal stuff at a normal place, not "inviting a confrontation". Out for a walk with his walking stick. Glad he was prepared for the unexpected, albeit, marginally familiar with his kit. I bet he is well practiced today.

[contender1]

All animals can be unpredictable to us humans. Their thought process is different,, and when we encounter them,, it's their decision as to how to react.
Humans often think they are "the top of the food chain," and not always accepting the fact that there are critters out there that can kill you. And not just bears.
Dogs attack a lot of people annually.
Being prepared for the possibility of an encounter is desired,, but often overlooked. Or,, even ignored.

Sadly,, AFTER an attack of most any kind,, people THEN decide to get training or correct things.

My mother was attacked & robbed in her store many years ago. She had a gun,, but due to several things,, she wasn't truly prepared. After that violent encounter,, she changed her attitude & took some advice & training.

Experience is a heck of a motivator for an education.

[tazman]

All animals can be unpredictable to us humans. Their thought process is different,, and when we encounter them,, it's their decision as to how to react.
Humans often think they are "the top of the food chain," and not always accepting the fact that there are critters out there that can kill you. And not just bears.
Dogs attack a lot of people annually.
Being prepared for the possibility of an encounter is desired,, but often overlooked. Or,, even ignored.

Sadly,, AFTER an attack of most any kind,, people THEN decide to get training or correct things.

My mother was attacked & robbed in her store many years ago. She had a gun,, but due to several things,, she wasn't truly prepared. After that violent encounter,, she changed her attitude & took some advice & training.

Experience is a heck of a motivator for an education.

So many people look at wild animals as almost pets who only feel love for humans. Even deer(otherwise known as Bambi) can kill you quite easily if they get close.
Every year, people get injured by Bison in the parks. People seem to think they can just walk right up to one because they don't appear agitated. They can go from calm to charging very quickly.
Wild animals are not pets and can't be treated as such.

[three50seven]

"He used to believe there should be more bears. Now he thinks the difficulties they present to people who are living where the bear population is increasing should be considered."

What a ridiculous opinion. He chose to live and hike in the wilderness where bears are present and have been for millenia. But since he's been attacked, now he feels like there are too many bears??


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[robertbank]

Personally, I would discourage anyone carrying a long barreled large handgun or rifle. Go with a 12 gauge defender style shotgun loaded with slugs and a handgun .357Mag or larger. I would also suggest when walking through the bush you make noise lots of noise. Let the bears know where you are. My experience with Black Bears has been they are mostly very timid and will do most anything to avoid you. with cubs they will defend them if you appear to be a threat hence the noise. Grizzlies mostly the same.

I carry my Mossberg 12 gauge with slugs and either my .357mag or 10 MM GP-100 4;2"and a can of bear spray while fishing around here. At a minimum the revolver will be with me all the time. I would carry a 44 mag 4.2" if I could shoot it better but I know I can't so I rely on either of the two mentioned.

We have both Black and Grizzlies up here. Lots of both. We all try to get along and for the most part we do.

Take Care

Bob

[onelight]

That he got the gun loaded at all after just shooting a bear that had his leg in its mouth is impressive to me.
In spite of his lack of practice I have seen people lockup under a lot less stressful situations than he went through.

[Idaho45guy]

Biggest lesson learned is make sure you can get at your gun when you see the bear...

It's also why I prefer to carry a DA revolver with no more than a 5" barrel in at least .41 Magnum. Semis are fine, carry one every day, but rolling around with a bear I only want to worry about hanging onto the gun and pulling the trigger and getting more than one round off if the first one doesn't do the job...

Bob

When I moved back to Idaho, I knew I would be occasionally in grizzly country, so I chose a Ruger Bisley in .45 Colt with a 5.5" barrel. After reading about some actual encounters, I bought a Glock G29 10mm and added a G20 length KKM 4.5"vbarrel for max velocity of the 200 grain hardcast reloads or HSM "bear loads" that is in it.

My G29 has an X-Grip adapter that uses G20 15-round magazines, and I also have a giant 30-round magazine for my pack. But, my pistol is carried in my old Army Bianchi flap holster. It works well enough, but I may need to upgrade to a chest rig. The problem is that when in the woods, I am constantly adjusting layers. I might start off with a T-shirt, Carhart sweatshirt, and then a heavy jacket, and then by lunch time, am down to a T-shirt. A couple of hours later, I likely have put the sweatshirt back on. Having a belt holster makes it easier to transition. A chest rig seems like it would be a nightmare to be constantly adjusting everything between layers, though the placement of it is superior to a belt holster.

[RJM52]

Idaho1945guy...was just wondering that since you seemed to have converted the G29 to a G20 why you didn't just buy a G20 in the first place...

Have you tried a bandolier holster? I don't really care for the gun on my chest unless it is in a Hill People bag... The bandolier is easy to get on/off and will go over/under most clothing/jackets/rain ware and keeps the gun out of the way...

Bob

[RKJ]

"Before the attack Ken had fired his 629 Smith only once, to test it."

Very lucky to be alive...... no meaningful practice with the revolver, handgun covered up by coat and obviously no practice getting to it quickly, no practice with the speedloader........very lucky indeed.....

Let me add: Carried in a nylon holster with a 'cheap strap' those things are hard to release even without the attack and adrenaline.