..another bear...

[FergusonTO35]

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

So, it is possible to carry a handgun for bear protection up there?

[robertbank]

So, it is possible to carry a handgun for bear protection up there?

Only if you employment has you situated in Bear country and your company applies for a permit for you OR you get a Free Miners License available to BC residents. You then can pass a very easy shooting test and apply. The permit I believe costs $40Cdn and is non-refundable in the unlikely event you are declined. If you are in remote areas and want to walk about unarmed (You can carry bear spray) and a shotgun/rifle or you can just carry a handgun and take your chances. Discretion should be your guide. Personally, I do carry a shotgun ALL the time and if I feel necessary and conditions allow I carry a .357/10MM revolver. I do apply for a Free Miners License and do get a permit.

To answer your question- legally without the above permit you are not allowed to carry a handgun for personal protection anywhere in Canada. In most provinces you would require a hunting license to carry a rifle or shotgun during hunting season.

If you live where bears are in numbers you carry anyone of the three regardless of the law. In those areas the RCMP are not going to bother you anyway. Statistically bear spray is the best defense against bears. Bear attacks are quite rare up here but they do happen. I have been up here in bear country for 18 years and none have taken place in this area. I have had four contacts - three were Black Bears and one Grizzly. Two of the four were to busy feeding to concern themselves with me , one was curious but walked off after he realized I was a human and the other went on her way with her club.

If any of you come up here to enjoy the Canadian wilderness areas I would ask two things. first do not under any circumstances feed the bears. Secondly do not stop to take pictures of them. Feeding roadside bears is the same as shooting them. It is a death sentence for most. They become accustomed to humans and come into town and end up being trapped and then destroyed.

Take Care

Bob

[jrayborn]

Bob,

Feeding I get for sure, but why no pictures?

[robertbank]

Bob,

Feeding I get for sure, but why no pictures?

What happens is folks don't stop and just take pictures from a distance. In Jasper I saw about 20 tourists surrounding a Black Bear with their cameras going. Around 4 in the afternoon bears will come out to eat along the side of the road. A year or two ago a group of Chinese tourists in a small tour bus stopped and were taking pics from a distance of about 10 feet. I turned my 4Runner around, drove down in the ditch and scarred the bear back into the trees. From the folks looks I doubt I would have been very popular but when folks get that close to bears it doesn't take long before any fear they have of humans is gone. A guy I shoot with lives up where the incident took place. On average he shoots a nuisance bear every year. From a distance I don't think it matters, up close it is dangerous. Disney has convinced a lot of urban dwellers the Whinny the Poo (named after a Winnipeg bear cub taken to England by an Cdn Army Officer at the start of WW1) is warm and cuddly. Black Bears, if they attack are worse than Grizzlies. Blacks tend to finish you off before they settle down for a meal, Grizzlies will bite you up then leave you for dead and come back later. That's where the "lie down and play dead fir Grizlies and fight like hell if attacked by a Black" comes from. I prefer to cheat like crazy with a firearm option frankly but that is just me. Common sense should prevail.

I know Black Bears are timid and in the wild tend to avoid you at all costs, but not all the bears have read the manual. The one that walked up close to me I suspect was either looking for food or just curious given I was bent over picking spent bullets from the sand berm we have in one of our pistol pits. The bear was inside 10' before I knew he was there. Got the heart beat going a bit but he wondered off while I slowly backed off. I guess you could say we had a meeting of our minds. LOL In that case I had a loaded 1911 on my hip so aside from the fact I did not want to shoot the thing after the initial surprise things were all good.

Take Care

Bob
ps Enjoy the wildlife from a distance that is all. That way no body gets hurt.

[memtb]

robertbank, you certainly ruined a good Chinese Buffet! memtb

[jrayborn]

Well that makes a lot of sense, too bad many folks have so little of it. Thank you for your response.

Jon

[500aquasteve]

As I reached for my new 629 I realized I left the lock turned to the left when fiddling with it earlier, and the key was in my lunchbox.

[FergusonTO35]

I deactivated the lock on my S&W 637. You should do the same.

[RJM52]

..would never carry a newer S&W with IL that had not been disabled...just too many authenticated reports of them self-locking. All so far have been at the range but one of these days it is going to happen when the gun is being deployed for real and it may not be a happy ending...

[megasupermagnum]

I had a model 57 with an internal lock. While it never self-locked, sometimes the flag would work up slightly, and did not inspire confidence. The best way to deactivate the lock is to sell the gun and buy one with out it. I bought a 4" model 57-1, and it has grown on me so much it has more or less become my winter daily carry gun. The 57-6 with IL almost soured me on any S&W, but now I just avoid the post 2000ish ones.

[Jtarm]

This illustrates the point I’ve tried to make to naysayers who claim there’s no way the average person can draw and deliver a disabling shot on a charging bear.

Just because the person sustained damage doesn’t mean the defense wasn’t successful.

Even carrying a rifle, if a you’re on the ground with a 400 lb bear on top, you’ll wish you had a handgun to stick in his ear.

That said, you’re still more likely to be killed by a lightening strike than a bear.

.

[FergusonTO35]

I had a model 57 with an internal lock. While it never self-locked, sometimes the flag would work up slightly, and did not inspire confidence. The best way to deactivate the lock is to sell the gun and buy one with out it. I bought a 4" model 57-1, and it has grown on me so much it has more or less become my winter daily carry gun. The 57-6 with IL almost soured me on any S&W, but now I just avoid the post 2000ish ones.

The easy way is to remove the little lug on the inside of the flag that locks the hammer. That done, the gun will function no matter what position the lock is in. For safety, file off the word "LOCKED" on the side of the flag lest some dummy think that using the lock is a substitute for safe gun handling.

[RJM52]

...better to just make it look nice and replace the whole inners with The Plug available over on the S&W Forums... Keep all the parts however so if the gun has to go back to the factory it can be restored to original...

I did a 357 PD and NG .41 Magnums and it was very easy...

[dougader]

He had the right ammo for the purpose, too. Imagine a soft lead hp and trying to shoot a bear from the back end. I bet he got some good penetration with that 305 grain cast bullet load from HSM.

[W.R.Buchanan]

My opinion on this subject is that if you are going into Bear Country, a pistol is nice and relatively easy to carry,,, so long as you have practiced your draw and can actually hit something with the gun in a very short period of time. Most can't because they aren't willing to put in the practice hours to get good.

As many of you know I am a big proponent of getting Professional Training in Defensive/Tactical Handgun, Rifle and Shotgun. This is not generally accomplished in one class, it usually requires repeat classes to actually get and understand the techniques involved. Also there is Muscle Memory which needs to be developed.

If I was wandering around in Bear Country I would have my S&W696 .44 Special on my belt and my Mossberg M500 House Gun (12 ga shotgun with short barrel.) carried Cross Body, so I could present it in a timely manner. The Revolver would be there in case I got separated from the Shotgun.

I am reasonably good with the hand gun and pretty darn good with the shotgun. However I declined to go to my Monthly 3 Gun Shoot yesterday because it has been 3 months since I have shot anything, and I suck outright. I need a bunch of practice to get back up to speed.

My point here is you must practice often to maintain these skills because they are very perishable, and just because you went to a class last year doesn't mean you are still up to speed. In fact,,, I can say definitively,,, that you aren't!

I see how fast my "Edge" goes away,,, and it goes away faster every year.

Please get trained. Please continue to get trained. And don't venture into harms way unprepared.

Randy

[robertbank]

Randy you are spot on. I would suggest your 638 be short barreled. It is your backup and if you are in back up time it is going to be yp close and personal in most situations. A long barreled heavy gun just replaces a lighter rock unless you can get it in action fast. A shot in the head/spine ends the situation quickly, anything else and you likely are in a wrestling match.

Take Care

Bob

[Speedo66]

Bah, all you need is a .22 long single shot rifle, worked for her to take a world record....

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/bel...#axzz6m0UtU8zN

[robertbank]

Bah, all you need is a .22 long single shot rifle, worked for her to take a world record....

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/bel...#axzz6m0UtU8zN

Thanks for posting the story of Bella. For my American friends, I can add the following. The Cooey Model 60 tubular fed ,22lr likely along with the single shot models were in the hands of every Canadian boy's hands growing up in the late 40's - late 80's. Winchester I believe bought the Cooey Co. and continued production of the guns. I had a Shure-Shot rifle sold by Simpson Sears in Canada, AKA Cooey Model 60. My Grandson will get the rifle when he reaches the age of 12,

What this event illustrates is the time honoured advice - "Shot placement is everything". I would never carry a .22 for Grizzly protection but it beats a rock in hand. Her story was well known to me and my friends growing up in Edmonton, Alberta in the 50' & 60's. Our game was gophers and bush rabbits. My oldest son took a rabbit with the gun when he was 10.

Take Care

Bob

[charlie b]

That article was worth the information on the head shot location. That lady's shooting reminds me of WDM Bell. Know where to shoot and be able to place the shot. The epitome of hunting.

[Drm50]

I was told by old timers in Ontario to carry a transistor radio while fishing small streams. The nature of wading may sneak you up on a bear you don’t want. This was for Blacks. It would probably work well but I can only take so many tunes.