Do not play on Facebook. Believe that most social media is evil…one of my quirks and from all the stolen ID’s I may not be too far off.

Grizz in my horse story was hit directly in the upper chest right in the middle facing the shooter. In a rare Grizz standin’ up shot. Too much ballistic tables reading will lead you to the wrong belief system that power will always do the trick. Spend time with whatever gun you have that is deemed adequate for the game weight you wish to harvest. The bear came down with another shot to the mid neck area and the bear still had some moving left in him.

This weekend my son was down in Happy Valley and loading up a 4-wheeler on a trailer. He was on the side of the trailer tightening down some straps when his wife hollered to him/ started screaming at him to get out of the way!!! My son has all the firepower anyone would ever want to hunt large North American and African Game. Guess what he did not have a gun on him at the time as this was an area that seemed harmless. A cow moose was running towards him in a dead heat with the hair on her back in full bloom. The cow was moving at a tremendous clip with only about 8′ away, when my son finally figured out what was happening and their Great Dane came in between them barking up a storm causing a loud frenzy scaring the moose to make a turn and disappear in the woods. Come to find out there were 2 small baby moose in the ridges.

I don’t think that any sidearm could have turned a moose faster than that Great Dane, whom they wanted us to babysit for the weekend. My son and his wife are both convinced that the dog saved his life this weekend.

We are all very happy that God is watching over him. His wife/our daughter in law is expecting a child in December 2011.

Maybe I need to buy more guns!!!
Danbo

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I live down here in GA. Have seen the bears here & they’re not as big as AK bears. I agree that it’s inconceivable that someone would shoot a grizz with ‘weak’ (less than .454) handgun!

Big game and dangerous African game hunters tell you to use nothing less than 475 to 500 gr. and you’ll put down the biggest threat. They do it all the time. Marlins and 45-70′s loaded hot and the Turnbull .475 should be enough. But you have to hit the bear. A hardcast slug in a semi auto shotgun should put him down with follow up shots as fast as you can pull the trigger. The energy in that round is phenomenal and will just tear the beast up. That’s why i’m thinking that way.

It’s funny you mentioned the hunt up there and getting a guide because i’ve looked into it! Probably a mistake to tell the wife about it because she’s against it now. It’s boring to wait all day just to shoot a small deer and not get a lot of meat out of it. I use all of the animal with some of it going to my 4 big dogs who eat only raw, including bones and organs too. But my wife is dead set against me going to AK.

I love Sarah Palin, been following her since she ran for VP! We were in DC for memorial day last week and she showed up at “Rolling Thunder!” Never seen so many Harleys and Patriots in one place! What a day! She’s cool.

Reading about your experiences makes me even more cautious about the grizz. It’s scary that your friend’s 416 RemMag didn’t put down that bear. Was the bullet at least 400 gr? That concerns me because the .475 Turnbull is a wider, bigger bullet but only @4000 ft.lb. at 500 gr. The 416 can get up to 5000 ft.lb. at 400 gr. and it’s about 500 ft/sec faster. I’d have bet on the 416 Rem Mag which by the way, you know dwarfs the 30-06!! Good thing the grizz was a ways off.

Can I reach you on FB?

Rick

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Bullet weight and adequate power for penetration, regardless of delivery platform, is what kills best. Adequate power! A high-powered bullet can zip through an animal an leave it still ready for combat or flight. The effect of a slow heavy bullet has been observed time after time to penetrate and put all its energy into various hard to kill beasts like cape buffalo and big bears.

Were I to go hunting ( I don’t these days, so I’m speaking hypothetically) in brown bear country, I’d feel well armed with either of my .375 rifles for shooting at game in reasonable distance. At shorter ranges and in heavy brush, I might rather have my .45-70 Marlin GBL.

But for that unsought moment, say when you are taking a walk-about the campsite or asleep in a tent that starts starts to fall in from a marauding bear. It may some comfort to have a pistol in your belt or under your pillow that will push enough lead, fast enough to possibly save your life rather than become bear fodder without a fight.

I think we can all agree that the .454 Casull round and Ruger Alaskan has proven that possibility at least this once.

The rest is debate–interesting debate, especially from you Alaska residents.

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My distance gun is 378 Weatherby and also the .338 Win Mag’s.

My FFL dude just brought in a .50 Beouwolf. All white! With a gold inscription honoring her as Govemor of Alaska.
My beloved neighbor Sarah Palin. She knocked the crap out of Chuck’s (her Dad) gun sights on one of her TV shows.
Had the chance to look it over before it was presented to her while I was in my FFL dude’s shop.

Last week one of my hunting buddies shot a Black Bear about 12 miles out of Whittier on an island from a tree stand.
He was using a 460 and shot the bear in the neck as it was looking at him about 25 feet away. The bear went down and left a lot of blood.
It was getting pretty dark and he decided to look for it in the morning. He went back to his boat, stayed the night and could not fing the bear in the AM!!!
He knows his gun very well and he said this was the best he could do at that range. He figured it was a done deal. Lots of blood but the bear either pushed himself down to the water’s edge and the tide took it out or the many other bears had him for lunch. My friend is a good shot by the way and I believe him when he says it was a great shot. A very well seasoned and disciplined Guide and Contractor.

Even with a great shot and powerful handgun may not save the day. I know very few folks that can make a good group with anything over a 45 or 357.

Have way too many friends that have had way too many close encounters with big bruins. What they really need is a couple of towelheads walking in front of them very slowly with bear scent on their heads.

I won’t let you try your theory in my neighborhood. I’ll go with you on the range to get you used to a preferred tool and let you use it in your hunt.
When I can show you how much a large Grizz can leave for scat you will have respect him for he can easilly fill a 5 gallon pail!

Also have a friend that put a 416 Remongton Masg in a standing Grizz’s chest and the Grizz looked to the left and to the right right deciding where he should charge and another 416 round hit him in the lower neck area putting him down but not out. The Grizz had stolen a riding horse one of a dozen in a corrall that take tourists on a trail ride and hauled the horse uphill abour a 1/2 mile and burried it under some tree stumps the bear had excavated for that purpose.
They found the horse after the bear was killed and it was still alive!!! In shock but it lived!!! Still want to bounce some 230 gr +P’s off this bear’s skull???
Danbo

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“Fish and Game dispatched a problem bear and cleaned a grizzly in Anchorage that had a multitude of 9mm under his pelt.”

I’ve read where Fish and Game have captured and killed a bear after it had mauled or killed a hunter or hiker. They do find multiple small caliber rounds (.38 – 9mm – .40cal ) in the animal that did nothing to STOP it.

They key word when dealing with dangerous game is to STOP the animal. A charging bear when angry, is almost impossible to stop. Think about it. You’re not at the range here. You’re adrenaline is high, the bear is moving up-down, side to side and coming at you very quickly. The odds of scoring a head shot in a MAN is very low during combat, let along trying to hit a bear. You may hit him in the peripherals or even in center mass, but each trigger pull that does not put him down, he gains yards on you! You cannot stop him if he’s on you! There he will rip your head off.

You need firepower that will penetrate and disperse energy into the animal, over and over when necessary if you miss its head initially. Primates when shot many times can still kill before they drop dead. The bear in this story was old and underweight but still determined and hungry. The bear took the hits yet fell past the shooter, which means he made it to the shooter! Perhaps a younger and healthier bear would have been more formidable for the Casull and the outcome grim. Remember, the shooter had no time to bring the weapon to his eye and had to shoot shot from the hip!!

The .454 Casull was developed for this reason. It has a rifle primer propelling a large caliber bullet in a small package.

I would still feel more comfortable with a pistol grip, semi-auto shotgun on a front sling carrying at least 8 rounds. The Saiga can carry up to 20 in a mag. Load with Breneke or Dixie slugs alternating with buckshot every third or fourth. The slug will allow you to reach out to the bear with accuracy, the alternating buskshot will help if you miss with the slug. The slug will penetrate and go through the animal. He will STOP.

Because it’s my life, I would never carry a .45 or 9mm, the penetration is too little. My full power 10mm would also stay home because I want to get back home!

Sure I’d love to carry a .475 Turnbull in a lever action Winchester. It would drop the bear almost immediately. But when my adrenalin is going, I may miss. The shotgun is more apt to put it where it needs to be and as fast as I can pull the trigger.

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The point I am making is, a rifle would have been useless in the situation if the bear had had me own its’ mind for lunch like the starving griz in the lead story.

A change I have made in revolver practice shooting is I no longer go to a range and shoot at paper 20′ – 30′ away. I “cowboy” shoot as fast as I can fire at randomly placed targets from 5′ to 15′ away. A threat will not wait for all the “proper” aiming procedure to be done before it attacks.

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I was never really afraid to walk the woods because I believed in my skills, the capacity of my guns and my stalking abilities to be on top of the game.

In Alaska the rules change. I am not the one on top of stalking skills.
Not the feared hunter in the wilderness. I am prey. When you are on the “Other Side” and you finally confront one of these top of the food chain types you have chemistry than changes your outlook on your skills and habits.

Could have bought the S&W 480 or 500 but they only have 5 rounds and are very heavy to carry. Having the capacity for 6 rounds and a shorter barrel so when on my Ranger 4X4 it doesn’t break my ribs. Have upgraded my hunting crew to all have these Ruger Alaskan 454 Casull’s.

Would also probably work really well when in Detroit with a gang coming after you. Wait till 3 or 4 of em line up in a row before touching off.

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