Hunting alone - Bears

[bakerman]

Thanks.

[grinr]

Wow!
I get a kick out of all the "bear experts" that claim a 12ga won't do you any good or that you'll NEVER get it drawn in time....pffffft
First of all,blacks aren't all that tough and a well placed 12ga slug is more than enough medicine to drop any black in it's tracks,a bad hit will certainly make it think twice about continuing it's attack.I'd suspect the same holds true for grizzabeers.....they are not immortal killing machines,they are flesh and blood.
Secondly,how much time does it take to draw a pistol grip shotgun from a back scabbard or a Mares Leg from a leg holster,and why do the "don't need a gun for bear defence" crowd always want to perpetuate some fantasy that bears instantly appear out of thin air and attack within milliseconds?Sure attacks can sometimes happen without warning but most bear encounters leave plenty of time for both you and the bear to decide how to proceed.First thing I would do when encountering a bear at an uncomfortably close distance would be draw my gun,not my bear spray.

Thirdly,surely the Bearanoids must be absolutely amazed at how I've lived this long considering I've done just about every conceivably possible "don't" in the avoiding bears handbook while spot and stalk bowhunting/baiting and guiding
bowhunters for blacks,ie;walking quietly,sounding and smelling like food,using predator calls,carrying bait to very active sites with 6,7,8 and more bears visiting regularly,poking bears with sharp sticks from ground level @18 yards,and sitting in trees til dark thirty with 1/2 dozen hungry bears milling around then walking out armed with a flashlight and a quiver full of pointy sticks.Hell,being a bit sceered was half the fun. Mind you however,a guide buddy of mine that worked for a bigger outfit that maintained up to 50-60 baits across 4 counties compared to the 12-15 that my partner and I ran would ALWAYS carry a rifle or shotgun when baiting due to the many times over 2 decades that he had been ran off baits by aggressive bruins.Personally,I always carried when I brought my little feller along on bait runs,starting when he was 6 years old.I'm willing to accept the risk myself but certainly not taking chances with him when I'm literally bringing him into the lion's(bear's) den.

[Tow Bow]

Most I've ever needed was 2 sticks to bang together. Hope that holds true while I hunt.

[Kaze]

You definitely did the right thing. Leave before you are noticed. I recently took a bear awareness course for a job and the whole "play dead" idea is pretty much gone. If it's a grizz, they say to play dead until it starts to eat you and then fight back. For black bears, they say to make noise and make yourself bigger than you really are. To each their own, for myself however, if I am noticed and can't get away quickly and I get charged; I'm goin down swingin. They say that if you are carrying a gun, to aim for the shoulder and lower neck region when it is charging and to keep firing until it stops charging. This will cause the most damage and hopefully make that frontal region useless. I realize that that is not a quick clean kill, but when it's him or you, do what you gotta do. I've heard stories of guys that have shot black bears from 40 yrds. and they keep on running for a 1/2 mile, when it came time to dress it, the heart was gone. They ran that far on nerves and adrenaline alone. Moral of the story: Just leave quietly, it ain't worth it.

[jcrayford]

Originally Posted by Artist

Some photos of my "attempt to stay alive" setup.
The shotgun is a little Mossberg Maverick 88. [5 in the magazine, 1 in the chamber]. The backpack/scabbard was purchased at Seals Action Gear in Calgary. I love this setup. (Although it may look a bit awkward in the photos, once all the camo gear is on, this little setup straps on nice 'n snug). The Maverick sits muzzle down in the scabbard, and can be pulled out in an instant.

Nice setup.... I have the same Maverick shotty....

I have a question though - have you run any shots through it with just the pistol grip? Hard to hold/aim? Just wondering because I've shot slugs with mine assembled with the regular stock, but never fired with the pistol grip...

To the OP, I believe you did the right thing.... If you don't feel confident about a situation, best to quietly leave and return another day.

J.

[Awake]

Is this a good time for my bear pic?

[NBFK]

Originally Posted by Artist

Some photos of my "attempt to stay alive" setup.
The shotgun is a little Mossberg Maverick 88. [5 in the magazine, 1 in the chamber]. The backpack/scabbard was purchased at Seals Action Gear in Calgary. I love this setup. (Although it may look a bit awkward in the photos, once all the camo gear is on, this little setup straps on nice 'n snug). The Maverick sits muzzle down in the scabbard, and can be pulled out in an instant.

I also hunt with no shirt on I threw you a pm.

[pseelk]

Originally Posted by Awake

Is this a good time for my bear pic?

Unless you got a really long lens you"re about to be in deep,deep shat!!!!

[Awake]

Originally Posted by pseelk

Unless you got a really long lens you"re about to be in deep,deep shat!!!!

200mm. I was much closer and stupider than I should have been. I wasn't armed at all. I won't do it again.

For full disclosure, this was taken right next to a road, but still, I had nowhere to run. Good thing that sometimes I do live and learn. Cool pic, though.

[wolf308]

if i was out and had my 44 magnum(loaded with 300 gr bear busters) i would have levelled it at the bear and in my best dirty harry impression ask it "Do you feel lucky?Well do ya punk?"

[mikeash1976]

Check out Hatsan, Canadian Tire carried them a few years ago. Good little defenders!

[bodhran4me]

Sounds like ya did the right thing. You had no backup and were not confident in your position. Don't bite off more than ya can chew.

[L.O.S.T.Arrow]

Originally Posted by Dan856

Ok guys, I would like to hear your opinion on the following for carry in a over the back/shoulder shotgun as spoke about in this thread;
1. Must have a pistol grip- Other than the North American makes what about European makes like benelli etc, do they make pistol grip variants?
2. Semi-Auto or Pump action, would the semi's cocking hammer get caught in the scabard sad you withdrew it??

Any info would be appreciated as am going to make a purchase shortly-thanks

This is my bear equalizer...her name is Alley ...cause she can clean out an alley in 3 seconds lol

winchester pump extended internal mag ..self defence only ..legal plug for hunting...pistol grip folding stock...all legal..

Originally Posted by L.O.S.T.Arrow

Neil

[Okotokian]

Prefer to depend on bear spray over firearm. All the research supports it as well.

I have a buddy who is a conservation officer. He has one additional reason to prefer spray. You use spray when there is an actual charge or close approach. He suspects that in some (not all) firearms use cases there was actually less of a threat than the shooter indicates... shooter just got unnecessarily antsy.

[L.O.S.T.Arrow]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Prefer to depend on bear spray over firearm. All the research supports it as well.

I have a buddy who is a conservation officer. He has one additional reason to prefer spray. You use spray when there is an actual charge or close approach. He suspects that in some (not all) firearms use cases there was actually less of a threat than the shooter indicates... shooter just got unnecessarily antsy.

Stuff works.funny story....buddy N I were in a duel stand tree..up higher than nessacery IMHO..one stand for shooter other for video...had a 3 yr old [cocky teenage stage] keep coming up the tree it would reach buddy's stand and go back down ...buddy had some pepper spray and was threatning it..I asked the buddy how old the spray was and he said he had it for about four years...

I laughed and said you gotta test that stuff to make sure it works and is pressurized...he asked how you do that...I said take off saftey and give it a squirt...BUT DONT..........too late !!! he let a blast straight out away from us..last thing I saw for a while was a huge red cloud coming my way...of course we were down wind...
Eyes watering and burning, puking, nose running and twenty feet up...not good..couldnt see to climb down..all we could do was pour bottled water on our faces and wait until things cleared...

be careful with that stuff...if you spray a bear count on taking some yourself...unless you outrun the wind and your friends lol

Neil