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Mariner response
Posted by AlaskaCub on Dec 05 2005
I sense a little bitterness in your post, and I have to ask if you live in Alaska? Because about once every two weeks somebody posts a thread on this site about bear protection and most of them are from the lower 48 planning a trip up here and the primary thing that they are concerned with is Bear protection! The information that I relayed and similar to Strahans' response was because I hunt all over this state and when I plan trips I am far more concerned with my gear, the weather, and the logistics of my trip, however backup bear protection is never on my list unless I am bow hunting predators(black bear/grizzly bear). As for your statements on accuracy with a scoped rifle you touched on the subject just slightly, if a bear is coming with no warning I find it very hard to believe that someone who has not had tactical sidearm training is going to unholster and hit anything with any kind of accuracy and if you are going to hit a bear and not hit it well, a 338 aimed only by shouldering the gun and aiming with the barrell instinctively moving at 2600 fps pushing 250 grains delivering 2500 lbs of more energy than a 44 at the muzzle is going to do a lot more damage than a 44 mag with any bullet! Especially if you have time to aim and shoot it. I actually had an opportunity with friends a long time ago to test this theory by having a friend stand facing away from an unknown distanced target have him be at the relaxed position and then yell with the help of a couple buddies and have him turn and unholster the revolver and start shooting it didn't happen as quickly as he thought it would and 1 out of 3 shots hit the pie plate at 25 feet. All I was saying is that a lot of people (including myself at one time) have the belief that those big magnum revolvers are more powerful than their rifles and they need to know its not true. My first encounter with a grizzly bear was a grizzly that came into my first ever bear bait and wouldn't leave and I can tell you that a 300 winmag in my hands and a 44 on my hip didn't mean this Alaskan green horn wasn't scared, I was,especially because I could not shoot it that might have taken the anxiety away but he new I was there and there was nothing I could do but watch him,after an hour or so I fired a round into the ground and he bolted, but over the years watching bears and seeing them killed with everything from a 44 mag to a 30-30, to a 410 shotgun,300 win mag, compound bows and long bows, some die quick and some die slow every one is different but they all die, grizzly bears included! I have seen grizzlys that didn't go 35 yards after being arrowed. I guess what I am saying is that if you are an experienced magnum revolver shooter then surely you wouldn't be asking for advise and if you arent then you will possibly buy or borrow a sidearm that you arent completely proficient with and therefore it will not (in my opinion) be of use to you other than the mental confidence of having it. I am not giving Hunter 1339 a hard time just making sure he is aware. I am headed to the Peninsula this spring for brown bear and the 338 is all I am taking simply because if I cant kill it with a 338 my 44 is not going to do much for me. Theres an article out there on the net about a guy that lives in my community that shot a big brownie on Kodiak with a 340 Wby twice and the end of the story isn't pretty but he lived as a result of his buddy shooting the bear with another 340 Wby for me the the 44 mag would have been an after thought. Anyway enough bear talk its easy to help people when the ask specific questions about gear that works or doesn't work but it seems like the opinionated debate about bear protection never stops coming and I find it redundant because there are guys on the site that dont have a clue what they are talking about have never even killed a bear but are experts on back up bear guns. Like I said in the first post, come to Alaska, have a great trip, hope that you see a bear take some pictures and bring the appropriate firearm or bow for the kind of hunt you are doing Alaska is not Bagdhad.
Previous: Handgun for bear protection?!? TABoylan Jan 02 2006
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