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I am by no means an expert nor have I hunted in Alaska for any great length of time. I have never encountered a bad bear situation in many outings. They way I look at the situation is this.

I always carry a sidearm (44). The reason being is because it simply makes me feel better. I believe that trying to shoot a scoped rifle with any great accuracy at a charging bear at less than 25 yards in quick reaction is next to impossible. However I would use my rifle for the first shot because it is more powerful if I have that option. I also like knowing that I do have a side arm if for some reason my rifle does not work or gets knocked out of my hands or dropped. I did have a black bear come right in to me only seconds after shutting off my four wheeler. My rifle was packed on the wheeler and thank god I had a side arm that I could reach. Nothing ever happened, but if it had I could have been sol. It can really catch you in weird situations that you would not expect I also like carring a side arm in case I was to get lost or if maybe I fell and damaged my rifle, then I would still have something to get me home safely. I personally like having my options. I have also gone into the field and had bullets fail to shoot. It was nice to have a back up then too. I dont believe that you can have too much fire power in reguards to your personal safety. If I was to get stranded in the woods I would wish to have as much as I could. It only takes one bad situation. Something else to consider, would you be able to shoot a rifle if you only had one arm? I try not to think about what size or caliber. I try to think about all the possible situations that could arise. Take it for what it's worth and I wish you the best of luck. Brad

Message Thread:

• Back up hangun for bear defense hunter1339 Dec 04 2005
  • Back Up alaska bush man Dec 11 2005
  • Lightweight sidearm Dirtysouth Dec 06 2005
  • Interesting Reading Daveinthebush Dec 06 2005
  • What I do bradb1169 Dec 06 2005
    • Great Posts Jake_65_65 Dec 06 2005
  • Another opinion martyv Dec 06 2005
  • Thought Process Jake_65_65 Dec 05 2005
    • Thanks, Jake! Michael Strahan Dec 05 2005
  • Bear Backing Brian Richardson Dec 05 2005
    • Jum in Delta Snowwolfe Dec 05 2005
  • Handgun bear protection Kirk Dec 05 2005
  • Jim in delta AlaskaCub Dec 05 2005
  • Heres what I figure Jim in Delta Dec 05 2005
  • Back up gun PastorBob Dec 05 2005
    • Back up Snowwolfe Dec 05 2005
  • take overkill jklingel Dec 05 2005
  • The archives are full of bear protection info... Michael Strahan Dec 05 2005
    • I forgot to mention iron sights Michael Strahan Dec 05 2005
      • no front sight homerdave Dec 05 2005
    • regarding the bear protection thing... sourdough Dec 05 2005
    • bear protection sourdough Dec 05 2005
      • You nailed it on the head Sourdough AlaskaCub Dec 05 2005
    • second what strahan says AlaskaCub Dec 05 2005
      • bear in a scope mariner Dec 05 2005
        • Handgun for bear protection?!? TABoylan Jan 02 2006
        • Mariner response AlaskaCub Dec 05 2005