What kind of bear protection do you carry?

[Loobie]

Hi guys,
I hope this isn't a little off subject...but I wanted to know what kind of protection you carry in Alaska. I'm from Florida and will be making my first trip there in July. I have seen some of the shows on tv with the grizzly bears you have up there. I would rather be safe than sorry since I'm not much of a runner. I plan on bringing a S&W .44 mag. Would like input on a good bullet choice.

[Vance in AK]

If you don't reload, the Federal 300gr "Cast Core" load is a good choice. Buffalo Boar, etc also make good loads. I like a heavy (300gr plus in the 44) hardcast bullet with a big flat meplat (nose).
My personal choice right now in a handgun is a 4.5" Ruger Blackhawk in 41mag with 265gr hardcast bullets. At times I also carry a Winchester Trapper 44 mag carbine & if I'm somewhere where I'm really concerned my Marlin Guide Gun in 450 Marlin with 420gr hardcast.
Your 44 mag will serve you well & is still the most popular choice up here. Just make sure you practice with it.
Overall the most important thing is being aware of your surroundings & paying attention. I've been here 20+ yrs & although I've had it in my hand & pointed at a brown bear at less that 15 yds I've never had to use a gun for bear defence up here. Sure like the comforting feeling it gives though :-)

[Reno Chris]

This is a much debated topic.

My preference is a horn and pepper spray. However, my bear encounters in California are with black bears, not grizzleys. Black bears are far less dangerous in general (but of course there are times when black bears certainly can be dangerous).

Another important thing is to use your head. Stay away from mother bears with cubs, bears while feeding, etc.

Chris

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

Most times I carry nothing, but if I think the area may warrant it I tend to favor my 12ga pump, a Mossberg 500 Mariner pistol grip which I like because of the Marinecote finish. I made a holster out of an arrow sling so I can wear it on my back and just reach back over my shoulder to pull it out. Loaded with 3" rifled slugs. Or if I'm loaded dowm with MInelab detecting gear I'll holster a can of bear spray.

But despite a lifetime of wandering around in bear country I've never been threatened by a bear. I've chased off a few blackies with a handfull of rocks. I honestly do not worry about it much unless I am in really thick brush and just really can't see anything around me.

Good bear info at http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index...=bears.bearfax

[DavidRamey]

I have lived in Alaska since 1984. I have never been charged by a bear. I have been charged by a young bull moose and another time I was charged by a cow moose. I just put a tree between me and the cow moose. The young bull moose, I had to shoot into the gravel in front of the moose, spraying gravel onto the bull moose. He lost interest in me after that.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Dave,

Yup, I've come way closer to having a moose stomp my brains out than I've ever come to having a bear come at me.

People from out of state probably do not know that many cities and towns in Alaska host sizeable bear populations. Given that you have large numbers of bears living in close proximity to large numbers of people there will be a bad encounter now and then. What goes unreported is the common and huge number of bear encounters where nothing much happens. Approximately 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears live in the Anchorage area, but they do a good job of being invisible. I live about a mile away from one of the more well known areas where the grizzlies hang out but I never see them. It really is the moose I have to worry about walkiong my dogs every day.

[chickenminer]

Well.... having spent the majority of my life living in the woods I guess I have had more than my share of bear encounters. I have come upon 3 different Grizzlies while hiking. Two just scared the holy you-know-what out of me and ran off. The third was another matter! That ornery bugger put me up a skinny little spruce and ripped one of my boots off. Man, I can still hear those teeth clacking to this day !
I think the ones that worried me most were the damn black bears that came right into camp. One I had to shoot through the door because it wouldn't leave. Another one woke me up at 5AM with the sound of busting glass as it tried to come through a window in the cabin ... we are talking major pucker factor here boys ... .
So, back to the topic. After all that, like Steve, I seldom carry a firearm. People are way too paranoid of bears in my opinion. To carry a firearm is a real nuisance. IF I do carry something just for bears, I usually grab the .44 Mag revolver.
If you are going to pack a firearm, make it something easy to carry and become comfortable with it.

[Jim Hemmingway]

Yes Dick, I can see you're familiar with those pesky black bears. More than curious at times, they can be downright friendly when you've got breakfast on the stove. There is no more tantalizing aroma that drifts down through the forest aisles than sizzling bacon in the frying pan.

I once had a hungry wayfarer wander into camp one morning under those circumstances and figured there would be no mutually satisfactory compromise about breakfast. So, I let him have it with a shot of bear spray. Quick as that plume jetted to him, he was even faster and turned his head sideways as if it were of no consequence. Meanwhile I did not account for the oncoming breeze and fell to the fumes. Dick, it took me the better part of a half hour to finally be able to see and breathe right. When I did recover and was able to resume the contest, my new friend had remained in exactly the same spot, but with pleading eyes on mine...could he only taste those succulent burnt scraps left in the frying pan.

The potential problem with bears coming through the cabin window is that once inside they very well may feel threatened, then lookout. Bears like people, often times don't consider the long term consequences of their actions.

I've met many black bears over the years and never had any issue. But now and then we hear of fatalities occurring and they are usually associated with either food or surprising them in the bush. A final comment, at least with black bears, any number of us over the years got between cubs and mothers inadvertently...usually around camp. This never resulted in a problem. I witnessed in camp one afternoon my sister unknowingly get between two cubs and the sow, and the sow faded into the nearby bushes leaving her cubs on the other side of camp. We have plenty to learn about blackbear behaviour in respect to human encounters.

Jim.

[Loobie]

Hi all,
Thanks for the comments.

Vance...Looks like 300gr flatties it is. I'll run thru some rounds at the range.

I'm not willing to let anything that big get within pepper spray range of me or my family. I know my gun will shoot and I know exactly where it will shoot. Got a whole closet full of em. Not willing to trust a propellent based little can hoping I have the nozzle pointed towards the little dot and the wind blowing the right way. And yes...I do have a permit to carry. I sure hope I don't have to use it, but like I said, I'm not much of a runner.

[Fxds97]

Its not just for bears and moose, other four legged beasties roam the country http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12133641 . Lets also not forget about the more common and villainous 2 legged type. 22,25,38,44,45,308,338,375hh,450m,50,12g none of these will work if you dont pratice and cant hit anything. In a panic could you find your weapon, draw or unholster it, chamber or un-safety it, aim and really defend yourself. Pepperspray takes a whole bunch of these issues out of the picture. I take what I think I might need for the task at hand and consider that if something happened to me could my wife or kids use 375hh, I know for sure they could use the pepperspray. I dont remember where I heard it but it was some saying about how a all a pistol is good for is making noise to get to the rifle, then add that to leaning over a sluice box with a 12g on your back. I put the pepperspray in the pistol catagory. But as already stated, all these options have faults and your best weapon is behind your eye sockets.