[AKcrab]

Picture this -- a 750-pound brown bear in full charge, just feet away. You have just a fraction of a second to react, and your life depends on it.

Boyd was walking his dog on a nearby road when he heard something big coming through the brush. He instinctively drew his weapon -- a .44-caliber handgun.

"When he broke into the open at a full run, he was at about 20 feet from me and that's when I fired the first round,"� Boyd said. "And then he didn't turn and I shot a second time at about 15 feet and that turned him to the right, and then I shot him three more times."�

Boyd says officials found a moose carcass nearby. It's believed the bear was protecting that food source when he charged.

Boyd says it's fortunate the way it worked out, because shortly after he shot the bear a group of high school cross country runners passed by that very spot.

Wow. Point blank range, 5 shots from a .44, and the bear was still alive.

Full article with some pics.
Slightly longer version of the story, more pics.

[nredman]

wow...good thing he had his gun. i would have been crapping my pants. wonder what he would have done if he didn't have the gun, maybe let his dog go in hopes the bear would go after it instead of him? sounds bad i know but what else could he do????

[Mastrap]

Wow. Scary.

I bumped into a black bear last year but thankfully it ran off.

[Shaddim]

If he'd had anything less than a .44, he would have been bear chow. I normally carry a .357 in those types of situations... probably wouldn't have even slowed it down.

[rjenkinson]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
I normally carry a .357 in those types of situations... probably wouldn't have even slowed it down.

is that dog-walking situations or bear-attack situations?

-r.

[FulcrumPilot]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Wow. Scary.

I bumped into a black bear last year but thankfully it ran off.

And you are a...what?

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by rjenkinson:
is that dog-walking situations or bear-attack situations?

-r.

Well, I'm usually armed when I go on hikes or even just long walks.

[OldManMac]

Must be open season on people.

[nredman]

Originally posted by KarlG:
Must be open season on people.

"I'm fine," Wally Cash said from his hospital room this morning. "I just got chewed on."

i just got chewed on! *LOL* at least he is okay, but to say i just got chewed on...how about "the bear tried to beat my freaking head off!!"

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Well, I'm usually armed when I go on hikes or even just long walks.

Why?

[ThinkInsane]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Why?

I can't speak for him, but I take my pistol when I go hiking in case I get lost. Three gunshots in quick succession is a recognized distress signal. And the Adirondacks have plenty of black bears, which I have run into a couple of times (without incident). And if I do get lost, I might want some yummy varmints to chew on

[milkmanchris]

So its true all Americans have guns?

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by milkmanchris:
So its true all Americans have guns?

According a 1994 Department of Justice survey, about 35% of American households own 192 million firearms. Some other estimates are slightly higher. Handguns account for about 35% of this total. (Click to see chart) Slightly less than half of gun owners own both handguns and shotguns or rifles. The typical gun owner is male, middle class, college educated and lives in a small town or rural area.

(Source Department of Justice)

[IceEnclosure]

from the first article posted:

"It was like in Vietnam. I flew helicopters for two years. You get scared after the mission. You don't get scared during the mission. You don't have time.�


--------
nice.


_

[milkmanchris]

'Boyd says it's fortunate the way it worked out, because shortly after he shot the bear a group of high school cross country runners passed by that very spot.'


Fortunate for the runners maybe ?

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by milkmanchris:
Fortunate for the runners maybe ?

Bears fare far worse in encounters with humans with nearly 33% being killed.

Lots of interesting bear stats.

[pooka]

Originally posted by milkmanchris:
Fortunate for the runners maybe ?

I'd say.
See..

There's one thing that Boyd hates more than a charging bear.

High school cross country runners. They lucked out and he ran out of ammo.

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Why?

I live in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, there are wolves, coyotes, and black bears around here. I've personally seen two black bears within a mile of my home in the last 3 years. Plus, there's a medium security correctional facility about 4 miles from me, and the inmates escape from there from time to time.

[milkmanchris]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Plus, there's a medium security correctional facility about 4 miles from me, and the inmates escape from there from time to time.

Must be good for property prices

[Scallywag]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Why?

If I moved to the States, the first thing I'd do is buy a handgun. The ease of gun ownership is one of best things about the US. That, and "Girls Gone Wild." I mean, how great is a country where hot chicks flash their tits for some crappy t-shirt or beads.

Guns and tits. That's America to me.

[milkmanchris]

Originally posted by Scallywag:

Guns and tits. That's America to me.

Seconded

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Scallywag:
I mean, how great is a country where hot chicks flash their tits for some crappy t-shirt or beads.

Guns and tits. That's America to me.

Those girls get paid.
Better make it: Guns, $$, and tits.


Now post something about bears.

[Scallywag]

Originally posted by AKcrab:

Now post something about bears.

I feel bad about the bear. Instead, I wish he had shot that stupid teddy bear, Snuggles, that pitches some laundry detergent. I'd love to pump a few rounds into that furry POS.

[Scallywag]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
If he'd had anything less than a .44, he would have been bear chow. I normally carry a .357 in those types of situations... probably wouldn't have even slowed it down.

Could a 9mm handgun, like a Glock or Beretta, bring down a bear?

[Gator Lager]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AKcrab:

off subject.

AKcrab how's your 3 leg dog doing ? hope he's good

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Scallywag:
Could a 9mm handgun, like a Glock or Beretta, bring down a bear?

Only if you got really, really lucky, like you shot him in the eye. I don't think a 9mm could penetrate deep enough to hit a vital organ. Hell, I'm not sure it could hit *any* organ. Most folks I know who carry a handgun for bear protection have a .44, .45, or .357.

Originally posted by Gator Lager:
AKcrab how's your 3 leg dog doing ? hope he's good

He's completely recovered, thanks! Still waiting for the hair to grow in fully, but other than that he's great. He's amazingly fast, much better on three legs than Blaze was.

[Scallywag]

Originally posted by AKcrab:
Only if you got really, really lucky, like you shot him in the eye. I don't think a 9mm could penetrate deep enough to hit a vital organ. Hell, I'm not sure it could hit *any* organ. Most folks I know who carry a handgun for bear protection have a .44, .45, or .357.

Besides their bear-stopping abilities, do .44s, .45s, or .357s have any other advantages over 9mm handguns?

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by KarlG:
Must be open season on people.

Yep. Looks like a brown bear jihad.

An Anchorage man was airlifted to a Cordova hospital yesterday after he was attacked by a brown bear in the Yakataga State Game Refuge.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 47-year-old Donald Welty was attacked and bit on the head by the bear near the Tsiu River.

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Scallywag:
Besides their bear-stopping abilities, do .44s, .45s, or .357s have any other advantages over 9mm handguns?

Not in my opinion. They kick a hell of a lot more!

My buddy had a 9mm, a .45 semi-auto, and a .50 caliber desert eagle. My favorite was the 9mm, but if I encountered a bear with one, I would probably just shoot in the air hoping to scare it off.

[TheBadgerHunter]

I have a mild distaste for guns, in any use, but its nice he didn't become bear food. Although I can't see why the bear would have attacked him if he back off snappy.

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by TheBadgerHunter:
I have a mild distaste for guns, in any use, but its nice he didn't become bear food. Although I can't see why the bear would have attacked him if he back off snappy.

Because the bear was sitting on a recent kill, it's a very dangerous situation. From what I know and have heard, once a brown bear is in a final charge (they've stopped huffing, chuffing, and bluffing) it's a done deal. Unfortunately, we'll never know.

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by Scallywag:
Could a 9mm handgun, like a Glock or Beretta, bring down a bear?

No. A 9mm would really piss one off though. Seriously, like was said earlier, you'd have to hit it in the eye, because even if you hit it in the head, a brown bear's skull is so thick the slug would just bounce off. IMO, and I'd say this is >95% accurate, you could unload a 9mm (all 10 rounds) into a charging brown bear and it wouldn't even slow down.

[iREZ]

I've only run into one bear in my life, and he promised not to hurt me as long as I gave him my picinic basket, here's a pic as he ran off.

[greenamp]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
No. A 9mm would really piss one off though. Seriously, like was said earlier, you'd have to hit it in the eye, because even if you hit it in the head, a brown bear's skull is so thick the slug would just bounce off. IMO, and I'd say this is >95% accurate, you could unload a 9mm (all 10 rounds) into a charging brown bear and it wouldn't even slow down.

Hmm, I think a 9mm, with a good, high grain round round like a hydrashock, would have taken down the bear. Especially at point blank. Would've required more shots though, like all 11

[greenamp]

Originally posted by Scallywag:
Besides their bear-stopping abilities, do .44s, .45s, or .357s have any other advantages over 9mm handguns?

Here's a good article on stopping power.

quote:
"The stopping power of any handgun bullet turns out to be a function of its ability to disrupt vital bodily functions, not the diameter or weight or initial shape of the bullet that strikes the victim. For example, the difference in the size of the entrance hole made by a .451" bullet compared to that made by a .355" bullet in an elastic (semi-self sealing) material like skin turns out to be largely irrelevant to stopping power. The idea (which I have heard expressed) that a bigger bullet makes a bigger hole to "bleed out" a man or an animal is faintly ridiculous.

The principle method of both stopping and killing with any firearm, whether rifle or pistol or shotgun, is the disruption of vital bodily functions. Fatally damage any animal's heart, liver, lungs, or central nervous system (including Homo sapiens) and it is not going to live long enough to bleed out. Fail to put your bullet in a vital spot and you are very likely to have a problem with a man or an animal. That is not to say that some bullet placements might not eventually cause death by loss of blood, or infection, or some other mechanism, but that is never the goal of any hunter OR gunfighter who wants an immediate one shot stop."

[olePigeon]

Poor bear.