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Mtman725 said:
I hear this ALL the time, I live in grizzly country, worked in AK on the west coast fish guiding for years, been woofed ,charged, investigated, smelled thru a wall tent in the middle of the night. An all out attack last 3 seconds from start to finish. So you have 1.5 seconds to ID your target and get off a killing shot, bleeding out is chewing on you as he a or she is do it. And as the bears range grows and it will and is. There's going to be more and more in counters . Best is to hunt in pairs, if someone gets something down,Everyone pitches in till its been done, keep a clean camp, and be bear aware. The last thing you want to do is shoot. Beleave me on this, you haven't got a clue as to how fast it happens. If your seeing grizz sign get out of there stay away from kill sights,.I'll be using a 50 o r 54.
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I totally agree with Mtman! Having a good bit of experence from living in Alaska for many years and being around big bears. When I first moved there at 19 I carried a 357 with me while fishing or in the bush. A fishing buddy ask me why I carried it. I told him for bear....He told me that most likley it would'nt do me any good...It would just make one mad!! This as he carried a pump shotgun loaded with slug and buck. After considerable though and a couple of years I too started carring a pump gun!
I would go with what you shoot well in either a .50 or .54, I would tend to lean towards the .54 as that is my ball of choice. BUT I would add I would shoot well built bullets! 3 Trees
 
I will be with 2 others that have Centerfire rifles. I’ll be using the .58 double with… 600gr projectiles.
I feel that’s sufficient. I suppose others should Up there Defense.

Keep in mind- this is a rifle to use for hunting Elk/Black Bear at 100 yards also. Luckily I have express sights…. And a Ghost ring.
appalichian hunter said:
Take along a bottle of soy sauce, heard they like that. I hunt a lot with muzzleloaders and some of them are large bore but saying that and I never have hunted grizzly bears but have hunted successfully black bears. I would go with a large bore center fire rifle and a large bore revolver. Why risk it. Good luck and good hunting. Pics after the hunt would be nice.
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There is a local here who guides for bear and is an avid bear hunter himself. He has seen several hundred bear shot with every weapon you can hunt with. Some are 400+ pounds, big but not griz size. I asked him about bear protection, because Mr. Murphy must have it out for me! Lived my whole life with out seeing a bear, made the mistake of saying that out loud and now I run into four or five a year, some only a few feet away. Like the night I needed to get something out of the barn. Pull the truck up into the double barn door opening and as I'm sliding out of the seat I hear a crash and see movement in my peripheral vision. Turn my head just in time to see the bear headed straight at me. While I'm sliding back into the seat and pulling the door closed he's squeezing between the left front bumper and the barn door frame! He was big enough to make the truck rock as he squeezed through. I had put my oat seed in bulk bags in the barn, and while I was out planting the bear came in for an easy snack!
The man's answer to my question was "hard cast and plenty of powder". He said that their hide and the layer of fat can absorb alot of energy, so no soft lead or hollow point bullets. He said you want something that can punch through them from stem to stern, that way you know the rounds energy can get to the vitals or break major bones and joints.
Hope that helps some and sorry about the long-winded reply.
 
I have been perusing this thread & haven't noticed any recommendations from anybody that has "survived" an attack from a Griz! I think that pretty much sums it up as far as weapon choice goes. If a Griz wants your a$$, he most likely is gonna get it no matter what you are carrying.
 
just a few items to read before your outing.
 
But once Drouillard figured out how to place the killing shot, he was recording one shot kills in the Journals. Other bear encounters usually required more than one shot. How many did the Corps of Discovery need to kill the first grizzly they encountered? 15? or more?

Yes that may be true, but he was hunting the bear and taking the shot at a relaxed bear not a charging bear, big difference.
 
Old Hawkeye said:
I have been perusing this thread & haven't noticed any recommendations from anybody that has "survived" an attack from a Griz! I think that pretty much sums it up as far as weapon choice goes. If a Griz wants your a$$, he most likely is gonna get it no matter what you are carrying.
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deerstalkert said:
just a few items to read before your outing.
Click to expand...
Penske said:
But once Drouillard figured out how to place the killing shot, he was recording one shot kills in the Journals. Other bear encounters usually required more than one shot. How many did the Corps of Discovery need to kill the first grizzly they encountered? 15? or more?

Yes that may be true, but he was hunting the bear and taking the shot at a relaxed bear not a charging bear, big difference.
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So- From what I’m understanding is, Hunt with others. I plan to do so. Have modern Firearms with others, I plan to do so…..
And Nothing muzzleloader related is Good enough????



THAT IS (Including a Double Barrel .58 with 600gr non hollow point maxi projectiles and 130gr “Max 140” of Swiss 2f and RWS caps ? )

You realize that Val Forget went to Africa and hunted all the Biggest most dangerous with a single .58 and a Modern back up.

I think my double or another member here stated a .72 Jager he has with 150gr … backed up by Modern rifles would be a Good choice to hunt Elk/Black Bear in Montana. Grizz County that is.

Or is that incorrect in your opinions?
 
Africa58double said:
So- From what I’m understanding is, Hunt with others. I plan to do so. Have modern Firearms with others, I plan to do so…..
And Nothing muzzleloader related is Good enough????



THAT IS (Including a Double Barrel .58 with 600gr non hollow point maxi projectiles and 130gr “Max 140” of Swiss 2f and RWS caps ? )

You realize that Val Forget went to Africa and hunted all the Biggest most dangerous with a single .58 and a Modern back up.

I think my double or another member here stated a .72 Jager he has with 150gr … backed up by Modern rifles would be a Good choice to hunt Elk/Black Bear in Montana. Grizz County that is.

Or is that incorrect in your opinions?
Click to expand...
you have absolutely answered your question. peripherally the best answer to this whole thread is just hunt as you would anywhere. if you are starting at every shadow, thinking it is a Griz with designs on your tender body, you will not enjoy your hunt.
i was bow hunting one year in the Canuck basin one year and came onto some Griz tracks a measured 13 inches long. i ceded the basin to ole ephrim, even though i had a high powered hand gun strapped on.
just don't dwell on the possibilities and concentrate on the hunt.
we have a few Black bears here i feel under gunned when holding a charcoal burner.
 

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I started the thread to See “What others Do” and How “They” Prepare with what rifles they use .
I feel well prepared. Not all that much difference than Safari hunt
 
Never much worried about bears, but I would want a big rifled double gun in at least .58 if I was hunting them. If I was hunting bear with a muzzleloader, I would not have a backup safety unmentionable. What is the point of using a muzzleloader for the job if you have modern weapons at your disposal. A big part of predator hunting is that your game can fight back. For that reason it would not be within my comfort zone to hunt the bruins with a traditional firearm. It would be great to get there, but my years may not be long enough to complete that worthy goal and do some of the projects I am working now. I understand this is a scenario where you are hunting something else, but I would probably carry my deer rifle and bear spray if worried about it.
 
I think the point here is that about anything from a pistol to large cal rifle will stop a charging bear if you manage to hit him right, but that’s the question. Can you make the shot when everything is on the line? A shot that doesn’t kill or cripple instantly is going to be trouble for you. I have no plans of hunting in griz country, but if I had your double 58 I’d feel fine about it.
 
I have been reading the online book: Travels Through the States of North America, and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, During the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. I came across an interesting first person narrative about the Indians hunting bears and the size of ball they use for big game:
At day-break the next morning I took the boat, and went on shore to join a party that, as I had been informed the preceding evening, was going a bear hunting. On landing, I found the men and dogs ready, and having loaded our guns we advanced into the woods. The people here, as in the back parts of the United States, devote a very great part of their time to hunting, and they are well skilled in the pursuit of game of every description. They shoot almost universally with the rifle gun, and are as dextrous at the use of it as any men can be. The guns used by them are all imported from England. Those in most estimation carry balls of the size of thirty to the pound; in the States the hunters very commonly shoot with balls of a much smaller size, sixty of them not weighing more than one pound; but the people in Canada are of opinion that it is better to use the large balls, although more troublesome to carry through the woods, as they inflict much more destructive wounds than the others, and game seldom escapes after being wounded by them.
30 ball to the pound is about 54 to 56 caliber. The Northwest trade guns were commonly made in this caliber.
 
When my son first move to Alaska he sent me a book about infamous bear encounters. One that impressed me involved a grizzly that had killed several people over the years and injured many others. There had been attempts to kill him but this took years before anyone was successful. When they finally skinned him out quite a few bullets were found lodged in his hide and muscle. A few were from black powder cartridge rifles of substantial caliber but were still not enough stop this killer bear.
 
That’s Intriguing to read something from that time period. Very Insightful.
Ya, Neddless to say- You need some Big Balls to go head to head with a large Bruin.
There ya go, my one and only Pun for the thread. Cuz I’ve read all the Bear Thread puns before.
 
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Keep in mind…Val Forget used .
A .58 single muzzleloader to take the largest of game in Africa.
I’m not advocating any above pressure or unsafe muzzleloader practices by pushing the guns to unsafe levels…

Yet if you read pressures just above 100grains and pressure at 140grains… there is a drastic difference.
However the Fps/Energy not so much.
125 grains and a heavy Conical will be sure to impact and do damage. The placement is the Key to resolve the problem.

Large lead and powder amounts, yet he did it.
I feel Rhino and Cape Buffalo are on par with Defense against a Grizzly.

It has been done
 
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@Africa58double I don’t think there’s any doubt that a 58 will kill a griz, or most anything else for that matter, if it’s loaded appropriately. Stopping an all out “I’m going to kill you” charge is going to be a matter of a quick, precise shot that kills or cripples instantly. Most of us are not capable of such marksmanship on a running target that’s trying to escape, much less a running target that’s intent on tearing our face off. Big rounds penetrate better, but you still gotta hit ‘em right. You already know all of that, so I’m not preaching at you, just stating the facts. I’d happily walk into griz country with my 50 cal to hunt black bear and feel just as safe as if I had a 62. Watch your surroundings, know an attack is possible, but not likely, and forget about it.
Note: I have never hunted in griz country. I hunt in black bear country often which is not the same, but is similar.
 
deerstalkert said:
… a cns shot is your only perfect downer on a Griz. or even a Black Bear. those i have killed my share of and some of them have been a hairy.
when i was younger i prided myself of fast draw speed and accuracy. i shudder at the thought of trying even one perfect stopper on a animal that is running with the speed of a horse, straight at me, bobbing its head up and down like a tempest in a teacup, and making a gawd awful sound fit to void my bowels.
did i mention the best bullet would be UDAP bear spray?
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Very well said, if you can stand at the plate and hit a fast pitch softball with your chosen weapon, you’re on the right track. Yes, accuracy close to that or a large bullet clear through the boiler room might do the job. Like Jay Massey once said when asked if a .357 was sufficient for grizz… “Oh yeah, .357’s will kill grizzlies! Eventually…”
 
Hunting, Or Defense?

If hunting- and this Thread is not about that.. Boiler room

If defending against a attacking Bruin… While hunting other game (This threads discussion)….Central Nervous


Ed Pilkington said:
Where is the best place to shoot a large bear? Head, chest, heart?
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