You lucky Americans and your pistolas. I just carry a big ole stick, a knife and a fancy can of hot sauce in an atomizer, with the knowledge that if I ever am attacked, I'm either going to get lucky, or I'm going to die fighting. Fun stuff, eh?
OK, I just had my best laughs in days just upstream^. I have numerous comments about bears, biology, bear guns (bigger is better) ... but . .. it's late in my day that I spent most of out in the backwoods (northern Maine), so for now, I'll just grin, bear it (<-- pun intended), and sleep. But I'll be back when I got some time to read. PS: Good choice on the revolver, Dr. @Jeff Randall.
When I lived out in the US west, and backpacked in CO, NM, UT, WY, OR & WA, I repeatedly ran into a joke among backpackers. Q: How do you know when a grizzly ate a hiker? A: The scat smells like pepper spray and has little bells in it.
Where I grew up in Northern BC, North tip of the Great Bear Rainforest, that was how you differentiated girzz from black bear scat. The bears up there are no joke. 400-650lb blackies, 900+lb grizz. The grizzlies would run the black bears out, or kill those who wouldn't leave. When the area seemed devoid of black bears, that's how you knew a grizz had moved into the area.
Bears are never a joke. I have healthy populations of black and grizz right out my back door (and cats, and wolves...). The reality is that the vast majority of attacks happen so quickly it doesn't really matter what you're carrying. The ones where you have plenty of time to draw, aim and shoot a high caliber handgun accurately are the exception (and/or examples of where people shot, but maybe didn't need to). Not that carrying isn't a good idea (which I do), but high-stress training at close quarters with a big bore on a 35mph moving target that you're probably only going to get one shot on isn't a bad idea, either.
Seriously though, bigger isn’t always better. Decent article on different calibers, it all boils down to penetration though https://www.ammoland.com/2018/02/de...s-rate-37-incidents-by-caliber/#axzz57lsjxLsb
This. I have no misconceptions that I could accurately shoot a bear rushing me to do harm. None. But I do like the idea of having easy access to a large caliber handgun just in case I'm still able to pull the trigger when he's chewing on my skull, or chewing on someone else in my party.
Handguns make good firecrackers too. I honestly think pistols are used more often to scare away bears than to shoot them.
trapper friend of mine carries a Henry .45-70 lever action with brass penetrator rounds, slung over his shouldr all the time. Another one on the snowmobile handlebars or on the ATV. . I thought the grizz in Whistler/Cheakamus/Pemberton were massive.........the ones in Kimblery BC are pushing 900 - 1200 LB's < thats Kodiak size.....
A stainless Henry "All Weather" .45-70 lever has long been my dream rifle. I'll own one, one day. *pic borrowed from the interwebs*
^ thats the one i want too. this lil feller is only a year old an about 200 lbs - still no ear tag or tracking collar.
Never took you for a revolver guy Jeffe. That's one sweet piece! If I could fit my 454 Casull Super Redhawk in a kit bag, that's what I'd carry.
I EDC’d a scandium S&W revolver in .45acp for a while. Recoil pulled bullets out of their case before you got to shoot them and the finish scratched easily. But it was super accurate and you didn’t know you were carrying it. Nice pistol Mr Randall! Only @200-400 pound blackbear here in WV and the hound guys keep them educated about humans. I still carry a pistol while hiking, but I carry one 24/7 anyway.