re: Grizzly bear kills husband, wife and their dog at national park in Alberta, Canada

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I'm just not accepting I cant shimmy around that tree as fast as something 600lbs. With a whole lot more skin in the game

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No doubt lol I'm still unconvinced I couldnt stay opposite that big bastard from a 3ft pine tree. I think he gets pissed off and moves on with his life after 1-2hrs. I'm just not accepting I cant shimmy around that tree as fast as something 600lbs. With a whole lot more skin in the game

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I was badly mauled by a brown bear in Alaska. I wrote a successful book on the subject. I researched hundreds of bear attacks and learned quite a bit. Black bears and brown/grizzly bears are completely different animals with different modes of attack, different 'triggers' and require different modes of defense. I can only speak in probabilities, but most of the time a black bear will push you, test you, follow you before attacking. A large handgun might be useful. You'll have time (probably) to aim and take a brain shot. Brown/grizzlies almost never do that. They are ambush predators. Your first inkling of an attack will be the sound of breaking brush as the bear comes from the side or behind you from 25-30 yards away at speeds up to 30mph. They won't make that rush until its crept in very close - 25-30 yards. You will not have time to draw a handgun. I had a rifle in my hands and didn't have time to level it before it ran me down. The trigger for the attack? I had just blithely invaded its space while it snoozed in the brush on a peaceful afternoon. I couldn't make noise because I was stalking a herd of blacktails on a mountainside, but if the bear had sensed my approach it likely would have just padded off without me ever knowing of its presence. Or, it may have made a threat display, a warning that if heeded by backing away would leave me perfectly safe. I've been in that situation a number of times and never had an issue. In an ACTUAL attack, as above, a bear coming at you full tilt you're pretty much screwed unless the bear is slowed or detoured by intervening brush or trees giving you the extra seconds needed. The problem with handguns is that the only sure stop on a browny with that limited handgun power is to brain him. The brain isn't where you think it is. It's not behind the forehead. That distinct forehead on a brown/grizzly is created by a sagittal crest on top of the skull, an attachment for neck and jaw muscles. The brain is much lower, directly behind the nose and mouth. A shot above the eyes does nothing except create pain, pain that will encourage extra punishment from the bear. A bear's brain is the size of a softball, and coming at you on a bouncing path at up to 30 mph. Can you instantly draw and hit that ball? Are you Jerry Miculek? Black bears - handguns, yeah, probably be fine. Brown bears. No. You'd better have a shotgun, or if hunting, a rifle with enough punch to make a hole from one end of the bear to another, enough to power to knock him down for a second killing shot. Furthermore, if you are hunting with a rifle mounting a typical 3x9 or 4x12 optic, you have no sights for a close range encounter. You're blind. If you hunt in brown/grizzly country, get a 1x4 or 1x6 optic, and keep it on 1x until you NEED higher magnification. When you take your deer, elk, caribou immediately dial down to 1x again, because that blood pool you just created may well draw bears.

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No doubt lol I'm still unconvinced I couldnt stay opposite that big bastard from a 3ft pine tree. I think he gets pissed off and moves on with his life after 1-2hrs. I'm just not accepting I cant shimmy around that tree as fast as something 600lbs. With a whole lot more skin in the game

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