I carry spray elk hunting, only time I ever unholstered it was for a rutting moose after dark, never seen him but we could hear him roaring in the direction we were stuck going. I don't feel it's a concern enough to pack the extra weight of a side arm. If I did pack one it will be my S&W Highway Patrolman .357. I kind of like the Taurus Judge that you could put a couple of rounds of buckshot followed by something a little more lethal in the remaining cylinders.

Legends of the Fall knife...    :cool:    

I am not a bear hunter but have read a lot about bears and bear hunting over the last 50 years or so. I DO know a little about handguns. I suspect that most of us would be screwed whether we were packing a pistol or spray. I doubt that the majority of us could pull off the shot in the bedlam of a full out charge. Nonetheless, I would be carrying my 7.5 inch barreled Virginian Dragoon in .44 mag. By the way, I read in a book that chronicled a number of bear attacks that there is no record of a black bear climbing more than 33 feet up a tree to get to somebody. That makes the magic number 34.

If you must carry a gun for protection from bears, this is an original Howdah, .69cal. It shoots a lead roundball bigger than a hickory nut. The Howdah was named after the basket that hunters sit in on top of an elephant when they hunted Tigers in India. When the Tiger jumped up to get at the hunters the big caliber double barrel pistol took care of the job.

 

WWTD? Pretty sure he wound up Griz fodder in that one. Yea, Great Movie!

Ron, what does THAT BEAST weigh ?  If you could incorporate capsaician (sp?) into black powder that would be the beast. .  shoot em  AND spray em  with the cloud.

ChuckC

I told you yesterday Jeff, all you need is a rolled up newspaper and loud voice to move them on! lol ;-)

A friend had a summer job working in the kitchen at a national park in Alberta. They would always have two people to take out the garbage. One person to dump the waste into the bear proof dumpster and the other to scare the bears away during the process.
They would beat pots and pans together to frighten the bears.

Sent you a PM,Dragonheart

Your .41 will do an outstanding job. The most underrated of all he magnums. Stoked with heavy 240-265gr hard cast lead loads from Buffalo Bore, Grizzly Ammo or, Double Tap will drop most any black bear in its tracks and suffice for a griz also

BTW. The ".44" mag isn't .44 but .423. The .41 is .41, meaning given similar weight projectiles the newer (.41 rem mag is the younger of the Keith magnums) has a better sectional density thus better penetration and energy.

Carry the N-frame and rest easy.

Very few people here have ever seen a brown/grizzly in the wild, much less taken a shot at one, much less stopped an attack with a handgun.  You might take to heart what this guy says, who has done all of that and more:

   Canister of bear spray is best bet for Alaska backcountry runners

"BTW. The ".44" mag isn't .44 but .423"

Actually it's .429

... Rolled up newspaper.

Check out we'd Daems and 7xleather he makes a great chest rig for an n frame.  I use one for my 44

Ross I hear ya.  Hum, newspaper, .41, bear spray?  After reading the article my thoughts of jogging have vanished. LOL!

Now I know I wont be jogging!  Jeez!  This dude is quick!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7RsjcRiGM&index=13&list=PLN6RAzsRyFgptt_7bCVC809paocYMl_QG

I carry spray, and either a .44 mag Redhawk, or a Win Mod 94 Trapper 30-30.

The trapper carries 5-rnds in the magazine, so I carry it without a round in the chamber, slung upside down and hanging to the right. It doesn't get in the way, but I can bring it into action quickly. It is probably better than the .44 in that I can shoot it more accurately. Rossi makes something similar to the Trapper.

I have been following this thread closely and have thought about it from several angles.

1.hunters are more vulnerable than most people because we like to be quite and stealthy. We don't like yelling "hey bear" as we hunt.

2. We cover more back country ground than most.

We also tend to project towards weapons for protection.  
I have found through 25 years working in the forest common sense about bears mostly prevails.

be alert, understand bear habitats, learn to identify and read bear or predator sign, and read bears needs (what does that bear want you to do and what is it going to do to make it happen (protection of food, young, is it predatory, was it surprised, etc. ) learn to read this and you want response you need to do.  |This will again prove your brain to be your best weapon.

I carry spray when hunting due to hopefully dealing with dead animals using prey calls.

Because everyone makes mistakes reading wildlife, and like any military personal, enforcement officers, etc., you should always have a back up. (spray or guns).

I haven't met Ray or Nate face-to-face yet Jeff but I'm staking my safety on the the likelihood that I'm faster than everyone else in camp and I'm not above tripping someone as I sprint by.... ;-)

QuoteOriginally posted by Rossco7002:
I haven't met Ray or Nate face-to-face yet Jeff but I'm staking my safety on the the likelihood that I'm faster than everyone else in camp and I'm not above tripping someone as I sprint by.... ;-)

Rule number one:

Never hunt dangerous game with anybody you can't outrun!