357 vs. 9mm for hiking Grizz country

[Wrench]

Read my post again. I flat out said I'd need to practice with a S&W .500 magnum.

Now, I can shoot my 6" S&W 629-1 (.44 mag) fast enough I occasionally used it for plate shoots only 5 years ago.

I can shoot a .500 S&W half as fast as the 629-1, and about as accurate, too. But, again, I'd need practice, practice, practice with a .500 mag.

I'm much faster, accurate with my early 1990's vintage ParaOrdnance 1911's (P12, P13, and P14) than any revolver. Carried, competed, and used a 1911 since the mid 70s.

Black or grizz with the 10 mm? Was it charging you or did it not see you when you fired?

Not to minimize your kill or skill, but there's a huge difference between killing a bear who doesn't know you're there, and where you can take your time to aim.....and killing a bear that's charging you out of nowhere, intending to kill you, with little or no time to aim for kill zone.

My post was in reference to the op, but since you asked,

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[Trial153]

I recently sold my 10mm and will carrying on of my 9mm with underwood extreme penetrators and hard cast. They shoot extremely well for me and I shoot my 9s way better then my 10mm. I have enough of the above mentions loads for the rest of my life. And weight and size savings will be a welcome bonus especially in Alaska.

 

[FLH]

You'll carry that 500 for a little while. Then you'll realize you're packing a boat anchor for an extremely unlikely and buy something lighter.

"If it can go wrong, it will go wrong". For better or worse, this is engrained in me. A thing is extremely unlikely until it happens. As the enraged sow closes the last ten feet with blood red eyes, will the victim be thinking:

~ "So glad I brought this 9mm"

or

~ "What the **** was I thinking!?"

===========================

Are you more near FB or more near ANC? About when does winter darkness happen? How long does it last? Ever meet Heimo?

Planning 3 week AK trip for Aug/Sep. Arrive FB. Travel Parks Hwy to Talkeetna to either Glen or Wasilla to Tok Cutoff to Tok to Chicken to Eagle. That's the loose plan. Need to refine it.

Wish I had 6 months to scope out AK for possible retirement. 3 weeks just doesn't cut it but it's all I have.

Thanks....

 

[FLH]

My post was in reference to the op, but since you asked,

image host

Thanks for posting.

Was this an aimed hunting shot (brain?) or defensive shot against charging bear?

 

[z987k]

"If it can go wrong, it will go wrong". For better or worse, this is engrained in me. A thing is extremely unlikely until it happens. As the enraged sow closes the last ten feet with blood red eyes, will the victim be thinking:

~ "So glad I brought this 9mm"

or

~ "What the **** was I thinking!?"

===========================

Are you more near FB or more near ANC? About when does winter darkness happen? How long does it last? Ever meet Heimo?

Planning 3 week AK trip for Aug/Sep. Arrive FB. Travel Parks Hwy to Talkeetna to either Glen or Wasilla to Tok Cutoff to Tok to Chicken to Eagle. That's the loose plan. Need to refine it.

Wish I had 6 months to scope out AK for possible retirement. 3 weeks just doesn't cut it but it's all I have.

Thanks....

This whole bear defense thing seems to be endlessly debated almost entirely by people that don't spend much time around bears. They're not out there hunting you. They almost never randomly attack people. The moose are much more likely to kill you. You can whatif yourself into a 200lb backpack.
If 10lbs of handgun is what you need to feel safe and you don't mind carrying it go for it. If your idea of in the wild is on the seat of a 4 wheeler or 30 steps from your truck, it won't matter in the slightest.

As far as a trip to AK, my recommendation is to skip the road system entirely. Go to the parks and places you have to fly or boat to. Wrangel St. Elias NP, and not the copper mine. Lake Clark NP, Gates of the Arctic NP, Kenai Fjords NP but not exit glacier, Katmai NP and make sure to include 10k smokes, not just the lakes, Bearing Land Bridge NP, Kobuk Valley NP, Noatak NP, Yukon Charlie NP, Wood-Tikchik SP, Glacier Bay NP.

 

[FLH]

This whole bear defense thing seems to be endlessly debated almost entirely by people that don't spend much time around bears. They're not out there hunting you. They almost never randomly attack people. The moose are much more likely to kill you. You can whatif yourself into a 200lb backpack.
If 10lbs of handgun is what you need to feel safe and you don't mind carrying it go for it. If your idea of in the wild is on the seat of a 4 wheeler or 30 steps from your truck, it won't matter in the slightest.

As far as a trip to AK, my recommendation is to skip the road system entirely. Go to the parks and places you have to fly or boat to. Wrangel St. Elias NP, and not the copper mine. Lake Clark NP, Gates of the Arctic NP, Kenai Fjords NP but not exit glacier, Katmai NP and make sure to include 10k smokes, not just the lakes, Bearing Land Bridge NP, Kobuk Valley NP, Noatak NP, Yukon Charlie NP, Wood-Tikchik SP, Glacier Bay NP.

Thanks for the AK tips.

My trip is a retirement recon trip. Three weeks is laughable but it's what I got. If I ever retire to AK I'll have time to properly visit the wilds. Yukon Charlie and Wrangel St. Elias are at the top of my list. Gates and Brooks, also.

And a long float trip, too. Like this guy, except with company:

==========================

My idea of wilds isn't on a 4 wheeler or 30 steps from my truck, so let's get that outta the way.

"Wild" is where Heimo lives and has lived since he moved back to AK after his first 1973 trip there. You remember his first trip, right? That's when he worked someone's trapline and nearly froze and starved. Then he moved back home. Then back to AK.

The Final Frontiersman

The inspiration for The Last Alaskans—the hit documentary series now on the Discovery+—James Campbell’s inimitable insider account of a family’s no...

www.simonandschuster.com

Wild is the Brooks Range where noted AK bush pilot Bud Helmericks lived in the 1940s with his first wife, Connie.

Wild is 1930's British Columbia where cattle rancher Richmond Hobson broke trail, chopped trees, and built a barn for his cattle before building a small cabin for him and his wife. He wrote about it in Grass Beyond The Mountains:

Amazon.com: Grass Beyond the Mountains: Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier: 9781400026623: Hobson, Richmond P.: Books

Amazon.com: Grass Beyond the Mountains: Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier: 9781400026623: Hobson, Richmond P.: Books

www.amazon.com

From what I see, plenty of Alaskans use 4 wheelers and trucks in the woods and wilds. Les and Norma Cobb did in 1974 and later. And Bud Helmericks sure did. On his own private island in Gates of The Arctic. No one in AK when he was alive, or even now, would accuse Bud of not knowing what the wilds were just because he used an ATV and truck in those wilds.

Bud's 4 wheelers and trucks are included in the sale of his island. "Only" $4m

Alaska's Remote Properties LLC, Anchorage, Alaska

It's surprising how many remote areas with access limited to plane, boat, ATV/snowmachine, have 4 wheelers, ATV's, even small tractors. These are areas without roads, cell service, or another human within sometimes hundreds of miles:

Alaska's Remote Property LLC, Anchorage, Alaska

 

[dla]

Always fun to see who posts the most on these threads.

 

[FLH]

And to see all the snipers in the woodwork.

Always fun to see who posts the most on these threads.

 

[NCoutdoorsman90]

Coming from someone in NC, that’s never really had to deal with any type of bear as of now. How often do you have close encounters with a bear? Whether it’s a grizzly, brown or black? All the posts I’ve read about them makes it seem like it’s a pretty common occurrence.

 

[z987k]

Coming from someone in NC, that’s never really had to deal with any type of bear as of now. How often do you have close encounters with a bear? Whether it’s a grizzly, brown or black? All the posts I’ve read about them makes it seem like it’s a pretty common occurrence.

Rarely. It's blown way out of proportion.

 

[NCoutdoorsman90]

Kinda what I was thinking. Of course anything can happen, but wasn’t sure if it was as regular as it sounds.

 

[grfox92]

Rarely. It's blown way out of proportion.

That greatly depends where you are.

Most guys who hunt grizz country are hunting places that there is a possibility that you might see a grizzly bear.

Then there are places where you see bears every single day and there are bear tracks quite literally everywhere you go.

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[yfarm]

Neighbor went on a bear hunt 150 miles east of Kotzebue for a week, saw bears daily, one day saw 7. Got his bear, then the trip got interesting. Guide got very sick from drinking river water, started to rain and their gravel bar landing zone was underwater. Ended up being evacuated by the coasties, left everything there, guide flew back in the following week and retrieved all their gear and the hide after he got out of the hospital.

 

[NCoutdoorsman90]

I understand seeing bears when you’re in there environment. But, then actively engaging charging you seems like it would be less common, but then again I’ve only seen grizzly’s in the zoo.

 

[49ereric]

This whole bear defense thing seems to be endlessly debated almost entirely by people that don't spend much time around bears. They're not out there hunting you. They almost never randomly attack people. The moose are much more likely to kill you. You can whatif yourself into a 200lb backpack.
If 10lbs of handgun is what you need to feel safe and you don't mind carrying it go for it. If your idea of in the wild is on the seat of a 4 wheeler or 30 steps from your truck, it won't matter in the slightest.

As far as a trip to AK, my recommendation is to skip the road system entirely. Go to the parks and places you have to fly or boat to. Wrangel St. Elias NP, and not the copper mine. Lake Clark NP, Gates of the Arctic NP, Kenai Fjords NP but not exit glacier, Katmai NP and make sure to include 10k smokes, not just the lakes, Bearing Land Bridge NP, Kobuk Valley NP, Noatak NP, Yukon Charlie NP, Wood-Tikchik SP, Glacier Bay NP.

Moose are just nasty up close. Hunting partner in 1976 got chased and almost run over but as he ran he grabbed a small tree and spun around it and moose went right on by but after it hoofed his hand. He smiled the entire boat trip and vehicle ride to Fort Francis to get sewn up. Lucky to be alive. 140 plus stitches.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

I lived in Kodiak for 3 years. There's a huge population of bears there. I spent a ton of time in the outdoors. I never had a close encounter that I didn't want to have. I set up to take pics at a path that led to the dump, and did in fact have a close encounter there. This was in the days of film and unfortunately the pics didn't come out. I was unarmed and about 20 feet from an 800 pound bear. I am no "grizzly man" and have a deep respect for how ferocious they can be. There are about 15 brown bear attacks per year in North America. Your time would be better spent mitigating more significant threats like obesity, car accidents etc.

 

[z987k]

That greatly depends where you are.

Most guys who hunt grizz country are hunting places that there is a possibility that you might see a grizzly bear.

Then there are places where you see bears every single day and there are bear tracks quite literally everywhere you go.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

Oh it's rather odd to not see a bear if you spend a few days in the woods. It's extremely rare for that bear to care about anything but food or to care about you at all.
Proper handling of smelly things reduces the problem to almost 0.

 

[grfox92]

Oh it's rather odd to not see a bear if you spend a few days in the woods. It's extremely rare for that bear to care about anything but food or to care about you at all.
Proper handling of smelly things reduces the problem to almost 0.

I'm talking specifically about grizzly bears, and I've been charged twice in the last 2 years. Once while cutting up a mule deer and once while hiking in. We saw the bear before she saw us. She charged from 100 yards away and spun at 40 yards with 3 cubs behind her. In my experience. They very much care about people being present in their area.

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[z987k]

I'm talking specifically about grizzly bears, and I've been charged twice in the last 2 years. Once while cutting up a mule deer and once while hiking in. We saw the bear before she saw us. She charged from 100 yards away and spun at 40 yards with 3 cubs behind her. In my experience. They very much care about people being present in their area.

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Cubs change it a good bit. If I see cubs, we keep way clear.

 

[Flatlander45]

just went through this analysis myself. ended up with a springfield 10mm xdm elite compact and 220 grain hardcast bullets. razco holster mounted below my AGC bino holder.