Hey, y'all -- just thought I'd share in case anyone else has had similar questions. I live in a valley in Alaska where there are a lot of bears, black and brown. A guy I work with said he once saw 12 bears on a five mile stretch of my road. ! Trashcans have to be bearproof -- tough, with locking lids -- and some even secure them with cable to a tree so they don't get dragged off on a particularly deliciously stanky week.
Well, they've found us. Knocked over the can last week. Set it back up, and hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, it was knocked over again. Bite marks all over.
Today, I head out the kitchen door to throw something away -- no bear spray, not paying attention -- and when I look up, there's a black furry leg sticking out from behind a good size poplar. Uh-oh. I was leaving, so the door was locked, but she was in the kitchen doing something, and I immediately start rapidly and lightly knocking on the door to get her attention. She leaves the sink and comes to the door, craning her neck around me to see what I was summoning her for -- other than to open the f__king door, lol. She does; I go inside; and in what can only be described as adorable, bear pokes just his head out to look at us -- eye to eye, 20 feet away. Then he heads back to the trashcan!
Bear traps are illegal, boo, because wouldn't that be a hoot, and we're not allowed to kill them -- and I wouldn't want to -- unless it's in DLP. So off to town I go for some non-lethal rounds. I find Fiocchi "15 RUBBER BUCKSHOT" for about $20. I've got a Remington Marine Magnum -- always wanted one and didn't get it before the reorganization, and when I saw one after the reorganization, I bought it on the spot -- cylinder bore, bead sight only, long-tube magazine. Dead nuts reliable.
Time to test. I get a carboard box out of the garage, folded flat, and turn the flaps under so that it grossly resembles a bear standing on all fours broadside. I download a decibel meter app because I have no idea how loud the deterrent round will be if it ever needs to be used. I move the carboard out to where the trashcan normally stands -- 36 measured feet from the door. Ear plugs in. Bang!
I could not have been happier with the result: 14 of 15 rubber pellets hit in a pattern vertically right at POA, spreading laterally nearly along the imagined bear's horizontal centerline. The deibel meter read 110, so that's a set of earplugs needed and now kept right with the gun.
At first, I thought I would put three of the Fiocchis in, but then she ever so astutely asks, "What if he doesn't run away after I shoot him the first time?" Great question; wish I'd thought of it. Right. So I put five Federal Premium copper-plated 00-buckshot up the tube, the Fiochhi rubber buckshot deterrent round at the bottom and first to be chambered. He might never be back, but if he is, we're ready to move him to the next nearest neighbor anyway. And if that's not far enough, into a charcoal pit for one hell of a barbeque.
Well, they've found us. Knocked over the can last week. Set it back up, and hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, it was knocked over again. Bite marks all over.
Today, I head out the kitchen door to throw something away -- no bear spray, not paying attention -- and when I look up, there's a black furry leg sticking out from behind a good size poplar. Uh-oh. I was leaving, so the door was locked, but she was in the kitchen doing something, and I immediately start rapidly and lightly knocking on the door to get her attention. She leaves the sink and comes to the door, craning her neck around me to see what I was summoning her for -- other than to open the f__king door, lol. She does; I go inside; and in what can only be described as adorable, bear pokes just his head out to look at us -- eye to eye, 20 feet away. Then he heads back to the trashcan!
Bear traps are illegal, boo, because wouldn't that be a hoot, and we're not allowed to kill them -- and I wouldn't want to -- unless it's in DLP. So off to town I go for some non-lethal rounds. I find Fiocchi "15 RUBBER BUCKSHOT" for about $20. I've got a Remington Marine Magnum -- always wanted one and didn't get it before the reorganization, and when I saw one after the reorganization, I bought it on the spot -- cylinder bore, bead sight only, long-tube magazine. Dead nuts reliable.
Time to test. I get a carboard box out of the garage, folded flat, and turn the flaps under so that it grossly resembles a bear standing on all fours broadside. I download a decibel meter app because I have no idea how loud the deterrent round will be if it ever needs to be used. I move the carboard out to where the trashcan normally stands -- 36 measured feet from the door. Ear plugs in. Bang!
I could not have been happier with the result: 14 of 15 rubber pellets hit in a pattern vertically right at POA, spreading laterally nearly along the imagined bear's horizontal centerline. The deibel meter read 110, so that's a set of earplugs needed and now kept right with the gun.
At first, I thought I would put three of the Fiocchis in, but then she ever so astutely asks, "What if he doesn't run away after I shoot him the first time?" Great question; wish I'd thought of it. Right. So I put five Federal Premium copper-plated 00-buckshot up the tube, the Fiochhi rubber buckshot deterrent round at the bottom and first to be chambered. He might never be back, but if he is, we're ready to move him to the next nearest neighbor anyway. And if that's not far enough, into a charcoal pit for one hell of a barbeque.
