What are you carrying in g-bear country?

[gbflyer]

“This is my rifle, this is my gun….”

 

[medvedyt]

when rifle hunting onlly rifle as our gvt did not trust us to have anything else ...

we call bear spray, bear seasoning here ...

 

[UTJL]

Rifle and bear spray. I don’t see a reason to carry another 2-3lbs for a pistol and holster. But I also switch to pistol and bear spray when hauling meat.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I ain't screwing around.

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Rifle and Glock 20 with Underwood 200gr hardcast.

 

[IDVortex]

Rifle while hunting, handgun at camp for if I get something down and have a packout.

If backpacking in, ill have both.

 

[TradLife406]

Anyone switched to 9 Mike Mike with hot hard casts? Probably about time to teach my oldest daughter to shoot a pistol. Doubt she can handle a 10 or 45 Super. But I've got a G34 and a XMacro. That X macro in a chest rig would be slick.
Hunting an area right now where that has a couple griz. Not exactly on the Montana front. Honestly I didn't even think there were black bears in there until this past weekend. Ha the griz that supposedly lives in there was down in the nearby town in someone's yard. So he's on vacation .

Figure a bunch of well placed hot 9's are better than a bad placed 10's.

And I'm not sold on mace. Especially when the wind is blowing 25 mph.


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[IDVortex]

Anyone switched to 9 Mike Mike with hot hard casts? Probably about time to teach my oldest daughter to shoot a pistol. Doubt she can handle a 10 or 45 Super. But I've got a G34 and a XMacro. That X macro in a chest rig would be slick.
Hunting an area right now where that has a couple griz. Not exactly on the Montana front. Honestly I didn't even think there were black bears in there until this past weekend. Ha the griz that supposedly lives in there was down in the nearby town in someone's yard. So he's on vacation .

Figure a bunch of well placed hot 9's are better than a bad placed 10's.

And I'm not sold on mace. Especially when the wind is blowing 25 mph.


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My pistol is a 9mm. Using regular self defense ammo. Dont remember the brand. Thought of doing hard cast. But with the correct SD ammo, you should have plenty of penetration and expansion to neutralize the threat.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

A slower partner.

 

[rogerdoger]

I go for the spray, with or without my rifle. However I have been entertaining bringing my pistol for the tent at night.

 

[mtnbound]

Anyone switched to 9 Mike Mike with hot hard casts? Probably about time to teach my oldest daughter to shoot a pistol. Doubt she can handle a 10 or 45 Super. But I've got a G34 and a XMacro. That X macro in a chest rig would be slick.
Hunting an area right now where that has a couple griz. Not exactly on the Montana front. Honestly I didn't even think there were black bears in there until this past weekend. Ha the griz that supposedly lives in there was down in the nearby town in someone's yard. So he's on vacation .

Figure a bunch of well placed hot 9's are better than a bad placed 10's.

And I'm not sold on mace. Especially when the wind is blowing 25 mph.


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I switched to a 9mm years ago because I’m more accurate with it. Just use a good barrier blind bullet like Critical Duty, Gold Dot, HST or some of the copper loads from G9, or Lehigh.

 

[ryanator86]

I carry bear spray, but I agree with what many people are suggesting, train to use what ever you are carrying. You wont have much time. If you carry spray, wind can be a problem and that spray hurts. I had the spray safety click come off on my pack and accidentally spayed my hand, felt like it was in fire for 3 days. I feel the effective range is less than the advertised 40', it is more like 30.

 

[lefthandedasian]

For those carrying regular hollow point self defense ammo, I'd do a little more research... Remember you're shooting a bear not a squishy human. You want penetration not a larger wound cavity. Hollow points sacrifice penetration for a larger wound cavity in a small fleshy body like ours.

Everything I've read points to using hard cast ammo and going for a head shot breaking the skull and hitting the central nervous system. Preferably in a caliber you are proficient with for more hits on target.

A CNS shot will stop the bear immediately. Hollow points in the head, vitals, shoulders, legs etc will just result in a dead bear after it has already mauled you to death and teabagged your corpse.

I have no personal experience with this, but I've read enough from the experienced people on Rokslide that I don't want to be in a situation and find out the hard way I ****** up and chose the wrong ammo to save a couple bucks. I don't wanna hear about any of y'all dying cuz your hollow points didn't do the job.

 

[Nick4050]

10mm stays on my chest from the time I leave the tent until I take my clothes back off to climb into the sleeping bag.

One thing I use that I think a lot of people overlook is a good weapon light and a holster molded for it. The main time I'm concerned about bears is in the late evening/night, when the bears are much more active. This time always seems to conveniently coincide with field dressing and pack out time. You can't shoot what you can't see, and it's always pointing where the gun is. Plus I've noticed that the sudden bright flash of light has a secondary effect of "dazing" bears, as I've had several curious both black and brown bears turn and burn after hitting them with the light. Who knows if this would be the case during an attack, but at least I'll get to see the bear that's about to shove the pistol up my ass.

 

[Pafarm]

A slower partner.

Yeah this is also my plan haha you don't need to be the fastest.

 

[czgunner]

I switched to a 9mm years ago because I’m more accurate with it. Just use a good barrier blind bullet like Critical Duty, Gold Dot, HST or some of the copper loads from G9, or Lehigh.

Do your thing, but I'd advise against any hollow points. Hard cast lead or solid copper for penetration.

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[Pafarm]

I also carry a 9mm because I'm more "accurate" however i really think id panic and miss if one did come after me. I feel like its more for myself to feel safe when solo backpack hunting.

 

[mtnbound]

Do your thing, but I'd advise against any hollow points. Hard cast lead or solid copper for penetration.

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Yep, I'll keep doing what I do because I have tested things for myself and determined what's essential and effective. A well-designed barrier blind hollow point will achieve more than adequate penetration. I have not tried all of the hard cast bullets out there, but the ones I have attempted have had similar results. They are heavy for caliber and loaded fairly hot, so there is a lot of recoil and reduced accuracy. I have also found that some would not feed as reliably. So if I miss with a bullet that penetrates 40" or only get one round off because it jams, then it's not what I am going to bet my life on. I also don't want to mess with swapping magazines and ammo out as I carry a pistol every day for other predators.

My test consists of the following: from the holster, all rounds must be in the circle within the time hack to pass.
8" Circle - 8yds
8 rounds, reload, 8 rounds
or 15rds, reload, 1 rd
8.00 Seconds pistol

Don't take anyone's recommendation blindly; test for yourself.

 

[yfarm]

Much like the 223 training philosophy, I would start a new shooter with a 22, learn trigger control, sight picture etc with lots of ammo then transition to a ported 9. I regularly practice interchanging a Buckmark camper, G43x and G20, both ported. Consistently shoot the Buckmark the best at 25 yds. Its just easy to shoot well and builds confidence. Have followed this process with several women new to shooting. Have had them qualify for CC with the Buckmark, shot the best of their class.
To answer the original question, my rifle, if I’m hunting Cooper 280AI, if I am a non hunter with a hunter Trapper 45-70 or a G20. I have migrated to the Buckmark as my backcountry carry in non grizzly areas. Nice grouse gun.

 

[43.6N]

I guess it depends on how deep into g bear woods I am.

Last year my brother and I hunted the same range that a pretty well known bear attack on a guide and client took place. We had spray, 9mm and 45acp before filling our tags. Not cuz they were the “best” but because that’s what we felt confident using.

After the first round of the pack out my brother swapped out his bow for a 12ga beretta 1301 with 8 slugs. That way we were covered as we walked back up to the kill.

I’ll be honest. That shotgun method will probably be my go to for approaching a recent kill or gut pile going forward.

We also had a great time grouse hunting on the way back. Turn out a slug to a grouse head will cleanly decap the bird, leaving all the good meat!