Bear Attack: Handgun, Knife, or play dead at Close Range

[ddelange]

Assume you didn't have your long gun of choice to stop a charging bear. You can't outrun a bear, so what weapon would you choose to defend yourself when the bear reaches striking distance?

After thinking alot about it in a "Bear Attack" thread on another email list, I think I'd rather deploy my USMC KBAR combat knife against the Bears neck, face, and head areas.

Offer your opinions and defend your choice. . . . knife or handgun (and oh yeah, the third choice I decided to throw in: play dead)

 

[Ftom14cat]

Have you ever seen a real, live bear up close?...I have, and there is no way I would ever get close enough to fight one with a knife if I could have a gun. In my opinion, whoever chose "knife" is suicidal.

 

[P99fan]

I think the common advice is to play dead unless you have a VERY LARGE handgun at the ready. Maybe 44mag or bigger? Anything less than that and you're just giving the bear some extra incentive.

 

[gb_in_ga]

Here in the East, brown/grizzly bears don't exist, only black bears. With that in mind, I feel that I can get away with a .357 Magnum (non-snubby) loaded with hot LSWC or LFN, hard lead, at least 158 gr -- at a minimum. A similarly loaded .41 Mag or .44 Mag would be even better. For brown/grizzly bears out west, I wouldn't go with anything less than a .44 Mag -- .454 would be even better, again similarly loaded.

A non-expanding penetrator that would have the chance to make it through the thick, slanting skull into the brain is what I'm looking for. A hit to the brain will stop the bear right in his tracks.

Note that I'm not advocating the knife. The problems with the knife are threefold and interrelated:

1> If you are close enough to the bear to use a knife, the bear is close enough to you to use claws and teeth.
2> The bear has a whole mouthfull of teeth and 2 paws full of claws, you have 1 knife.
3> The bear is bigger and more powerful than you are.

Add to that the bear will only get madder the more you slash and has a greater circulatory capacity than a human, and you end up with the bear maybe dying later but definately killing the knife wielding human. Remember that the knife will NOT be able to reach the bear's CNS because of the heavy bone protecting it.

OTOH, a brain shot on a charging bear just might kill the bear right there, assuming that the human can get an aimed shot off and so get an instantly fatal hit. Even if the bear is in contact range, the possibility of the human making a CNS hit is still there, hence the odds -- while not all that good -- are still better for the human than if a knife was being used.

 

[tlm225]

There is no way that I would willingly take a knife to a bear fight as my primary tool. Give me a heavy caliber handgun or pepper spray. For me the knife would be a last resort.

 

[Capt. Charlie]

I'm cracking up here; lemme get this straight. You wanna take on this with a knife???....

I think the common advice is to play dead unless you have a VERY LARGE handgun at the ready.

Seriously, it depends on the kind of bear. The experts say grizzly attacks are usually defensive only and due to the bear being surprised or defending territory. They recommend the play dead approach.

Black bears, on the other hand, are thought to attack out of actual predation. Humans are snacks, but it doesn't happen very often. The advice given for dealing with black bears is, fight like crazy. Scream, shout, arms outstretched to look bigger, grab a branch for a club... anything but running. Do not, ever, run from a bear. That's a guaranteed attack, and the bear only works up a better appetite .

 

[Blackwater OPS]

Picked pistol, a S&W 500 loading corbon 440gr hardcast. A knife vs. a bear would be, ummm, foolish. It's reach is a bit longer than yours. Playing dead I just don't do, if I had others with me I would tell them to play dead, but I'd rather go down fighting, hey who wants to live forever?

 

[Fremmer]

I voted for the knife. Specifically, a Swiss Army knife, so that a bear with good table manners could eat my carcass properly with the fork and/or spoon attachments.

 

[Hedley]

Judo chop followed by a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the head outa do it. lol, most of a bear's size comes from it's amount of fur. Very over rated those critters are.

 

[stevelyn]

Handgun in hot loaded .44 Mag or .45 Colt w/ heavy hardcast bullets.

Knife? Are you kidding? Their toenails count for 20 blades to your one.

Play dead? Yeah maybe. The Nazi Park Circus and federal fish and feathers says that's what you should do. But they're from the govt and want to help you..............Riiiiiiiiiiight.:barf: No thanks.

 

[Hal]

Somebody mention hand to hand,,,err,,paw,,with a bear?

http://www.funny-games.biz/videos/25-salmon-commercial.html


P.S. - Gun all the way.

 

[ddelange]

Just some info I've come accross over the years; there are literally dozens of websites on the subject:

The Denali Park (and many federal and state park "experts") recommend that if a bear is upon you, play dead (see their "Bear Safety Precautions"):
http://www.denali.national-park.com/hike.htm#bear

When I hike/hunt in Arizona Black Bear country, I carry a .44 Magnum, and adhere to the advise at this website:
http://www.garrettcartridges.com/031000.asp
An excerpt:

Where defense against bear attack is concerned, the best bullets for the large caliber handgun are clearly proper hard-cast bullets. Expanding bullets are far too likely to fracture when impacted into the tough bone of a bear’s skull. This should be rather obvious as any bullet designed to expand against the light resistance of a deer’s rib cage cannot be depended upon for major bone busting on a big bear. When selecting a hard-cast bullet for such applications, one should be careful to choose an extremely heavy bullet with a broad frontal flat (meplat). It is also important that the casting possess substantial inherent strength, with a hardness rating of at least 19-Brinnell. The importance of selecting a heavy bullet is twofold. First, heavier bullets penetrate deeper than lighter bullets. Second, since heavier bullets cannot be driven as fast as lighter bullets, they experience less impact stress and are therefore less likely to fracture upon impact.

The one certainty when dealing with a close encounter with a bear, already posted, is NEVER run from a bear. They will almost always give chase, at up to 30mph, and will run you down and enjoy a tasty mauling.

My first post that I might rather use a knife is premised on the fact that the bear is on me, and I can imagine that it might be easier to get the bear off with a long knife stabbing away, than 6 shots that, at best, will be inaccurately placed. However, I still favor the large caliber/hardcast heavy weight bullets as my actual practice in bear country for last resort. As one website posted, the handgun is of course a last resort:

It should be clearly understood that although a properly loaded large caliber handgun can be successfully deployed against an attacking bear, it certainly is not the gun of choice. It is best regarded as the gun of last resort. In my opinion, the short barreled lever-action carbine firing heavy bullets at modest speed reins supreme for the specific task of stopping a determined bruin. Also, as with the handgun, the lever-action carbine should be chambered in the largest caliber the shooter can handle. For most shooters this is probably the 45-70 with blunt hard-cast bullets of extreme weight

I didn't offer this as an option in the poll, because I'm interested in what people would choose once the bear is upon you, or within striking distance.

 

[ddelange]

Capt. Charlie:
The advice given for dealing with black bears is, fight like crazy. Scream, shout, arms outstretched to look bigger, grab a branch for a club... anything but running.

I agree that this is excellent advice for dealing with black bears; however, the premise of the poll question was that the bear is upon you or "within striking distance." So, assume that whatever tactic you used before the bear closed distance didn't work. Then what's it gonna be: handgun, combat knife, or play dead.

 

[pwelsh4hd]

Pray, and prepare to meet thy maker......that's about it.

 

[Redneckrepairs]

Personaly i would be shooting that sucker all i could ( preferably in the face or throat ) with whateaver i had at hand , i just am not man enough to play dead and let him chew on me

 

[bustersmaster]

bears

Maybe none of the above. It seems that I've read somewhere that when
attacted by an oversized carnivore, two options are worth a try. One is to
smack it on the tip of the nose as hard as you can with whatever you can.
The other consists of using your fist to ram down it's throat deeply enough
to cut off it's airway. Both methods would definitely require perfect timing
on your part and as they say, " your results may vary ", but anything's worth
a try.

 

[ddelange]

Maybe none of the above . . . . The other consists of using your fist to ram down it's throat deeply enough to cut off it's airway.

Just asking, but if you're willing to ram your fist down a bear's throat, why not ram an 8" knife? Or stick a .44mag down it and blast away?

 

[Doug242ti]

Ahh nothing says "welcome back to TFL" like a thread about kicking a bears ass with a knife.

Im glad we even got the required Chuck Norris crack in too.

The best thing you could do with the knife is give the bear indigestion after he ate you. Atleast you'd feel like you'd accomplished something.

 

[bermo61]

I was looking at the 500 sw rounds the other day and that is a massive round. One thing you did not mention is what kind of bear...a black vs a grizzly is a big difference. I would not ever want to be within striking distance of any bear but armed with a 500 sw, 460 ruger or 454 casull I would feel I was not undergunned. A nice scoped weatherby at 500 yards or so would be a lot better though if I had my druthers. Actually my choice at close range was not even mentioned....pepper spray for bears! Don't want to hurt the poor critter..just make him go away!!!!

 

[Doug242ti]

Ahh the 4" SW500. You'd be deaf but you'd sure piss a bear off with one

Plus its heavy enough to club the bear to death.