Posted on 07/25/2011 4:55:29 PM PDT by Titus-Maximus
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - As the grizzly furiously thrashed him about in the Alaska wilderness, all Sam Gottsegen could think about was what he would miss: college, traveling, life.
"I thought: `I'm going to die,'" the 17-year-old Denver resident said. "I thought, `This just can't be happening to me.'"
Then the bear left, only to return a moment later to continue mailing him and his other teenage friends. When the minute-long attack ended, four teens, including Gottsegen, were injured. Three others were unhurt.
The attack Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage came as the group was nearing the end of a 30-day course to learn how to survive in the backcountry. The teens were at the stage of the course where they could try out their skills without adults around.
Authorities believe the bear was aggressive because it was with its cub. Gottsegen said no one ever saw a cub.
The group was hiking through bushes that got so thick they decided to wade through a river, walking in single file. Around a bend in the river, Joshua Berg, 17, of New City, N.Y., began yelling "Bear! Bear!"
The bear took him down first. The animal made angry, snarling noises as it attacked, Gottsegen told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in Anchorage, recounting the attack.
It was so sudden. There was no time to pull out their bear deterrent spray and no one had a gun. Berg, badly wounded, called for someone to set off the personal locator beacon they carried for emergencies.
Gottsegen said everyone scattered and he ran, even though the students had been told to play dead.
His instincts wouldn't let him, though.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
LOL!
What length barrel are you citing?
I got 1900-2100 FPS out of a 16” barrel with 300 gr. bullets.
Having spoken to people who have actually used .50AE on bears, it works very well, much better than .44 mag. and miles ahead of .45 acp!
The Auto-mag V is reasonably light, unlike the Desert Eagle, recoil is still reasonable.
I’ve fired 500SW, do not want one, too punishing to the shooter.
I prefer a pistol as a rifle/shotgun can be awkward.
California. I’m guessing LA or some other urban setting? No surprise...
Being “groovy” is what got these kids hurt. Sure, take pepper spray - it might even work. But you ALWAYS back it up with any one of a readily available and appropriate selection of propelled lead projectiles. These kids were certainly old enough to carry better protection than pepper spray (probably stuffed in the bottom of their packs), at least we were when we were teens going into griz country... Or maybe these city kids are convinced that guns are evil and are only good for killing people “unexpectedly”.
“You must be a city boy with no clue about the wild.”
That’s a gratuitous cheap shot at Calex59. I looked at your about page and doubt any of those purty handguns have ever shot at anything but paper targets. None of them would be advisable for griz protection. Calex59 is right about griz being unpredictable, not always, but enough to get you killed! On Kodiak, the brown bears have learned to run TOWARD the sound of gunfire in order to collect on a freshly killed deer or at least the gut pile. Scares me!
JC
I was using a 6” barrel; finding a long-barreled 50 AE is nearly impossible. However, .45-70 is readily available in longer barrels - it’s a rifle cartridge, not a pistol cartridge. And you can find .45-70 ammo all over - is 50 AE easy to find?
I worked half a dozen summers as a guide in Alaska (outside of Dillingham, up in the 5 lakes area), and about the only thing any serious guide would consider is either a .45-70 or a 12GA with slugs. Most .45-70s were Marlin 1895s with a barrel cut down to 18” (just a little longer than the magazine). Also make a handy club if needed!
A few liked 458s and 30-06s and some used 338s (mainly way up North in polar bear country, where longer shots might be needed), but it was shoulder-fired weapons to a man, and usually levers or pumps (nice and reliable and easy to operate, even with a bum arm). Semi-autos were never seen - not enough trust they’d always go bang multiple times, and it’s hard to clean the action if it falls in sand, dirt, or - as I’ve seen once - filled with ice.
Some guys carried pistols as well (I carried a Glock G20 - capable for anything smaller than a bear or large buck), but those were backup or for smaller predators. For the grizzlies - or even scarier, bull moose in mating season - it was the .45-70 that protected you.
For grizzlies, the general consensus was too big is almost big enough - you just don’t want to risk anything smaller or less accurate. You get maybe 2-3 shots off on a charging grizzly before they’re on you - every shot MUST count, and the must have enough punch to go through the front of the bear deep into the heart and CNS area.
Personally, I’ll take the .45-70 every time - it’s proven in the field for grizzly and even polar bear work. If you’re comfortable with the 50AE, go for it, but I never saw it out in the field, and have a hard time believing any pistol cartridge will provide equivalent energy to a strong rifle cartridge, and I personally prefer the stability and accuracy I get with a rifle as compared to a pistol - especially a strong recoiling pistol.
.50AE ammo is much easier to find than a suitable gun to fire it in.
There may be some .50AE pump-gun conversions on the market fairly soon. ;-)
Our local bears around are are just blacks, .50AE drops them with ease, one shot.
I heard the best defense against any bear is that “you don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your friend”
You should have both, but the big spray gun works pretty well.
Aside from Dirty Harry, there ain’t a whole lotta people can hit a charging Grizz with a .44, especially a head shot, which is what it will take to down one of those suckers.
Stun ‘em with the spray, then open fire.
Better yet, bring a bear rifle.
Ahh, understood about the black bears. That’s the usual thing we see in Washington State as well (other than the every-other-year sighting of a grizzly). I feel OK with my G20 for most black bears, typically 300-400 pounds at most.
They’re but kittens compared to a full grown male grizzly, however - and I still remember feeling undergunned with a loaded .45-70 on me, a partner with a 12 GA full of 3” magnum slugs, and a grizzly eyeing us across a narrow river...
If I could have had a full Barrett M-82 I would have loved it; an M1A1 Abrams, however, would have been more comforting! Those one BIG bear and they simply aren’t scared about anything - they really are the absolute top-of-the-chain animal in Alaska. Even bull moose know to keep wide of a pissed off grizzly...
Generally agree, but I do know a guy who shot a Griz during his black bear hunt in Wyoming.
One shot to the chest, Grizzly dropped on the spot.
Seems Griz are cannibals, this one wanted the black bear quarter he had already carried to his truck.
Black was shot with a 30-06, he was surprised by the Griz and did not even think of the rifle as it had been put away after taking the black!
Game warden showed up about then, curious why he heard a shot after legal hunting hours.
Hunter explained, showed him both bears.
Warden gave a choice of which he wanted to keep, the other went to the local tribe.
He has a nice grizzly rug in his den now.
Not enough velocity.
Adolescent bears are the most unpredictable.
I know a guy who had a guide on Kodiak Island who followed that rule!
He survived, barely, his final shot at arms length finished the bear.
But he was so PO’ed that the guide had to stay in hiding until some other folk came along.
ALWAYS recheck your scope before going afield, your baggage handlers will not be the ones at risk during your bear hunt.
Did any of them know how to use any handgun, never mind a .44?
Handguns aren't magic. You have to train, and then practice.
Does this program teach combat handgun?
Probably just tee the bear off, unless you shot it in the mouth.
Yeah, luck happens. I know a guy in Montana (an old hunting buddy) who dropped a 6 point with his 22LR (it’s legal in Montana). Has a great trophy on his wall, and you can feel the hole right in the middle of the forehead where he tagged it with the little round.
Yeah, luck happens, but I prefer to not count on it and increase my odds with as much firepower as I can carry...;)
That sucker spits out more fire between the cylinder and barrel than most pistols do at the muzzle.
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