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No worries, FRiend.

My point was that having something you can manage is what should be considered if you’re going to carry, and understand that it is a last resort. Energy is important, but a .38 you can shoot accurately is far better than a Casull that couldn’t fit in someone’s hand. I think a .500 SW mag is strictly a range gun you show off with, and is physically to large to be practical unless you’re fishing (i.e. not moving around much), and for fishing I’d still prefer a 12 ga w/slugs or a .45-70 carbine. Again, thats just me.

My Grandpa killed that black bear in Upper MI ages ago during the night when they were hanging around their cabin, and one was scratching at it. The cabin was remote, and no others around. He fired a few rounds from the window to scare them off and hit one, though I don’t know whether it was intentional or not. They weren’t hunting them, just wanted to get them out of there.

I shot my grizzly at ~70 yards with a .338, which is more than sufficient for them. That is my primary hunting rifle, and I’m comfortable with it. It was a sow that squared 7’, and I think the skull measured 18.75”. Not a monster, average for an interior grizzly. When, if ever, I get drawn for Kodiak brown bear I’ll probably use it there too.

I would not want to put a .22 against much of anything except rabbits, but a lot of natives still use them for big game, including moose (shoot a lot of rounds). When I lived in Canada, I had friends who would find .22 slugs between moose hides and rib bones.

A .30-30 is one of the more common guns in villages up here, more because of cost and availability of ammo, and have killed plenty of bears that get too close. Generally, most natives will leave bears alone unless they start coming into a village.

On a Kodiak goat/deer hunt a couple years ago, the packable electric bear fence we bought was FAR more effective than the heavy ‘artilery’ we had with us, and the area had tons of them.

I appologies for the sharp reply, I just think that many here get carried away with ‘bearanoia’ and some rather unreasonable firearm recommendations.