Hi all, I was wondering if sometimes in the field you have to face a Bear, and all you have is a Shotgun and shells not heavier than 00 buck.. Would that do the job?? and how to proceed??

If you're in a position where it's self defense, a load of bird shot at that close a range acts almost like a solid mass. I used to assist in a firearms safety course, most people for some reason seem to think a shotgun is a relatively safe weapon because it fires small pellets. I would then take a 1.25 ounce load of #6 shot in a 2.75" shell and blow a hole through a piece of 2x6 board. Got the point across quickly.

So, if you're talking having a bear, or anything else for that matter, within 10' and it's not backing down, it's going to be in a world of hurt no matter what size shot you smack it with.

First thing to do is attempt to avoid contact and or conflict. Go the other way especially if the bear has young or food, visible or not, because most times animals will attack to protect their young or food. If there are no young/food present, usually reversing your route will avoid any conflict at all. You wouldn't pull your car into the path of a semi so don't stick you butt in front of the big powerful bear either, after all it is his territory, not yours.

but, let's say you top a ridge and find yourself within a few yards of a bear. Don't make threatening moves. Back off slowly and avoid eye contact but do maintain a visual. Eye contact is a threatening move in the animal world and this can be seen by simply staring down a dog. If the dog respects you, it will stare only a few seconds before breaking eye contact as a sign of backing down from issuing a chalenge. If the dog does not break eye contact, chances are you are going to get bit. Same goes across the board with most all animals, they preceive eye contact as a threat or challenge. Fast moements are also considered threatening to animals, stay calm and alert and move slowly never turning your back completely to the animal because you don't know what's going on behind you if you can't see.

Bears, along with most other dangerous animals will often take the time to warn before attacking, their way of avoiding combat. Snarls, grunts, pawing at the dirt, raising the front legs off the ground, twisting the head, showing teeth, ect.

If avoiding conflict and retreating don't work and you find the animal attacking, a warning shot into the dirt or air close to it may or may not work to deter the animal. If possible, take cover behind a tree or rock because most times you can get around it faster than the larger animal and avoid getting waffled. If all else fails and you need to defend yourself, go for the best vital shot you can get, head or chest. In the case of something very difficult to knock down like a large bear, rhino, elephant or hippo, go for the face/mouth area.

Now, in the case where you are un-armed, you have little options other than cover and if it gets ugly, usually you have little choice but to go for the nose. Just like a domestic cattle or a horse, the nose is the most sensitive area and jamming your fingers into the nostrils and squeezing for all you got may be the only recourse you have but you must also note that the nose is dangerously close to the mouth too. I screwed up a long time ago when I allowed myself to get cornered by a bull in a barn stall. With nowhere to go and him coming at me, I pucnhed him as hard as I could in the nose and it did stop him long enough for me to get past him and out the door. Scared the poop out of me enough to stress the issue of avoiding conflict with those things much bigger and more powerful than yourself.

Mark,
"At close range" don't get it. It MUST be a CONTACT shot for the small shot to act as one solid projectile.
But there is a tactic going around here where many of the guides who carry a shotgun for bears while fishing carry the first round as #4 or #6 shot and if they are charged they fire directly at the muzzle (nose) of the bear and the shot pattern will blind, and bloody the nose so the bear is disorentated and lost it's sight and sence of smell and then the victim has time to move out of the line of attack and use sluggs to finish the bear.
Now I have not done this and have not talked to any one personaly who has, but it makes perfect sense to me. I have read where it has workd well in Canada. :cool:

At 10 feet a 1.25 ounce load of shot will will do a lot more than bloody a nose and blind, it'll smash a good size hole in flesh and bone. Try it, you'll be amazed at the results. Granted a slug would be a better choice but the question was asked about shot specifically.

While the pattern does start opening as soon as it leaves the muzzle however within 10' or less there is not enough separation to make much of a difference in the resultant wound channel. Granted the penetration is not going to be what it is from a solid projectile but the initial wound crater and energy transfer is quite considerable.

At 10 feet a 1.25 ounce load of shot will will do a lot more than bloody a nose and blind, it'll smash a good size hole in flesh and bone. Try it, you'll be amazed at the results. Granted a slug would be a better choice but the question was asked about shot specifically.

While the pattern does start opening as soon as it leaves the muzzle however within 10' or less there is not enough separation to make much of a difference in the resultant wound channel. Granted the penetration is not going to be what it is from a solid projectile but the initial wound crater and energy transfer is quite considerable.
Markkw, Thank you for all this info, I learned a lot from it . I think you are right about birdshots at close range imagine then what a buckshot can do. Now, That bull punch in the nose cracked me up, I was just imagining that scene must have been funny and dangerous at the same time..Thanks again and take care..

would not a rifled slug be better?
I ask, only because I'm thinking the mass of the slug would do a number at close range!
I have only encountered a bear once while bird hunting, and just shooting a round or two in the air was enough to run them off. My other encounter was while deer hunting in VT, and one shot placed into the tree by the bear was enough to stop his/her agressiveness and run it off.

Jeeeez,

Birdshot? Remind me not to go bear hunting with you guys unless you're really slow runners! LOL

Joe... the only thing better than 00 would be 000

Mark says..."Bears, along with most other dangerous animals will often take the time to warn before attacking, their way of avoiding combat. Snarls, grunts, pawing at the dirt, raising the front legs off the ground, twisting the head, showing teeth, ect."

Mark, that's WAY too much time watching Disney movies. It's not even half accurate.

99&flinch.. I agreed with Mark on the effectiveness of birdshots at close range. But be sure that if I have to face one of those animals to defend myself, I would give him the heaviest round of shells I have (if I get the time to load it). Now, for a fairly new hunter like me who never hunted or seen a bear closer than 70 yards or more, I would welcome all good experiences about facing this animal.
Thanks.

Joe,

Unless you are fishing in Alaska in the Spring where bears are feeding, it is unlikey that you will ever face one in the field. They are generally spooky nocternal animals and will give you a wide berth as soon as they smell you and you will have never even known they were there. Bear attacks are rare, though well publicised. Most of the time the attacks could have been avoided by using some common sense, but it seems we are not all armed with common sense. Most bear attacks happen so quickly that the victim isn't aware of the bear in time to react to it. Others happen simply because people are stupid. Idiots have been attacked because they are photographing them and feel the need to get too close. Last month I was in Wyoming when a report came in about a man being attacked while riding a horse... sounded like a real crazy bear until the man turned out to be an idiot cowboy who was playing with the bear, trying to rope her. Yet other attacks occur because the Park Services allow too many people to wonder around areas loaded with bears.... the bears get pushed, scared, crowded and in some way become cornered and whammo, they attack.

There is so much BS floating around about what guns are effective on bears that it's become kinda silly. The Grizzly is usually painted as being the man killer and virtually no handgun will "stop" a Grizzly, much less his big cousin in Alaska. If you "know" you will be in Griz or Brown country and feel the need for a gun, you should pack a proven stopper and not something you shoot pheasants with or some handgun stashed away in a backpack that you probably don't shoot well anyway. In a shotgun, if you must use shot, 000 is the way to go, otherwise slugs are the better choice. An automatic would be a better choice than a pump. It is rare that today's autoloaders jam, but many many people jam pumps on Skeet fields when there isn't a thousand pounds of teeth coming at them. In a rifle, I would think (for big bears) a .375H&H would give me some comfort. Buckshot and/or most deer rifles work well on Blacks. The key, I would think, is to STOP a bear. Just about anything will kill a bear, but a lot of horsepower is needed to STOP one.

If it had to be done with a shotgun, I'd want my 870 loaded with as many of Mr. Gates slugs as I could stuff in there.

Great info 99&flinch, Ill keep that in mind.
Thanks

I think some of you fellas have a different focus on dangerous game........or have never been in the situation where your life and limb was in severe danger. It these off the wall comments that get people killed.
Now.........What ever you carry must have weight, big, and be hard! The super simple firearm would be a good pump gun filled with hard cast heat treated slugs! I assure you that combo will put his nose in the dirt!..........James

Joe,

Unless you are fishing in Alaska in the Spring where bears are feeding, it is unlikey that you will ever face one in the field. They are generally spooky nocternal animals and will give you a wide berth as soon as they smell you and you will have never even known they were there. Bear attacks are rare, though well publicised. Most of the time the attacks could have been avoided by using some common sense, but it seems we are not all armed with common sense. Most bear attacks happen so quickly that the victim isn't aware of the bear in time to react to it. Others happen simply because people are stupid. Idiots have been attacked because they are photographing them and feel the need to get too close. Last month I was in Wyoming when a report came in about a man being attacked while riding a horse... sounded like a real crazy bear until the man turned out to be an idiot cowboy who was playing with the bear, trying to rope her. Yet other attacks occur because the Park Services allow too many people to wonder around areas loaded with bears.... the bears get pushed, scared, crowded and in some way become cornered and whammo, they attack.

There is so much BS floating around about what guns are effective on bears that it's become kinda silly. The Grizzly is usually painted as being the man killer and virtually no handgun will "stop" a Grizzly, much less his big cousin in Alaska. If you "know" you will be in Griz or Brown country and feel the need for a gun, you should pack a proven stopper and not something you shoot pheasants with or some handgun stashed away in a backpack that you probably don't shoot well anyway. In a shotgun, if you must use shot, 000 is the way to go, otherwise slugs are the better choice. An automatic would be a better choice than a pump. It is rare that today's autoloaders jam, but many many people jam pumps on Skeet fields when there isn't a thousand pounds of teeth coming at them. In a rifle, I would think (for big bears) a .375H&H would give me some comfort. Buckshot and/or most deer rifles work well on Blacks. The key, I would think, is to STOP a bear. Just about anything will kill a bear, but a lot of horsepower is needed to STOP one.
Lots of holes in this post. First, our salmon runs continue throughout the spring, summer and fall. Even at this late date, I was in a remote part of the state yesterday and salmon were still in several streams. Bears were there too.

Living in Alaska, or traipsing around the backcountry here, except in the dead of winter (and sometimes then too), you need to be prepared for a bear encounter. Anyone thinking otherwise just hasn't spent the time in the backcountry here that others do. True, the best bear protection is between your ears, but sometimes even that isn't enough.

000 buck is no way to handle a big Alaskan brown bear or grizzly. If you are going to be carrying a shotgun for protection, which is fine, it needs to be stoked as Mr. Gates replied. Foster type slugs have proven to be miserable up here, too soft and not enough penetration. For rifles, yes something like a 375 H&H and up works. Of course, "up" is prefereable. :D Handguns, if that is what you have, stoke it with the best bullets available. Hollowpoints or deer bullets need not apply. Something designed for all out penetration and bone breaking ability is the order. There is also no replacement for displacement.

Just my thoughts and experience.

Birdshot on a bear? No thanks. You may only get one shot and that shot had better penetrate deep. Even the 00 buck might fail to penetrate enough. If you must use buckshot, then get the highest pellet count rounds like the 3inch 15 or 3 and 1/2 inch with 18 pellets. Mr. gates slugs would be my choice.

Just do most of your hunting around "The Mall" or "Outdoor World", or "Cabelas", or "Gander Mountain.......and the only "bear" that you will encounter will be maybe some disgruntled salesperson that hasn't had their coffee yet! :D :D Chuckwagon

I have often wondered abou this since I have friends in Salmon country in Alaska. Does anyone make a 10 Ga Pump? I gota think with hardened slugs, this would be an effective stopper. The displacement is certainly there. I hate autoloaders though, so I would want the pump.

I have often wondered abou this since I have friends in Salmon country in Alaska. Does anyone make a 10 Ga Pump? I gota think with hardened slugs, this would be an effective stopper. The displacement is certainly there. I hate autoloaders though, so I would want the pump.


Browning offers their BPS pump gun in 10ga. But do you really want to carry a 9.5 - 10lb gun as a "just in case" choice?

I own a BPS 10ga & it's a fine gun......in a waterfowl blind.

FWIW More people are attacked by black bears than any other wild animal in the US. I have seen a few Black Bears here in Maine one very close up and I was under gunned with buck shot. It was as big as my Suzuki 500 Vinson. It looked like a black VW. USE ENOUGH GUN!!