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Old 04-13-2013, 05:46 PM   #47
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
With regard to stopping a charging bear we were taught by the AK fish and game people to aim not at the head because the massive bone slanting back in the top of their skull can deflect the round. Instead aim at their chest and keep firing until the gun is empty. The objective is not to hit te heart. The objective is to break down the muscles in their chest that help operate their forelegs. The objective is not to kill the bear but to stop it.

This is why the only truly effective weapon to stop a charging bear at short range is a 12 gauge shotgun loaded alternately with slugs and buckshot. This is why we carry a shotgun with a full-length magazine. Capacity is seven shells..

A charging bear is so hopped up on adrenaline that a hit that would normally kill it may not even phase it for the moment. And if the bear can reach you, even if it's dying, it can take you apart. That's why stopping it before it can reach you is critical and at short range only the shotgun has enough shock to do it.

I've had to do this once myself (this before we learned about the horns) and have been present when a companion had to do it. The method we were taught works. Both times the bear collapsed onto its chest before it got to us. They did not die immediately but they were rendered relatively immobile even though they kept kicking themselves toward us with their hind legs.

Not a pleasant experience and one we hope never to have to repeat. That's why we were so taken with the horn idea. Far better to warn them off long before you get near them.
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