doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Don Zutz

to throw a slight curve ball regarding 'undergunned' bear hunting, I remember some 40 years back there was much written about going after a bear - I think even Grizzly was mentioned - with a .44 Mag.

As I had just got a Mod 29 with a 8 3/8" barrel and was young and stupid, I thought that would be great fun and something that a 'man' should have done in his life, I seriously tried for several years to get an invite or otherwise get at a bear with the .44!
Luckily it never worked out!
Has anyone ever actually shot at a bear(Grizzly or otherwise) with a .44 Mag and survived it?

Not trying to steal the thread - just something that came back to me while reading this thread through.

Happy New Year to everyone

Gunter

I don't know anyone who has tried with a handgun chambered in .44 magnum. I do know of a few instances where guys have used the Ruger carbine chambered in that cartridge to take black bears. These were less than 50 yard shots, and were one shot stops. Black bears run a lot smaller in this part of the world.
Grizzly? I have my doubts...


Best,
Ted

All 'ya need is a .38 Super!

"No animal on the American continent can resist the tremendous shocking power of its swift-traveling, hard hitting bullet..."

I haven't read much Elmer Keith, but I believe he has an account or two of taking Grizzly/Brown bear with his .44 revolver. I'm thinking of a not too flattering gut shot story. I seem to remember other credible stories, but there aren't many that I'm aware of.

But Elmer DID kill a muley at 600 yds.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=34

Jack O'Conner wasn't so sure about his unflinching veracity however; see his "Confessions of a Gun Writer"

Wow, I'm impressed. Today, a game warden would have the cuffs on you for such reckless behavior. It reminds me of the days when we used to shoot aerial targets with my .270 in Potomac, Maryland. It's a story hard to tell in today's world.

Living in Alaska years ago, I remember a story of a G I from Elmendorf Air Base who was fishing north of Anchorage. The Anchorage Times reported he encountered a grizzly close up and shot at it with his handgun. The grizzly ran directly away from him and died in about 300 yards. The G I had used a 38 Special. I guess it was his lucky day when the grizzly ran the direction it did.

My Alaskan friends use to joke about lower "48's", that would be me(us) and their .357 and .44's. Told me if I wanted to pack a .44 it was fine. But suggested that I might want to file the front sights down. Seems using one on a big bear was not to be encouraged and the lack of front sight made insertion easier on the hunter's bum if the bear gets grouchy after being shot a few times with it.

I think their real message was not to think a .44 was going to save my bacon and the best thing to do was to avoid bears in the first palace which I had learned already the hard way. This was after my bear scare. They might also have known most people, who think they are crack shots against paper targets, can not hit squat against moving targets who might be dangerous or moving targets at all.

And charging, dangerous game, is almost impossible to bring down without massive over kill which the .44 does not have. I've killed one charging animal in my life and do not pretend to be any type of expert. But think about it. The brain is smaller than you'd think and it is on a neck which is moving in three directions at once. Spine is long thin line and the heart is never where we expect it to be. Heart and lung shot will kill but not that quickly. Shock and awe or hit something that turns out the lights at once. Otherwise a charge is going to reach an end. 99% of all four legged game is not harvested in a charge. Charges are moments of desperation and I was.

Mr. Bell was a world class shot, who spent hours learning where vital organs were in his "targets" so he knew exactly where his bullet placement would result in fast kills or kills with little chance of the target eating him. He preferred to shoot his game from slightly behind, using brain shots to dispatch them or have them run away from him. He was not a matador playing chicken with them and willing to give them equal chance to kill him.

A well place .375-.458-.500 is used on dangerous game to stop a charge. Not a .44 or worse yet a .270. Think about your target area. I am a very good bench rest shooter, a fair shooter from a decent rest and a poor shot off hand. We all are. Off hand shooting is something we don't do with rifles very much.

As to Eightbore and his .270, it was a fun round but not one I'd try at flying targets. But then again I did learn how to shoot aspirin with a .22 on the farm. At first the aspirin lasted a long time but by the end of the box it was nearly one per shot. The joys of growing up on a large farm many years ago. When PC was just two letters, guns were allowed to be taken to school for the rifle team, safe sex involved moving the bed and I still thought a .270 was a big bore, high power rifle.

I've noticed numerous reports of hunters running into grizzly bears in Montana. I can recall just a few years ago, an upland bird hunter with a twenty gauge stopped a charge from something like twenty feet.

If I'm not mistaken, the Montana wildlife folks document dozens of grizzly charges at humans each year with all the possible outcomes. Seems like each year bears are killed in self defense, but there're also maulings of hikers and hunter, and an occasional death. I have no idea what that moment would feel like, but even if it's just to make noise, I suppose I'd use whatever was on hand.