Tenting in Grizzly territory

[Busterpayton54]

Ya after doing my own buckshot penetration tests, no thanks.
And after taking some tactical shotgun courses, there is no way to effectively/efficiently use a pistol grip shotgun. They have one single advantage... Easy to pack.

In my first course, I ran a folding stock which I had modified to fit me perfectly, perfect check weld, automatic sight alignment. It was a fairly effective setup. Fold for packing/carrying, open for use.
But after fiddling with other competitors shotguns i quickly realized there is better options and mine had seen some changes. Now I'm running a Mesa tactical m4 adjustable stock adaptor (modified the stock for my face) and a 6 round side saddle.

Imo if you are going to pack a defensive weapon, you may as well carry one without compromises. It doesn't have to be expensive either.
mine is just a mossberg maveric 88 $350, Mesa m4 kit $140ish (iirc)
side saddle $40ish, and some sling adaptor that I used as a flashlight mount $10.

[Squamch]

Electric fence. Remember it also keeps the bear/other predators away when you're gone.

whats that set up weigh in at?

[mpotzold]

whats that set up weigh in at?

http://www.udap.com/mm5/category/bear-electric-fences

[BgBlkDg]

Is that a Cabela's "Outfitter XT" tent and if so, what size is it?

I want one of these, a six-man, for longer stints alone in the bush. My current "base camp" tent is a Hilleberg "Saivo", an outstanding, ( and very costly) tent and I do not care to spend the coin on a larger Hille. such as a "Saitaris" or "Atlas" at this time of life.

I want to be able to stand erect in my tent, detest wall tents, have had a light tipi, big hassle finding a "footprint" space for it and am looking hard at the Cabela's, as their stuff is usually pretty decent.

Good camp setup, curious as to why you chose a "UDAP" fence rather than an "Electroguard"?

[markathome]

Thanks for the input - looks like I found a 12g loaner camp shotgun so I'm going to buy a bunch of boxes of shells and have the older kids and wives spend some time getting really comfortable with it. Me too for that matter, I've only shot a 410 - I'm guessing it's a bit different.

I also found a DIY electric fence build on an Alaskan hunting forum that I think I'll price out and see if I can build something that will fence in 20x20 for under 150.00. I'll post pics if I figure it out. If not - UDAP or Electoguard.

[ryanb]

I've watched a black bear go through an electric fence multiple times. He learned to get a good run at it and knock it over, and endure the brief shock he got. Not sure how effective they actually are.

This was to get into an orchard , might be effective around a tent, but for protecting food/meat not so much in my opinion.

[Fred1]

Ya Had bears go thru one kick ass electric fence on several occasions. If there is food involved I don't think anything will stop a determined hungry bear. Best to keep food away from tents... A running generator and radio in combination with the fence seems to work best. Tough to have handy tenting... I get it... One question though. Where/what isn't Gbear territory????

[steel_ram]

Start arming frightened people with loaded shotguns at night and you have far more to worry about than bears.

[Fred1]

Start arming frightened people with loaded shotguns at night and you have far more to worry about than bears.

Yup. Be careful out there!

[BgBlkDg]

Start arming frightened people with loaded shotguns at night and you have far more to worry about than bears.

This opinion seems to ignore the value of TRAINING and having BTDT many times, some in camps of nice, young, urban, treeplanters, cone pickers and so forth, I can say that a properly trained person with appropriate gun is THE BEST option for safety in bear country.

I am not especially afraid of bears, have had scores of encounters, most when NOT armed and have extensive firearms training and experience. ANYONE, with a reasonable degree of physical strength can do as I did and others have, the issue is NOT the gun, it is learning bear behaviour and gun handling.

I have never had an incident in many multi-person camps, where females were also present, where a bear caused any real problem and most such incidents happen, IMHO, due to human mistakes and bravado.