At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

[caddisguy]

Interesting how so many say, if it crosses this distance, I plan to do bla bla bla!

If you are ever in a position like I found myself in, you can only react.

I was Bow hunting Elk in a place I had hunted for many years. sitting with my back against a tree, there was a slight depression in front of me with the breeze coming upslope in my face.
I had been cow calling for about a half hour, trying to entice a Bull that was talking to me, didn't want to pack him out of the hole he was hiding in.
In thinking back, the last thing I remember is thinking, what died...It smelled like rotten meat all of a sudden.
The next thing I thought was " Oh F**K...He got ME!"
He had me pinned against the tree and was partly on top of me. He wasn't moving and there was blood everywhere. It took a couple minutes to get away from under him and figure out it wasn't my blood! at least not much of it. My leg was cut from where he stepped on it and a stick off the tree had jabbed my back pretty bad.
I couldn't have told you that day what exactly had happened, other than the Bear had a load of SSG that removed his face and a slug shot up from under his throat breaking his neck at the base of his skull.

The nightmares that followed finally filled in the details, The face appeared at about 10 feet, ears back in full charge. When I bow hunt by myself, I carry a 12ga defender, mag loaded with slugs and a SSG in the chamber.
This time it saved my ass, when I smelled rotten meat, I instinctively picked up the defender out of my lap. When the face appeared at full charge, I pulled the trigger and caught him square in the face point blank...still don't remember the second shot that finished him.
The scares, both physical and mental, are a constant reminder to be prepared and be aware of your surroundings because shit can go sideways real quick.

That definitely falls into the "you will just know when" (to defend yourself) category.

Glad you are okay. I don't want you to re-live it any more than you have, but one thing I am curious about and have to ask... how long did the ordeal "seem" like it lasted vs how long did it actually last if you had to guess?

It's amazing what the human mind and body are capable of... the ability to react is amazing. You nailed it... always be aware of surroundings... extra fraction of a second can make a lot of difference.

[fuzzybiscuit]

Interesting how so many say, if it crosses this distance, I plan to do bla bla bla!

If you are ever in a position like I found myself in, you can only react.

I was Bow hunting Elk in a place I had hunted for many years. sitting with my back against a tree, there was a slight depression in front of me with the breeze coming upslope in my face.
I had been cow calling for about a half hour, trying to entice a Bull that was talking to me, didn't want to pack him out of the hole he was hiding in.
In thinking back, the last thing I remember is thinking, what died...It smelled like rotten meat all of a sudden.
The next thing I thought was " Oh F**K...He got ME!"
He had me pinned against the tree and was partly on top of me. He wasn't moving and there was blood everywhere. It took a couple minutes to get away from under him and figure out it wasn't my blood! at least not much of it. My leg was cut from where he stepped on it and a stick off the tree had jabbed my back pretty bad.
I couldn't have told you that day what exactly had happened, other than the Bear had a load of SSG that removed his face and a slug shot up from under his throat breaking his neck at the base of his skull.

The nightmares that followed finally filled in the details, The face appeared at about 10 feet, ears back in full charge. When I bow hunt by myself, I carry a 12ga defender, mag loaded with slugs and a SSG in the chamber.
This time it saved my ass, when I smelled rotten meat, I instinctively picked up the defender out of my lap. When the face appeared at full charge, I pulled the trigger and caught him square in the face point blank...still don't remember the second shot that finished him.
The scares, both physical and mental, are a constant reminder to be prepared and be aware of your surroundings because shit can go sideways real quick.

But LBM thinks you just misinterpreted the situation. You, in all your Camo. A poor bear just doing his thing. He didn’t even see you there and probably would have felt bad for accidentally stepping on your leg if you hadn’t gone into a complete rage and shot his face off for no reason.

For someone who never leaves his moms basement LBM sure has animal behaviour figured out...

[btridge]

I'm good now, took a long time to be comfortable in my own skin again. Bear party took place over 20 years ago now. As for Camo, NOPE, Blue jeans, same as my avitar.
People say time slows down, In this case I may have got my cage rattled a bit because it seamed like it was over before it began.
I have been up close to many Bears over the years and for the most part they prefer to mind their own business, but it only took once, I was lucky.

[walks with deer]

okay i am home team dont really care shoot them once you feel danger who cares anymore.
dad i normally hunt a diffefent spot once we see grizzly sighn who cares i do not.just shoot them. report and keep humting

[fuzzybiscuit]

I'm good now, took a long time to be comfortable in my own skin again. Bear party took place over 20 years ago now. As for Camo, NOPE, Blue jeans, same as my avitar.
People say time slows down, In this case I may have got my cage rattled a bit because it seamed like it was over before it began.
I have been up close to many Bears over the years and for the most part they prefer to mind their own business, but it only took once, I was lucky.

I have no doubt you made the right choice, although choosing to shoot probably didn’t come into play and I’d imagine it happened so fast it was all just instinct. You’re a lucky man to be able to walk away from an attack like that with just a cut on the leg.

I’d agree with most on here that your average bear whether it is a Blackie or Griz is probably going to go in the opposite direction once it knows you are there. I’ve been within 30 feet of dozens of Back bears and two other Griz that had no intention of attacking me. Some didn’t high-tail it right out of there but they weren’t aggressive. I’ve actually only had two bears over the years that I still feel to this day were thinking real hard about eating me; one Black bear and the Griz from my earlier post. If I think an attack is inevitable then I’m going to error on the side of caution and shoot to kill. To do otherwise might be the last mistake you ever make.

[Arctic Lake]

It’s good news that you are still with us !
Arctic Lake

Interesting how so many say, if it crosses this distance, I plan to do bla bla bla!

If you are ever in a position like I found myself in, you can only react.

I was Bow hunting Elk in a place I had hunted for many years. sitting with my back against a tree, there was a slight depression in front of me with the breeze coming upslope in my face.
I had been cow calling for about a half hour, trying to entice a Bull that was talking to me, didn't want to pack him out of the hole he was hiding in.
In thinking back, the last thing I remember is thinking, what died...It smelled like rotten meat all of a sudden.
The next thing I thought was " Oh F**K...He got ME!"
He had me pinned against the tree and was partly on top of me. He wasn't moving and there was blood everywhere. It took a couple minutes to get away from under him and figure out it wasn't my blood! at least not much of it. My leg was cut from where he stepped on it and a stick off the tree had jabbed my back pretty bad.
I couldn't have told you that day what exactly had happened, other than the Bear had a load of SSG that removed his face and a slug shot up from under his throat breaking his neck at the base of his skull.

The nightmares that followed finally filled in the details, The face appeared at about 10 feet, ears back in full charge. When I bow hunt by myself, I carry a 12ga defender, mag loaded with slugs and a SSG in the chamber.
This time it saved my ass, when I smelled rotten meat, I instinctively picked up the defender out of my lap. When the face appeared at full charge, I pulled the trigger and caught him square in the face point blank...still don't remember the second shot that finished him.
The scares, both physical and mental, are a constant reminder to be prepared and be aware of your surroundings because shit can go sideways real quick.

[Arctic Lake]

I may have skipped a few replies to this thread but I’m trying to catch up . I can say I never want to have an encounter like some previously mentioned , I-know I’m alive everyday and thankful that I am. I don’t want some close to the creator moment to know that !
I’m sure a lot of us have seen many news stories where a hunter or hiker or someone working in bear country has been attacked .
Personally I met a fella that had been mauled and the poor man had a grossly disfigured face from a bear encounter . I don’t want to look like that . If I need to defend myself against an attack I will and hopefully be able to keep calm enough to do so . Hope the same for all of us enjoying the great outdoors . Keep safe fellas !
Arctic Lake

[Redthies]

Some excellent posts in this one. The big take away for me, is the reinforcement of my belief that having a gun with you that is either unloaded, or strapped to your pack is a bad idea. I know it sucks to have to carry it on long walks in/out, but better that than being a news story. The first thing I do when I leave the truck is load my rifle, and it’s the last thing I pack in the truck when I get back.

[wideopenthrottle]

Inside 100 yards and coming hard .... rifle is up and safety off. Inside 50 yards and still coming ... dead bear.

it is amazing how fast you pucker up when you see it running towards you at 100 with your bare eyes then scope it at 50 on 3x power

[Redthies]

it is amazing how fast you pucker up when you see it running towards you at 100 with your bare eyes then scope it at 50 on 3x power

Absolutely! I’ve had black bears walk right up to me and sniff at my feet when I was working under a snow cat in the alpine in summer, and almost walk in my patio doors. They have slept in my front yard etc etc, so I’m not too worried about the ones that are “town” bears, but the ones that you meet in a dark thicket in the middle of nowhere are a different matter. The only grizzly close encounter I’ve had was taking a snow walk with the wife and dogs and noticing some tracks come in from the side. Took a few paces in the powder to be able to see what made the tracks. About two paces after it became clear what it was, there was a large still steaming spray of liquid poop. We back tracked out of there. It was that encounter that turned my wife from “why do you always bring a gun on these bush walks” to “make sure you bring the .45-70 on our hike”.