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

  1. #11
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    Oct 2012
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    For me it would have to be close like that under 15 yards. Last year I had bullet in and safety off with a black bear that kept coming. It was slow and steady but at 20 feet away with me yelling and jumping he turned around. With a grizzly it would of been to close

  2. #12
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    I have had a few black bear encounters. One following me and stood on his hind legs at 20 yards sniffing me out. Second was a sow and two cubs at 30 yards, she bluff charged another 10-15 yards before standing up and taking off. Third I practically walked into a bedded bear. He stood up maybe 10 yards away and ran off thank god haha. One grizzly encounter where he walked me down a trail and forced me off but just continued on his way.

    I would say I give black bears more of a chance but I feel that if a grizzly was taking a threatening stance within 30 yards I might have to defend myself.

  3. #13
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    You are all braver than I...

  4. #14
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    Quote Originally Posted by KodiakHntr View Post
    I’m gonna go ahead and point out that typo. It doesn’t take 3 seconds for any bear to cover 13 yards.



    Personally, any grizz inside 50 yards is taking its life in its paws. Make an aggressive movement and close to 30 and thats my max comfort zone for an aggressive bear.
    I agree...fortunately I haven't been bluff charged by a griz but I have by a black bear and bears move those short distances real quick..about 25-30 yards would be my max safe distance...

  5. #15
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    Last fall while sheep hunting, my gal and I had a curious grizzly come by camp 100 yards Once the video was recording, I had my rifle shouldered. I’m not sure how long I would have given (him?) if a charge started. He was 80-100 yards away, and agitated. My gut feeling is any type of charge would have gotten him in trouble.

    https://youtu.be/8JMZlpotV1s

  6. #16
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    Jul 2009
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    Spent a lot of time in NW BC in grizzly country as a hunter and geologist and had many bear encounters.
    Closest was when a grizzly sow with 2 cubs followed us for a day with 3 separate encounters. The last she got within 20’. I shot 2’ in front of her, didn’t scare her at all but her cubs ran away who were being curious critters checking everything out in camp. She only ran away to follow her cubs. Wasn’t being aggressive but also did not care at all about us or the gun shot. If she stepped towards me instead of following her cubs I would have shot her as she was 6 yards and the third time she’d come see us.
    Last edited by boarder_20_; 05-24-2020 at 09:47 PM.

  7. #17
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    Charge started from less than 100 yards after bear was shot at & seemingly missed maybe 2x before the charge- check the speed of the charge-frightening.

    Grizz charge at 3:40 from Alaska grizz hunt 4 months ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VoyikOutwc
    “People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” -Otto von Bismarck
    Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.-Albert Einstein


  8. #18
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    Sep 2006
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    Shoot when you feel your life is threatened, every situation is unique so?
    I like drinking beer and whiskey, shooting guns, jetboating, love a nice rack and a tight line, I am simply a sophisticated redneck...

  9. #19
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    Jun 2007
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    Re: At what point would you shoot a grizzly/other predator in self defense?

    I had one experience that taught me a real important lesson years back on a solo sheep trip. I wasn’t more than maybe 2km from the truck at that point walking out and thinking more about getting back to the truck than anything else. My rifle was strapped to the outside of my pack and I started noticing ravens clustered up in a tree, but not making any noise. They were maybe 50 yards in front of me off the side of the old trail on the downhill side, and a the one raven really caught my attention because it would look at me, and then turn its head and look down at the brush beside the trail. And repeat. And repeat. And not one of those ravens made a single squawk, they were just watching. I stopped and pulled my rifle off and had my pack just a bit looser, and was rifle in hand. Flipped ip the scope covers and checked the chamber. I took two steps, and the way ALL the ravens looked down into the willows had me stop, and I gave out a “Hey Bear” and IMMEDIATELY a pretty big sow was on the road with a 2 yr old+ cub right behind her and she was coming. Not bouncing on her front feet, just coming with intent.
    I used to figure I was pretty handy on moving targets with a rifle and even faster on reloads back then, but it never even crossed my mind to NOT put a warning shot into the rocks in front of her as I was yelling and backing up (I think, that shit happens FAST).
    She was covering ground quick, if I hadn’t had the rifle in my hands I wouldn’t have got the shot off. She was moving fast enough that I had to pull the crosshairs down through her to get a bullet in front of her into the rocks and when bullet hit it was still too close for comfort to her, and she was too close to me. She was probably not more that 18 yards when she held up, with that big cub behind her. Although “cub” isn’t the right word either. Sub adult is more accurate.
    My first error was identifying the fact that with the ravens and their behavior there was undoubtedly a bear on a kill, and I should have backed up quietly and gone up the hill around and then dropped back to the trail.

    My second error was the warning shot. From rifle at the ready and expecting a bear from the time I yelled to getting the rifle up and triggering the shot was *maybe* a bit over 1 second, and she covered 30 yards in that time.

    My third error was the warning shot. If she hadn’t whoa’d up right there I wouldn’t have been able to cycle the bolt and get back on fur before she was on me, and in my early 30’s I was pretty damn fast with a rifle.

    My fourth error was the warning shot. When that shot smacked the rocks she stopped, but her OTHER two sub adult cubs blasted out of the willows onto the trail and I had 4 bears huffing and clacking at me from 15 to 40 yards away.
    And I don’t care how good you are with a rifle, in a high stress situation like that nobody is gonna be able to kill FOUR bears with THREE remaining shells in the gun.

    The only time I will entertain the thought of a warning shot now is if there is more than 2 rifles ready and on target... Bears at 50 or less just don’t give you enough time to react. Aggressive and coming at 49 yards, they are getting smoked every single time.


    And with those bears, when I circled up above high on the hill and looked down I could see that they had killed a caribou and were feeding on it, and had undoubtedly heard be coming down the trail from a ways out because that first two bears were right beside the trail when I first saw them and the kill was probably 60 yards farther down the hill.
    Last edited by KodiakHntr; 05-24-2020 at 11:11 PM.


  10. #20
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    Sep 2018
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    12

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

    This is Rick's story (friend of a friend whom I know to be an accomplished hunter.)
    https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/albert...ifle-1.2673770

    An Alberta man used quick thinking and nimble reflexes to fight off a massive grizzly bear using an empty hunting rifle.

    Rick Hollingworth, of Valleyview, Alta., said he was hunting for elk with his cousin on Nov. 13 when they came across an 800-pound grizzly bear.

    Hollingworth, who is a champion jet boat racer, said the bear started to charge at them, leaving him little time to prepare his gun.

    "I was able to get three shots off straight from the hip," he told CTV Edmonton. "The last shot, the bear was probably no more than two feet from me. I had to duck out of the way; he tried to swipe at me as he went by."

    He said the bear went around a tree, and then charged at them again, but this time his weapon was empty.

    Facing limited options, Hollingworth says he ended up shoving the gun’s barrel into the grizzly's mouth to joust the bear back. Marks left on the barrel leave a chilling reminder of the animal biting down.

    "All I had was an empty gun. He chewed on the end of the gun barrel for a few minutes, well it felt like a few minutes, but it was probably a couple of seconds," he said, adding that he was eventually able to get a single shot into the animal, once it backed off.

    "With a lot of hollering and the gun barrel, I backed him up and I was able to put the final shot in him that saved one of us from getting eaten."

    Alberta Fish and Wildlife confirmed that the shooting was in self-defence, and that the animal was held back with the barrel of the gun. But they said the bear eventually wandered off and died.

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