Questions about the difference between brown bears and Grizz

[Mr. Joe]

Ive been reading some Jack O'Connor latley and have taken an intrest on his thoughts about bear hunting.  Seems old Jack has taken several of these great animals, and has the storys to back it!  One thing amazes me more than anything though in the modern age of lazerguided 88mm howitzers for anything with teeth.  Mr. O'Connor several times stated in writing that his personal recomendations for Grizz with the 7X57 or 7mm mauser as most know it.  Also in his list of caliber recomendations for these man eaters he lists the .270, .308, .30-06, and the 7mm mag as suitable calibers.  Most armchair experts i talk to say this type of game cannot be taken with anything less than a .416!  Now Jack was no slouch, and make no mistake, he has written several books and articles were he states that these light deer calibers (as so many refer to them today) work splendedly when loaded with the proper ammo.  I my self am not a Grizz hunter so i can only speculate, but what d you Grizzley hunters think about this?  His suggestions differ however when it comes to Browns or Alaskan Browns as he often refers to them.  What exactly is the difference between a Brown, Alaskan Brown, Kodiac, and Grizzly?  I really should know this as half of my family hails from Alaska, but in Michigan were i live, the only talk is of Elk, Deer, and Black Bear.  For the Brown bears he noted several times that he liked the .375 H&H.  Im assuming this is due in large part to the type of terrain that these animals live in.  

As you can tell, i know very little about these great bears so all help is greatly apreciated.

[Don Fischer]

The difference, other than size, is where they live. The Brown, Alaskan Brown and Coastal Giant are all grizzly's that live within some specified distance of the coast. The Kodiac is a Brown that is confined to Kodiac Island, they get very large. The Grizzly or Inland Grizzly lives a certain distance inland from the coast and doesn't get as large, generally, as the coastal bear's. Now according to Boone & Crocket, or so I understand, if you kill what you might concider a Brown but do it to far inland, it becomes a Grizzly. And the reverse is true of a Grizzly that wanders to close to the coast. Yet from everything I've read, sicence says they're all the same bear. Go figure!

Wanna read some interesting stuff on bears in Alaska? Get "One Mans Wilderness" by Warren Page. Good story about the Glacier Bears or Blue Bears.

[Daveinthebush]

http://www.bear.org/Grizzly/Grizzly_Brown_Bear_Facts.html

Here is some easy reading for you.

[Sourdough]

60 Miles of the coast is the referance I've always heard.  If the bear is within 60 miles of the coast it's considered a Brown Bear.  The major differance is the bears on the coast eat a high protein rich diet of salmon.  Therefore they grow to a much larger in size than their interior bretheron that eat roots, berries, grass, grubs,  carrion, or anything they can kill.  

As for what rifle is suitable?  Yes a lot of interior Grizzlies have fallen to the 30-06s.  And I know many women that have used .243s to kill Grizzlies, but those women that shot the .243s had a back up with a bigger rifle standing behind her.  Personally I prefer the .338Win Mag, .35 Whelen, .375 H&H, 45-70, or something comperable.  Hard hitting, with lots of penatration.  Grizzlies and their brothers the Browen Bear takes a lot of killing.  I don't want to be there when they decide you are their next meal.  I've seen the remains of those that thought they had adiquite guns to stop a Grizzly and found out otherwise.  It's not pretty, and it makes a believer out of you for having the biggest gun you can handle.  Got a CD from the NRA showing Jim Schockey going after a Brown Bear with a .50 Cal Muzzleloader.  The guide had to stop the bear with a .375 H&H.  Jim stated he will never do that again, a muzzleloader is just not adiquite to stop a Brown Bear.  I've seen them shot point blank from 50 feet center of the shoulder, with a .35 Remington.  They rolled around and squalled for 2 to 3 minutes, then beelined out of the area never to be seen again.

[corbanzo]

Yeah, they are the exact same thing, no difference at all.  Bears which live on costal areas are always bigger, more food available.  This is for blacks and browns.  The biggest blacks in alaska are southwest costal bears, where some of the biggest browns are alaska peninusla and kodiak browns.  Its kind of like comparing the football team to the basketball team.  They are both humans, but very different in temperment and size.  The difference in terminology is different wherever you may go, cause most people don't know.  It's like calling billiards pool, same thing, though one seems more complicated for some reason....