Hand guns vs bears again- sometimes they work

[Dand]

Take a look at page 56 of the December/January issue of Alaska Magazine. There is an account of two guys killing a charging brown? bear with a 9mm pistol and possibly a 12 gauge. The article isn't real clear as to all the details but it sounds like 9mm hits to the shoulders were crucial to stopping the attack and killing the bear.  About 7 shots were fired . It also noted that a Fish and Game necropsy of the bear skull showed one 9mm slug under the hide and marks where 2 others "bounced off" the skull.  Sounds like a mixed bag to me: sometimes a peashooter like the 9mm will work better than nothing but it still appears to be a less than ideal choice.  My dad claims he knew a guy who lucked out and killed a bear with a .38 when his dog brought it back to camp - and there are other stories ad nauseum.  

But for those who want to carry  a hand gun in bear country I think it isn't such a bad idea  its just no guarantee of your safety either.

Hey dabigmoose - you are  in Soldotna and close to where this occurred (Russian River) have you heard any more about it?

[dabigmoose]

Man shoots grizzly at Russian River



ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A fisherman shot and killed a sow grizzly as she charged him in the early morning darkness Saturday on the banks of the Russian River.

The encounter was the latest of several close calls between people and bears along Southcentral rivers and streams this summer. The Russian is thick with spawned-out sockeye that draw bears.

The grizzly surprised Garen Brenner and two friends about 2:30 a.m. as they packed up their gear at one of the Kenai Peninsula's most popular fishing spots, said Larry Lewis, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife technician.

Brenner heard his friend yell ''Bear! Bear!'' and looked downriver to see the sow a few yards down the bank. The bear lost interest in Brenner's friend after he backed into the water and threw his shotgun at the animal.

But then the bear turned, looked up at Brenner and lunged, said Lewis, who interviewed the three men Saturday.

Brenner fired twice at the center of the hulking shape closing to four or five feet away. The sow, estimated at 400 to 450 pounds, went down. Brenner then put three more bullets into her head.

He used a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. Lewis said such a low-caliber gun ordinarily doesn't pack enough punch to kill a bear. But Brenner loaded the pistol with full-metal-jacket bullets that penetrated to the bear's vital organs, he said.

The bear most likely was protecting her yearling cub, which waited well behind her above the steep bank, wildlife officials said.

After the shooting, the cub ran up and down the bank near its mother's body, bawling in distress. ''It would stop and smell the bear, the sow, and then it would go into the water a ways, then it would come back,'' said Bill Shuster, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Lewis later tranquilized the cub, tagged and collared it and moved the bear to the south side of Skilak Lake.

Authorities are looking into whether the dead bear is the same sow that attacked a Soldotna mother and son hiking Resurrection Pass Trail on Friday afternoon about three miles from Cooper Landing.

That bear, also accompanied by a cub, raked the woman's face with her claws and bit the son.

HERE IS THE STORY OUT OF THE NEWS PAPER THERE
ALSO WAS A WOMAN AND A CHILD ATTACKED IN COOPERS LANDING BY ANOTHER BEAR.IN FACT I LOOKED IN THE ACRHIVES AND OUR BEAR ATTACKS ARE AT HIGH NUMBERS.
DABIGMOOSE

[Dand]

I looked for the text in the Alaska Magazine online but couldn't find anything.  I was too lazy to type it in myself and had no idea where the original report came from. I used to hunt hike and fish a lot in the Cooper Landing area as a kid from early '60's to late '70's.  There were quite a few bears then but they gave no trouble. Used to fish the Russian at night and nearly stepped on a moose once. The moose thundered off through the brush breaking trees and branches. We were both scared but it was so black I couldn't do anything but stand there.  I'm kinda glad there are still bears to worry about there - adds spice.  I've seen how the area has become so built up and I worried the wildlife must have gotten run out.  But then  about 8 years ago I heard wolves howling up near Cooper Lake while on a November hike.

[dabigmoose]

Hi DAND
 There are lots of bear still around the Area and people just dont use common sense when there in bear country .They will practice hours with a weapon but not with their Brain. If people would take the time to read just some of the info Fish and Game gives away for free and spends millions on trying to protect both Bears and people some of it might sink in .
The kenai has grown up I remember when
they were Building Cooper lake dam my uncle worked on it and
we would come down from fairbanks and spend the summer fishing
and visiting.But that Dam changed the water temp in cooper creek and wiped out some runs of Salmon and Rainbow trout.But back in those days Rainbow were looked at as a salmon egg destroying trash fish.

The area around Coopers landing is a big denning area for bears and has a healthy Moose population .There is a extensive Hiking Trail System thats
in the area and a few people use it.The Tourist seem to hang close to fish and game designated fishing spots and thats probably a good thing for them and the bears.I try to head up to the interior and spend my summers in Manley Hotsprings
I like the population of 30 to 100 at peak times a lot better.The kenai still has a lot of Wildlife on it but with all the politics going on who knows whats going to happen.The guides ,commercial fisherman,sports fisherman
and retailers had better stand back and look at whats happening before its to late.

But if ya get off the road and hike up in the mountains the old
Kenai of yester year is still there and ya better had be watching and listening at all times or ya might end up in the local paper and hospital
with big chunk Bitten out of your Backside.

Dabigmoose