which pistol

[duke7581]

Hey guys which pistol do u carry when hunting bear. Im starting to track wounded bear for people and was wondering which revolver and ammo u reccomend. Gotta be stainless and not to big so i can carry comfortably on long walks. thanks

[fallriverwalker1]

i shoot a 41 mag it's a rugger redhawk i've had it about 25 yr's i load my own shells ; i;ve never had one get away . jim www. fallriverwalker.com

[kordog]

shotgun full of buckshot 3and ahalf magnums if there are no hounds involved in the wounded chase. a wounded bear is a dangerous bear ,and following that in to a thicket i would rather have a bunch of missiles heading his way in a less than ideal situation jmo i know alot of people hate buckshot but up close like that in a magnum load it is very unforgiving. shot placement is always key ,but a wounded animal in a thicket doesnt always give you a choice .crawling into thickets with bear and dogs it is amazing how close you have to get sometimes to even see the bear. in this situation i have used pistol successfully ,but having done that i will always choose a rifle from here on out because all the ones ive shot with a rifle died instantly .

[bob baldwin jr]

We use a 454 Casul but reguardless of caliber it is all in the Shot Placement

[outlaw13]

taurus .44 mag with 300 grain hornady.

[cat and bear]

S&W 44 mg. stainless with 300 grain hopped up, hand loads. A bear pumped up from fighting the dogs, is something to recon with and die hard, especially on the ground.

[ferjr]

I use a stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 mag with a 7.5" barrel, its a bit heavy but I like it. My dad carries a Smith & Wesson Model 329PD Airlight 44 mag with a 4" barrel, it is REALLY light and sweet to carry, you dont even know you have it on, its also a very accurate pistol. We handload 240gr. Speer Gold Dot soft points.

[pegleg]

I vote 12 gauge. I carry a 44 mag in a holster, for a saddle gun I normally carry a thirty five caliber of one type or the other. some of the thirty five's carry nice knock down. The decision maker for me here is you said wounded bear. a wounded squirrel can be more then a hand full in the right situation. A 130 lb guy shot wrong may decide to tear a whole squad apart with his bare hands. So if I'm knowingly making a habit of trailing potentially pissed bears around a twelve gauge with a high quality slug is my choice. Buckshot can be real impressive however when it fails it does so miserably. If you made the choice to carry the shotgun you should use it's full potential. JMHO

[bob baldwin jr]

Kordog / Pegleg : I agree with the point of a 12 ga with slugs very devastating . I just have not seen one finished off with 3 1/2 Mag Buckshot to pass judgement . I have seen 2 that were finished off with the 2 3/4 12 ga 00 buckshot both of those were shot at 25-30 feet . upon skinning latter I really was not too impressed with the penetration

One of my hound buddy's son went on an Archery Brown Bear / Grizzly bear hunt to alaska 4 years ago . Some how depending on what latitude you are at determines what they are called . He was successful ,and a back-up shot was NOT needed but ALL the guides in camp because of the short distances involved were all using 12 Ga 3 1/2 mag slugs as backup.We all have to remember that all bears are considered soft skin animals .He futher commented that he saw a large bear that had to be finished with the big slugs 2 shots and when they watched it being skun out the damage was quite impressive

[BOSS HOG]

i carry a ruger blackhawk 41 mag , although iv never had to shoot a bear with it i have taken several large pigs one over 300 lbs with one shot

[Jake Bell]

ive seen quite a few bears get blown down by quite a few different guns, i carry a .444 marlin cut down to an 18 1/2" barrel, its pretty sweet to carry, we are not allowed to use pistols. ive finished off a few wounded bears with it, it whacks pretty hard, actually preffer it to a shotgun, up here shotguns are only allowed to carry 3 shells, and i like the penetration i get with my marlin. Last one i shot that was wounded was at my feet balled up with a hound (after a buddy shot it with a slug, good shot but it was a tough miserable bear and it bailed before i could get a backup shot on it), it seemed like hours but i had to wait about 30 seconds to get a shot so i didnt hit dog, it sure gets the heart pumpin.

[kordog]

ya the 2and 3quarter buckshot loads can be pretty poor ,but with a slug they are very effective the 3 and ahalf magnum loads in 10 and 12 gauge though are a different animal in my opinion. a shotgun is a multifirepower tool so slugs and buckshot can be used.hitting an animal running through thick stuff can be quite a challenge thats why i chose buckshot .

[bob baldwin jr]

Kordog : those 10 ga 3 inch Mag can really put a SMACK to your shoulder

[pegleg]

My Dad was a big goose hunter, He hunted most anything but geese were His passion. The general rule of thumb was don't start shooting till Dad had fired. so here I am sitting in a shallow pit blind got a bird in my sights just waiting for good ol' Dad. Nine years old got one of those cheapy, ultra light break open single's with the ten foot barrel stoked with 3 inches of heavy buckshot. The geese are cupped and coming straight over me. I start leaning back and trying like hell to keep my sight picture then right at a inch from the frozen ground and a few seconds from loosing my shot. I hear the shot, squeeze off mine and am slammed into the frozen ground. I am laying there in that split second wondering what I broke and why I'm seeing stars ? Then I see a dark spot right in the center of my vision, getting bigger and closer. My recovery was miraculous! I zipped out of there on all fours just in time to miss getting pegged by a Canadian free falling from the heavens.
There were dozens of life lessons packed into that one instant. Like you can gauge how Much your relatives love you by how hard they laugh like school girls when you manage to maim yourself and look like a fool doing it. or that there is a distinct advantage to toting a thirty pound bolt action around over a two and a half ounce turbo charged battering ram. To this day I enjoy slinging a heavy load of number sixes after a fleeing quail.

[kordog]

yes they do i have one in a browning automatic i have seen what the 3 1/2 12s do though and actually think it is a better all around gun because you can shoot 2 3/4right on up in them. where the ten is 3 1/2 only.i had a 454 in a taurus as far as a hangun goes it was most impressive . i shot my buddys 500 smith and wesson but just couldnt hit anything with it . the 454 i was nailing a paper plate every time at eighty yards standing freehand open sights.in all fairness of course your gonna shoot better with your own gun., but that 500 just wasnt manageable for me i would have to throw it at a bear in order to hit him