Where do you shoot a charging bear?

[Jolly]

Aim for the nose.

https://www.ammoland.com/2023/02/alaskan-state-parks-grizzly-bear-target-training-aid-for-bear-defense/#axzz7trr9pMnv

[Mik]

That’s funny - I just had a very long and involved dream about bear attacks last night. The bears were tired of waiting for scraps and wanted in the kitchen.

[Jolly]

Well, now you know where to pop them.

It's my understanding, a lot of Alaskan guides carry 10-gauge pumps. That's because if they need to stop a bear, it's going to be pretty close. And it's easier to hit something moving fast within forty yards with a shotgun than with a rifle.

[Axtremus]

A case where the "center mass" rule does not apply.

[Jolly]

Actually, it does, in a way.

When a bear runs, his head bobs a bit. But the nose makes a nice aiming point. You catch the head and maybe you blind him and get a bullet into the brain. But let's say you're just a little low, as his head comes up...You're still hitting him in the lungs or heart.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in Where do you shoot a charging bear?:

Actually, it does, in a way.

When a bear runs, his head bobs a bit. But the nose makes a nice aiming point. You catch the head and maybe you blind him and get a bullet into the brain. But let's say you're just a little low, as his head comes up...You're still hitting him in the lungs or heart.

Good luck with that. There are plenty of stories of park rangers and hikers who put a half dozen to a dozen into a pissed off bear and yeah, sometimes the bear died later—sometimes—but they still died horribly.

Thinking you have even a decent chance at getting this right in the moment is a little much.

[Jolly]

Hence, the 10-gauge.

I don't think the handgun exists that will reliably anchor a pissed-off bear.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in Where do you shoot a charging bear?:

Hence, the 10-gauge.

I don't think the handgun exists that will reliably anchor a pissed-off bear.

Yeah. Shotgun's your only hope I think.

[Renauda]

@Jolly said in Where do you shoot a charging bear?:

Well, now you know where to pop them.

It's my understanding, a lot of Alaskan guides carry 10-gauge pumps. That's because if they need to stop a bear, it's going to be pretty close. And it's easier to hit something moving fast within forty yards with a shotgun than with a rifle.

Here in Alberta and BC where there are grizzlies, tree markers for logging companies commonly pack 12 gauge pumps with alternating loads of triple aught buckshot and slugs in the tube.