I've never shot a bear, and have no current plans to do so, but people I trust tell me the only thing to carry is a stainless steel 12 gauge with slugs or 00 Buck, a full-length magazine, and practice, practice, practice. Pumps are more reliable than autos, but only if you don't short-stroke them. Clearing a jam with a bear approaching could be a drag. Aim for the chest. Large jacketed bullets have been known to skid off the sloping skull of large bears. Apparantly this makes them very angry. Me, if I was going to be travelling someplace I thought I might need a shotgun... I'd probably travel someplace else. So far my most dangerous foe in the wilderness has been the Pygmy Grizzly of Northern Michigan, aka the chipmunck. I've seen a swarm of them reduce a packed lunch to skin and bones in seconds. Chilling. -- mike -------------------------- Michael Edelman http://foldingkayaks.org http://findascope.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I'm not a polar bear or firearm expert, but have spent 6 weeks wild camping/overland in Svalbard (spitsbergen). Luckily the only polar bear I saw was a skeleton on the tundra. As Jochan Grikschat pointed out though the Norwegian administration there insist that travelers carry appropriate firearms while out of town limits. FWIW we took a 7.62 semi auto rifle, 12 guage shotgun (pump action, long magazine, rifled slugs and big buckshot), and a .42 handgun. I recall two films in which polar bears were shot - in one a woman (in churchill I think) shot a bear point blank with a rifle in the head when the bear stuck its head through her house window. The bear wandered off, to be put down **some time*** later by the authorities. In the second two Norwegian soldiers reported bringing down a bear as it was charging them. They started firing at approx 100 meters, bear dropped at something like 20 meters. Two times 20 round 7.62 assault rifle magazines emptied. 38 holes in bear. There is a chilling display in the museum in the main settlement on Spitzbergen, Longyearbyen - a bolt action rifle with a round jammed in the breach 'found next remains of owner, taken by polar bear' Be afraid of polar bears. If you see one, its because it wants to eat you. I would not consider going into polar bear habitat without a firearm. IMHO the bigger the caliber and load that is practical the better. 12 guage shotgun would be my preferred choice. Light and fairly easy to stow, pump action is reliable. Slugs are going to be more effective and therefore safer I think than an incy little rifle round no matter how fast its going, or a handgun (which maybe would be easier to stow). If 1000 kilos of hungry polar bear was charging at me or my companions I would like a magazine full of rifled slugs, or alternating slugs/big buckshot. I'm not a polar bear or firearm expert, this advice is free and without guarantee. Cheers Colin Calder 57:N 2:W *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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