Headed to the north soon looking for bear defense

[Bottlefed]

I have several pistols from sw500, sw460, ruger redhawk alaskan 454, my question is this is my first bear/wolf hunt im hunting with a 7mm win mag but out of curiosity if I have to use the pistol for some reason what would be your choice. Don't base this just on round but size of gun they do get heavy after 10 miles.

 

[djones]

What can you shoot accurately under stress shot after shot?

For me a 44 mag loaded with a 270+ grain non hollow point bullet in my shoulder rig.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

I carry a G20 loaded with buffalo bore in bear country for those reasons - light with a lot of knock down. The Keefer brothers use the G20 on their Alaskan adventures and they said it's the backup of choice for Alaskan guides.

Any of the three will get the job done, but I'd use solid bullets for penetration.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Where is "north"? In other words what kind of bear are you worried about and what country are you hunting in?

 

[dooshie]

I always carried a .357 colt python. an in 1981 I did kill a black bear with 1 shot from the python. Then again I hit a black bear with 12 rounds of 30.06 and that bear ran for over a hour before we caught up to him. So I guess it's how lucky of a shot u are. I have also seen a .22mag take a bear down. Then again if your rifle can't kill the bear what makes you think a side arm will... lol

 

[Yeah]

I just shoot the things with my rifle and it has never not worked as expected. I can't imagine and have never encountered circumstances where it would make sense to pack a gigantic pistol on a hunt hike.

 

[halfmileharry]

Learn the Bear's anatomy so the back up gun isn't necessary. I've been on a lot of bow hunts for black and rifle for brown. I've seen a couple of guys get in trouble with poorly placed shots.
Learn the Bear's anatomy.
Learn the Bear's anatomy.
I carry a Super RedHawk as "plan B"

 

[Bennettjh]

Learn the Bear's anatomy so the back up gun isn't necessary. I've been on a lot of bow hunts for black and rifle for brown. I've seen a couple of guys get in trouble with poorly placed shots.
Learn the Bear's anatomy.
Learn the Bear's anatomy.
I carry a Super RedHawk as "plan B"

This would be my suggestion as well.

 

[Jeepster48439]

Read an article in the American Hunter about this recently. They advocate the 4, 3, 1 rule.

Caliber beginning with a 4
Bullet weight starting with a 3 and
Muzzle velocity starting with a 1.

The article WAS focused on defense against grizzly bears.