Two hunters who shot grizzly 24 times share their stunning story of survival…

[Ingomike]

Two hunters who shot 530-pound grizzly 24 times share their stunning story of survival - East Idaho News

ISLAND PARK — Dangling from the jaws of a 530-pound grizzly, 20-year-old Riley Hill’s body flung from side-to-side as his hunting buddy Braxton Meyers fired round after round into the bear’s hulking frame. The grizzly’s ferocious teeth sunk deep into his arm, puncturing the skin to the bone, as...

www.eastidahonews.com

 

[foszoe]

Two hunters who shot 530-pound grizzly 24 times share their stunning story of survival - East Idaho News

ISLAND PARK — Dangling from the jaws of a 530-pound grizzly, 20-year-old Riley Hill’s body flung from side-to-side as his hunting buddy Braxton Meyers fired round after round into the bear’s hulking frame. The grizzly’s ferocious teeth sunk deep into his arm, puncturing the skin to the bone, as...

www.eastidahonews.com

24 times? holy cow!

 

[Ingomike]

24 times? holy cow!

With a 10mm and a .45…

 

[foszoe]

With a 10mm and a .45…

yeah! Probably didn't take all of them to kill it just trying to kill it faster. That's impressive. Kinda takes away the narrative of 10 mm stopping power you read about in some hunting magazines.

 

[DadSmith]

yeah! Probably didn't take all of them to kill it just trying to kill it faster. That's impressive. Kinda takes away the narrative of 10 mm stopping power you read about in some hunting magazines.

I'd question the hits not the firepower. If it took 24rds to stop him then they were just shooting it everywhere, and finally got lucky, and hit something vital. Spray and pray so to speak.

Also if they were using factory Short & Weak 10mm loads that would not have been any more powerful than a 45acp.

Yet another thought using HP on grizzly would not work to well as they usually stop around 12-15" in gel. Imagine going through bear hide, muscle, and bone. A HP, or Short & Weak 10mm load isn't going to do much.
Now if they said they were using 200gr WFNGC Buffalo Bore, or Underwood I'd be shocked with the lack of performance.
I highly doubt these kids were using the right ammunition. Even the 45acp should be using a hard cast bullet, or fmj on bear.

 

[firecadet613]

yeah! Probably didn't take all of them to kill it just trying to kill it faster. That's impressive. Kinda takes away the narrative of 10 mm stopping power you read about in some hunting magazines.

But at least the 45 killed its soul...

 

[foszoe]

I'd question the hits not the firepower. If it took 24rds to stop him then they were just shooting it everywhere, and finally got lucky, and hit something vital. Spray and pray so to speak.

Oh yeah. Huge difference in our mental process of taking a hunting shot and trying to kill while being mauled.

 

[DadSmith]

Oh yeah. Huge difference in our mental process of taking a hunting shot and trying to kill while being mauled.

What one must learn to do if possible in this case is to get a good shot in a vital spot as quickly as possible.
Saying that and doing that is two different things.
So how does one train for a situation like this would be the question.
How do you simulate the adrenaline flow and other aspects that one would go through in this situation?

Alaskan Hiker Stops Charging Brown Bear with 10mm Handgun - The Truth About Guns

The 10mm semi-auto is increasingly popular as a wilderness defense gun in Alaska. Fully loaded, it’s as light — and a bit more powerful than — a loaded, small frame .357 magnum. The GLOCK 20 10mm pistol holds 15 rounds of ammo versus five or six for a .41 or .44 magnum revolver or a […]

www.thetruthaboutguns.com

 

[bwframe]

...So how does one train for a situation like this would be the question.
How do you simulate the adrenaline flow and other aspects that one would go through?...

I'd shoot all the local pistol competitions you could find with your G19/45/17/34. Then periodically work your G20 into the mix, where you could, to verify it handles as similarly as possible.

In my case I had a buddy "force" his G20 and a box of ammo on me. The gun felt earily similar to my G19. I hit every single small piece of steel I shot at, down a line of a dozen or so. I was only slightly slower paced than with the G19.

That was all iron sight shooting. Put optics on both guns and train with them under the pressure of the timer, then you have a real recipe for speed and accuracy. All without any nerves to be rattled, because your index would be automatic.

The go time of seeing the charging bear would be similar to the beep of the timer. The automatic, without extra thought, response would be similar.

 

[Expat]

Great story. Reminds me of an old Outdoor Life article.

 

[92FSTech]

From the article:

"(The bear) just kind of looked up at me, and I saw its eyes, and I just started (shooting),” Meyers said. “It put its head back down, and I shot some more (in the spine), and (that) did the trick.”

Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. Just putting enough holes in it so it dies later doesn't do your buddy any good if it's actively mauling him right now. It took a vital hit to actually stop the attack. Note it was the .45 that put the bear down, not the 10mm, after finally scoring a hit in the right place.

"When Braxton hit it, I could feel the bullets hitting the bear through my arm,” Hill said. “(It) wasn’t hitting my arm, but I could just feel the repercussion from the bullets hitting the bear.”

One of the rounds came within two to three inches of his head, he reported.

That's some scary stuff, too. It sounds like the bear was thrashing him around pretty good, and making a head shot on an erratic moving target like that when it has your buddy in it's mouth is really scary. You're not doing your buddy any good if you put a bullet in him, but you also can't just stand there and let him get eaten, either. Good on them for getting it done without shooting each other.

He “fumbled around,” pulled out his Taurus 1911 .45 ACP pistol and fired four to five shots at the bear before the gun jammed.

The bear continued to flail Hill from side-to-side as Meyers cleared the feed.

While there's temptation to point a finger at Taurus, it seems like this is a common occurrence in a lot of these situations, even with quality, well-maintained guns. Environmental factors, imperfect grip, stuff interfering with the slide...all stuff to consider. It's one reason I like revolvers for woods carry, but they do sacrifice capacity and reload speed. Good on him for fixing it and getting back in the fight...I'll bet that was a LONG few seconds!

 

[yetti462]

I know a gal that put 5 338 win mags in a bears head before it finally dropped. When a bear is pissed it takes a lot .

 

[92FSTech]

A bear's brain makes up a surprisingly small portion of the overall head, and isn't exactly where you might think it would be:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/11/carved-polar-bear-skull-shows-where-to-aim-when-attacked/

 

[Sailor]

The Taurus jammed...

 

[singlestacksig]

Shot placement matters, I'm sure it was difficult in this case ..
Size of the animal is not the main issue..
I know of someone who took 12 shots with a 12g and .40 S&W to bring down a whitetail..

 

[sairax]

Two hunters who shot 530-pound grizzly 24 times share their stunning story of survival - East Idaho News

ISLAND PARK — Dangling from the jaws of a 530-pound grizzly, 20-year-old Riley Hill’s body flung from side-to-side as his hunting buddy Braxton Meyers fired round after round into the bear’s hulking frame. The grizzly’s ferocious teeth sunk deep into his arm, puncturing the skin to the bone, as...

www.eastidahonews.com

Insane!!! I would've never imagined that 2 full mags into a bear would still not kill it. What a crazy fact. Makes me really scared about going out hunting in nature because these really are everywhere... I mean sure, not Indiana, but STILL if I wanted to go out hunting in the Western Great Plains, I'd get mauled???? Dang, what's a good enough HANDGUN caliber to stop a bear in one shot??

 

[bwframe]

...Dang, what's a good enough HANDGUN caliber to stop a bear in one shot??

Any handgun is a compromise, compared to an appropriate rifle for the job. Especially if you can't find a way to make CNS shots that will connect.

 

[Route 45]

Also if they were using factory Short & Weak 10mm loads that would not have been any more powerful than a 45acp.

So...when do we start calling 45 ACP fat & weak?

 

[DadSmith]

So...when do we start calling 45 ACP fat & weak?

45acp was never a sibling of a much more powerful rd like the 40 Short & Weak.

 

[Cameramonkey]

45acp was never a sibling of a much more powerful rd like the 40 Short & Weak.

Much more? Granted its been a few years, but the 40 shorty only has 60 ftlbs of energy over 45. So not much.