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moderator · Joined: 27 Jan 2002 Posts: 6523

February 2004 Feature Article:

Handgun Hunting the Alaskan Brown Bear

Please use this area to post comments or questions about this feature article.

hunter777 · Joined: 28 Oct 2003 Posts: 1470

Good story!

moderator · Joined: 27 Jan 2002 Posts: 6523

Glad you liked it Hunter777.

BLACKBEARBRAD · Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 17 Location: Iowa

To go after big browns with a handgun of any caliber even the S&W 500 is what I would call insane. We've all heard stories of bears sucking up round after round of large caliber rifles(300,340,375mags and bigger)an keep right on going.I've done some stupid things in my life but chasing browns through the bush with a hand gun,no thanks.I'll stick with sky diving.

Capt. Scott · Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 3 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I am looking for an afordable handgun hunt for brown bear. Those of us who handgun hunt are not at a disadvantage to rifle hunters provided the caliber is stout enough to penetrate to the vitals, and the shot is true. Acuracy is far more important than anything else when hunting. I shoot a custom .475 Linebaugh and can keep all rounds on a paper plate at 100 yards. It penetrates more than a .375 H&H shooting 300gr solids at the same distance, and my 440gr hard casts have a larger surface area at impact.

Any info on a hunt would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Serious Hunter · Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Posts: 942 Location: Idaho

All I can say is ... whoa ... I'm not there yet.

compact45 · Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 4

After many years of saving, planning and booking my hunt this September I finally was going Brown Bear hunting

I intended on shooting my brown bear this year with a iron sighted FA 7.5" 454 Casull this fall...But I also carried a rifle ( 375 H&H ) just in case the distance was too great. When you spend 10k on a hunt I did not want to not have the chance to take a bear. I had limited my shot with the pistol to inside of 50 yards.
Shot placement being so critical on this animal I was confident after many rounds of practice and suffering from recoil with the 360 Grain Penetrator Corbons that 50 yards was doable.

Well as it would happen a very large bear came out down river 125 yards and never came closer than 100 so I took him with the 375 at a 100 yards. I did have the pistol ready just in case a bear came out on the gravel bar in front of us (about 40 yards) but it never happened.

I will have to do it with the handgun in 4 years.

Fred Bear · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 7

That takes some balls to go and hunt grizzly bears with a pistol. Like Fred Bear once quoted
" If some of our teenage thrill seekers really want to go out and get a thrill, let them go up into the Northwest and tangle with the Grizzly Bear, the Polar Bear, and the Brown Bear. They will get their kicks, and it will cleanse their souls."
Hands down that was a fantastic article.

expatriate · Joined: 26 Oct 2002 Posts: 1248 Location: Alaska

That's just plain nuts. Five-shot gun vs. 12-shot bear. I don't like that math. :(

Pointshoot · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 1

Boy, that sure puts things in perspective ! I recently bought a short barrel S&W 500 for use when I'm fishing in griz country in Montana & Alaska. - - But here we had two guys with long barrel 500s, a guy with a .45-70, and another back-up with a 338 and that brownie soaked up a lot of lead before going down. Looks like nothing is a 'magic death ray' when it comes to these tough determined animals ! - - -

bearhunter16314 · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 1 Location: Pa.

i love the bearhunting storys with handgun because thats all i can use ,my neck was fuseded because i got rearened in my car.i have Tc's with 22-4570 barrow a encore with 22-250 and 30-06 and i had JD-Jones make me 16'' 375 H&H and its sweet and i allso got Smith 500 and its nice i use 400 gr in the Smith its dead on at 200yd sweet.the 375 H&H is one bad boy at 300yd i can keep the pattern of a 50cent peace. i love to shoot my bad boys, some day i ever get enght money ,i love to hunt the big bears thats my dream.i got black bears i have a lot of respect for the bears i only hunt boars i dont hunt sows around here in Pa. the have cubs at the time of are hunt,it make me sick when hunters dont take time to watch them to admire them and watch to see if they do have cubs. i see 25lb cubs go in check stations and they brage about it . i like to see them try that with a brown bear,they be lunch.so all you hunters that use hand guns for bears good for you i have a lot of respect for you ,any one can use rifles,its a lot diffrent with hand guns,your more pacesent and you have more respect for the animal i should know i been hunting with hand guns for over 15years.