handgun for hiking in bear country
 

thats from the thread on the grizzly downed by a .45 acp...but you reference relying on a .357 mag, which is slightly comparable to a 10mm, maybe not enough hence my question:

if I were going to be hiking in bear country, mid to upper west montana, would a 1911 in 10mm be worthy of carrying just in case or should i just go with the bells and pepper spray and the Almighty Lord?

1911 in 10mm, bells, pepper spray, the Almighty Lord, and good sense to be aware of your surroundings.

Bear Country
 

I carry the 10mm and a can of UDAP in Alaska. But for camping or being near the salmon streams, access to a rifle or shotgun is wise.

I would think this would easily apply to Montana as well.

Which 1911 do you carry in 10mm? Wilson Combat?

The Lovely Miss Freefall just bought a 10mm Colt for woodswalking. I wouldn't feel helpless with it with full power loads. I personally carry my .44 because that's what I have and I can't afford a .475 Linebaugh.

Dan Wesson C-Bob

This may sound a bit off but do you have a zoo near by you can go to and stand 40 feet or so away from a full grown Bear ?

Alot of folks aren't lucky enough to have a zoo in their city and never have and let me tell you when you do this after watching some of the nature films on Bears and you watch one toss a 200 lb + log or rock getting under it looking for bugs to eat and then see just how massive they are "FAce to face" so to speak you have a whole new perspective on them as preditors .
If you find yourself in the woods hunting and run across a bear track in the snow that is still coming down and know for a fact that bear is close by or it's prints would be gone even having a Rifle in you hands looks small when knowing how big and dangerous these animals can be .

Personally if I could carry an M1 Tank on my back for Bear protection I would !!

I would skip anything less than a 41 magnum and all handguns as other than a back up and have a rifle as handy as I could if knowingly going into Big Bear country .

As a guy I used to guide with said, "All day my rifle feels too big and heavy, but when the sun goes down it feels too small".

yeah, me too the last time i was there, at yellowtail dam, bighorn canyon area...we had a momma black bear with cubs that were tearing up some tents ( campers fault tho, they left food in an unattended tents ) ours never got touched. -being i'm going to be much farther north and west i'm pretty sure a sighting or encounter is as likely if not more.

I have a colt delta elite in 10mm. I do not own a high powered rifle yet, but i could borrow my friends ruger 77 in .270, i'm sure that would be better than a handgun but isn't that more of a big game(elk, mule deer, etc) rifle than a bear caliber like something in the .4 range?

i figured a warning shot might be a little scarier and louder than me trying to yell and be scary but i dont know if that is even advisable.

yes...thats partly the reason for asking, a pistol seems like a novelty item to have for that size of animal but it could be loud enough to scare one off...or piss one off too:eek:

paying attention to the local reports and sightings will be first and foremost though.

I appreciate all the advice from everyone, thank you.

I don't think he was talking about his 357 for grizzly bears but the name of ammo he uses.

Results for Grizzly Cartridge

It's hard cast, heavy rounds.

I picked a 1/2 quart of raspberries this morning. Saw a black bear at one end of the fence line, he (she?) saw me too. The bear picked at its end, and I stayed on mine. It looked kind of young, maybe 150 pounds or so. About 60 yards distance between us. I was wearing a New Service, so I wasn't too worried (but did keep one eye on it). When I decided I had enough berries I went back in the house.

My point is 80 - 95% of the time, if you ain't doing something to scare or bother it, it is a fairly peaceful encounter.