Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

[Holland&Holland]

Good strong knife and hand to paw is the only way to go. Haven't you guys seen any old cowboy movies?

[Izod]

Good strong knife and hand to paw is the only way to go. Haven't you guys seen any old cowboy movies?

no but i saw Davy Crockett do something similar once.. true story.

[OldmanFCSA]

If you only have a 9mm, take it. Carry it concealed. Most, if not all, issues will be caused by interaction with other two-legged animals.
If you do encounter a bear, do all you can to diffuse the situation.
OR pick the least liked person, shoot him or her in the knee, and run like hell.

[wasfuzz]

If you only have a 9mm, take it. Carry it concealed. Most, if not all, issues will be caused by interaction with other two-legged animals.
If you do encounter a bear, do all you can to diffuse the situation.
OR pick the least liked person, shoot him or her in the knee, and run like hell.

I have always said "I can run faster SCARED then you can run MAD!"

[Seismic Sam]

Thank you, Oldman...

Izod: You need to wake up and smell the coffee. ANY use of a 9mm against a grizzly WILL NOT WORK unless you score an extremely lucky shot, and by lucky I mean at least as lucky as getting a winning Powerball ticket. In all seriousness, if I had a choice between a 9mm and a big bottle of pepper spray like Dog the bounty Hunter carries, I would go for the pepper spray. Seriously. Using a 9mm against a grizzly is straight up delusional thinking, which is why Oldman said what he did. Yes, the primary problem will be two legged critters, and the 9mm is good for that, so by all means carry the 9 in the park, but you better come up with a different strategy if you run into a grizzly. Even going into the fetal position and just lying there is a survivable option if you haven't already pissed the bear off, but shooting it with a 9mm is straight up suicide. Come up with a different Plan A.

One other delicate subject which I will bring up about Yellowstone, but there is a correlation between bear attacks and women who are having their period. It's been documented, so you want to keep that in mind too.

[Squib Joe]

Grizzly and even Polar Bear attacks have been stopped with a 9mm BUT a greater number of times it has NOT worked. If you must, get some of the Buffalo Bore hard cast +P+. Or use the money instead towards a beater Remington 870 with slugs. Even better, drop me a line and maybe I can arrange for an appropriate loaner gun for your trip.

[yuppiejr]

If you can attach a grapefruit on a string to a zipline, set it swaying and then draw + hit it with one shot while it is moving toward you at 20-30 MPH <with your heartrate and breathing elevated to simulate stress>, a big bore revolver is your best plan. Otherwise a $50 can of quality bear spray is probably worth considering, keep the 9mm as a backup for 2 legged predators or as a backup to the spray as a noise deterrent for a bear attack...

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ad ... Spray.html

" The conclusions were startling: In all of the incidents involving spray, there were only three injuries, and none of them fatal—a 98-percent success rate."

The data set included 444 people, 357 bears (black, brown, and polar), and a total of 269 close encounters. Bear-inflicted injuries occurred in 151 of the incidents, including 17 fatalities, while aggressive bears were repelled (or killed) 84 percent of the time with handguns, and 76 percent of the time with long guns.

[Seismic Sam]

Top speed of a grizzly is 35 mph, and 60 mph = 88 feet per second, so 35 mph is around 50 feet per second, so with a standard Tueller drill that gives you a bit less than .4 seconds to draw, aim, and shoot with your 9mm. Unless you're really Jerry Miculek in disguise, that's another complete pipe dream. Talk to Squib Joe and see what he has to offer.

Thank you for the pepper spray info, yuppiejr, I didn't want to oversell it but I had no idea the stats were that favorable.

[LePetomane]

I spend a lot of time outdoors in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. I see two to three grizzlies per week and have never fired a shot. Bear spray is a good and first defense. Cabelas carries it. It is best to discharge it in your back yard once to see the pattern and range. As far as firearms, a .357 magnum is the minimum acceptable caliber. A lot of people I know carry it. I like a .44 magnum but it is heavy. Mrs. LePetomane carries a S&W Governor and alternates .410 slugs with .45 Colt rounds. The .45 Colt is a nice round to shoot. Powerful without a big recoil.

Common sense is your best defense. I think that a lot of attacks are provoked. Remember you are entering the food chain but you're not at the top and the wilderness is not your own personal zoo.

[farmerj]

Wear a bell.

[Rip Van Winkle]

The second worse thing you can do in bear country is surprise the bear. Bears aren't overtly aggressive, and unless you get between a momma and her cub (the worse thing), they will avoid you.

The old timers recommended rattling an old tin can with a couple pebbles in it as you hiked.

[chopper]

Was there some years back seen one grizzly bear, was eating some road kill and there was three park rangers near by keeping all of the dumb ass people away from it that were trying to get close-up pictures of it, We had two bull moose come thru the camp grounds and people chased them down to the lake trying to get pictures, lots of buffalo walking thru, I talked to one of the park rangers and he said that they average 20 to 25 stompings from the buffalo every season several are non provoked so beware of them.

[cobb]

... so with a standard Tueller drill that gives you a bit less than .4 seconds to draw, aim, and shoot....

Considering that time frame, this would be one example of where a large bore handgun worn across the chest or any very accessible position on a person would have an advantage over a shotgun. If attacked and not killed instantly, in other words while the bear is maybe crushing your leg in his mouth, dragging you by your skull, etc., a handgun could be maybe draw and the attacking bear could be shot at contact distance. I fully agree that a 12 ga. with quality slugs would probably stop a bear better than a handgun. But many times I have read that a person, while being physically mauled has punched the bear in it's nose, stuck a finger in it's eye in an effort to make the bear let go. At that distance a handgun could be utilized, a shotgun probably not.

Always the best option, be aware of you surroundings, you know, situation awareness. In other words, don't surprise a bear, don't inadvertently get near her cubs, etc.

And this past week on the show "Buying Alaska", the comment was made by the realtor that moose are responsible for more attacks on humans than Black and Brown bears combined.

[Ghost]

:iagree:
The second worse thing you can do in bear country is surprise the bear. Bears aren't overtly aggressive, and unless you get between a momma and her cub (the worse thing), they will avoid you.

The old timers recommended rattling an old tin can with a couple pebbles in it as you hiked.

I've carried everything from .380 to a .460 while hiking in Alaska, was just in Wrangell St. Elias last week. We make sure we make our presence known and have never had any issues with bear. We just try to talk a lot. Did kick up a young moose on some family property up there but luckily no sign of the mother.

If all you have is a 9mm carry it with your normal carry ammo and go about your business odds are you'll never need to shoot but at least you can try if you had to.

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2014/07/18/alaska-man-shoots-kills-aggressive-bear-hi-point-pistol/

[LePetomane]

There is a lot of armchair quarterbacking here. Most of the people who pound their chests and sing the praises of a .44 magnum have never shot one. If they have they would realize that it is almost impossible to fire two well placed shots in a row. Take the 9mm with some protection loads. Chances are that you will not need it. There are some seedy creatures (2 legged) that hang out in the western states. A lot of them are near YNP because they can hide there. There is a lot of meth in the surrounding areas and the people engaged in that activity are not very nice. They are more of a threat than bears but I have only heard stories and not had any personal encounters with these dregs. Enjoy your trip.

Stay safe.