Let's Talk About Bear Defense for an 82-Year Old.

[dontallo]

.22LR and an unarmed companion.

Shoot the companion in the knee with the .22LR and stroll away leisurely while the bear eats the crippled companion.

OK, so now, that would be my mom. So, no, I do not like this idea.

 

[RRomig]

I’ll provide all the spray he can handle and I’ll take a bear a year as trade.
Seriously spray would be best.
Along with herd control.

 

[camo556]

I mean if you are 82 and still appetizing to a bear, ******* good for you.

 

[teratos]

One dog may well result in a deceased dog and an angry bear.

Two may be able to tag team it until it gives up and runs away.

He can adopt 20 “Staffordshire Terriers”, the animal shelters are full of them because people suck.

 

[John from MD]

I want to buy my dad a pistol for self defense against bears. He keeps encountering them on his property in Western Penna. The only pistols my dad owns are a .22 Mag, a .380 ACP, and a .357 Mag. So far, I've been told to buy my dad either a .44 Mag with a short barrel or one of those Judge revolvers with .410 00 buck. I'm leaning toward the .44. Any thoughts from you handgun experts?

A .44 is good black bear medicine but his 82 year old hands may not be able to handle it. We loose a lot of strength as we get older even if we look strong and healthy. I suggest you let him fire one before buying him one.

 

[dontallo]

Maybe bear spray might be a good alternative?

Honest question, I don't know, I've only been told:
I heard bear spray was good for encounters where the bear is just as startled as the hiker/hunter. It encourages them to choose to run away. Will it work when the bear is complacent and not really afraid of the human? Will it work on an angry sow defending its cubs?

Maybe a combination of bear spray and a sidearm.

 

[Jim12]

There's always this timeless classic response ...

 

[Bullfrog]

He can adopt 20 “Staffordshire Terriers”, the animal shelters are full of them because people suck.

Then he'll want to adopt a bear to keep his dogs from eating him.

Deputies watched dogs 'eating rib cage' of Virginia woman, 22, during mauling, sheriff says

Deputies found a Virginia woman in the woods and saw her two pit bull dogs “eating [her] rib cage,” the sheriff said on Monday about the “grisly” mauling of the 22-year-old who was found dead after taking her pets for a walk.

www.foxnews.com

 

[teratos]

Honest question, I don't know, I've only been told:
I heard bear spray was good for encounters where the bear is just as startled as the hiker/hunter. It encourages them to choose to run away. Will it work when the bear is complacent and not really afraid of the human? Will it work on an angry sow defending its cubs?

Maybe a combination of bear spray and a sidearm.

That’s not unreasonable. Bear spray ain’t pleasant. If you want to see for yourself, have pop spray you.

 

[Bullfrog]

There's always this timeless classic response ...

Carrying a kayak around all the time to distract the bears with sounds like hard work for an 82 year old.

 

[Jim12]

Carrying a kayak around all the time to distract the bears with sounds like hard work for an 82 year old.

 

[Michigander08]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

 

[lazarus]

Honest question, I don't know, I've only been told:
I heard bear spray was good for encounters where the bear is just as startled as the hiker/hunter. It encourages them to choose to run away. Will it work when the bear is complacent and not really afraid of the human? Will it work on an angry sow defending its cubs?

Maybe a combination of bear spray and a sidearm.

Bear spray can work under all circumstances. It is least likely to work if the bear is determined to kill you for one reason or another. Then again, similar story with a gun…

Bear spray is more commonly used than firearms, but with a higher failure rate. Honestly you’d have to ask if the reason is because it is less effective or if it is because people are just a lot more likely to use bear spray rather than waiting to use a firearm and also rate bear spray as a failure when the bear doesn’t immediately go running off.

I can only think of a couple of instances I know of where the person using bear spray ended up getting mauled. And who knows if the bear actually got hit. Now probably how many ended up mauled that I am not thinking of, likely a lot higher.

But bear spray is GENERALLY effective. But so is a gun. In studied instances where a bear was actually shot, I am also only aware of a couple instances where someone ended up dead or severely injured. And include everything from 9mm up through 12ga shotguns. The vast majority of people killed or severely injured had neither bear spray nor any kind of gun.

I’d just go with the .357 and hard cast as well as a couple cans of bear spray. Keep on on the golf cart and one to take walking around the property. I don’t know that many 82 year olds. But none of the ones I do know could probably handle a 44 magnum. Or if I am just under estimating them, they probably wouldn’t be able to physically handle one for many more years. It’s not just handling one shot, it’s rapidly following up with more.

Best to get the biggest, most powerful and perfectly accurate shot than spray a bear with a ton of rounds. But if a bear charges, you are reasonably likely not to hit it with that first shot. Or not be a CNS shot. So you better be able to squeeze off shots fast. Better a .357 if you can squeeze of 4 shots to 2 from a 44 magnum in the same time and accuracy.

 

[lazarus]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

It depends on how hard you throw them I guess.

 

[Michigander08]

It depends on how hard you throw them I guess.

Ha! preferably use it with a Glock/M&P/CZ receiver.

 

[teratos]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

How much time do you think you have?

 

[Bullfrog]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

"Grizzly bears can run up to 35 miles per hour, black bears can run up to 30 miles per hour..."

How many rounds can you put into a target as big as a volleyball coming at you at 30-35 mph? Anything more than 6-7 is probably useless because you won't have time to use them.

There's zero chance you're going to change magazines, unless you're off to the side watching your friend get eaten.


How much damage will a half dozen rounds of 9mm do to a bear's skull and shoulders? There's nothing else you can hit from that angle, so forget penetrating deep enough to hit something vital with 9mm.


Keep in mind it does you no good if the bear is half blind, deaf, and bleeding out because if he is alive for more than a few more seconds he's going to be chewing on your skull.

 

[Bullfrog]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

This bear took a shotgun blast to the face and got up and resumed charging.

Notice how much time he had. How many well-aimed rounds of 9mm are you going to get off? How effective will they be?

 

[Bob A]

I don't see an 82 yo getting more than one aimed shot at a charging bear with a .44 magnum.

 

[joppaj]

You all are saying that three 15-rd magazines of 9mm won't kill a bear? That would be 45 rounds emptying into the bear.

I'm saying you won't get more than a few non-critical hits and that's if your draw and mag dump skills are strong. As others have noted, a sow with cubs probably isn't backing down easily and mag changes under stress are a practiced skill.

I don't see an 82 yo getting more than one aimed shot at a charging bear with a .44 magnum.

We never should have allowed people to keep and arm bears...

OP, will he allow legal hunting on his property? It's not an immediate solution but may help long term. Short term I'd suggest bear spray and an airhorn in the golf cart.