How do you defend yourself against wildlife when hiking or approaching a climb?

wa5.10 wrote: I'm not going to argue with someone WHILE I'm looking at sierras load manual stating the opposite. You realize a 10mm is a 40s&w with longer case correct? Btw, I only load precion rifle and self defense. 223, 6br, 6.5cm, 308, 6.5x47, 45acp, 357. Bullet choice is far more important. No question.

I'm aware of what a 10mm is, or rather where the 40 came from. The 40 came from the 10. Regardless, I agree, bullet selection is important, but muzzle energy coupled with bullet selection is more important than one or the other alone.

My argument is simply that a hardcast 10mm load pushing 700 ft pounds of energy is more effective than a hard cast 45 pushing 500 ft pounds.

Awesome. So now we know the origins of a .40 SW and a 10 mm. You two do realize that neither will do squat but piss a bear off, right? I know a guy who put a .300 mag round into a grizzly at 200m. It charged, and he put two more rounds into it, before it stopped 40 feet from him. Was not there, but saw the photos and the bear carcass. I don't think that your sidearm would have done much to save your life.

the schmuck wrote:I don't think that your sidearm would have done much to save your life.

If you're using a pistol on bears you need to file off the front sight.
That way it won't hurt as bad when the bear takes the gun away and shoves it up your ass.

We are all doomed if Tony doesn't have a answer for us! ;)

Greg Petliski wrote: How did I leave out grizzlies? I mentioned brown bears.. grizzlies are a sub species of brown bear. And I never said you shouldnt defend yourself. I said it doesnt call for artillery and to be in constant fear.

You just about need artillery to stop grizzlies. Although god help us if the grizzly figures out how to use the artillery after taking it from you.

With the except of rare Grizzle bear issues, critters in the lower 48 will not bother you. Stop obsessing and just get out and enjoy.

spencerparkin wrote:After running into a black bear a few days ago, I've started to be a bit more spooked about going on some of my favorite trails. The feeling stays with me for a while until I do enough trails without incident that it (the feeling) goes away, and then I just don't give any trail a second thought anymore after that...that is, until the next animal encounter happens. They don't happen that often, but they do happen. Moose, black-bears and rattle-snakes are what I worry about the most. I've accidentally kicked a few rattle-snakes many miles from my car! Never seen a mountain lion, but I believe I've seen their tracks in the snow. Anyhow... If a moose or bear were to attack/charge, what would you do? Bear spray? Moose spray? Do any of you carry a gun while hiking? I'm timid about carrying any sort of fire-arm. Shoot a few rounds into the air? How about a rattle-snake bite? Carry any anti-venom? Only doctors can administer that, right?

Climbing friend,

I would use my boldness and crushing grip of iron eagle claw type to rip out the trachea of the charging brown bear in one quick swoop. I may also be utilizing the five point palm exploding heart technique to burst the heart of the advancing brown bear or polar bear.

Also, you are not be needing to have the fear of the black bears. They will simply run away unless you have smeared peanut butter on your crotch. Mountain lions perhaps more scarier, but you will not see them as they leap 40' horizontally from movement in stalking creeping style to fly through the air at tremendous speed and rip your head off.

A moose, you simply duck low to do the dodging of the horns, then do the bouncing back up and put in a headlock of brutal biceps-crushing type until it passes out.

Rattlesnake, you simply do not step on, and if you do, hope you have a good climbing friend nearby to suck the poisonous venom from your veins.

Personally I like the taurus judge. Shoots 4.10 and .45L so that'll handle most things you encounter. Smith and Wesson makes a similar model called the governor. Costs a lot more but holds 5 rounds instead of 6. Taurus makes a light compact version that appeals more to me. Plus it's a revolver so way less chance of failure than a semi auto pistol. But as others are saying you need to practice and be comfortable with whatever weapon you may choose. Guns aren't for everyone but I do like mine.

They sense my immense and intense spirit coming so they know to stay away. Only time I've carried is car camping with the kids.

Pete Spri wrote: If you believe that wolves are no threat to people, then you guys are not only niece but delusional. Of course a wolf will go for normal prey first, but they are pack animals and very opportunistic. They can and do attack humans. I used to be like you guys and had a romanticized view of nature. After you see it kill a person or two, you can no longer hold that viewpoint, at least not rationally.

Holy shit. I'm late coming into this thread, so I"m sorry for the delayed responses or if this hasn't been answered before.
Really? You've seen wildlife kill not one but 2 people?

wolverines

Whatever you do, just make sure you can run faster than your climbing partner

Dangerous wildlife

Climbing friend,

Physical combat with the animals of the wilderness is great part of life, not to be missed. I believe it will help your boldness on your next fear-flash route if you engage in a match of wrestling with large black bear.

Aleks has spoken/end thread

Also the judge doesn't handle hot loads

The Destroyer vs. Victor the Bear
youtu.be/cjnuVFmiDfM

"I almost forgot I had a grenade in my pocket…"
Don't forget to check your pocket...

I'm gonna up the power here and go with a semi-auto .306, blow any bear to shit.

This is a great thread by the way, almost no way to improve on the direction this whole thing has gone.

youtube.com/watch?v=KIWmmbb…

I'm sure some karate or distractions always help.

I lock my front door. If I have to venture to the mailbox I wear snake chaps and make sure I carry a spear for the rabid dogs or coyotes. Don't forget the sunscreen.
I see people talking about bear repellent. It's less potent than some other stuff so make sure you use 1/3 to 1/2 a can on yourself, really rub it in your hair good so sweat won't make it run