Crossing Into Canada with a Firearm
Hi everyone: We are in the deep planning stages for a journey to Alaska, sometime in 2016. We plan to bring along a couple of firearms - a 9MM handgun and 12g shotgun. We have read, pretty much...
Forum Discussion
An extra 200lbs can't hurt. BLM and ADF&G both recommend and use 12gauge shotguns with rifled slugs and do so with the knowledge that stopping a charging bear is really just not likely. Here's a few links. But keep in mind that a charging brown bear covers at least 15 yards per second. In close quarters where the vast majority of real charges and attacks actually occur, even getting a gun, pepper spray, or taser up is dicey at best and getting off an accurate shot is practically impossible. Links:
http://www.adn.com/article/20120308/gun-no-insurance-policy-bear-attack-study-indicates
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=626
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/recreation/rec_info/bearsafety.html
Essentially you are about as well off with a noisemaker, such as a bear banger, or pepper spray as you are with a gun of any kind. Just leave them at home. (But I say that having toted a double barrel 12 gauge for most of my years in Alaska ;-) Although the only time I used it was as a noisemaker one night near Illiamna when I could not see well enough to tell if the bear was coming closer or not....so do what you want I guess, just don't think anything will save you from a bear that's actually charging for contact.)
http://www.adn.com/article/20120308/gun-no-insurance-policy-bear-attack-study-indicates
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=626
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/recreation/rec_info/bearsafety.html
Essentially you are about as well off with a noisemaker, such as a bear banger, or pepper spray as you are with a gun of any kind. Just leave them at home. (But I say that having toted a double barrel 12 gauge for most of my years in Alaska ;-) Although the only time I used it was as a noisemaker one night near Illiamna when I could not see well enough to tell if the bear was coming closer or not....so do what you want I guess, just don't think anything will save you from a bear that's actually charging for contact.)
