Who needs a gun in a National Park

[since9]

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cabbitone wrote:

Slightly off topic but still pertaining to animal attacks.
Anyone have any idea what the minimum would be to use against an alligator? (handgun caliber/load)
Like would a high pressure 10mm(not a lethargic FBI Light) work?

*clarification - Referring to self defense not hunting, i.e. one is charging you or has clamped down on you/object

A .22 through the top of the head works nicely.

As for polar bear, Eskimos used to take them with a long pointed stick. Turns out if you run away, they give chase, but if you walk up to them they almost always rear up, exposing their fronts. A couple of quick stabs through their hearts startles them into doing nothing for the few seconds it takes them to become unconscious.

Of course they don't always rear up, which is why the eldest man in the village always pulled that duty.

I'm wondering how my 9 mm would work against a grizzly. I carried a .44 magnum while backpacking in the Inland Northwest, but I had to give that back to my father. I know it's only a 9 mm, but I can put 17 shots on target in less than five seconds, and another 16 in less than ten more seconds. It's packs a third the punch of my .44 mag, but with three times number of initial rounds, so I figure it works more like a shotgun.

 

[paramedic70002]

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My Uncle was attacked by a wounded and angry bear once. It was charging him through the woods on it's hind legs with front legs outstretched. He was sitting against a tree, deer hunting.

He put 5 12 gauge shells into it pretty quick (yes he was illegally loaded) followed by 4 more single loaded, before it dropped 10 feet away from him. I've been told it was the largest bear taken in NC at the time and was eventually stuffed and placed somewhere in the Capitol.

I will not trust any dangerous wild animal with less than the best gun/ammo combination available.

 

[lil_freak_66]

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paramedic70002 wrote:

My Uncle was attacked by a wounded and angry bear once. It was charging him through the woods on it's hind legs with front legs outstretched. He was sitting against a tree, deer hunting.

He put 5 12 gauge shells into it pretty quick (yes he was illegally loaded) followed by 4 more single loaded, before it dropped 10 feet away from him. I've been told it was the largest bear taken in NC at the time and was eventually stuffed and placed somewhere in the Capitol.

I will not trust any dangerous wild animal with less than the best gun/ammo combination available.

NC has less than a 5 round capacity limit for deer??

i know many states it is 6,or none.

 

[paramedic70002]

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In VA you're supposed to have a 2 magazine capacity limit. Something to do with federal migratory bird laws. Not sure why it applies to all hunting but that's the way I've always known it to be done. And he told me himself that he was illegally loaded. This happened in the 80's.

EDIT: It's been years since I hunted. I did find this in VA's 09-10 regs:

Unplugged shotguns are legal for hunting non-migratory game and crows

 

[PT111]

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In SC there is a 3 shell limit on migratory birds due to Federal regulations but I don't think there isa limit for other game. As for Alligators the SC DNR recommends a .357 for killing or may require it, I can't remember which as one of the allowed methods of killing once you have them at the boat.

 

[Toymaker]

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since9 wrote:

I'm wondering how my 9 mm would work against a grizzly. I carried a .44 magnum while backpacking in the Inland Northwest, but I had to give that back to my father. I know it's only a 9 mm, but I can put 17 shots on target in less than five seconds, and another 16 in less than ten more seconds. It's packs a third the punch of my .44 mag, but with three times number of initial rounds, so I figure it works more like a shotgun.

here ya go

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_37&products_id=268


[align=right]
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Bullet : Montana Gold Full Metal Jacket Flat Point

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Glock 19 velocity - 1120fps.

Box of 50rds[/align]

Carry these in your 9mm............ along with a good prayer.

 

[Sonora Rebel]

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There are people whoare more biased for the wildlife than humans... or so it would seem. Trust in gadgets? No. I transit a park daily and live one the edge of it. The primary threat critters are mountion lion and wolves. Secondary are the javelina and coyotes... moreso the javelina. Then there's the rattlers. There's also illegal drug smugglers, people traffickers and the like. They tend to be armed.

We (here) have carried guns into the park before it was ever a park... when it became a park there was no difference in that dynamic.I s'pose some smokey bear hat wearin' biologists with gunsfrom elsewhere would take umbrage... but some laws are considered stupid at birth. The Rangers here understand the dynamic... even if their non-resident bosses do not.

 

[Dreamer]

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JoeSparky wrote:

BTW if the "Manbearpig" comment was intended as ANTI LAWFUL LAW ENFORCEMENT... I take offence!

That is a "South Park" Reference...

 

[Cavalryman]

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cabbitone wrote:

You know, I've got to ask. How many people either have or know some one who has a .41 magnum?

I have one -- a S&W model 57. Why? Is that odd?

 

[Cavalryman]

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since9 wrote:

I'm wondering how my 9 mm would work against a grizzly. I carried a .44 magnum while backpacking in the Inland Northwest, but I had to give that back to my father. I know it's only a 9 mm, but I can put 17 shots on target in less than five seconds, and another 16 in less than ten more seconds. It's packs a third the punch of my .44 mag, but with three times number of initial rounds, so I figure it works more like a shotgun.

When I got to Alaska, I bought a .44 magnum. About a year later after I saw a real grizzly in the wild from about 50 feet away, I bought a 500 magnum. No way would I give even a brief consideration to relying upon a 9mm as my primary protection against grizzly bears! You do whatever you want, but I'll stick with the 500 mag...unless someone comes out with something more powerful.

By the way, some Inuit ("Eskimos") I know called BS on the "hunting polar bears with a sharp stick" story. They said that before the advent of firearms, polar bears were almost always hunted by teams of strong young men with snares and spears and that fatalities among the hunters were not rare.

 

[erichonda30]

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Dreamer wrote:

JoeSparky wrote:

BTW if the "Manbearpig" comment was intended as ANTI LAWFUL LAW ENFORCEMENT... I take offence!

That is a "South Park" Reference...

manbear pig its poking fun at al gore/global warming