When you're on the menu. What would you do?

[Robson Valley]

Chinook wind is really fantastic. Around 0F, OK?, and putting up the Christmas lights on the house.
It's maybe 5PM and dark. It started by feeling like somebody breathed on the side of my face.
40F a couple of hours later when I finished.

Yesterday at 8:30 sunrise it was about 0F, as well. 28F by noon.

We call it the "pineapple express" for the tropical winds that can start out near Hawaii and come onshore in Washington
and British Columbia. The really cold air pools in the north/south valleys so scrubbing that out takes a couple of days.

 

[Adze]

Well, most of us

I only know of one that isn't. However, on a bad day, that one charges at somewhat less than 4 miles a day and is, therefore, more easily avoided.

 

[Robson Valley]

When the Pineapple Express is big enough and strong enough, it flows over all the BC mountains
to bring a sudden warming trend to Alberta, maybe Saskatchewan, too. That's a Chinook wind.

I lived in Melbourne, Australia for 4 years. Learned to leave a wool jacket in the car all summer.
Maybe 90F by 8AM and warming up more. Off to the lab. Radio on. Announcer reports that a
"Cool Change" is coming to Melbourne probably by 1:15PM.
Once you're used to the heat, the cold wind that blows up from Antarctica is a surprise.
Sure enough the S wind picked up and the temp plummeted to less than 70F!

 

[Trojan]

I met an angry wasp once!

 

[tsitenha]

Davy Crockett would "grin" a bear, but he was a politician and you know how long they can out stare someone.

 

[pete79]

Haven't been on the forum for about a year, but always something interesting to be found on here. Nice to see a guy from NWT putting some first hand experience of bears onto the table.

This would be a what have I done answer as opposed to what would I do answer.
Never had an issue with wolves showing interest in me or my camp, but have come across them.
Bears - if one is showing an interest (as they sometimes do, cause they're curious) then my opinion is that you should teach them that showing an interest is a bad thing; shout, throw things, be forceful and don't act afraid (the last one being fairly hard to do as they are big). If it comes down to having to defend oneself, a 12 guage loaded with slug is the tool.

 

[Robson Valley]

BC has bears. The issue with a slug is that you have to aim. You have to run a slug barrel or maybe get away with an IC choke. Any shotgun load is highly accurate at hand-shaking distance. I load 3" with SSG. There are 9 pellets, each of which has the muzzle energy of a .38cal pistol load. So for me, each shot with my 12ga is the equivalent of 9 rounds of pistol ammo being fired simutaneously. Perhaps a 3.5" Benelli Nova (mine) or a 3.5" Stoeger (my GF) would be a better pick from our gun cabinet. I remain convinced that 3" x 1 9/16 oz #2 is serious medicine when fed through a Boito s/s coach gun.

 

[santaman2000]

BC has bears. The issue with a slug is that you have to aim. You have to run a slug barrel or maybe get away with an IC choke....

Myth. I've been firing slugs from modified (and occasionally from full) chokes for decades.

 

[pete79]

BC has bears. The issue with a slug is that you have to aim. You have to run a slug barrel or maybe get away with an IC choke. Any shotgun load is highly accurate at hand-shaking distance. I load 3" with SSG. There are 9 pellets, each of which has the muzzle energy of a .38cal pistol load. So for me, each shot with my 12ga is the equivalent of 9 rounds of pistol ammo being fired simutaneously. Perhaps a 3.5" Benelli Nova (mine) or a 3.5" Stoeger (my GF) would be a better pick from our gun cabinet. I remain convinced that 3" x 1 9/16 oz #2 is serious medicine when fed through a Boito s/s coach gun.

BC does have bears. SSG is a good round for sure. Slug is tried tested and proven for me - used several times. Packs outrageous energy within 50m. You gotta aim with any round you use. It's the Winchester 870 pump action for me.

 

[pete79]

Myth. I've been firing slugs from modified (and occasionally from full) chokes for decades.

My shotgun is a cylinder bore barrel. I have heard that the slug will deform to squeeze through the choke, but heard that long term it will weaken the barrel with all that energy trying to get past a restriction. How long have you been doing it for.

 

[santaman2000]

My shotgun is a cylinder bore barrel. I have heard that the slug will deform to squeeze through the choke, but heard that long term it will weaken the barrel with all that energy trying to get past a restriction. How long have you been doing it for.

Yeah I heard all that too. I've been doing it for just under 50 years. A slug is soft, malleable lead moving down the barrel under relatively little pressure compared to a rifled slug barrel (or less still than a jacketed rifle bullet forced down a rifled barrel; although I'll grant that rifle barrels are thicker)

Mind that accuracy isn't the best from anything more than a modified choke, but then at defensive ranges it really isn't a problem.

 

[Robson Valley]

I've left a trip plan (where and when) before I head up high on our logging roads. I go with quite an agenda for rock, slate, pyrite, sand, carving wood and the ever present ruffed grouse. There are days when I get lucky and a pair of non-attentive Canada geese come sailing by. All I need is 7.5 trap loads for the grouse and BBB steel for everybody else. It's a jungle. Visibility is 10' at best. If and when I get rushed by a bear, aiming will never be on the plate. It's a fact that our bears can sprint with galloping horses and bring them down. Does not leave much time.

Gunshots mean gut piles and the bears know it. Pepper spray means hot sauce & people and the bears know it.

 

[Arya]

What would I do if I was attacked by a predator? Hm... Most likely go out with a bang, improvising something stupid, since I tend to be a bit aggressive when put in a threatening situation.
Example; I tackled a young bull in Spain once, when I was attacked by it A funny story for the locals... Crazy tourist wrestling their livestock...
If it was a bear I would be fast food in no time, so I would most likely stab my own neck to be sure I bled out quite fast. Bears tend to eat their preys while they are still alive, and even conscious. I prefer to stab myself before I experience that.

I could of course tell myself that I would have time to torch the beast in the face with a gas can and a lighter, or something like that, stab it in it´s eyes or so (blah, blah, blah) but I really don´t think there would be time for much resistance.

Wolves are cowardly animals, and normally pose no threat. They mind their own business, preferably far away from people. A moose is more dangerous than a wolf.
The Lynx is also to shy to pose any threat.

When I was camping in Masai Mara in Kenya, we had hyenas outside the tent at night. I remember waking up, thinking about all the nature programs on TV, trying to remember if hyenas are pure scavengers or if they hunt to.
I couldn´t be sure, but snuggled my knife and eventually fell a sleep thinking they are cowardly animals and would probably be put off by the number of people in the tent.
And we all lived happily ever after.

 

[EddieP]

In Greenland last Summer, I carried a 10 shot pump with Brenneke slug, these are harder than other brands so penetrate deeper. I wasn't camping though so the chance of geting attacked with no warning was slim.

I'm currently planning a trip to Svalbard and we will be camping, so I will be setting up bear alarms, we will have a bear watch, and I'm about to send off for a variation for a .375 Ruger. It may be over kill, but with the defence laws over there, you can only use lethal force when the bear is too close and with a bear that is intent on eating (or maybe just killing) you, you need something that hits hard.

I'm considering a 12g with beanbags for long range deterrence and we will carry a flare gun too.

That's the nice thing about Polar Bear territory, there is an expectation and sometimes a mandate for self defence. The downside is the threat to life that they provide.

This is in addition to the usual stuff like not cooking in tents and good house keeping. Unfortunately there are no trees to hand food in, so the bear guard is required.

 

[Hibrion]

Did you not find the 10 shot long, awkward and heavy to swing? I had a 10 shot years ago and got rid of it for that very reason. I'd want something shorter and lighter in that situation. If 5 or 6 shots can't get it done, you're kinda screwed anyway.

 

[EddieP]

Did you not find the 10 shot long, awkward and heavy to swing? I had a 10 shot years ago and got rid of it for that very reason. I'd want something shorter and lighter in that situation. If 5 or 6 shots can't get it done, you're kinda screwed anyway.

Yeah, it's the gun I use for practical shotgun, so I'm familiar with it. It's pretty much as short as I can have in the UK, so I took what I know. It's not too bad in Greenland as there is no tree cover, it'd be an **** in woodland though.

 

[Hibrion]

Yeah, it's the gun I use for practical shotgun, so I'm familiar with it. It's pretty much as short as I can have in the UK, so I took what I know. It's not too bad in Greenland as there is no tree cover, it'd be an **** in woodland though.

Really? I thought you guys could get shorter shotguns than us. That would be a 28 inch barrel, right?

I guess you;d see something coming in that open territory for a long way off.

 

[Robson Valley]

Arya is right = the most dangerous and unpredictable animal of the boreal forest is either:
a) a cow moose with a calf
b) any sow bear with cubs

If you should stumble upon some large dead animal, partially buried in dead leaves, twigs, etc., you need to be at least 1/4 mile away, just as fast as you can.
When you get that far away, keep going. Never stop to have a good look to indulge your curiosity.

Any 12ga load, any shot size, doing 1200fps or better, is devastating at 10 feet. My 3" BBB is doing 1400fps.

 

[EddieP]

Really? I thought you guys could get shorter shotguns than us. That would be a 28 inch barrel, right?

I guess you;d see something coming in that open territory for a long way off.

It's a 24 inch, which the minimum on a pump / semi.

Having the gun was more of an inconvenience than the length. Scrambling on rocks was a nightmare. I need to look at different slings for future trips. I've found one that is a shoulder sling with a chest strap. I may try to modify my existing one.

 

[Hibrion]

Have you tried a 3-point sling?