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encounters
Posted by Mr. Pid on Jan 20 2006
I did some counting on my fingers, and I can honestly say that in my lifetime, I've had 7 close encounters. These "close" encounters are all inside 25-30 feet, and were all witnessed, too. 3 of those encounters were with black bears, 4 with browns. I was armed for 1 black and 1 brown encounter. The brownie was nearing the 8' range and I had a .357 (I know how small an armed man can feel with the wrong gun.) The black was about 5' and I had a 12 gauge, but that damn bear positioned himself between the 6 wheeler and the house, and I didn't take the shot (I'd chased him off the porch.) None of these instances happened during a hunt, and only 2 were while fishing. I can think of many 30-40-50 yard encounters while hunting, and I can't say I ever felt threatened. Bears will stand their ground until they hear that click, click, click of a round being chambered. They all seem to know that sound, and they run.
Looking back at the 7, would I have enjoyed the company of a .44? Absolutely yes. Did I NEED a .44? Apparently not. Would it have been practical in any of those situations to have used a rifle or shotgun? Perhaps the situation developed slowly enough in 4 of those cases, although the likelyhood of me carrying a rifle in those cases was zero. In the others, there was no warning and no time. A rifle may actually have encouraged me to stand my ground and facilitated the death of a bear, or me. My quick exit strategy worked out okay, though. Fortunately, bears use the same strategy.
Pid
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