Someone is always asking the question, so here is a link to .45 vs Grizzly – Link

I would sure like some more details but this is all I have seen at the moment.

Wonder if it was an APC or a GAP

"It's legal to carry firearms in that area of the park but illegal to discharge them."

What kind of nonsense is that????  What are you supposed to do, throw the gun at the bear?

Don’t let the reporter’s poor choice of wording throw you Of course they are going to investigate!

They got one dead bear and his statement of events. They can probably rule out suicide...

While it appears to be the truth but do you really think the guy would tell them he was hunting the bear to kill it and sell its’ gall bladder & paws?

As I explained to my wife, I can carry legally downtown on the street etc. BUT it technically is illegal to shoot my gun there...

I like this sentence in the article.

if it only got roughly 100 yards or less id say the bear was dieing on its feet and more of stumbled into the brush to die as animals do quite often when mortally wounded.

wonder how many rounds actually contacted the bear.

people make alote of of a bear, i grew up on washington state out in BFE and have seen alot of bear get taken with nothing more then a bow and arrow and not make it but a few yards with a good shot.
thier blood and guts just like anything els, hit something important and its going to go down.

Guy needs to start playing the lottery.  He's lucky he didn't end up a bear snack.

there's been 5 fatal grizzly attacks  and 20 from bears total since 1870, 6 of the bears were from zoos or whatnot...wiki. bear snack unlikely. probably more likely to die in a car crash 2 times over

" I'm not quite sure that carrying something of a caliber that may or may not kill the bear RFN is the best choice. Personally I'll continue to carry something with a bit more oomph"


What we carry is always a compromise between mobility and effectiveness.  Apparently this individual did not agree with your position.  As it turns out, he was right.

(of course, this same logic applies to someone successfully protecting their home with a 22lr but I've heard that others carry a 45acp for bears as well)

I find that hard to believe..........really hard to believe.

I'll ask my Wildlife Ecology professor today

There's been close to 20 people or so killed in Glacier National Park by black/griz bears.
The park has a shirt with the numbers.

yeah.... my bad.....read the numbers wrong... it's around 86 fatal attacks from bears since 1870. Whoops.

Just more proof God looks out for drunks and fools.

Amen, 45 auto, if the report is true, would finally kill the bear, but not before he severed your head and cleaned out your body cavity.

It sometimes gives me a good laugh to see what others seem to know with zero experience. I do not hunt bear with a 45 or 9, but it does not take a bazooka to take one down. I have seen a bear taken with a bow, 45, 30-30, and the larger cal. rifles.
ETA: forgot to add the .223 and I took this one at 8' with a 450 Marlin 1895

Not argueing with your number there, but the thought of.... "they sell t-shirts that say it so it must be true" cracked me up.  Thats like "I saw it on TV".  Just means all info sources is or can be suspect.  

I'm happy to have zero experience in this area.  However, I have read about people in Alaska carrying a 45acp for brown bear protection.   Even though it worked for this individual, doesn't this seem kind of light?  30-30 on up packs a lot more punch.  A 9mm or .223 just seems silly.

I agree with you that damn near any hand cannon is too light for a Brown, Kodiak, Grizzly. I have been to Alaska only once on the Kenai Rvr. and those things are huge. Most people in the lower 48 will only have experience with black bear if they actually see a bear in the wild and not from their vehicle in a National Park.

My experience in hunting has only been with the black variety and I carry accordingly. I have 2 under my belt, 1 with a bow at 17 yards with a .40 cal backup. That sow was approx 200 lbs and the boar from above is covered and was approx. 600 lbs, 6'5" and 19-20 years old according to a game warden/ bio. at check in. I am sure we have hunters on this site with more bear knowledge than myself that can backup what I say about a well placed shot. The .223 shot was from a friend that was deer hunting and happened to see a 200 lb. boar and took the shot at around 150 yards to the ear and he was DRT. That shot alone, is proof to me of what can be done with a small cal. rifle and a good shot.

Will I take a .223 hunting bear? NO. I will carry according to my prey. Will I take a reasonable shot with a "less than ideal" cal.? Yes, and he will be jerky. And I will defend myself and any others with any means useable at the moment including a 9mm if that is what I have at the time.

Funny thing is there have been that many die from bears there in the park.
Lived there just over 2yrs and have seen the news of bear attacks.
Another funny thing is bear bells and yelling hey bears always brings them in to see whats up.
The t-shirt thing is a humor thing to keep people aware.

45 is probably the poorest choice for bears imagineable.  It's known to get less penetration than the other service calibers.  You'd be much better off with 9mm ball.

When salmon fishing I carry a 1911, but a modified one with the .460 Roland round.  I fear no bear.