Be Glad Grizzy Bears Are More Ferocious Than Analytical

 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily:

The out-of-state man who was mauled by a mother grizzly in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sunday apparently had a phenomenal stroke of luck when the apex predator essentially bear-sprayed itself.

The attack on a 35-year-old Massachusetts man ended when the grizzly bit into his can of bear spray, bursting it into her own face, according to a statement from the National Park Service.

The other encouraging news for those of us in bear country.  5/23/24 Ammoland:

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist.

The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important.

These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We have always asked for examples of failures. We appreciate readers who help us document more cases.

Here are all the cases that have been documented where 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears. 9mm is expected to be the common 9x19mm cartridge. These cases do not include incidents where handguns were used with other lethal means or a mix of handgun calibers were used. The incident is included if more than one handgun of the same caliber was used. There are  11 incidents in which 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears (six black, five brown). They were all successful. The incidents are listed chronologically. 

Important note: FMJs appear to be pretty effective.  Even a grizzly bear knows to run from pain, even if it is not immediately lethal.  I am not planning to dispose of my S&W 629 in .44 Magnum, but I suspect 15 shots of 115gr. FMJ from my Browning will do the job, if the sound of ringing bells does not encourage distance.