A Gun for Alaska

Note: This blog recounts my personal research toward finding a suitable firearm for defense against the Alaskan brown bear (Ursus arctos middendorfi) as well as the decisions I made concerning choice of firearm, my training, and lessons learned from this exercise. My decisions and training were based upon criteria I developed for myself. While I am familiar with a number of firearms and have been both a hunter and target shooter for more than 50 years, I am not an authority on defensive weapons or bear defense tactics. Do not take this information as prescriptive. I present this as, I hope, an interesting read that might inform someone else's reseach on this topic, nothing more. Enjoy.

"...Bears want to be left in peace as much, or more, than humans do. Every once in awhile, however, a bear just becomes mean...then, all your precautions may be useless, and this is the time when you need that thorough familiarization and confidence in yourself and your weapon."

-Meehan and Thilenius (authors of the 1983 U.S.Forest Service
study which analyzed weapons and training for bear defense).

The Criteria

The excitement of our upcoming trip to Alaska was mounting. My partner and I had been exhaustively researching the details of our kayaking vacation - especially the logistics of getting ourselves and our gear to Sitka and from there to a Forest Service cabin in Seven Fathoms Bay. The bay is situated on the boundary of the Tongass Wilderness midway down the west side of Baranof Island. Since I knew we would be in active brown bear country, I devoted a fair amount of time to studying appropriate safety measures. We are experienced (but not expert) kayakers and have spent many years paddling and camping in in British Columbia where black bears are present. Over time, we've adopted a set of bear-safe habits: hanging food, keeping a clean camp, etc. We have also carried pepper spray just in case. We have had many uneventful black bear encounters over the years and while they can be dangerous in certain circumstances, we have felt confident in our ability to deal with them. Neither of us could say the same about brown bears.

It was clear, from both the literature I poured over (including threads on Internet sites, blogs, YouTube posts) and from friends who had lived/worked in Alaska, that brown bears represented a different order of threat. I became convinced that I was going to need a gun and some specialized training in its use.

I consulted official sources such as the Forest Service - where I discovered, among other useful tidbits, the research project from which the above quote was taken. I also referenced Alaska Fish and Game. I also surveyed websites maintained by guide services and the aforementioned Internet threads, etc. I wanted enough information to create criteria for myself that would, I hoped, guide me to a good weapon choice.

The guidelines were:

1) Reliability: The weapon would have to function in all foreseeable circumstances especially wet, sandy ones.

2) Simplicity: The weapon would need to be simple to load, carry and fire.

3) Effectiveness: The weapon would have to be of sufficient power to kill or incapacitate a large, charging bear in close quarters.

4) Safety: The weapon had to be designed for safe carry while loaded.

5) Affordability: The weapon needed to be relatively inexpensive (about $500. or less)

7) Facility: The weapon would not require extensive training in order to be used effectively.

To these guidelines I added a couple of assumptions:

1) The weapon would not need anything more than rudimentary sights, if any

2) The weapon would not be used at distances farther than 15-20 yards.

With this framework at hand, I began sorting through the information I had gathered. What would it be - handgun, rifle, or shotgun? I matched each of the firearms types as well as calibers to my criteria. I immediately eliminated handguns, at least as a primary defense weapon. The ballistic data just didn't stack up. I couldn't find any persuasive evidence to suggest that even the heaviest loads in the heaviest calibers (44 magnum, 454 Casull, etc) would be effective bear stoppers. Added to that, and perhaps most important, the training needed to shoot one accurately at a charging behemoth seemed beyond me in the time I had to train myself. I have been an NRA bulls eye shooter in the past and can shoot a .45 reasonably well, but I just didn't (and still do not) trust my abilities in a life or death situation with a wrist buster-sized handgun. Essentially, handguns failed my criteria ( 3 & 7).

Rifles, obviously, were a different matter. Clearly, a number of calibers and loads would be effective. Certainly, as in the case of a 30-06, 45-70, .338, .375, .405, .416, or, at the extreme end, a .458 the ammunition would be readily available in Alaska. Some firearm makes would no doubt be affordable. For rifles of the appropriate caliber and power, I could only raise objections having to do with criteria 2 & 7. The principal concern I had was that the rifle actions might be problematic. With one exception, the common mechanisms, pump, lever, and bolt action, had at least one potentially disastrous flaw that could not be ameliorated: the interval needed to chamber a second round. Of course, one can train to chamber a round very quickly, but under stress and in unpredictable conditions, I worried that my second shot might not be very well placed, if I managed to get it off at all. This might reduce my rifle to a "one and done" single shot. I would like to believe myself a Hemingwayesque, brave and stalwart sort who could coolly drop a 1,000 lb charging bear with one bullet, but I know better. Target shooting with a medium bore rifle has taught me how truly difficult it is to calm and center oneself sufficiently to consistently shoot well in nonlethal conditions. That left semi autos like the Browning BAR. Those weapons would not have the "shot interval" problem, but the action mechanisms are not foolproof, particularly in the kind of conditions I was likely to find myself. Also, I have had to clear a jammed shell in the action of a semi auto enough times to give me pause. In the end, if I was going to choose a rifle, the only type that would satisfy my criteria would be a double. I was intrigued by the idea of a double rifle after reading the experiences and opinions of African dangerous game hunters. The double rifle has almost everything going for it: it cannot be jammed either by an overenthusiastic or nervous shooter (me) trying to shove another round into a loaded chamber - this does happen by the way - or by a shell ejection mechanism malfunction. With selective fire double triggers, two shots are instantly available plus in the unlikely, but catastrophic, event of a firing pin failure, one still has a backup shot. The big limitation, of course, is two shots. I chose to discount this because I felt that a third follow up shot in bad circumstances would very likely be...um...irrelevant. The only real problem I discovered with doubles was their affordability. I looked high and low for a Valmet/Tikka, a BRNO, a Spartan or others I could afford, but could find nothing. All of the others, the Chapius, Merkels, etc. cost more than the trip itself and were just plain out of reach financially.

That left shotguns. Specifically, some kind of 12-gauge, double barrelled configuration that could digest heavy, HEAVY loads (3in Brenneke or Dixie slugs) and remain controllable. I was encouraged that a number of Fish and Game types and others had reported successful use in the field on brown bear in very dangerous circumstances, although it should be mentioned that the 1983 Forest Service study found the 12 gauge to be inadequate. I think this was because at that time the slugs they tested were rather puny by today's standards. It seemed like a double shotgun fed the right kind of loads could be as one fellow put it "a fight stopper". Furthermore, I had had many years of experience with shotguns of every configuration. I was certain I could manage the weapon.

As it happened, I had the opportunity to try out both a 20-in barrel side by side coach gun and an interesting short-barrelled over/under shotgun. At the time both met most of my criteria. Because I had a time constraint and still had much to do to get ready for the trip, I went with the over/under shotgun, a Stoeger Outback. It was light, very compact, and affordable. Knowing what I know now, this would not be my first choice, but more on that later.

Learning to Shoot All Over Again

Finding a gun was one thing, learning to shoot it effectively proved to be quite another. I have done a fair amount of small game hunting and skeet shooting, but snap shooting from awkward, probably unbalanced positions in brushy or rocky terrain is a different proposition. This is not something one can easily duplicate at a firing range. Still I felt I had to do the best I could with the time I had left.

I first practiced shooting heavy loads in the gun. As anyone who shoots or hunts knows, every gun has its quirks and its "gotchas". Mine had more than a few, to say the least. For example, after firing my first two rounds of low-recoil tactical slugs, I opened the breech only to have the fore stock come loose in my hand which basically disassembled the gun and dropped the component pieces in my lap. I later learned that this was a fixable peculiarity of my gun due, most likely, to a weak spring that attaches the fore stock to the barrel along with some not-so-perfect machining of the holding mechanism. I found, fortunately, that if I was careful in assembly, I could remedy the problem. It occurred to me that this quirk might have an interesting side effect: after firing two shots the gun disassembles into a fighting club and a couple of throwing sticks - just kidding. Anyway, another annoying feature was a very stiff safety which required some serious thumb pressure to work. I hoped my hands would not be too cold or wet to operate it, but you can't worry about everything, right?

After I was hitting the 25-yard bulls eye with good consistency, I switched to the 3-inch magnum shells like I intended to carry in the field. I was not able to find Brenneke Black Magics on short notice so I substituted Remington Sluggers as they had similar ballistics - actually the Sluggers exit the barrel a little faster (1700 fps vs 1500 for the Brennekes). The first two shots were a total blur. I had never run such powerful slugs through such a short barrel before. I learned what was meant by the expression "kill at one end, maim at the other." I got the living hell walloped out of me. I am 6'7" and weigh about 260 lbs, but, even for me, the recoil was stunning. What was especially worrisome were the followup shots. Without really bearing down on the gun, the second shots went wild. Typically, the gun butt jumped out of position on the first round and then slammed into the outside of my my shoulder on the second. After 20 rounds, I looked and felt like I'd been worked over by a ball bat. Even worse, I became so "flinchy" that one of my second shots actually crossed over to another (wood) target frame blasting it to smithereens and incurring the displeasure of the range master. Lucky for me I'd chosen a time when I was fairly sure the range would be empty. It was - except for two bench shooters who stopped shooting to watch my shenanigans. All in all they were sympathetic and even helpful - one offered me a recoil pad that was much appreciated. After the session I emailed Brenneke, explained what I was trying to do and my difficulties with the 3-inch shells. A rep promptly wrote back suggesting that I try their 2 and 3/4 "short" magnums. The ballistics looked OK, so I secured a couple of boxes and tried them out. Much better. I figured I wasn't giving up too much power (2500 ME vs 3000 for the Black Magics) to make the gun shootable. I was able to put two in the black at 25 yards in good form with some speed which delighted me and, I imagine, the range master. I felt I had solved that problem and so turned to another: training for actual shooting conditions.

The reality of using a weapon for personal protection brings with it a raft of considerations as experts like Massad Ayoob have so outstandingly demonstrated over the years. Essentially the message is that if you do not practice in the same conditions you are likely to encounter when the stuff hits the fan, you are unprepared, period. In my case, as I mentioned earlier, I knew I would most likely have to defend my life and/or my partner's life in the worst possible circumstances - scared, off balance, poor sight picture, dense brush or uneven terrain, one hand already occupied (perhaps) - on and on. So, how to practice? The truth was, I couldn't really practice the way I needed to with the firing range as my only resource. I didn't have time to research and locate a safe area somewhere out in the woods, so I had to improvise as follows:

Practice 1: Using dry-fire caps, practice center-of-mass target acquisition, safety off, two shots, reload (dry-fire caps, of course), safety off again, two shots. Note: an interesting thing was that I found I could eventually reload and fire four shots about as fast as I could run four shells through my buddy's pump shotgun - four, but not three. The pump got the third shot off while I had to reload the double.

Practice 2: Using dry-fire caps, move the gun from African carry (weak side shoulder carry, barrel down, hand on fore stock AT ALL TIMES) to firing position. Roll the gun into shooting position, safety off, fire. Note: I came to feel that the African carry was the only carry that would serve. The American sling carry ( strong side shoulder carry, barrel up) was way too slow for me and required much too much balanced body movement. Two-handed carry (military style) was out of the question as I would be hauling gear with my free hand. The barrel up front carry required the gun to be unslung which I felt was unsafe and impractical since I would be holding the entire weight of the gun with one hand.

It took steady, daily practice to groove in the African carry since I was much more used to the front carry or two handed hunting-style carry. I found that doing everything very, very slowly at first, sort of Tai Chi like, made it much easier to speed things up later on. Within a week or so, I felt confident that I could get the gun into shooting position quickly enough. There was still more to think through, however.

One of the most perplexing problems I came across while reading about brown bear encounters was when to shoot. I watched a couple of YouTube videos in which grizzlies and brown bears "false-charged" before veering off. In one case. a European brown bear did so a number of times, charging an unarmed berry picker (I could only imagine what was going through that guy's head!). I did not want to experience my Alaskan wilderness adventure as a frazzled, trigger-happy basket case not knowing when I was truly defending myself against a for-real killer charge as opposed to a fake one. Another complication had to do with the Defense of Life and Property laws (DLP) in Alaska. Basically, you are permitted to kill an animal that you feel is a threat to your life or property, including your food. Understandably, there are some pretty strict guidelines about this. If you shoot a bear, you have 15 days to report it to the authorities. When you do, you will have to fill out a DLP form. The form asks for specifics of the incident and, very importantly, what you did or did not do before you shot the bear. I'm no lawyer, but it was clear to me that if a DLP occurred I'd better have some pretty good evidence that I had done all that the circumstances allowed me to do e.g. shout warnings, use pepper spray or some other nonlethal means, before I resorted to shooting. Also, it was clear, from the way the DLP form was written, that if it could be shown that I had not done my best to practice bear safety - food, clean camping, etc. I might have a BIG problem to sort out with the authorities.

I was certain that my partner and I would follow the rules concerning clean camping, so that was not so much of a concern. We were planning to carry pepper spray, which we know how to use, and an air horn anyway so my real worry was how close do I let a brown bear get to us before taking lethal action. This is a very tricky question and I discovered that you cannot rely on other folks - even Alaskans - to give you good information. The responses I collected ranged from "Oh, we just yell at them" to "Kill 'em if you see 'em and sort out the paperwork later." Basically, I was on my own. I decided after watching the well-known Cabela's YouTube video of a guide taking down a charging brownie at about eight yards that I had to create a "kill zone" estimate. I paced off about 10 (long) yards in our backyard and hung a little marker on a bush. I looked at that thing every day from various angles to try to get a feel for that distance. From my reading, I knew that 10 yards was cutting it a bit close - bears can really move - but that was my decision and I went with it. I decided that once I was sure a bear was aware of us, ten yards was all the closer he (or she) was going to get, legal consequences be damned. In fact, I went a bit further. I decided that if I was sure a bear that was close to or at the 10-yard kill zone, was paying attention to us (not grazing or otherwise preoccupied) and I did not see the ass retreating forthwith, I was going to bring the rain. No exceptions. I confess I was a little worried that I might be piling up dead bears and filling out DLP forms for years to come, but I did not know what to expect. I had been to Alaska before, been in bear country and even encountered a few grizzlies at distance in Denali, but this, I felt, would be an entirely different situation and it was - as I was soon to discover.

Encounters

It didn't take us long to slip into a beautiful routine once we settled into the cabin: a quick breakfast, and then a paddling excursion following a compass bearing chosen according to whim. Baranof and the many surrounding islands are exceedingly wild and beautiful. We were in close proximity to pin-drop silent bays and crashing ocean islets populated by otters and Stellar sea lions (the skulls of which are amazingly similar to a brown bears). After the first few days of hauling my gun everywhere, even to the outhouse, I became much less nervous about bears despite the fact that we had to walk about a quarter-mile path to and from where our kayak was tied. We stayed together on the path, made lots of noise and kept out "nonlethals" at the ready. Still, my hand never left the gun until we were onboard and paddling or back home in the cabin.

We saw the first brown bear on the fifth day. My partner had gone outside intending to collect fresh water from a nearby stream. I was behind her at the cabin door when she stepped backwards up the steps of the porch. Her eyes were as wide and white as I had ever seen. "A bear," she whispered. "A big bear." I grabbed the gun and followed her to the edge of the porch. About 30 yards from us was a brown bear - the one in the photo above. I estimate that he was a bit over four feet at the shoulder and absolutely massive. It was remarkable how quiet everything became and how... serious. He regarded us, after a moment, rather casually - too casually for my taste. Unlike the black bears we had been used to, he didn't hightail at all. He stayed and watched. My partner gave him a short "blip" on the airhorn. It seemed to work after a fashion. He jumped a little and then turned back towards the woods. He looked back at us several times and if he had been a human I would have said he seemed annoyed by the interruption. He did not run off, he just sauntered away. When he got to the treeline, he stopped and turned sideways to us. I had read that this was something a bear does sometimes to show how substantial he is. He needn't have done, we were entirely impressed already. We watched him for a few moments until he turned and faded into the woods. It was a heart-stopping scary rush like I had never experienced before. I simply had not realized how big a brown bear was until that encounter or how vulnerable I could feel even with my hands wrapped around the 12 gauge. All my partner and I cold do was laugh and breathe many sighs of relief. But it was not over. Back inside ther cabin, as we were finishing dinner, he came back. He walked in front of the cabin windows about 20 yards away. I began to feel a bit worried that he was a little too curious about us, but it soon became clear that he was on some kind of predetermined course and was just passing through. Both of us had the presence of mind to grab our cameras this time. Even though we were inside, he was aware of us - so much so that when my camera flash inadvertently went off, he jumped a couple feet forward. He appeared to be moving along the low tide line. Once he ambled past us, we crept outside to try to get more pictures. By then we both agreed that though he was aware of us, he did not seem particularly interested in checking us out any further. He followed our path to the kayak and walked right by it, completely ignoring it. He again disappeared into the woods. All in all, I was extremely glad that I had the gun although I must admit it seemed pretty tiny. I suspect any gun short of a 50 caliber machine gun would have felt marginal to me right then.

The second bear was another complete surprise, but the circumstances were probably much more dangerous. We had been weaving our kayak through some small islands near our bay. We had gone "outside" earlier and snapped some pictures of the incredible sea stacks, rocks and coastline. Reasoning that the bears would not likely be on the smaller, less forested islands, we stopped for lunch in an inviting bay on Golf Island. We took more pictures, beachcombed, and lounged in the sun for a bit. After awhile, we climbed back in our double and planning to follow the shoreline of nearby Jackknife Island and observe the starfish and other sea life in the gin-clear water. Since we'd just finished lunch, I was in a relaxed, half-sleepy mode as we dawdled along. Suddenly, to my utter astonishment, a huge brown boulder grew arms, legs, and a head and dove into the water about 20 or so yards in front of us. I though I said, "look at THAT!" to my partner. She recalls it as "hammahammahamma". I glanced at my gun neatly tucked under the front bungees of the boat - totally useless. The pepper spray had been thoughtlessly jammed, by me, behind my seat and was impossible to reach without extreme contortions on my part. We did have the air horn on deck, but I thought that tooting it might not be wise. In this case, I was concerned that we would startle the bear as I was pretty sure he didn't know we were in the water with him. I didn't want an aggressive bear trying to climb into our kayak. After what seemed like a small eternity, he turned toward us, rose up and, quite literally did a double take. I'm sure he had no clue what the 20-ft long yellow, flapping thingie was that had just invaded his swimming hole. Luckily, he was not curious and chose to climb back out of the water and jog up a rock face parallel to us. As with the first bear, I couldn't quite get my head around how big he was. The muscles working his arms and legs were massive. As he left the scene, I felt myself start to breathe again and once more this inexplicable elation washed over me.

Apart from finding evidence of a bear having dug a clamming hole on our beach the last night we were there, we never saw another one. Our encounters had been thrilling - there's no other word- and completely unforgettable.

Lessons Learned: Notes to Myself

There were many:

1) Never, ever be complacent about bears and never expect bear encounters to follow any preconceived pattern. It was, for example, a HUGE mistake not to have some kind of portable deterrent at hand on the kayak. The shotgun would have been a bad idea - I can just imagine what would have happened if I had felt the need to light off a couple of rounds! but ready access to something - bear spray, a handgun, would have been preferable to nothing at all. The only reason it happened as it did was because I just didn't think a brown bear would be on such a small island or, more to the point, in the water right in front of us. This despite the fact that I know they are closely related to polar bears who are capable of swimming many, many miles in open water. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

2) Take everything I need for my gun, like shells, and do not count on sporting goods store clerks to give me reliable information. I had not elected to take ammo on my flight up because I had been assured by a clerk in Sitka that they had the Brenneke shells I wanted. Since this was my first time traveling by air with a checked firearm, I was unsure about transporting ammo with the gun (you can, by the way, check TSA and airline rules) so I elected not to - another BIG MISTAKE. The store had slugs alright, expanding soft lead type (unsatisfactory). They might have worked OK but having to bet my life and /or partner's life on it, did nothing for my composure.

3) Remember to never, ever trust a sporting goods store clerk to give me any kind of reliable information. I repeat myself. I fear the days are long gone when knowledgeable outdoor enthusiasts populate very much of the sporting goods industry - notable exceptions being REI and a few others. Sadly, this most definitely includes quite a few gun store minions these days. All too many of them seem to want to sell me something "tactical" to see me through the coming collapse of Western civilization or something like that. I get lost when the conversations start down that path, but that's another blog.

4) Don't let bear awareness become bear paranoia. While I believe the time I devoted to learning how to handle my weapon of choice was well spent, I probably could have dialed it back a bit. My excuse was that it was a new wrinkle for me and I just wanted to be as thorough as I could be. That way, at least if I got munched by a bear, I could rationalize (between the screams) that I had done the best I could with what I knew. I now feel that if I can just accept the additional risk of traveling in dangerous predator territory and train for it as best I can, I'll be able to enjoy myself a lot more. Research has shown that brown bears unaccustomed to humans will choose to run away or at least detour rather than confront - most of the time. Besides, I have to admit that knowing I'm not the most dangerous thing in the woods is kind of bracing. Being scared, given time, kind of melts into sharpness, an extra awareness that spills over into appreciating the beauty of that Great Land. Despite all my edginess, I felt and still feel gratitude for having been in such a wild place.

5) Don't scrimp when it comes to a firearm. The next time I go, I'll take a better gun. It will be a double rifle, probably in a caliber like 338 or 45-70 if I can find either of those, 30 06 if not. In any case, I would love to find something that has a lot less recoil than the 50 or 60 lbs of kick I was enduring with the 3-inch slugs. Man they hurt! I'll retire the little Stoeger and use it for small game and busting clays.

6) Spend more time figuring out how to ward off bugs. The only bites we returned with were from nasty little flies not cranky bears.

7) Similar to #1. Never, ever hike in bear country without a deterrent and a backup readily at hand. Next time, I'll have the pepper spray in a shoulder holster in addition to my firearm. I want the options. At worst, in the unlikely event of having to shoot a bear, I will at least have evidence that I had considered other alternatives for bear defense. I doubt that I would have a leg to stand on in a DLP investigation if I didn't have something other than lethal means of self protection. Just makes sense to me in any case.

Reflections, disclaimers, etc.

I really don't know if I made the best decisions at any point along the way. As I said before, this was all new to me. I am really thankful that there is so much accessible information at hand these days. I tried my best to weigh the merit of what I read and saw, but for all I know I deluded myself completely. That is why, in part, I am posting this. My hope is that others will provide constructive (skip the hatin' please) comments. Best wishes and get yourself to Alaska.