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9 Posts
Hello everyone, this is my first post here and Iwould like to thank all those who post for all the great advice and experiences related. It all adds up to education for me. I have been getting some great practical experience learning to react to frequent visits from black bears on my property this spring.They come around at all times of day or night. I only encounter them 4 or 5 times a week. I have learned to keep my pellet pistol loaded and in the same location at all times,(.177 cal.,Co2, 8 shot mag.,470fps).I have taped my Surefire flashlight under the barrel for night time encounters and it works great. My dog usually alerts me to their presence and if I ignore them or don't do anything to chase them away they will cause minor but consistent property dammage. So I try to get to my pistol and to the door or window in time to discourage the beasts with as many rounds as possible before they high-tail it out of my yard. one morning last week my dog woke me up and when I looked out the window I saw a large bear with his big black butt hanging out the front door of my Subaru(trying to get to a bag of cat food behind the drivers seat left from the day before, I'm not quite sure how he managed to get my door opened). My adrenaline was pumping as I stood at my door and put 3 shots from 15 feet away, it scared the heck out of him as he almost took the car door off as he backed out and started to run away. 3 days later I found my front door opened again, no damage but my steering wheel was all sticky and slimy.When I am working in my yard and do not have the sanctuary of my house I have been carrying my S&W 637 just in case the mother and cubs that frequent the area show up.
I have been surprised at the things I can forget to do when I the adrenaline starts to pump, like not taking the safety off , not having the weapon loaded, having a place to retreat to, extra mag handy if necessary, and being sure that what is behind your target is not something you don't want to hit. I'm getting ready to move up to a larger caliber as the .177 is not having enough effect on them any more. I'm considering cb caps or aguila super colibri as I don't think they will penetrate a bear's hide from 25 to 50 feet away but I think it would leave a mark and help them to remember to go around my yard instead of through it. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any or if anyone has had similar situations what did you do?
I have been surprised at the things I can forget to do when I the adrenaline starts to pump, like not taking the safety off , not having the weapon loaded, having a place to retreat to, extra mag handy if necessary, and being sure that what is behind your target is not something you don't want to hit. I'm getting ready to move up to a larger caliber as the .177 is not having enough effect on them any more. I'm considering cb caps or aguila super colibri as I don't think they will penetrate a bear's hide from 25 to 50 feet away but I think it would leave a mark and help them to remember to go around my yard instead of through it. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any or if anyone has had similar situations what did you do?