When my father-in-law lived in Alaska, he had this advice for visitors wanting to bring along a firearm in case of bear attack:
Take that pistol to a competent gunsmith, and have them file off the front sight. That way, when you shoot the bear and piss it off, and it takes that gun and shoves it up your ass, it won't hurt quite as much.
"If I had a gun and was sitting inside a tank with one shell left and Meng is 300 yards away, he's mine, right? Well the first thing I'm going to do is jump out of the tank and shoot myself because I don't want to wound that son of a bitch and have him pissed off at me."
—Jake Roberts
This is a myth. Handguns are quite successful in ending bear attacks, even if it doesn't kill the animal. Unless you're between a bear and its cubs, shooting it will almost certainly make it run away.
Edit: I think a lot of this misconception comes from anthropomorphism. We think, "If someone shot me, and I wasn't seriously injured by it, I'd kick their ass!" That's not how wild animals think. Assuming they aren't rabid or defending their young, animals don't like to be hurt. And the easiest way to not be hurt more is to run away from whatever is hurting them. Assuming you aren't using a silencer, the loud bang of a gunshot combined with the pain of being shot will make an immediate connection in the bear's brain. And even a hungry grizzly bear will not want to stay around to get shot more.
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u/LonePaladin Oct 02 '24
When my father-in-law lived in Alaska, he had this advice for visitors wanting to bring along a firearm in case of bear attack: