I don't know about bears and if they can understand the difference between a stick and a rifle, but I can tell you about crows.

You can whittle a detailed rifle out of wood, color it gunmetal blue, slop RIG gun grease and bore cleaner on it so that it smells like a real rifle, put it in a gun case, go to the woods near a stand of trees and pull it out of its case, and they won't so much as blink, let alone fly away. You can park the car a football field away from a stand of trees that have a large group of crows in it, start to pull a real rifle out of its case, and before the barrel clears the case, they are all gone far away. I truly believe that if I could find a hunting area where I could park the car a mile or more from crows in a tree & start walking toward them, they would fly off just before I got into shooting range and not a step further.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

That's what that little button on the trigger guard (on the 870 I mentioned) called a safety is for, but as a consession, if you don't know your firearm or anything about firearm safety, I agree, I wouldn't want you to be walking around with a loaded gun either.

Troy

P.S. By the way, I've only been in a cab once, it stunk so bad, that since then, I've always made other arrangements.

To each, his own <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Good for you, yet another member I need to meet up with some day and buy a beverage for <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Crows...
Many years ago, in Florida, I was shooting at a large sand pit. I had a 22 cal rifle and was on the rim of the pit shooting down. It was unique in that the sand was absolutly uniform in texture and I could actually see the bullet as it traveled.

There was a crow sitting on a pole... which was just toooo tempting a target for this young lad. I drew a bead on it and fired. As the bullet approached, the crow flew up a few feet, the bullet passed harmlessly below, and the crow returned to the post. I discovered that if the shot was a miss, the crow would not bother to move. The bullet could go within inches of the crow and it would just sit there. Each time I targeted it exactly the crow would jump up and return to the pole. Otherwise it ignored me.

We played around with this for about 15 minutes and we both seems to enjoy the little game.

Since then I have been studying crows. Truly a remarkable bird. Very complex social structure. Watching them over the years has been worth the time to occupy an othewise idle mind.

Probably should be a campfire post..

At about 1200 feet per second for a 40 grain .22 long rifle bullet, that post must have been pretty far away.

If you are correct in your recollection, that is a pretty scary thought that the crow could preceive the bullet path.

Bountyhunter

Geez, if I didn't know better, I might think I'd offended you <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I suspect neither of us, by mutual agreement, are likely to become hunting partners.

Other than that, all I can say is that in the military, as far as I can recall, it was drummed into us that you never chambered a round unless you intended to fire the weapon, and that the safety on a gun was a device for lulling the unwary. (In particular, the 9mm SMG used by the Canadian Army in those days was notorious for its ability to squeeze off a round with the safety engaged; in fact, I believe it would actually chamber a round AND fire with the safety engaged if you dropped it butt-first on the ground.)

Of course, this was sometimes taken to extremes, such as the time the Penitentiary Guards went on strike and the army was called in to patrol the maximum security institution in Kingston, and the officer in charge refused to allow his men to load magazines in their rifles - until a Mountie NCO caught on and tore a strip off him in front of his men. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

In deference to norad, I've never fired a revolver (in fact, I don't think I've even held one) and I'm not familiar with the built-in safety precautions on them, so my comments were not intended to apply to them. (As an aside, hunting with handguns is illegal in Canada.)

Perhaps "irresponsible" was too strong a word. On the other hand, as a matter of personal preference, I won't go into the woods with anyone who feels it necessary to shave milliseconds off their quickdraw reaction time, and I prefer not to vacation in locales where such attitudes are deemed necessary.

Your Mileage May Vary, as they say <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

To each, his own, and no offence taken (at least not held on to, life's to short). When you've (meaning me) grown up around firearms, been taught safe handling, and had more than one occasion where you (meaning me) were glad that one (or more) were close at hand, you (meaning me) can sometimes be a little touchy about the subject (especially when there are so many folks that want to take them all away). Sweeping comments sometimes tend to put me on the defensive, but I usually bark pretty loud before I bite. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

October 23, 1983, 241 American Marines were killed by a truck bomb which went through the perimeter because guards were told to keep their rifle magazines in their pouches unless necessary. I understand that .30 caliber machine gun emplacements did not have their ammo belts locked and loaded by virtue of that same order. One of the men manning a machine gun emplacement said he saw the driver look out the truck window after hitting the building the Marines were sleeping in and the driver had a very happy smile on his face before he pulled the bomb trigger.

241 DEAD AMERICAN MARINES because of a politically correct buracrats orders. This is why some grunts approve of "Fragging" their own officers.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Agreed.

Having carried a loaded sidearm most of my adult life, and having been trained and licensed and such by several U.S. States to do so, both personally and professionally, I find it somewhat offensive for someone with neither experience nor qualification to label me "irresponsible."

Whatever your preferences may be, you don't have to venture into the woods or the urban jungle or what have you, with me. But I do. And my wife does. And we both carry guns. Because predators come in all forms, both four- and two-legged, and I am NOT repeat NOT going to rely on what I THINK they will do as a guarantee of my safety.

What I WILL rely upon is my own sense, my own judgment, and my own marksmanship to ensure that my wife and I come through whatever confrontation unscathed.

Anything else is idle speculation at best, wishful thinking at worst. This attitude is not location-specific. It is a mindset bred from experience in the real world dealing with real bad guys. I've had far fewer dangerous experiences in the woods, but in my book the rules of engagement are exactly the same for predators, only the equipment changes.

It may make you uncomfortable, but my wife and I find it perfectly acceptable to be responsible for our own safety.

On a slightly different note, I was looking to purchase a Mountain Revolver a while back, shying away from the full-house .44 Mag loadings but instead going with the .44 Special loadings that have ballistics similar to the .45acp. But I've never actually carried/fired one. How does the Mountain Revolver handle with full house 240-grain JHP's? Do you use Hogue or Pachy's with recoil reducing features or do you take the recoil straight in the wrist?

The other advantage to using the .44 Magnum as your basis round is that you can get a decent lever-action rifle in the same caliber. Having never traveled in BIG bear country (The US Forest in Northern California with their Grizzlys is about the closest I've come), and my choice at the time was (I realize how ignorant this sounds but it's all I had at the time) a Colt 1911 with warmly-loaded 230-grain JHP's, I often wondered what the choice would be of the Alaskan guides who are up where the bears are truly dangerous as their preference in a rifle/pistol combo.

Will the 1911 do the theoretical job of stopping a full-grown bear attack? Has anyone seen any documentation on it? Or was I deluding myself into believing the .45acp adequate for bear duty?

Panz