pistol in alaska

[Retterath]

I'm heading to alaska sept 20114 for caribou on a diy drop hunt and i will be hunting with my dad and i and will both be hunting with rifles. Do u think i need to carry a pistol with me? I was looking at a block 20 10mm if i was going to bring a pistol with. any ideas or suggestions. thanks

 

[Musket Man]

You can never have to much fire power Im not familiar with the 10mm. Personally I prefer revolvers for their reliability. The 500 S&W, 460 S&W, or 454 Casull would be my top choices for big bears in Alaska. I really like the 460 S&W because it will also shoot 454 Casull and 45 long Colt ammo. The only drawback to the S&W's is the pistols chambered for them are fairly big and heavy but being heavier they do manage the recoil pretty well. You can get the Casull in much smaller and lighter pistols but Im not sure how the recoil would be.

 

[alaska2go]

No better bear defense than a rifle. Unless you pactice drawing that pistol & have it ready/available it isn't going to do you much good. You be surprised how many guys up here get munched with their pistol still holstered.

 

[shootbrownelk]

You can never have to much fire power Im not familiar with the 10mm. Personally I prefer revolvers for their reliability. The 500 S&W, 460 S&W, or 454 Casull would be my top choices for big bears in Alaska. I really like the 460 S&W because it will also shoot 454 Casull and 45 long Colt ammo. The only drawback to the S&W's is the pistols chambered for them are fairly big and heavy but being heavier they do manage the recoil pretty well. You can get the Casull in much smaller and lighter pistols but Im not sure how the recoil would be.

Musket, I have a Ruger Super RedHawk in .454 casull. The recoil with hot 300 gr. Hornadys is quite stout. It's a handful if you don't
have a good 2 handed hold. The stock grips suck and need to be replaced with Pachmayers or Houges.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I'm heading to alaska sept 20114 for caribou on a diy drop hunt and i will be hunting with my dad and i and will both be hunting with rifles. Do u think i need to carry a pistol with me? I was looking at a block 20 10mm if i was going to bring a pistol with. any ideas or suggestions. thanks

If you start applying for tags now you will have 18,100 preference points by 20114 …. sorry I had to

I've never carried a pistol in grizzly country when carrying a rifle. I've had a grizzly circle me in the timber, had another one walk close enough to my tent I could hear him breathe (shot him from the fly of my tent) and also been in smoking hot grizzly tracks with sheep meat on my back and nothing but a bottle of bear spray. If you want added protection I'd recommend carrying a bottle of bear spray strapped across your chest. It's like a bottle of mace on steroids.

The current Administration would prefer you carry no firearms for protection, but instead carry a whistle and a satellite phone. You can deter the bear with the whistle while you call state police for help. They can typically respond within 6 hours as long as it is daylight and fair weather.

 

[Musket Man]

Musket, I have a Ruger Super RedHawk in .454 casull. The recoil with hot 300 gr. Hornadys is quite stout. It's a handful if you don't
have a good 2 handed hold. The stock grips suck and need to be replaced with Pachmayers or Houges.

I have never shot anything in a 454 Casull but I was thinking it would something like you said. I have shot the 500 S&W in the S&W revolver (not sure if it is made in anything else?) and I was very surprised how well mannered it was.

 

[AKaviator]

Personally, I wouldn't carry a handgun in the field if I were carrying a rifle. I do like having one in the tent at night, if the tent is small. The odds of a bear bothering you are slim and I probably wouldn't worry about bringing a handgun if I were you. You will be flying out to hunt and weight is always an issue, besides flying all the way to Alaska with it. If you do, I think the 10mm is fine. That's what I keep in my tent when I'm by myself (Delta Elite). If my wife is along, she carries a 44mag (329).

I will say that with you going way up north, above the Arctic circle, the interior Arctic grizzlies tend to be more aggressive than the coastal brown bears. They don't enjoy the big runs of salmon and have to mostly eat berries or kill stuff to get their nutrition. They are smaller but meaner, in my opinion and experience. Not as many of them though.

 

[Musket Man]

The current Administration would prefer you carry no firearms for protection, but instead carry a whistle and a satellite phone. You can deter the bear with the whistle while you call state police for help. They can typically respond within 6 hours as long as it is daylight and fair weather.

Umpqua that is too true to be funny.......Almost

I like to carry a pistol for backup because I have had a bolt action freeze and it would not fire when it was very cold but I will admit it was my fault for not completely disassembling the bolt and cleaning and dry lubing it before I went hunting. So its probably mostly in my head.

 

[Retterath]

Umpqua hunter yeah that's pretty funny I have to give that, does this look better 2014. You made me laugh though

 

[ALDERBUSTED]

Rifle+bear spray. I do carry a G20 10mm if my wife is carrying the rifle however. 44,454,500 are all better choices and that argument has been beaten to death so I won't go there. I go with my glock because I shoot it more and it's easier to draw from a blackhawk holster than a wheel gun (no hammer to sang on my jacket). It's nice to have a pistol in the tent but I've never been bothered while sleeping in a tent by anything on 4 legs up here. Now, tweekers and drunks.....that's another animal altogether. I would wager you'll loose more blood to mosquitoes and flies than any bear

 

[Team Kabob]

^^ so true!

 

[Sawfish]

Just something about a hunk of steel and five chunks of lead that just makes a man sleep better.

 

[Team Kabob]

Took this off of a park sign in Alaska.

 

[Retterath]

nice, i think i will try to avoid those creatures

 

[Team Kabob]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MVhrN2pI2X8
Bear in camp close-upup in AK

 

[Retterath]

what a cute little thing, that guy was so close he might as well just sat in that chair next to him. wow

 

[Boehunter]

somebody give that bear a beer and a fishing pole.

 

[Sawfish]

Musket, I have a Ruger Super RedHawk in .454 casull. The recoil with hot 300 gr. Hornadys is quite stout. It's a handful if you don't
have a good 2 handed hold. The stock grips suck and need to be replaced with Pachmayers or Houges.

Take a look at Badger Grips made by Jim Badger. They did a nice job controlling the recoil on my .480 Ruger SRH.