Thoughts on gun control

Yes, but the federal statute covering modern firearms over .50 caliber does have something to say about sporting use.

I see Marlin has a round, the .450 Marlin, which is the 45/70 loaded to magnum pressures, with a special belt to prevent it from being loaded in a gun that can't handle it.

That's a lot better as a basic bear defense round (though I'd still take the Nitro Express if I had to face off against a bear).

The testosterone levels on this thread are amazing.

I'm just going to go where the bears aren't, thank you very much.

I think I will visit the zoo.

Some people live where the bears are.

It is reasonable to carry a decent gun if you are in bear country.

I'm pretty far away from the bears that would justify a really big gun, but I've lived where there were black bears roaming the woods out back.

just carry lots of snickers bars. Throw them a snickers and then get your ass out of there. Bears are suckers for snickers . They will stop in mid -charge to eat one.

Now a Moose in October, he will grind you into a paste just for being in his line of sight. Rutting moose taste like **** though. Really gamey. They should make moose season in the late winter .

In our former house, about 15 miles from where I live now, a 10-inch bear track in the front yard was not all that unusual. Just the same, I think the Snickers bar idea is a lot more practical when you're working around the house. (Never saw one in the yard though. Just the tracks.)

I see bears wandering the woods and crossing streams, fields, and roads here all the time (well, except when they're hibernating). Healthy, mature adults hereabouts (and there are plenty of 'em) generally run somewhere in the 300 pound neighborhood, with 5-to-6-hundred-plus-pounders not uncommon.

And, as I've mentioned before, elsewhere on these boards if not in this current discussion, I know for a personal-experience-based fact that a .44 Magnum revolver will bring down a very respectable bear in a pinch - not that I recommend that, just that I know that, and act accordingly when appropiate to circumstance.

And when home defense is the deal, I've mentioned before my solid preference is a large-bore, high-capacity, no-choke shotgun; if it were to come to it, I'd sooner quickly and expeditiously clear the room with a few well-placed, rapid-succession blasts than stand there trading fire with an intruder. In point of fact, just the unmistakeable sound of a shotgun racking a shell into its chamber has been known frequently to have a pronounced calming effect on an otherwise dangerously confrontational situation, obviating the need fore actual discharge of the weapon; some badguys aren't completely stupid.

Get many attacks in wisconsin from the crazed intruders, timber?

I've never encountered any myself, snood ... sure hope I never do. On the other hand, should it happen (prolly a very remote possibility, given my herd of dogs), I sure hope my plan works well enough to my advantage; that's the idea, anyhow. Failure to plan generally equates to planning to fail.

...and one helluva plan it is. I hastily scratched you house off of my list of those I plan to rob soon.

- I won't tell The Puppies, though; hate to see 'em get all disappointed, as they so enjoy greeting visitors ('specially strangers :wink: )

Hey Timber, do you remember a dude from abuzz named White Fang? He hadsome sled doggies and I think some wolf dogs too. I remember getting some good advice on training a dog NOT to be a pain in the ass around the supper table.

Yeah, I do sorta remember White Fang - we had some nice exchanges - didn't always agree w/one another, but now that you remind me pretty much both always understood where the other was coming from and why. Seem a decent sort. Speaking of sled pups - did you hear Susan Butcher, of Iditarod fame, passed away today?

yes, I remember her iditerod win when she was going to terminate her run when one of her dogs had a foot scald. She had been battling Cancer for a number of years I think.

Re: Thoughts on gun control


Please explain why this argument is worthless.

It's worthless because Craven has a nuke in his RV.

The problem is, a healthy black bear will sometimes stalk a human for food, unlike brown bears who will only eat a human if they are starving to death.

If a black bear has locked on to me as prey, I am not sure I want to get it to associate humans with snickers bars. It'll be more likely to stalk other humans in the future, and they may not be carrying snickers bars.

Now a face full of pepper spray, if I could manage that and still have time to ready a long gun, might be of use in making the bear come to view humans as "not worth the effort".

You are more likely to get hit by lightning than attacked by a black bear.

Black bears sometimes stalk humans for food? What comic book did that idea come from?

PEPPER SPRAY? That means that youre alredy within chowdown range of a bear. If hes stalking you , just make sure you have those little jingle bells on your shoelaces.
Here in the Maine woods, I see a black bear about once a week on one of my walks. I usually sing or tell myself jokes while Im walking. Most of the bears up here are like 200 pounds, like a dog really. I carry a Sig Sauer and a whistle. When I blow the whistle the bear will realize that the next thing he hears will be a gunshot unless he departs my area of comfort.
Ive never knowingly been stalked and Im pretty sensitive to sounds in the wooods. I sat within 10 feet of some hikers once and they didnt see me but I heard them almost a mile away. Thats a good way to hike, just be noisy , unless , of course, you are the stalker rather than the stalkee.

My rule is, if I kill it, I have to eat it, and I will never , ever eat a bear again in my life. It actually gags me like liver. It is garbage meat. So , for the bears sake, I never want to have to shoot one to save my life.

Besides, a long gun on a hike in the woods is like having to wear a rack of antlers, it just gets in the way in tight spots. My closest call was with a deranged stupid young moose who was probably feeling rutty earlier than everyone else. He made some antler passes in the air and came in my direction in a steady purposeful high stepping walk that said, "Im the boss". I headed for a grove of birch saplings just to slow his progress down and give me more distance. He still followed for a while but was too busy turning his antlers and trying to crash through the saplings. I didnt run because moose, although stupid as a cow can figure out that they can run around a tight spot if they get some idea which is your main direction. If you walk with determination and dont panic he didnt figure it out so I got back to a main trail and lost him ( I still took the same way back to the RV though)