Home Invasion: Colorado Man Emptied a .40 Caliber Pistol Into a 400 lb. Black Bear He Found in His Dining Room

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Haertig said:
A .40 handgun is pretty weak for a bear.
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That bear would disagree, but he ain't talkin' :).
There is a lot of difference between a 9mm and a .40S&W in ft/lbs of energy.
A 9mm would have just made it mad.
I wish they had said how many rounds were in that mag.
(Remember, nobody needs a hi-capacity mag :rolleyes:)
With multiple hits, a .40 will definitely take a toll.
 
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A black bear is not that hard to stop if you place the bullet properly. A 40 is easily adequate as is a 45. I carried a 357 for 50 years and I have no doubt that there are darn few animals in Washington that would survive it.
 
Hard on the bear, but under those circumstances---with a wife screaming & kids nearby---I suppose ya can't really fault the guy, EXCEPT for the part about leaving the front door unlocked. Without knowing the layout of the home, it's hard for me to say whether any effort should've been made to deter the bear, like a warning shot to scare it off. Oh, well, one more dead bear... in that sort of situation, with everything ratcheted up and split-second decisions to be made by a guy just waking up, I guess the bear didn't have a chance. :confused:

Edit: Just wanted to elaborate on this subject, since I don't like seeing animals killed unnecessarily... a warning shot may well have deterred the bear and scared it off, while the .40-cal bullet clearly p!ssed it off and led to the charge, if a charge actually occurred. Since the guy went ahead and killed the bear, why couldn't he skin it, cure or tan the hide and make a rug out of it, save heaps of bear meat in the freezer so he & his family could eat it, etc? Is there some law against doing that? It's not like common black bears are on the endangered species list... :oops:

OTOH, maybe this big black bear would've gone on to maul or kill some neighborhood kid at a later date, so perhaps the pistoleer was doing the public a favor... but there is such a thing as bear relocation, unless that whole program has gone under thanks to all the manufactured grief being laid on Americans courtesy of dirty globalist swine and their scumbag tool politicians. I know animal shelters are swamped and going through grief thanks to the phony socialist plandemic and its fraudulent outcome... I'm sure other animal-related programs took a hit as well. :(

There are two alternate endings to this story which would make me happy as a b@stard on Father's Day:

1) The guy who shot the bear goes ahead and skins it out, carves it up, saves the claws to make some sort of bad@ss necklace, etc., so the bear's life isn't totally wasted. :rolleyes:

2) The guy shoots some scumbag politician instead, thereby earning my eternal gratitude and a pat on the back, maybe even a f#%ng good citizenship medal, lol. ;)
 
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I don't dislike bears.. However I can not, do not tolerate them around our place for our safety as well as having livestock and the damage bears have done trying to get into buildings where we store feed and that type of bad behavior..

Admittedly this can be a hard time of year for bears.. Things going into late summer, fall cycles making it harder to find food.. Then there instinct to pack on the pounds for winter... At 400 lb, a bit less than 200 kilo, that is a formidable animal to encounter that close..

Fortunate no one was hurt..
 
My daughter lives out West, and likes to hike and camp out in the Rockies. She has done so in groups, but she keeps talking about doing it alone (which I have been strongly discouraging, but she is very independent), and last weekend she did it with one friend.

They took no guns with them. So, I've been trying to figure out what to get her.

Where she goes, she will not haul in a long gun. Has to be a handgun, or she won't take it. She counts her ounces of weight when packing.

She wants my father's Glock 19. She shoots it well, and she feels comfortable with it, which are important factors, I think. I suppose 15 rounds of 9mm should do something. But, I was thinking maybe she should at least get a Glock 20. Essentially the same gun, but 10mm instead of 9mm. Could still be used for home defense.

I was thinking of a .357, but wouldn't 15 shots of 10mm be better than 6 shots of .357 magnum?

Any suggestions?
 
Must have been a Denver boy, city boy, enjoying his stay in the get away retreat. Steamboat Springs.
A real Colorado man would have had a rifle handy.
Something like a 30-30, not an AR.
 
Haertig said:
A .40 handgun is pretty weak for a bear. I wouldn't want to try it. It's amazing that he was able to take it down with that.
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You use what you have. I used to pack a .357 in the woods, just in case. I know people that pack a .40 in the woods. I pack a 9MM with Underwood solid copper with an X tip. They penetrate really well. We have a neighborhood black bear. He doesn't like people. If he changes his mind I will respond with what is available. I knew a medic that always packed a .454 Kasull around town. He lived in Barrow and white bears are known to come visit. You just can't pack a rifle all the time.

Were I bear hunting I'd want a .30-06 or better. I certainly wouldn't hunt bear with many handguns. A .40 will put a bear down. It was what was available. The wife is screaming, you don't go to the safe and pick the best weapon. Immediate response with as much violence as you can muster, is the rule.

Magus said:
He got "glocked"!
I hate bears myself, no idea why.
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Because they are d*** scary beasts.
 
rice paddy daddy said:
Must have been a Denver boy, city boy, enjoying his stay in the get away retreat. Steamboat Springs.
A real Colorado man would have had a rifle handy.
Something like a 30-30, not an AR.
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It is possible that he grew up in a city. I searched for him and it says he is from Durango, Colorado, which is closer to the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

I wonder if he has any other guns, or had. He may be upgrading soon.
 
Tacitus said:
My daughter lives out West, and likes to hike and camp out in the Rockies. She has done so in groups, but she keeps talking about doing it alone (which I have been strongly discouraging, but she is very independent), and last weekend she did it with one friend.

They took no guns with them. So, I've been trying to figure out what to get her.

Where she goes, she will not haul in a long gun. Has to be a handgun, or she won't take it. She counts her ounces of weight when packing.

She wants my father's Glock 19. She shoots it well, and she feels comfortable with it, which are important factors, I think. I suppose 15 rounds of 9mm should do something. But, I was thinking maybe she should at least get a Glock 20. Essentially the same gun, but 10mm instead of 9mm. Could still be used for home defense.

I was thinking of a .357, but wouldn't 15 shots of 10mm be better than 6 shots of .357 magnum?

Any suggestions?
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The Glock 20 would be a good choice with the extreme penetrator round or something similar. A lot of guys like a chest holster as it is easy to get to when you have a pack and other gear.
 
I've had many bear run ins over the years. 99% of them run away, even the habituated ones. At least for a few minutes.
Only once I had a bear challange me. It ran at first, but it was a dumpster diver n turned around.
Even though it tried to get brave on me..I got lucky n it had no follow through.
It always irritates me when folks dont secure trash n whatnot from bears.
I love to see animals in their element n this is a tragic story, what a beautiful animal n harsh death. :(
 
Here a chest rig is the way to go. Brush is thick in the deep south and the woods are full of vines. But the same if I'm just working around the farm. I don't even notice a chest rig. A side holster is always in the way, always hanging on something. It seems heavier on my side too. I know it's not, just seems that way because I'm always conscious of it, reminded constantly.

Black bears? that's what 20g slugs are for.
 
We have black bears aplenty in this part of Florida, along the border and adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Human interaction is rare, if seen they usually retreat.
Our homestead is only a few miles from the Okefenokee, but I've never seen a bear in the 27 years we've been here. Neighbors have, my wife has, but not me.
Black bears are extremely protected here in Florida. If you shoot one, you are in deep kimchee.
 
Peanut said:
Here a chest rig is the way to go. Brush is thick in the deep south and the woods are full of vines. But the same if I'm just working around the farm. I don't even notice a chest rig. A side holster is always in the way, always hanging on something. It seems heavier on my side too. I know it's not, just seems that way because I'm always conscious of it, reminded constantly.

Black bears? that's what 20g slugs are for.
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Agreed on farm carry.
If I am wearing a holster, it has a Ruger Single Six with 22 WMR cylinder.
But kinda awkward like you say.
My favorite is a Charter Arms Pathfinder 22LR snub nose stuck in my jeans back pocket.
 
Wingnut said:
There are two alternate endings to this story which would make me happy as a b@stard on Father's Day:

1) The guy who shot the bear goes ahead and skins it out, carves it up, saves the claws to make some sort of bad@ss necklace, etc., so the bear's life isn't totally wasted. :rolleyes:
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If it helps, the article says: "The bear’s hide and meat will be donated to people who have signed up on a list to receive them and its head will go up for auction"
 
Chaosdawn said:
If it helps, the article says: "The bear’s hide and meat will be donated to people who have signed up on a list to receive them and its head will go up for auction"
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Bear comes into my house its hide and head will decorate my floor.
 
Never seen a bear in my neighborhood, they have better taste. If a really stupid one wanders in, he will get to see what government is like, in 45-70.

There was a time in my younger days when I bought things for my "retirement"/"just in case", for the GP100

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=396
 
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Truth is, if you are dealing with a life or death situation with a bear I'd make sure I knew where to hit them to make sure you don't end up on a bear's menu, I have a friend that is an excellent hunter and he told me a story of going bear hunting with a friend, they treed a bear and his friend was shooting that bear with a .44 mag revolver as it was coming down the tree, he was able to reload the cylinder before the bear hit the ground, my friend said that the shot that killed the bear was at such a close distance that steam was coming out of the wound. My friend has taken a number of bear and told me head shots are not a good way to go, he said he's seen bullets bounce off of their thick skulls. I'd say that the guy that killed the bear either knew how to shoot or was just dang lucky and yes my thought was, why did they leave the front door unlocked? When we live in Colorado, we always locked our doors and we lived in a very good neighborhood, bet they don't make that mistake again.
 
Locking a house door will not stop a black bear. Those animals tear car doors open or off. A determined bear can go through a window, door or the wall to get at food.
If the bear is in your house it needs to be put down FAST. In the USA there is no law that trumps your right to defend yourself and your home.
 
SheepDog said:
If the bear is in your house it needs to be put down FAST. In the USA there is no law that trumps your right to defend yourself and your home.
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I believe that also applies to two-legged animals. :thumbs:
Lesson = Don't be a defenseless victim. If you have to shoot once, empty the mag.
 
Chaosdawn said:
If it helps, the article says: "The bear’s hide and meat will be donated to people who have signed up on a list to receive them and its head will go up for auction"
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Well, that's something, I guess... at least someone will get a nice bearskin rug, and others will eat. Maybe the auction money will go toward a good cause. I've had my share of bear encounters in the field, especially in the Sierras, with some black bears quite close in campgrounds or on trails near lodges, but I never had one attack me... I just stood my ground or eased back while continually facing the bear. One should NEVER run from a bear, they can actually run faster than humans for short distances... having bear spray (and carrying a firearm) is always a good idea, particularly in more remote areas where dumpster-diving "tame bears" are less likely to be found, and the genuine article is in your face, lol. Also, riders of mountain bikes & dirt bikes should be wary of blind corners or curves in the trail, so they don't abruptly run up on a she-bear with cubs around... a recipe for disaster. Just sayin'... might as well use this post as an example and throw out some info for those unfamiliar with bears. Now, if I were in the wilds of Alaska, I'd want a 460 Weatherby Magnum rifle to drop any belligerent bear that headed my way with bad intent, lol. Those Alaskan bears are a bit bigger than Kalifornia bears... :rolleyes:

P.S. I'm all for blasting intruders in my home, just know that some folks get too trigger-happy and wind up shooting their own relatives or friends. One reason why I like a tactical 12-gauge pump shotgun for home defense: the unmistakable sound made as you jack a shell serves to stop most fools in their tracks, or put 'em to runnin'. Won't work for bears, but most criminals know what that sound means, lol. :oops:
 
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I had a couple of run ins with a black bear that isn't supposed to exist here with a cub, fortunately always at 100+ yards. they wanted no more to do with me than I did them, BUT... it made me un retire my super redhawk and stuff it with some 300 gr bronze rifle slugs normally only for rifle use. Godz, you DO NOT want to touch one of those off in anything but a hand cannon! your hand stings and is numb for five minutes even out of a beast like a super red hawk! 0_0
 

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My son saw black bears when he was a Nine Quarter Ranch.
 
Don't doubt it a bit. they seem to be ranging lower and into thinner brush than they used to. puma didn't exist here until one got hit on the interstate about ten miles away. there's stuff out there in the deep woods that isn't supposed to exist period thats out there anyway, sweetly oblivious to the fact some idiot in a lab coat says they're not there.
 
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
“’At least nobody got hurt,’ [Rocky Oblander] said. ‘It’s just too sad because it was a beautiful bear.’ The warden determined the shooting was justified in self-defense, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson Chrissy Webb.”

The shooting of a black bear weighing 250 to 300 pounds took place in Thomas Bolkcom’s living room at 3:00 a.m. yesterday. Bolkcom was awakened by his barking dog.
 
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