[Jeff Higgins]

Hunters and outdoorsmen embellishing a story? Say it isn't so... I can't imagine who would do such a thing...

All kidding aside, one of the more experienced and pragmatic of the current gun writers in Phil Shoemaker out of Alaska. His recommendation for a "bear gun" is any double action revolver at all, with a very short barrel, in at least .357 mag. And this is for use in his stomping grounds; excellent bear country. Most other guys' "at least..." starts with the .44 mag and goes up from there. Shoemaker's reasoning bears (pardon the pun) consideration.

In his observations of fatal attacks, and interviews with surviving bear attack victims he has encountered, there is one constant. They never saw it coming. We would all like to think there would be enough warning to unlimber the ol' hogleg and let Old Ephraim have it right between the eyes as he is closing on us. That apparently hardly ever happens. So, we wind up totally unsuspecting and knocked to the ground. Underneath some one that is trying his best to chew us up into little bitty pieces. Now what?

Well, the stubby little double action is retrieved from its holster (hopefully not knocked out by the initial contact). Now we go to work. From under his chin, firing up trying to get the brain. Shoemaker says a .38 Special has the penetration to get that far through the soft underside of a bear's jaw and front half of the neck.

The other thing he points out is that the gun needs to have a grip shape you can hold on to when it is really slippery. Like with your own blood, because there might be lots of it by then. He says to take it out shooting with the grips all greased up with Crisco or something, to see if you can hang on. Yikes.

Not pleasant thoughts, these.