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desodave · 24-01-2018, 14:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwdiver

Polar bears actually hunt people, Grizzlies stumble onto someone then attack, the Rangers teach to live with polars you let them know you see them, they are less likely to stalk and hunt you if they know they have been seen, one old gent I know has never needed to shoot a bear, but is always on alert watching for them.....

Dockhead, I think you need to learn a bit more about bear behaviour and the different behaviours between species. AS Nwdiver says, polar bears HUNT people; black bears and grizzlies don't. They'll attack you if they think they're defending themselves, a cub or a kill.

I bicycle in bear country ( black bear) and noise works - you don't want to ride around a corner and surprise them. The polar bear will probably start stalking the sound. Standing up big and noisy works with a black bear, slowly backing away whilst doing so. Just allows the polar bear to scope out the size of his dinner. And they are persistent. And hungry. Prey isn't always available until you come along.

I'll leave others to discuss the merits of different kinds of armaments, but I think bear spray on a polar bear is ridiculous. You might have to kill it to stop it stalking you and I wouldn't want to have to let it get in shotgun range, never mind spray range.

Dave_S · 24-01-2018, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by MLC

Dockhead, go on this NRA training course you mentioned. It sounds perfect.

I have been hunting and shooting for 30 years. I have hunted in the US, Canada, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. I have not hunted dangerous game. Many of my family and friends have hunted Cape Buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, black bears, and Kodiak bears. For your trip, I support the recommendations that others have made for a pump-action 12 gauge. I also support the recommendation that you carry two. I also support the recommendations for the marine versions of the Remington 870 or the Mossberg, though with adequate lubrication and storage I do not think the marine versions are a "must" have. I have done waterfowl hunting and other types of hunting in the rain and snow. Rust has not been a major issue. I own an 870 Express and an 870 Express Super Magnum Synthetic. I have an extra rifled barrel and an extra rifled barrel with a low power scope. I also have a rifled choke tube. The barrels are easily interchangeable without any tools. In my experience, the 870s are reliable in cold, wet, snowy, and muddy conditions. With the right slugs/sabots, I would bet my life that an 870 would be adequate to drop a charging polar bear within 50 yards. My guess is that 00 shot would turn the bear but would probably not be adequate to drop it. Obviously one keeps shooting until the bear turns or drops.

I own a bolt action 30-06 and would also trust that gun with my life but I would prefer a 12 gauge pump with 5 or 6 slug rounds for a charging polar bear.

Just out of interest which would you choose if the 30/06 was a semi-auto with a large capacity magazine.

Juho · 24-01-2018, 16:57

Some polar bear handling in the videos. Many of us might prefer earlier action

.

https://youtu.be/NpD3TmaCCtQ
https://youtu.be/Gvz6IdDKzU8
https://youtu.be/8bI0UJ-36hA

406Columbia · 24-01-2018, 17:12

Bear spray and some excellent quality hunting ammo meant to transfer all the energy into the target and someone skilled enough to ensure shot placement under stress.

Best of luck.

**Wotname** · 24-01-2018, 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juho

Some polar bear handling in the videos. Many of us might prefer earlier action .
......

+1

Midnight Son · 24-01-2018, 19:33

Okay.
Number one you are going into the territory of an animal that KNOWS it is the top of the food chain. Human = snack
So
And this is from my working in Churchil Manitoba area, great boating if you don't mind berggy bits. Then followed by 9 plus years in the real arctic, +65 degrees north latitude.
Gun, that's right, gun is best, next will follow.
1) 2 of Stainless or chromed 12 ga. shotgun of your choice 8 round tube. Clean the grease/oil out, no time for a seized action by sticky lube, dry graphite or moly is best.
2) first in the tube mag, 3 SSG (000 buck).
3) then 3 - 3 inch brenneke slugs (1 foot pattern at 100 yds, do not use after 75 yds). Serious as hell.
4) then 2 scare shells. Use when they start sniffing in your direction. No sniff, no shot, your life, your choice.
One person with shotgun to be keeping careful watch. Do not strike up a conversation with them, unless also scanning for a bear.
I really hate filling out the paperwork if I had to shoot one, as I am not inuit.
If you don't like, or can't get the shotguns, get bear banger noise maker set, or three, and a pair of 45-70 government level action rifles.
If you have to soot a bear DO NOT AIM FOR THE HEAD, it is an armoured, rounded box, you will probably partially blind the bear and piss it right off, bad juju. Aim for the chest cavity, take out the engine room.
Enjoy the arctic, I did, met lots of wonderful people and still live and work within easy flying distance (small plane).

I know I'm nuts, but planes and boats, what's wrong with thatl.

**Dockhead** · 24-01-2018, 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juho

Some polar bear handling in the videos. Many of us might prefer earlier action .

Cool videos. I'm guessing that "Isn't he cute?" belongs in the top 25 list of Famous Last Words, somewhere near "Hold my beer and watch this."

**GordMay** · 25-01-2018, 03:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

Okay.
Number one you are going into the territory of an animal that KNOWS it is the top of the food chain. Human = snack
So
And this is from my working in Churchil Manitoba area ...

Set in Churchill Manitoba, "Polar Bear Town" is a half-hour documentary series that provides a front-row seat for some of the closest human-bear encounters ever seen on television.
➥ https://www.oln.ca/shows/polar-bear-town/

ranger58sb · 25-01-2018, 04:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dockhead

It's interesting to me that half the people on here tell me that I'll die if I try to use a shotgun on an ice bear, and the other half tell me that a shotgun is the way to go.

A friend of mine who is a sailor and gun nut wrote to me to say not to use a shotgun, but if I do, use Brenneke slugs.

So I read up on them, and it seems that they are pretty fearsome, compared favorably to rounds from a 45-70 big game gun.

Back in (I think) the mid-80's Alaska Fish & Game did a study on penetration as relevant to "bear guns" -- so they could make policy on minimums their people should carry for protection in bear country. I don't have all that stuff with me on board

but the study was published in Rifle Magazine, and you could probably get reprints from them.

Several new cartridges have been invented since then, but the overview was that .460 Weatherby and the .45-70 Gov't were almost equally effective --within the penetration limits theoretically required for big Brown bears and Grizzlies. (Dunno how those compare with Polar bears.) The 12 gauge shotgun with slugs also performed well, ranking higher on their list than many lesser cartridges, much higher than the .30-06 Springfield.

But it's maybe useful to understand they recommended a range of viable cartridges, IIRC the .30-06 being at the low end of the spectrum but considered to be viable... with several (about 10-15) "more" viable options ranking higher on their list.

NO handguns were recommended as primary defensive firearms, but a) they recognized that a revolver in your hand is maybe better than a rifle leaning up against that tree over yonder, and b) several new and bigger handgun cartridges have appeared since then and might work sorta, even if c) not everyone can be as proficient with a handgun as with a long gun.

One of the sidebar factors is about familiarity with a given action. A guy who's good with a bolt rifle may be much more proficient with that than with a lever action, single shot, double, pump, etc. Or a guy who's good with a lever gun may be much faster than... etc etc etc.

And for the most part, semi-autos generally aren't in the list of possibilities; one reason is about (big!) cartridge availability, and the other is about reliability. Both have exceptions, both are manageable, etc.... but for example, there aren't really a lot of semi-auto .460 Weatherbys out there...

OTOH, while I'd buy the theory that a 12-gauge shotgun could be entirely appropriate, I have very little hands-on practice with a slide action (pump) gun... so I'd maybe consider a (known to be reliable) semi-auto in a case like that.

Not a recommendation, just some observations...

-Chris

Vancouver Pete · 25-01-2018, 06:10

There is more to using and choosing sabot and shotguns than just picking up a box of slugs and a conventional shotgun.
First maximum choke on the gun should be no more than improved cylinder but cylinder would probably be the best option but sacrifice accuracy then you have rifled shotgun cylinders not available in the UK but Europe and the States. They take specific rifled ammunition / slugs and can be very accurate out to 100 yards or so. They have a lot of stopping power, I have seen a 250Kg wild boar stopped dead with one.

X-Five · 25-01-2018, 06:58

Jimmy Cornell writes in his newest book "200,000 Miles" on page 10/11 how easy it was to buy a good gun in Nuuk / Greenland at the fuelstation, no licence, no paperwork, just a creditcard. This was in 2014.

**Pete7** · 25-01-2018, 07:22

Evans in post 131 reported the same, but Nuuk is on the West Coast. Dockhead says he is going to the East coast about 70'N and there isn't a lot there. Pre-ordered via the firm linked to on the Greenland thread might be an option.