Pepper spray, pepper spray, pepper spray.
I'm a gun-toting red-blooded American male, and my bear protection tools are in this order:
Common Sense
Noise
A fast horse
Pepper spray
...
...
...
A gun of any stripe
A bear can move awfully fast and do a lot of damage before your shaking hands can take aim and do any damage enough to stop the bruin.
Read 'Mark of the Grizzly'.
If someone breaks into your home, threatens your kids, and you want to beat on them and teach them a lesson, would you prefer they're packing pepper spray or a gun? 
Shawn
: Pretty much any firearm you pack is a last chance option when it comes to
: unexpected bear encounters. My first choice would be a shotgun loaded, 00
: buck hevi shot, 500 grain slug, 00 buck hevi shot, 500 grain slug, 500
: grain slug, 500 grain slug, 500 grain slug. That said what I carry is a
: Ruger Blackhawh in .45 Colt loaded with 300 grain hard cast lead bullets
: at about 1350 fps. The Glock is a fine weapon but in my opinion just does
: not have enough squirt for any of the bears. Heck any of the pistols
: untill you get to the .475 Linebaugh or 500 Smith & Wesson are pretty
: marginal.
: I'm not sure but I do think you'll have to go through a considerably greater
: number of hoops to cary a pistol in Canada than I do here in Washington
: State.
: Wives hating firearms, that's a tough one to overcome. Jayne tends to
: appropriate mine for her own use.
: Bob
*NM*
*NM*
