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Several of the best leather holsters for the 1911 are made for the pistol to be holstered with the chamber loaded and the hammer cocked. In this case the safety is engaged, but I have found that often the safety does not stay in the engaged position, although a leather strap blocks the hammer.
Inside a tent I would prefer the 1911 loaded with hard cast ammo over a .357 Magnum loaded with the same type of ammo. And yes, for safety reasons a double action revolver would be safer to handle since the hammer is not cocked.
The 1911 cannot handle a bullet heavy enough to have comparable sectional density to a .357. The .357 will drive deeper and do more of what needs doing than the 1911 is capable of being loaded to do.
The 1911 cannot handle a bullet heavy enough to have comparable sectional density to a .357. The .357 will drive deeper and do more of what needs doing than the 1911 is capable of being loaded to do.
I understand that, but the point I was trying to make is that if having a handgun for bear defense when in the darkness of my tent, I prefer a .45 ACP to a revolver because what I want is to fire the maximum number of shots possible in the shortest amount of time.
At least in the interior of Alaska, every now and then bears wake-up and get out of their den to look for food. Also, up here it does not have to be winter for the temperatures to drop below freezing. This happens avery now and then during moose season in September. In fact, a few years ago I killed a moose on a day that we had about 2" of snow and ice the first week of September.
This year we have had a cold and rainy summer, and not too far from Fairbanks, on the Dalton Highway, the weather forecast is for heavy snow fall down to the 2,000 level Thursday night. There goes our summer http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm...rticles_id=349
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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Originally Posted by RayinAK
..........(SNIP)>>>> every now and then bears wake-up and get out of their den to look for food.
.........Back in January of 1981, I had to meet a couple of structual engineers near the sight of the coal tipple (under construction) for the UCM coal faciliity on the west side of the Nenana River, off of the Richardson Hwy...... We were loaned the use of 3 Marlin Guide Guns in 45-70 for protection from a couple of Grizzlies that had been roaming around the site looking for food.............During the 5 days on site we never had a problem with them, but did see them two days in a row about 300 yards from our location. Turns out, some of the construction guys had been leaving food out for them. I never knew that they do occasionally come out of the den in the winter.
That was my 1st trip to AK, and I really got the "bug". (4) years later (1985) two of my huntin' buddies and I put together a 12 day float hunt (un-guided) on the Innoko River about 290 miles W/N/W of Anchorage. We flew out of Lake Hood (in a Beaver) (with All our own gear) to McGrath, stayed over night at the Takusco House, then flew on to an area on the Innoko River (about another 90 miles west) --set up camp & got (in the next 10 days) 3 great Moose, 3 Caribou and a Black Bear. Took the Beaver and a 206 to get back to Anchorage. Gave about 75% of the meat (and got a signed receipt) to an Native Organization there in McGrath--waaay to expensive to fly it all back to Anchorage. That 1985 trip was the first of several over the next 12 years........thank God my job entailed getting up to Alaska occasionally when there were certain projects to bid on. When I was on Kodiak in 1991, I talked to a guide that almost was attacked by a Brown Bear in late January one year when he was working on his hunting cabin, and was not paying attention to what was going on around him.
It is so positevely rare to see a bear out in the winter.. Even if they are out, they are generaly lethargic and not prone to be aggressive. We had some cases of black bears emerging in mild weather back in WV, but that was RARE.. Usually they den up and don't travel far from it.
We were in Glacier Park a few years ago in January, went snowshoeing with a ranger. When I pointed to her bear spray on her hip she laughed and said "Regulations".. No threat of bears, just threat of government regulations, lol.
.........Back in January of 1981, I had to meet a couple of structual engineers near the sight of the coal tipple (under construction) for the UCM coal faciliity on the west side of the Nenana River, off of the Richardson Hwy...... We were loaned the use of 3 Marlin Guide Guns in 45-70 for protection from a couple of Grizzlies that had been roaming around the site looking for food.............During the 5 days on site we never had a problem with them, but did see them two days in a row about 300 yards from our location. Turns out, some of the construction guys had been leaving food out for them. I never knew that they do occasionally come out of the den in the winter.
That was my 1st trip to AK, and I really got the "bug". (4) years later (1985) two of my huntin' buddies and I put together a 12 day float hunt (un-guided) on the Innoko River about 290 miles W/N/W of Anchorage. We flew out of Lake Hood (in a Beaver) (with All our own gear) to McGrath, stayed over night at the Takusco House, then flew on to an area on the Innoko River (about another 90 miles west) --set up camp & got (in the next 10 days) 3 great Moose, 3 Caribou and a Black Bear. Took the Beaver and a 206 to get back to Anchorage. Gave about 75% of the meat (and got a signed receipt) to an Native Organization there in McGrath--waaay to expensive to fly it all back to Anchorage. That 1985 trip was the first of several over the next 12 years........thank God my job entailed getting up to Alaska occasionally when there were certain projects to bid on. When I was on Kodiak in 1991, I talked to a guide that almost was attacked by a Brown Bear in late January one year when he was working on his hunting cabin, and was not paying attention to what was going on around him.
It is so positevely rare to see a bear out in the winter.. Even if they are out, they are generaly lethargic and not prone to be aggressive. We had some cases of black bears emerging in mild weather back in WV, but that was RARE.. Usually they den up and don't travel far from it.
We were in Glacier Park a few years ago in January, went snowshoeing with a ranger. When I pointed to her bear spray on her hip she laughed and said "Regulations".. No threat of bears, just threat of government regulations, lol.
Not too rare in Alaska. About three years ago we had a hunter who got mauled by a bear that ran out of its den in the middle of the winter. He had killed another bear near the den, and approached this bear while his hunting partner stood at a short distance. Another bear they were not aware of ran out of a den and mauled the hunter. His hunting partner must have been a real good shot because he shot the bear with a .220 (something like that. Don't remember) rifle on the side of the head, killing it.
In the book "Alaska Wolf Man" there are some accounts of bears being awake and looking for food in the middle of the winter. But you have to take into consideration that bears usually den at locations away from people; therefore to most of us it's rare to see a bear that's awake in the middle of the winter.
I don't believe I have heard of a man/bear encounter in the winter, here or in WV. Usually it's in the late summer/fall when they are intently searching for food to pack on for the winter.
None the less we don't carry any bear spray in the winter, or do we exercise total bear 'protocol' with our food either. I'm not that concerned about it in the middle of winter. Typically they will not emerge until mid to late March. Maybe in your southern coastal temperate zones it is different.
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I never knew that they do occasionally come out of the den in the winter.
