After the Busse AK-47
The Busse Argonne Assault is rather gnarly looking, In fact it is so bad-a it is illegal in California.

Yikes! Long ramble ahead.

Best knife against a bear? The only way I could see to quickly disable the beast is to go for the neck. The eyes are an inviting target, but blinding the beast could just as easily drive it to new levels of frenzy as put it out of the fight. So you want something slender and narrow to penetrate deeply through all that fur and flesh, and then slice viciously. You're not batoning here, you don't need a quarter inch chopper. This is where you want a fine, thin, serrated edge. Rainwalker's AK47 might get job done, but you'd have to an accomplished swordsman I think to land some good hits without the bear grappling you. Because once the bear is grappling you, you're done. I don't care how pumped you are, the bear weighs twice what you do and is vastly stronger.

A spear would be preferable to a knife if you were limited to hand weapons, as it allows you to both keep your distance while attacking as well as receive a charge. But now you're talking about either carrying a spear all the time, or being able to fashion one within seconds from materials within arm's reach.

Quite frankly, I'm thinking if you're down to fighting a bear with hand weapons, you're already done. If I was in that situation I would of course make an attempt but I wouldn't give myself good odds.

I have a few friends in Alaska who do the 12-gauge-with-slugs. Some prefer a rifle. I hear .30-06 with soft points will probably do the job (after all, you're taking a frontal chest shot, the bullet is going to have a chance at every organ they've got). But what you really want is a .45-70 with big (400 grain) flat or hollow point. Which is basically doing the same thing as the slug, going for maximum impact and wound diameter at the expense of penetration and range.

Either way, long guns are definitely the best route against anything bigger, stronger, and faster than you are.

Wild cats are a different matter. A bear (except polars) will not attack you as a food source. They would much rather dine on things they don't have to fight first. It attacks you in defense or because it's rabid, which basically means once you're engaged it's either you or them. A big cat will definitely see you as a food source, and as mentioned above cats are ambush predators. They love to pounce from behind, which makes that rifle shot difficult. However, cats are also pragmatists, and will disengage if you're putting up too much a fight. Thus do not play dead. Because the cat, unlike the bear, will eat you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> There are survivor stories about outdoorsmen and joggers (running equals "Attack me!" in cat-speak) who drove off cougars and the like with a vigorous defense. The cat, figuring there must be easier prey elsewhere, left them alone.

Momaw,

I forgot about a .45/70
Before I opted for my .12 gauge, I was also looking at getting a
Marlin 1895 Guide gun in .45/70

Nice rifle that one is <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

This is a good thread. It reminds me of something I read a little while back about some Russians. It seems they make a habit of hunting bears with knives. From what I recall, as a bear would stand up on its hind legs, they'll take a y-shaped branch/stick or something and prop it up by the neck just long enough to run in and gut it.

That takes some serious crazy.

As far as what knife is best? I have no idea and hope to never find out. The one I would use, however, would be the biggest one I had on me, but I would only use it after I ran out of ammunition.

wow that would be very intince and scary

You don’t have to out run the bear, just your slowest companion. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Over short distances, a bear can out run a horse, so I wouldn’t plan on beating the bear.

Of the knives I own, my choice would be the DFLE. Its large blade would make a large wound channel, and it’s very fast in the hand. Before I had my good knives, when I was in Abilene (TX) I would go for nature walks alone in the wild 10 miles from town, and a mile or so off the road. I carried a 6 foot heavy broom handle, with the end whittled to perfectly carry my Cold Steel Bushman so I could quickly turn my walking stick into a spear. To protect the base of the stick while using it to walk, I got a copper endcap of the proper size from the plumbing department, and attached it to the stick with clear silicone. I knew there were javelinas and possibly mountain lions among who knows what else in the area, so this setup allowed me a reasonable means of protection since I didn’t have a gun with me.

A lot of people, myself included, have mentioned bears a lot on this post, but
not much has been said about the cats.
Andy makes a good point (pun intended...<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> ) when he talks about making a
spear using his bushman.
Any way that you could attack or respond to an attack while staying outside of
the range of the "weapons" that the animal/human has, is a big PLUS.

I live about 20 minutes outside of town (population about 90,000), and we
regularly see evidence of bear, and have on one occasion seen a bobcat right in
our yard.

There have been 2 or 3 cat attacks this year in our area, and in all cases, the
people attacked didn't even know they were being stalked. In all the attacks,
the cat struck from behind and outside of the person's peripheral vision range.
I'm not sure that a spear would be of much advantage in the initial attack.
Provided that the person was able to survive the initial attack, I think it
would depend on if the cat was on them, or if it had backed off.

I wonder if bear spray would be of any benefit in a close quarter attack.

I could definitely see a longer stick being of benefit against a snake or such.

And on that cheery note....
Cheers <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

While I don't recommend fighting large predators with a knife, to answer your question:

The best Busse kin knife for the task, be it bear or montain lion or feral dog or pig, is the 8" Pure Bred Fighter, (or, for a smaller knife, the 6" version).



It is the most efficient at penetration of any Busse kin knife, and a heck of a slasher, too. It also is probably the fastest and most controlled in hand. It also has one of the most secure grips.

By the way, it is not correct to say that grizzlies and and black bears do not atack people as prey. It is comparatively rare, but it does happen. It is most commonly when the bear is either young and still experimenting and learning what to eat, or when it is starving and willing to take a chance on anything, or when it is old and feeble and sees a human as an easy target.

If a bear is attacking you out of perceived self defense (usually when the bear has been startled) or defense of cubs, then playing dead, until you are no longer perceived as a threat, can be sound. If a bear attacks you predaceously, then fighting back is necessary.

A good book to read, if you want to learn more about the subject, is Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, by Stephen Herrero.

This is a good book too.
I'm part way through it, and wanted to finish it over Christmas, but
wasn't able to.

The cover kind of gets right to the point I would say <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />!!

While they aren't bears, we do hunt ferral hogs with catch dogs down here, and once the dogs have cornerd the hogs we kill them with knives. Now granted this style of hunting is not for the faint of heart, but the hogs are actually down very quickly when properly cut.

I have killed scores of hogs like this, however, I would NEVER want to try it with a bear or big cat! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Hey Tolly- I think I saw something like that down under on one of my premium channels on the tube !! Nobody belived me and this is first I heard of it again. Exciting stuff for sure. What kind of blades ? Dogs ?