Best Knife ?

What would be the best Busse kin knife to carry to protect yourself from large predators ? ( cougars/ bears - not people ) I have been having this discussion with a good friend and told him I would ask you folks . I hope I posted this on the correct board. Any opinions much appreciated !! Thank You

Hmmm... that's a really interesting question. I would think in most cases you would have a gun or some sort of firearm.

However, if you do happen to get mauled down by a cougar or deer your best bet is not the largest knife on you, but the smallest.

If you're not being overtaken by an animal but there is one 10 ft away from you then the best thing is to scare it off (i.e. with cougars, make noise and throw stuff at it). If it's a bear and you go into the fetal position and it starts gnawing on your arm then pulling a small little blade could be a handy.

In that case, something that is quick access and tough.

I'd say a Mean Street or a Street Scrapper 4. The HRLM is good, but I think it's a little too big. No actually, the larger handles give a really good purchase so yea the HRLM as well. All of these would be in good kydex sheath in carried on neck, belt, IWB, some where were you could naturally grab the knife.

There are a bunch of smaller Busse Kin knife that would fit the bill. Honestly, I hope you don't get into a situation like that. If there are viscous animals in the vicinity the best thing is to get out and leave them alone.

But you did post in the correct area and this is an interesting question. I'm sure other dawgs, who are more adept at answering this question, hunters, etc., will help.

I wouldn't go into bear county without at least a .44 mag. I don't think you want to use a knife, any knife, against a full sized bear. With that said, bears usually don't attack people. The main reason why you see bear attacks are when you get between her little baby bears. They are very protective animals, and will do anything to keep their offsprings safe.

My group came across one some years ago in NJ. We just slowly walk away from her while keeping an eye on the general direction. My friend said he will have to do something if she starts to walk closer. She didn't, which I'm glad because he's got a 30-06 aimming at her... We spotted her around 75 yards or so. The key is not let them get too close. Always know what is around you. If by any chance they get within 25 yards or less, best thing to do is probably make alot of sound like SHARP mention but also try to make yourself seen bigger than you are. hold your hands up high and scream yell, whatever.

I don't know how fast of a runner you are but I don't think I can out run an angry bear....so running wouldn't be an option... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

KENKEN makes some good points here.
I asked this same question about 3-4 months ago, and the best solution I could
think of was to go and buy a shotgun and run slugs in it. While he says that
bears usually don't attack people, they ARE wild animals and by their very
nature are unpredictable. We've had 6 attacks in our area of the world since
the late summer.

I don't know the details of all cases, but in 3 of them it was because the
person got between the sow and her cubs. One was because he got too close to a
grizzly den where momma and cubs were residing.
2 of the attacks were because the bear had developed a taste for "human flesh".
These 2 attacks were from the same animal.

I can't see how a small blade would help you very much against a bear. Maybe a
5 inch blade or something like that, but I don't see how much smaller would be
able to penetrate the fur and fat on a bear to be able to hit anything vital.
On a cougar, you'd probably have a decent chance, using a smaller blade. One
fellow killed a cougar this summer with a Buck Stockman folder, but it cost him
about 50 stiches in his scalp if I remember the story properly. I wouldn't put
all my faith in a small blade like that.

At minimum, I would carry a walking stick (always helpful when hiking in the
bush), a can of bear spray (would work great on a cougar too), and a 5 inch
knife.

Best case scenario would be some kind of firearm with enough stopping power to
drop a bear. A lot of the old timers that I've talked with carry a 12 gauge
with slugs when they go out (when not hunting that is). That'll even stop a
moose in rut (which is probably more dangerous than a bear or cougar <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> )


Good question. I'm looking forward to reading all of the comments that come up.
Cheers DotD

These guys have posted some very good and well thought out answers, and in truth I hope I never face a large attacking wild animal with only a knife... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" /> But if I could pick the Busse blade for the job, the one that came to mind immediately for me was the AK47. Although it's not very practical in some ways, it sure would be nice to have between me and some crazy beast! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My turn!

Yard Hook. The 7 inches of SR-77 with a wicked re-curve that will enter and eviscerate arteries and organs would be my first choice.
Light enough to carry all day and God forbid a mountain cat attacks instead of pissing it off I'd opt to drive my Yard Hook into
its chest in three lightning fast plunges. That should stop his attack rather fast. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

The re-curve is a natural slicer as the blade is designed to draw in the blade. Hence I vote for The Hook! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />






Peace.

Nice knife PoP <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Just a note. Big cats tend to stalk and take their prey from behind. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

I guess to be a little more realistic, I'd probably Have my DFLE or S6 along if I was going to be in the back 40. Around here wild dogs are more of a concern than and big predators, and if I think that's going to be an issue I'd probably carry a little firepower too, although it's not a regular carry item most of the time. And with wide dogs you usually here them before you see them, so they can be avoided if necessary. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

They kill for a living... Understand even if you did win, you'd probably still have massive injuries. Ranged weapons. Even something as primative as a spear would be vastly superior to a knife.

well, I'm pretty sure most people that have fought off cougars with a knife have already been in it's jaws, and I believe in that case, around a 4-5 inch blade would give nice control, and still be efficient, because in that situation, you CAN even defend yourself with a pocketknife.

I good walking stick would also be great if you ended up face to face with a big cat.

yall are crazy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> but I guess you'd use whatever you had, and that would most likely be a 4" blade

Best knife for protection against dangerous game is on thats attatched to the end of a gun.

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 ?

Well, we have used all kinds of knives in the past, and I wish I could say that I use a Scrapper but there just isn't one that's very well suited for the job.

We mostly use nives that have a nice clipped point and that are much narrower from top to bottom across the blade than most Scrappers. Some of the knives that we use that work very well are the original style KaBar Fighters, SOG Seal 2000 and Marble's Ideal 8". I also used the old Schrade 153UH knives for years, and while they are really too small for a serious hog knife they are still excellent knives if you can find one.

You basically need a knife that has a very secure grip(guards and finger grooves are a good thing on hog knives) and a sturdy blade that's made for stabbing and then slashing. The blade profiles on the above mentioned knives are excellent for this.

As for dogs, we have three Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pit Bull mixes and a Bull Mastiff. The RR/Pit mixes are the most amazing dogs I have ever seen. The nose of a pointer with the fight and tenacity of the RR/Pit like you would expect, but they are the most loving and gentle dogs I have ever owned as well. The Bull Mastiff is what we call a "back end" dog. He will grab the tail or hind leg of a big hog and drag them out when the others have one holed up in thick brush.

Come on down and visit and we'll saddle you up a horse. You haven't lived until you've been hog hunting with us!
The way we do it is to plunge the knife in

That sounds like a blast!

Tolly, those are very powerful dogs.
My wife's daughter has a Rottie/Shepard cross, and at Christmas time, I was
playing with him when he decided that he wanted to go somewhere else.
He gently just pushed me aside like I was nothing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> and went on his merry way.

I'm short, squat, have a very low center of balance, studied Jiujitsu for 5 years,
and weigh 185 lbs. No one just pushes me aside if I don't want to be pushed,
yet this dog did exactly that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

I was very impressed with his strength AND his gentleness.


Cheers

Sounds pretty exciting Tolly . I might take you up on that you never know-Thanks
DotD- Yah- those dogs can be VERY strong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Since we're talking about defending against wild animals, I figured this article might make some interesting reading for you all.


I'm feeling his teeth.... I was helpless'
Bear-attack victim recounts vicious encounter on Port Renfrew wharf
Joanne Hatherly, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008

Blaine Pharis would rather talk about the fish that got away than the bear he got away from in Port Renfrew this summer.

"First fish, last fish, biggest fish," Pharis said of the seven-kilogram coho salmon he landed on Sept. 9, before he was attacked by a bear at the Port Renfrew Marina and RV Park wharf.

Pharis, 52, was at Victoria General Hospital yesterday, where he had travelled from his Saltspring Island home to say thank you to the emergency staff who came to his aid.

Pharis, a construction worker and former commercial fisherman, had just walked back to his 23-foot boat after gutting the coho when the black bear pulled itself up on the wharf. It was between him and the ramp back up to shore.

"I was in a dead end," remembered Pharis. "He was looking right at me. He ran past another man only two feet away from him and come right at me, loping."

Pharis tossed the fish away. "I don't even know what direction I threw it. I thought that would stop it."

It didn't.

Pharis leapt into his boat and the bear vaulted in after him, landing on Pharis and knocking him on his back between the boat's galley and a settee.

Pharis instinctively flung his left arm in front of his face. The bear set in biting his arm.

"The sound was the worst thing," Pharis said. "It sounds like flesh being pulled away from bone."

Pharis swung his free fist at the bear's head. The punch landed, but only caused the bear to drop his arm.

The bear then moved to Pharis's flank, digging in with every bite. "I'm feeling his teeth, his pull."

Pharis was beneath the bear, jammed tight between the galley and the settee, unable to move. "I was helpless."

That's when Pharis saw a man, who he learned later was Bruce Miller, 40, standing behind the bear with a metre-long gaff that had a 13-centimetre spike in it.

"He was lining up like he was going to hit a line drive." The gaff sunk in, but the bear "didn't even blink," Pharis says. Soon more men joined in, plunging gaffs and sharp objects into the bear. One man pounded at the bear's head with a hammer.

The bear responded by moving his attack from Pharis's trunk to his head. Pharis said he had just enough time to turn his face away.

"I figured if he bites my face, I'm going to be really ugly or I'm dead," Pharis said.

The bear's canines sunk into the back of his neck. Dr. Stephen Wheeler, head of emergency and trauma services for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, later said the teeth went between Pharis neck vertebrae, within millimetres of his spinal cord and large blood vessels.

All this time, the bear shook Pharis about as the men "yarded on the bear," moving Pharis back and forth with the bear.

His back now to the bear, Pharis could not see what was happening, but he felt the men pull the bear over to the port side of the boat with such force they lifted the bear and brought Pharis up to his hands and knees.

At that moment another man, Ed Stirling, stretched in through the window with a 30-centimetre filleting knife and slit the bear's throat. The bear rolled over Pharis and dropped to the floor, dead.

Wheeler was in an air ambulance helicopter which had been on its way to Sechelt when the call came in about the bear attack. Because of the helicopter's proximity to the incident, only one hour from the time of the attack Pharis was in the trauma unit at Victoria General. That made a difference in his recovery, Wheeler said.

"He had a serious attack, he had his neck ripped open. He could have been bleeding internally and dropped dead on us at any moment," Wheeler said, emphasizing the importance of a quick response time.

Pharis politely made it clear he's not comfortable being interviewed, but he wanted to ask the public to donate to the Victoria Hospital Foundation to buy new equipment for the new emergency and trauma centre that is being built here.


"This [attack] changed my attitude," Pharis said. "People might think they don't need to donate because 'it's not going to happen to me,' but it can. It happened to me. It shouldn't take that."

Learn more, or donate for equipment at the new trauma unit, at www.victoriahf.ca or by calling 250-414-6688.

NEW DISPATCH SYSTEM SPEEDS HELICOPTERS TO ACCIDENT SCENES

A new dispatch system being introduced this week will get air ambulance helicopters to trauma victims much quicker than before.

Until now, the decision to call in a helicopter to transport trauma patients was made by emergency, police or fire personnel at the scene where the injury occurred, whether at a car accident or a workplace.

The popularity of cellphones has made it possible to shorten emergency response times by cutting out the time it takes for emergency response teams to get to the site, said Dr. Stephen Wheeler, head of emergency services and trauma care for the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Wheeler developed the dispatch program with Randy L'Heureux, director for the Airevac/Critical Care Transport Programs.

"If you were going down the highway and saw a car crash, you'd have to drive to the next town to call 9-1-1. By the time you get there, you can't really remember what you saw," Wheeler said.

"The beauty of the cellphone is [witnesses] can now be standing at the side of the road. The dispatcher can ask specific questions about what they are seeing, and this allows us to automatically dispatch a helicopter before any medical, police or fire departments get to the scene."

This new protocol, called the B.C. Ambulance Service Air Ambulance Auto Launch System, is the first of its kind in Canada and one of only three in North America, Wheeler said.

-- Times Colonist

And here's another:

Cariboo man kills black bear with makeshift club
Jim West thankful to be alive but saddened by death of the bear and her two cubs
Katie Mercer, The Province
Published: Tuesday, October 07, 2008

A B.C. man bludgeoned a black bear to death with a stick after it attacked him near Green Lake in the Cariboo.

"She put me down twice. I knew if she put me down again, chances are I wouldn't get up," Jim West, 45, said Tuesday.

"It wasn't fight or flight. It was live or die."


West, a resident of 70 Mile House, and his two dogs were out scouting for moose when he crossed the path of an angry mama bear last Saturday afternoon.

He was walking into the wind watching his black labs, Shadow and Chopper, happily flushing out grouse when he heard a loud growl.

"All of a sudden I heard a loud huff and growl to my right and I turned and there was a bear six feet away," he said.

"I realized I had no time to do the smart thing - to hit the ground, put my arms behind my head and play dead.

"I had only one option and that was to stop that bear from putting me down on the ground."

He kicked at the bear as its claws came crashing down on his upper lip, splitting it.

Seconds later the bear's heavy paws were on his shoulders and West was on the ground.

Quickly flipping over, he covered his head with his hands just as the bear took a couple of "good chews" out of the rear of his skull and left arm.

The dogs came back, distracting the bear long enough for West to take cover behind a small tree.

But the mama bear, whose cubs were on the other side of West, came back for a second round, knocking West back to the ground, biting him and slashing his right arm.

The dogs came back again to help, distracting the bear who pawed one of the dogs.

"I heard a yelp and my first thought was, 'you're not killing my dog,' " West said.

Grabbing a nearby stick that was about eight centimeters in diameter and a metre-and-a-half long, West turned to see the bear running at him.

He lifted the stick just as she came up on him, hitting her smack-dab between the ears.

"She stopped in her tracks. I had stunned her and she shook her head.

"My mind immediately turned to driving in 10-inch spikes with a sledgehammer and I hit her until I crushed her skull," he said.

West whacked the bear five times before she hit the ground.

He whacked her another three times until he saw blood coming out of her nose.

He wrapped his head with his shirt, gathered himself and the dogs and headed to a nearby restaurant to call paramedics.

"He came in and his hands were covered in blood and he had a bloody shirt wrapped around his head," said Ellie Scott of Little Horse Lodge, who patched him up while waiting for the ambulance.

"He was so calm. And I honestly thought he would be bleeding more."

West received a total of 60 stitches to his skull, upper lip and left arm and is already back at home and back in the woods.

Conservation officers who found the dead bear told him it was unnaturally, overly aggressive.

The mama bear's two cubs had to be put down in case the aggression had been passed down in their genes, he said.

"I feel great regret for having to kill that bear and even more that her cubs were put down. But it was her or me," said West.

As for West's dogs? They got their reward Tuesday - a steak dinner.

Tyger,

Those are accounts of two of the attacks that I was talking about.

There was also one by 100 Mile House just a short time after the
one at 70 Mile, but the fellow in that one had a shotgun and shot the
bear.
Around that same time, there was the grizzly attack on the geologist
up near Whitehorse. Unfortunately, he died in that attack.

Also, in October of this year, a friend of mine and another guy were
in Banff doing a light jog while preparing for a long distance race,
and were chased by a black bear, right in the city limits.

That was some great reading-Thanks Tyger !! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />
You come down here Dave- I ain't comin up there !!(lol) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

As bears seems to be the topic of the moment, I have an amusing story to
tell. First off, a picture so that you can sort of see the area I'm going
to talk about.

If you look down our road, you'll see the Ford truck on the right hand side of the picture.
On the left side of the picture, you'll see the front end of my old Chev S-10.
At the time of this story, I had an old Chrysler New Yorker, and it was parked
where the S-10 is in this picture.
We had just gotten our dog, so this happened about 5 years ago now.

At that time, my step-son was working for a security company, and he had pulled
a week of evening shifts, so would leave about 8 pm and come home early in the
morning. Well, this particular evening my step-son leaves for work, gets out
in his car, then comes back in the house.

He mentions that there is a black bear at the end of the road in the garbage
can of the guy who owns the Ford truck, and that we shouldn't let our dog out
that night.

Well, here am I....I just have to see this stoopid bear. I'm still not sure who was
more stoopid, him or me. Anyway, I figure that I'd be safe in the car, so out
I go to hop in the car. Automatically, I locked our house door when I went out.

You have to picture this story happening in the spring, so at 8 pm it is pitch
black out. Here am I fumbling with my keys trying to fit the key in the door
lock of the car, and out of the corner of my eye, I catch a movement.

Yep....it was the bear. Well, I let out a huge "whoop", drop my keys and run
for the house...only to find the locked door. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

So, here am I, pounding on the door for the wife to let me in, making enough
noise to wake up the dead, which scared the crap out of the poor bear.
By the time my wife was able to open the door, that bear was gone up the road
and into the bush.

I don't know who was more scared, the bear or me...but I can tell you who
was more stoopid....me <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

That is some funny stuff- <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> great read-Thanks !! ( LMAO)

For a long time now I have been advocating that the combat shotgun is the best form of secondary weapon for a Sniper and much of what is said above explains why. If you move around at night on your own...(we now work in pairs like your Marine Snipers but it was'nt always so)...ideally with the wind in your face to carry scent and noise away...you should hardly be suprised at what you bump into....but there is little or no thought given to this type of scenario when it comes to training.

FMJ .223 rounds are not going to do much on a charging bear...neither will they assist in a quick instinctive turning shot if a cat is up a tree...where as a shotgun loaded with a mixture of slug, buckshot and heavy bird shot would give you a much better fighting chance. Very effective on two legged suprises as well.

I have certainly had a few close encounters which scared me half to death but in fairness nothing along the lines of a Bear although in Africa we certainly were close to some Lions and Hyenas who thankfully were more engrossed in each other than us.

Spiders...Snakes...a Badger of all things...an angry heard of Cows...I have even had an Owl nearly take a chunk out of my ear...and a Hippo launching itself out of the water and up the bank when in Africa...have all taken their toll on my nerves......

Risks like this though never get a mention....as to sorting these problems out with a knife...well...good luck is all I can say and go for cutting the spinal cord as high up near the head as possible. Cutting throats would only work well if the animal bled out into the lungs so it choked quickly...but IF you can sever the spinal column it will go limp straight off.

This is not an easy thing to do however on predators whose skeleton and muscle structure has them armoured like tanks. If pushed I would pick what I am presently liking the most of the knives I have ...a Basic 9...it is long enough to get deep and not too deep in the blade so it can pierce well...plus it will be with me for it's other uses. Maybe a SHBM Jungle Assault with it's serrations might be a better choice...but you would need to be very lucky whichever way and in all liklihood the knife with you will not be selected for these reasons. Much as I think a Ruck might be a good contender...I doubt I would be carrying one.

Great post SF - makes good sense-Thanks <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />