The 10mm is becoming increasingly popular as a wilderness defense gun in Alaska. Fully loaded it is as light, and a bit more powerful than a loaded, small frame .357 magnum.
The Glock 20 holds 15 rounds versus five or six for a .44 or .41 magnum revolver. In this case near Homer, Alaska, on the Kenai peninsula, it did the job in stopping a charging brown bear sow. It happened on 29 July, 2016, a Monday afternoon about 4 p.m. From homernews.com:
A Homer man shot and killed a charging sow brown bear at Humpy Creek last Friday. Kim Woodman, 57, shot the bear five times with a 10mm handgun before the bear fell about 6 feet from him. While backing away from the sow, Woodman fell and accidentally shot himself in the left foot.
(snip)Woodman had another defensive bear shooting 24 years ago, in 1992. In that case he was hunting moose. In 1992 he fired his rifle at close range when the bear was stalking him.
Blackwell said Woodman surprised a brown bear with two cubs while hiking about 4 p.m. July 29 off the trail along the southwest fork of Humpy Creek in Kachemak Bay State Park. The bears were probably feeding on pink salmon in the creek. Woodman filled out a defense of life and property report, and Park Ranger Jason Okuly and Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jason Herreman went to the scene and found the dead sow bear. They reported the sow had two gunshot wounds, one below the right eye and one in the chest.
Falling down while backing away from the danger you are shooting at is a significant problem. Backing away from an attacking animal or person is natural and can be effective. But without eyes in the back of your head, falling down is a serious danger.
It is possible the bullet that struck his foot stopped the bear. We may never know for certain. Woodman is shunning publicity. Maybe we will see an official report after it is published. The superintendent of State Parks for the area said "it was fairly close". The investigating officers confirmed the six foot distance.
The recent video of the well trained Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Deputy shooting his armed adversary shows him backing away while doing so.
To clarify, consider this. You are backing away as an 800 lb bear is charging you at close range. You are firing your 10mm handgun. You trip, but you stay focused on the threat, firing as you go down. As you press the trigger, you foot flies up into the line of fire as your back goes down to the ground. The bear is 10 feet away. It is easy for me to see how it could happen. It is not uncommon for people involved in self defense situations to inadvertently wound themselves or others. The action is often fast and chaotic.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch
Update: Details on this shooting, in an exclusive interview with the shooter, including a short video, at this link.
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18 comments:
The Sirius Patrol, Danish soldiers that patrol Greenland, carry Glock 20's for close encounters with polar bears. They also carry WWI vintage P17 Enfields in .30-06 that have all moving parts chrome plated for reliability.
What type of round was used??
Hard Cast, FMJ or A Heavy HP?
What was the load that he used?
Hello, your assessment of this situation is fairy accurate. I was backing up hoping she would turn before having to shoot. Backed out of situations before but nothing this close and aggressive involving a sow. Fired 3 or 4 quick rounds and then fell back. Kind of a combination of foot going up from fall and instinctively putting foot between her and me while putting last shot in chest. Whole thing probably happened in about 4 seconds and didn't know lost top end of middle toe until saw blood coming out of boot. They found my sunglasses that fell off the top of my head when fell backwards 2' from her head. They estimated the pool of water she was in was 30' from where I was when it started.
"Falling down while backing away from the danger you are shooting at is a significant problem. Backing away from an attacking animal or person is natural and can be effective. But without eyes in the back of your head, falling down is a serious danger. "
This is a comment well worth considering. I'm going to consciously practice with this in mind. Planting feet and holding your ground when appropriate. How you practice can make all the difference is once again demonstrated.
If you are going to be in bear country carry A WEAPON YOU DONT HAVE TO BACK UP WITH. drop them like a hot rock with the first shot. Or stay out of bear country.
If you can not hit a tea cup at 50 feet with the gun you are carrying, get a different gun or learn to use the one you have.
You're lucky to be alive.
I just love the anonymous moronic comments. "drop them like a hot rock". Idiot, even a deer with heart/double lung shot runs 100 yds before falling, an adrenaline filled bear has a 50% chance of getting you unless you hit the medulla oblongata or get some penetrating shots that give it pause.
And for Mr "hit a tea cup at 50 ft" you're another rocket scientist. Unless you're a Nave SEAL with 10 tours under your belt, I'm guessing you'd have yellow and brown fluids running through your pants if an angry sow was a few feet from you. Just the blood surge from your own adrenaline rush would have your barrel wagging a few inches to and fro. I'm sure you wouldn't have even hit the bear unless it had rings/bullseye painted on it because you've never even been to a zoo that had a bear, you big mouth paper target killer.
Anything but praise for this man's brave and timely action doesn't belong here, especially from armchair know-it-alls who can't even spell camo let alone wear it.
I second the last comment, this man deserves congratulations and a round of applause for gathering the wit to hit the threat in a stressful life-threatening situation.
The bear went down with 2 hits. Hard to argue about a lack of effectiveness.
Seems like he was one foot to close :-)
I want to see that tea cup shot from a hand gun while backing away with a 800 lb bear charging at 30mph. I carry a Glock 29 with full power loads and I shoot it quite well but I'd hate to be in his shoes. I'd love to see the dressing of the animal to ck bullet performance
nice shooting
I'm glad the attacked outdoorsman is still with us. STRONG WORK, SIR!
Wow people that cant spell camo/uflage or nave/ Navy. I think my being a Vietnam vet is enough experience. I'm one of six that came back out of the 46 in my platoon. I shoot very well at least well enough to be a survivor of the 1968 teit at dak to. I do not back up when I'm shooting.
It sounds to me like the stupid fucktard should never have ventured into the motherbears’ space. This was the second bear incident for the guy and obviously he never learned anything or enjoyed pushing the limits of nonsense with a bear on its’ turf. Too fucking bad she didn’t eat his Glock pistol and then his nuts. The troopers should cite him, take his Glock away, turn him loose in the wilderness and then, maybe he would think twice about avoiding a confrontation. While working in AK I was taught that 99% of bad bear encounters were avoidable and the other 1% were based on stupid, armed people thinkin they could get away with it… bet the sales of Glock 20s in AK are at an all-time high.
Kim: Big kudos. And thanks for the tip about backing up while firing. It's a natural reaction and tough to overcome. Yep, BIG kudos for you. :)
Skip 'ol Anon from 4/19/07 02:53:00. It's anon self just needs a good slug of lye and cleanser to swish and spit. It has no useful information to offer.
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