At ten feet you are basically dealing with a solid charge and the animal would receive the full impact much like a slug. My old friend once shot a deer in the head, in season while he was hunting rabbits, with a twenty gauge and #6 shot at point blank range. The load literally blew the deers head in half. A shotgun at very close distance is a very potent tool.

you could do damage but i suspect not enough to keep that bear from ramming that shotgun and all it's glory right up your a** sideways. i wouldn't try it. write those lottery numbers down.

Bio Guy,

In my line of work I have discovered that common sense has not been issued unless by special order after 1975. Special orders except on rare ocassion have not been filled after 1985...

Liberty is correct in his assessment of a shot charge inside of 10 yards. But I share the communal question... Why is this an issue with you?

Beekeeper, I think I might have been issued a ration of common sense in 1981, but that is up for debate!

Jeremym needs to answer the reason for his question before we beat him down. I hope he was issued a ration of common sense, and know that it is not a good idea.

Agreed, it would work, but why?????

To clarify I don't think you would get the penatration of a slug from birdshot!

jeremym I think what everybody is trying to say in their own style is. If your in bear country remember what the boy scouts told you. If you in bear country bring something for bears be it a spray or handgun. Just don't take the chance and wound it.

maby theirs a bear on his deck you just never know if its close like on your deck pwder the thing a cople times and it will die . i know a guy that all he had was a 22 and killed a bear on his deck with 8 shots . but it really depends on size of shot and size of bear but it could be done

When I answered this question I way in no way implying that I thought that this undertaking was sane. I certainly should have stated that fact and apologize to anyone if they feel I was encouraging hunting black bear with bird shot. I sort of read the question as a last ditch effort with no other recourse.

libertyfirst,
That is exactly the way I read the question myself. He did not ask if he should go hunting for bear with birdshot.

I still think the best advice is be a boy scout or make peace with your god, shoot in the air and and hope for the best.!

THat close with a shotgun will do crazy damange to an animal, go out and get a pumpkin (it is close to Halloween) and shoot one and see what happens.

I will have to respectfully disagree with the people who have poster you would only anger the bear. You would have a dead bear at those ranges or closer. If we are talking 10 feet, that range would DEFINITELY kill a bear, since the pattern would hardly open up at all, and you would still retain most of the muzzle velocity.

If their are any disbelievers, look into the ballistics of a shell at that close of range.

Its time for a math lesson.

Kinetic Energy equals Mass multiplied by Velocity SQUARED.

For example, if you take a standard 3 inch magnum, shooting 1.75 ounces of shot, traveling at 1300 feet per second, you have a lethal 2,875 foot lbs. of energy.

Granted, the shot will not hit exactly like a slug, but it would be comparable at that short of a range. With a head shot, at that range, it would damn near split it in half, or explode like a watermelon.

Carl, thank you for your thanks. I always appreciate those words.

Granted, I went on the extreme side of things, with a 3 inch mag, but I just wanted to get my point across.

With the same calculations, you would have just shy of 1640 foot lbs. of muzzle energy from a 2.75 inch shell shooting 7/8 oz. of shot at 1390 feet per second. Thats about 1/3 less power, but still enough to kill or atleast take the bear out of the equation.
And also, that kinetic energy would be transfered completely into the bear. To be honest it would probably stop him cold in his tracks.

Also to be honest, an animal like a bear is rarely a blood thirsty killing machine. If you even winged the side of him with a hefty dose of bird shot, he would get the idea and get the hell outta there. Predators like a bear, only go after meals as easy to get as possible.

. Id say the 12ga with bird shot is over gunned i usually just yell at them and shake a tree or fire my side arm and the bear runs off just as fast as he can. i got bluff charged once which is pretty scary but the bear got to the 10ft range when i yelled at it. I was to close to a den with cubs. Jeremym you really don't have to worry about even seeing bears in my experience bears should hear you walking through the brush you don't usually sneak up on them and that would be the only reason why they might attack or charge so if you do see a bear yell first and depending on the distance shoot off a warning shot and then aim to kill. I ve run into three bears in the woods (cornfield to) this year none of them stuck around after i started yelling the one under my bow stand i shot a my side arm off to scare him off the area.

fliphunter14 You bring up an interesting point I don't think there have been 60 bear responsible deaths in the last 100 years. I think it was more of a what if thing and ballistics. I have a cousin Alaska and Moose are the big death machine. Mainly running into the big ass 1000 lbs deer with your car.

I think we all may be envisioning a nine-foot tall Kodiak bear, when in all likelihood a bird hunter would be more likely to encounter a young 150 pound black bear. In Africa, charging leopards that size have had their heads reduced to hamburger with buckshot at that range.

go for a slug instead, but it might work. Lol the questions on F&S

i love shotguns,and spend much time shooting them.at ten feet any north american animals head would be reduced to groundmeat with 2 3/4 #71/2 shot.as far as buckshot at leas than ten feet i would trust #00 buck will kill any animal within ten feet.i would trust #00 buck for a charging elephant before an elephant rifle.

One last thing before I go. I remember one of my favorite movies about hunting, Jeremiah Johnson and how he got his 50 cal Hawkin from Hatcet Jack. In his will Jack left his rifle to whoever found his frozen broken body. He went on to say his rifle was a goodun and kilt the barr that kilt me. Or as my daddy used to say nothing dies right away just as long as they die first.

I used to grouse hunt in black bear country all of the time so I can see where the question is a valid question reguardless of all the remarks that people have made. In my line of work I have seen people that have been shot with #6 at close range and the solid stream of shot has passed clear through the body. At that range the shot will still be close enough together to almost be a slug. You won't get as much penetration but I think that the bear would get stopped in his tracks by being hit in the face or head by a load of shot at that distance. I had a guy shot in the eye with a load of #8 shot at 6 feet and the shot column was completely in his eye and none around his eye anywhere. With today's wads the shot stays together longer than the wads of yesterday that we were used to. Not the best choice but when it is all you have it is better than nothing.