A hunter recently went viral after sharing his story of taking down a massive Kodiak bear with a 10mm pistol as the bear was charging at him and his hunting guide.
According to OutKick, hunter Tyce Erickson shared that he was tracking a wounded bear with his guide after shooting the bear with a rifle when it suddenly charged at them.
“The guide was in front of me and I was right behind him about 10 feet or so when tracking it. The bear charged him being in the lead, he hit the bear with his rifle on the initial charge we think in the chest, then his leg tripped up in the brush on the steep hillside,” Erickson said. “He racked another one while on his back and kind of shot from his hip. Not being able to see well being on his back now still tangled in the brush is when he yelled for help.”
Erickson explained that since his gun was already out, he quickly ran to the side of his guide to get a shot while still avoiding shooting toward him; however, the bear “erupted” in front of him. Highlighting the quick timing and intensity of the hunting incident, Erickson said, “This is all happening in seconds. I am guessing around 15 to 20 feet. I didn’t walk it off exactly, we were hunting and didn’t really care. So close it was an easy target with the pistol being such a big animal.”
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After encountering the charging bear, Erickson said he fired his 10mm pistol three times. He explained that while he had 15 rounds in his gun, the hunting guide instructed him to stop shooting after the third shot to avoid accidentally breaking the bear’s skull. “The skull is part of the animal you bring home, and he didn’t want it shot on accident with the pistol and broken,” Erickson noted.
A picture of Erickson with the massive Kodiak bear was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Smith & Wesson Inc.
Erickson said he chose the 10mm pistol as his sidearm after watching a YouTube video of people shooting the pistol at “gelled bear skulls to reenact a charge.” After seeing that the pistol was able to penetrate the gelled bear skulls, Erickson practiced with the weapon at home to get comfortable with the gun before the hunt. The viral hunter described the 10mm as a “very comfortable gun to shoot and accurate.”
