Picture of a Cooey single shot .22 which I restored; similar to the one Bella Twin shot a record Grizzly with in 1953 with seven .22 Longs.

Okay, I have to ask. All seven shots appear to be in the skull, and tightly grouped. Perhaps a trapped bear near death? I would like to hear the full story. Is there a reference?

Having lived my whole life in grizzly country, I have always kept this lady in mind while listening to some newcomer expound what large gun is needed for bear protection. Another story, one I don't remember the source , was related by some outdoor writer on a hunt in Alaska and everybody (out of state hunters) was sitting around debating the best rifle for the outback of Alaska. Finally somebody asked the old Indian guide (who packed something like a 22 Hornet or 25/20) what he thought was the best gun. "Got any gun, got good gun." was his answer.
moral of the stories is, "It's still 90% Indian and 10% bow and arrow."
Here is a link to Bella's story;
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I learned of Bella Twin's Grizzly kill from her granddaughter.
She was my Cook for my aboriginal wildfire crew on a Slave Lake  forest fire in 1982. 
She was extremely proud of her grandmother who passed on her Cree ways and I continue to bring forward her remarkable story for those who may not have heard of it.

The Grizzly Bears of the Swan Hills are some of the largest because they are considered hybrids of the Rocky Mountain Grizzly and the larger Plains Grizzly which are now extinct.

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I had one of these large Grizzlies chase and kill a moose fifty yards from my tree planters and then snarled as it drug the moose back to the tree line.
For some reason the tree planters quit on me.

But a 32-40 is not enough to hunt a deer with, eh?
Must have something to do with the skill of the hunter.

Jack O'Connor wrote of an Alaskan Game Warden named Hosea Farber (iirc) who told of Native American hunters who routinely shot Griz with a 22 Hornet or even 22lr.  Somehow, they were able to run the bear down with dogs, then get the bear to chase the hunter up a tree, which the bear was too heavy to climb.  They would then shoot the bear in the skull and throat which caused it to eventually bleed out.
He also discussed how many hunters never returned after trying this...

Me, I'm insecure about hunting things that include me on their prey item list.  As Robert Ruark wrote, "Use Enough Gun...".

Rich

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do ! Looks like that lady held her cool and did what she had to do . Impressive self control !

I have heard of that story pretty interesting to me I read about it when I was a kid and outdoor life I think it was. I had an uncle who lived in Alaska in the 1950s or early 60s he took a grizzly bear with a bow and arrow he was pretty proud of that fact I think he was crazy.

Nah, Joe, it was bad indigestion from someone he ate - probably the first one who shot him with a .22.

The Bella Twin story is legendary!
I once heard of an old Yupik man when I was in Alaska who hunted polar bear with a .25-20 Winchester 1892.
Though, there was some prep work. They'd sharpen the ends of a large bone, boil it until it was malleable, bend the edges together, freeze it and slather it in blood and loose pieces of meat. The bear would find and swallow it, the bone would that in it's stomach, un bending and slicing its stomach. 
.25-20 was just to put it out of misery.

So the story goes, at least.

When Groucho supposedly originated that joke, it was an elephant rather than an alligator.  Still a great joke.

Bill Lawrence

I wonder if she had fumble fingers, loading each of those 7 shots one at a time 

We have lots of grizz up by my cabin.  The last one I spotted by accident while lying on my stomach peering into the septic tank trying to figure out how to get the broken pump out.  I heard a sound and noticed a grizz only 20 feet behind me.  Fortunately he was preoccupied with some berry bushes. Probably best I didn't have the old .22 Cooey with me   

Chris.

westerner wrote on Dec 30^th, 2022 at 3:21am:


I was eaten alive .   

Actually there was a good breeze going from the grizz to me so I guess somehow it didn't notice me.  I just stood up very slowly and carefully snuck up the hill to the cabin. Once I got to the cabin porch I yelled at it.  It then casually wandered off to the north.  Lucky too because I didn't have 7 .22 LR shells

Chris.

Chris,
Back in the 1980's three of us drove up to B.C. to be taken into a remote lake for a fishing trip. The 11 mile drive into the lake took 3 hours by 4x4, and when we arrived we heard a commotion. We looked to see where all the hollering came from and saw an old fella chasing a 200 lb. black bear with a broom, and swatting it on the rear as he yelled at it!
Once he returned we found out he was the caretaker, and we asked if bears were a problem? He told us most stayed away, but this young one hadn't learned to stay away yet, and that he ran it out of camp about every other day.
We were there four days, and watched this bear-broom thing twice more before our trip ended.

Yeah black bears are usually not a big problem.  Pretty much all of them I've seen go away when you shout at them or throw rocks.  I was at the range one day, early, so I could clear a little bit of brush for prone shooting.  I looked up and silhouetted against the target frames was a young mama black bear.  I have no idea whether there were 3 or 4 cubs because they were playing and zooming in and out of the bush so fast I couldn't keep track.  I yelled at the mama bear and she abandoned her cubs and ran into the bush.  I backed off a hundred yards or so and just watched them all playing .

The septic pump was easy.  The place doesn't get used too much so the tank wasn't stinky.  The guy who installed the system had it set up so all I needed to do was remove a fitting, cut a few straps, and haul it out on a rope he attached.  Lucky for me the impeller was just jammed so it was a quick fix.  Good thing because the nearest town with a bona fide plumber is 2 hours away.

Chris.

At the Talkeetna lodge, AK is a mounted Grizzly which was shot by a ten year old girl (Fern Spaulding-Rivers) in 1996 with a 375 H & H. It notes, she wore a McCoy Shoulder armor to protect her from the recoil. It took her two shots. The first was was at around 30 yards. luckily the bear didn't charge because her her second shot was at over a hundred yards. 

Mike Otterberg took this 400+ pound black bear with a flintlock a couple years ago.  One shot was all it took.

Phil Shoemaker, Alaskan Guide, killed a grizzly with a 9mm handgun. But Phil is an experienced guide who was in a tight corner.

Having homestead land in the Interior, I prefer lever action rifles like the 1886 and Model 71 in 348 or 450 Alaskan. Remember, a grizzly who is defending a kill or has been in a fight recently with another bear-is a different animal. No bolt gun can keep up with a slick lever action-for repeat shots. That is why the old 86s and 1895 Marlins are used there. I carry a 450 Alaskan in grizzly country where fresh bear sign or broken salmon are along streams.
Hagel-"Choose the caliber that will work when everything goes wrong".

For everything going haywire-Read the account of Old Mose in Colorado or Ben Lilly in the early 1900s NM/AZ.
Still need more?
Read about NWMP Constable Edgar Millen and Albert Johnson in the Yukon-Rat River-1932-33.

   Thanks for another good read. It seems to me, that the only person who knows the truth for sure is Bella bella. For her to do what it is claimed she did, she must have had only the one choice. Regardless, she will forever hold her own in the record books.