Given the choice of a properly sized hand gun and spray, I’d pick the gun any day. I do not trust chemical deterrents, especially when lives are at stake.
What is with the ammoland obsession with bears?
I’ve had numerous encounters with bears and, excepting a fishing trip to Canada, never had reason to be concerned, and if a bear wanted to take on 5 guys with larger pistols and a guide with a rifle, good luck to him.
Bear growled and thought better of his chances and took off at a gallop with nary a shot fired.
A slug in the heart, or through the mouth, does a pretty good job of stopping a bear, but it has to be a big enough slug with enough power behind it to burst through bone and viscera.
If it is not a kill shot with a bear, the game goes on for FAR too long.
“There are two things to do to stay safe from bears: Always carry pepper spray, and learn to recognize bear scat.”
“How do you recognize bear scat?”
“It smells like pepper.”
And even fewer of those involved spraying an aggressive bear. It looks like most of the incidents involved running the bears out of trash cans.
Bear spray on a hungry bear just makes them ugly. It will not stop them.
But then, these idjits do not know bears.They ascribe human cgaracterustics to bears subconsciously.
Bears are like an alien life form. They have no hesittation to eat.They are driven. A human is just a skin bag full of meat to a bear.
Thank goodness we have 12 guage shotguns loaded with rifled slugs and OO buck.