Posted on 10/04/2016 5:21:52 AM PDT by w1n1
This video shows Todd Orr a former Trails Engineer at Gallatin National Forest records himself talking about the aftermath of a bear attack that he encounter while on a hike. He stated, "he had pepper spray with him and did use it to defend himself but wasn't much help”, but it was better than nothing.
Here's the excerpt from the video:
Yeah, life sucks in Bear Country. Just had a Grisley with two cubs come at me from about 80 yards and, uh, I sprayed the shit out of her with bear spray, and then I went on my face and protected the back of my neck. She got my head good, I don't know what's under my hat; my ear, my arm -ugh, pieces of stuff hangin’ out, I dunno what's going on in there- and then my shoulder's ripped up, I think my arm's broke, but my legs are good, internal organs are good, eyes are good, I just walked out three miles, now I gotta go to the hospital. So. Be safe out there. Bear spray doesn’t always work, but it’s better than nothin'! See the video here.
Lever action .45-70
Wear little bells on your clothing and carry some pepper spray when you are in bear country. When the bears hear the bells, they will leave the area; if some stay, the pepper spray will drive them away.
However, it is important to know whether the bears are black bears or brown bears. The best way to tell the difference between black bears and brown bears is to examine their scat or droppings.
Black bear droppings will contain squirrel fur, berries, and smell of fish.
Brown bear droppings will contain little bells and smell of pepper spray.
.30-06 is much more powerful and should do the job.
I looked at 10mm and 45 casull loading data. The casull wins by a huge margin. 300gn bullet:
10 mm 1041 fps
Casull 1740 fps
No contest
You do need to carry pistol like a casull. The bear will be on top of you before can bring the rifle into action.
One of the people killed in alaska was alive as the bear ate him. Took 45 minutes to die and he screamed until the moment he expired.
These are extremely dangerous animals.
One of the people killed in alaska was alive as the bear ate him. Took 45 minutes to die and he screamed until the moment he expired.
I agree with lever action 45-70 for the rifle. 3,000 lbs. of hungry bear needs as much power as possible.
Two people involved and second was lucky enough to climb up a tree.
Fortunately, all we have around here is black bears, and darned few of those.
I also just read a couple of articles about Black bears. Turns out they may be pretty harmless, but in a sort of Pit Bull way. That is, if you come upon the rare “killer”, it’s got a lot of power compared to a house cat, so it could be risky.
http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/Publications/How_Dangerous_are_Black_Bears.pdf
The more I read, the more it looks like there are Polar Bears and Gizzlies, which are just plain dangerous, and then there are the rest of them that, for the most part, are fraidy cats.
I’d step it up to a .44 mag.
Sks and aks are weak rounds compared to a 45-70. They are deer sized rounds.
I would, for the pistol, also consider 45-70. A lot of guides carry them.
I would talk with an ak bear guide before committing to your armament.
No semi automatics, rifle or pistol, no jams must occur. You most likely will not be able to straigthen your arm when you empty the gun into the bear.
Woodsie Owl on the taxpayer’s dime.
Never ever lay down for a black bear. If they do attack you they will kill and eat you. You have to fight them.
In GA we are lousy with black bears. The average size here is about 150 lbs. So easy to kill with a gun. Then a week ago an 18 wheeler killed a 400 pounder on the road. I would hate to meet that guy in the woods.
Did you read the PDF I posted? I’ve read a few other articles as well. It sounds like they simply do not have the temperament of the “killer” bears. One article argued that they are more afraid of you than you are of them. At least that is the norm. And their experience is that they do not proactively protect their cubs like Grizzlies do.
They even talk about people trying to pet them in the wild and only receiving minor injuries, if any at all.
Frankly, this is pretty fascinating.
Check this out:
http://wiseaboutbears.org/about-us/bear-attacks/
“One article argued that they are more afraid of you than you are of them. “
Yeah, bears are just like the ones in Disneyland who sing to you. Someone I know who nearly had her face bitten off by a black bear would disagree with the premise of the article.
Well, I’ve gotta say that the lion’s share of the articles I’m reading are arguing that Black bears are pretty harmless. But again, sort of in the way that Pit Bulls are pretty harmless.
The article I posted above this one is pretty interesting. One thing I find fascinating is that in 116 years only ~60 people have been killed by black bears, and two thirds of them were in VERY remote areas of canada and alaska.
I live in KY. A bear can not live here and not come into contact with people on a fairly regular basis. I’m going with them being harmless - as long as you know how to respond to them. i.e. NEVER run away.
Don’t put too much faith in the 10mm. It was only one incident that ended well.
Norway, I believe it is, issues the 10mm to some of her military for protection against polar bears. Good enough for me.
The PDF you put up is totally bogus. Black bears with cubs are very dangerous. You don’t want to be anywhere near them.
Most black bears will run from you. The ones that don’t predate. They don’t maul you and walk away like a Grizzly will do they kill and eat you. You never lay down and play dead with a black bear unless you want to be dead. Don’t climb a tree either as they will simply climb up after you, knock you out of it and then kill you and eat you.
This is all very well documented fact.
I wouldn’t trust my life to a 9mm when a grizzly bear is attacking me. I would want something with more stopping power.
Yes. This is what all the articles I read said. Don’t run. Don’t climb a tree. Don’t play dead. The interesting thing is that apparently the attacks are usually done by males.
But again, It appears that when you live in areas where they come in contact with people they are actually pretty harmless unless you do something wrong.
And stats show they are really harmless. Much more harmless than larger dogs, actually. 20 deaths in 115 years in the continental US? I’m not concerned. And we have quite a few (relatively speaking) around our area, and I have about 25 acres of woods that I roam in quite a bit.
The articles gave me knowledge. Knowledge is power.
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