Posted on 10/11/2016 3:30:33 PM PDT by marktwain
Another documented bear spray failure. In this case the victim chose to use bear spray instead of the pistol he had with him. It is an interesting contrast with Kim Woodman, who was also charged by a sow grizzly with cubs. Kim had a 10 mm pistol, a Glock model 20. He stopped the charging grizzly at almost contact distance. Kim only had 30 yards to react. Todd says the grizzly charged him from 80 yards off.
I yelled a number of times so she knew I was human and would hopefully turn back. No such luck. Within a couple seconds, she was nearly on me. I gave her a full charge of bear spray at about 25 feet. Her momentum carried her right through the orange mist and on me.Todd had a pistol with him, attached to his pack. It may have been in a chest holster, but he did not access it. We do not know precisely how the pistol was holstered, the caliber, or Todd's decision making process. We know he had time to have his bear spray out and ready, and that he started spraying when the bear was at about 25 feet. It did not work.
I tried to peek out without moving but my eyes were full of blood and I couldn't see. I thought that if she came back a third time I would be dead, so I had to do something. Staying in position on the ground, I slowly reached under my chest to grab at the pistol I was unable to get to earlier. I felt I needed something to save my life. The pistol wasn't there. I groped around again but nothing. I wiped the blood from one eye and looked around.
No bear. The pistol and holster were lying five feet to my left. The bear's ferocious bites and pulling had ripped the straps from the pack and the holster attached to it. Now trashed, that backpack may have helped prevent many more serious bites on my back and spine.Todd Orr's bear attack has gone viral. Bear spray manufacturers will no longer be able to claim that bear spray has never failed.
Hiker: Should I carry a gun into bear country?
Ranger: Absolutely not. We recommend you wear these little bells so the bear will know your coming and won’t be surprised. We also recommend you carry this bear spray made out of pepper. We also recommend you be very careful if you see any bear scat (poop)?
Hiker: How will I recognize bear scat?
Ranger: It will have little bells in it and smell like pepper.
I live in Montana, bear country, and that is what I carry when out and about. Yes ... even down in the creek bottom in my back yard. But my back yard is the Rocky Mountains.
My first day of working for the US Forest Service, I walked by a guy who was packing a revolver.
I asked my Trail Crew partner if the guy with the revolver thought he was a gunfighter or something.
My partner told me to shut up.
The guy with the revolver had been part of a six man Trail Crew that got between a Grizzly sow and her cubs.
When she was done with them, the guy with the revolver was the only man left who could move.
He carried a pistol after that.
I shut my mouth.
For those of you who like to visit Western Montana.....
The story is that one of the Indian tribes came down with one of the illnesses their immune system wasn’t ready for.
It wiped out the village.
Grizzlies are scavengers.
They fed on the dead Indians.
Those Grizzlies came to like the flesh of humans.
I’m not saying that Grizzlies in Western Montana developed a gene that makes them crave human flesh, but I never give them the chance to prove that theory.
Bwahahahahahaha!
Welcome to Big Sky Country!
Or a 315 WFN hard cast at 1280fps well shoot through even large bears.
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Bear spray never works if mama has cubs.
Casul .454 is an alternate spray that rarely fails.
velocity = approx mach 2.
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An inordinate amount of Lewis and Clark journals were devoted to Grizzly bear encounters. They felt like they couldn’t adequately communicate to easterners how much worse a griz was than a black bear.
Carrying both is very smart.
Actually, there are legions of people who have been badly mauled after using a handgun on a bear. Even some of the vaunted magnums.
You are going for a target 1/5 the size of a human brain, encased in a dense bone skull. It is in a full snarling charge, covered in fur. Your adrenaline WILL be pumping. A miss is worthless. A wound other than to brain him is worthless and will enrage him. Mere mortals should have bear spray, backed up by the handgun for a final attempt to save yourself.
“there are legions of people who have been badly mauled after using a handgun on a bear. Mere mortals should “
That doesn’t prove guns don’t work. It only goes to show that many people don’t know how to use a gun.
Bear Spray = Human Seasoning. Bears love it!
Mere mortals can know how to use a gun, so stop with the anti-firearm drama.
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Actually, I would go for the stem, through the mouth.
It may not kill, but it will render its motor nerves non-functional.
Lots of Bear hunters use our property for access on their hunts, and they mostly use that approach.
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Amen!
........this is interesting. I spend a lot of my summers on the Yukon in the middle of the bears by myself and I carry the cousin of this right on my chest in a shoulder harness because it is heavy. It is a 50 cal Magnum S & W, 8 3/4 barrel, 5 shot.
I practice grabbing it our of it’s holster and aiming it. Sometimes I go ahead and shoot it but that is a real experience by itself and you must have ear protectors on.
I can usually grab it and aim it in 3-5 seconds. At night, I sleep with my hand on it. I’m a very light sleeper in the bush. But, in Alaska, it does not get very dark. That helps.
LOL
“Actually, there are legions of people who have been badly mauled after using a handgun on a bear. Even some of the vaunted magnums.”
OK, give us a few examples. As you claim “legions”, it should not be too hard.
With all due respect Rhino, this looks pretty real life to me. So, I’m not following you on that point.
I’m in the Alaska Bush for weeks every summer for many years. I carry both spray and a 50 cal Magnum S & W. I do this because when a small brown bear comes nosing around, I usually just watch it. When I get tired of watching, I just yell at it and they have always run but one time. That one I sprayed and it just rolled and stumbled and hissed around on the ground and then ran off.
But, I have had Grizzlies around and common sense, at least to me, dictates I grab the 50 cal, not the spray.
I am going to take issue with you, respectfully, that you can find a lot of bear attacks where a “quality” revolver pistol “failed”. Maybe the operator froze or missed but I don’t think there are any “documentable” cases where the gun itself (am speaking of a quality revolver) failed.
my .44 mag taurus was purchased just for that occasion but i’m not in bear woods much these days. Got a nice holster made for it too.
i have a video of a guy that is advertising bear calls. it’s called “they come to eat” he has some big bears come within a foot of him hiding behind a tree and sprays them effectively. but no sow on a mission.
That thing will break your arm.
Yeah, the handle has to be too long:
I got mine as a gift. It’s never been fired after leaving the factory.
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