MT: Bear Spray Failure or Bear Spray Success?

Gun Watch ^ | 20 October, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Another grizzly bear attack in Montana.  A man was mauled. It sounds like he sprayed the bear with pepper spray while being mauled, but that is a bit unclear.
From kbzk.com:

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports a man suffered bites to the head, shoulder and wrist after being attacked by a grizzly bear north of Whitefish on Sunday.

(snip)

He was able to use pepper spray against the bear during the attack, which caused the bear to flee back toward the direction from where it charged.

It is possible that the dogs were part of the trigger for the attack.  The cubs, the deer carcass and the dogs all are associated with bear attacks.

Is this a bear spray failure or a bear spray success?  Ending in the hospital does not seem like much of a success to me, but it is better than being killed.

It is impossible to know if a firearm could have stopped the attack before he was injured, or if a firearm would have been as effective in stopping the attack after it was initiated.

There is no objective study that shows that bear spray is as or more effective than firearms for defense against bears.

 ©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch 

[mad_as_he$$]

Conventional wisdom in Alaska is that pepper spray just pisses off brown bears.

[marktwain]

We know that bears can take significant punishment and keep on attacking.

Bear Spray proponents claim it stops angry or aggressive bears, but there are very few instances where it is used against angry or aggressive bears, and with those, it has mixed results.

To be fair, shooters can fail to stop bears as well. But bears that are wounded tend to die, and not be a continuing threat. The lives of bears should not be held more valuable than human lives.

[Secret Agent Man]

I could go for a gun that sprays and fires rounds at the same time.

[minnesota_bound]

Bears like a little spice in their meals.

[bobby.223]

I do. Anywhere outside. The Bears are around up here, you have to be 100% alert when outside. As big and lumbering looking as they are as they wander around, they still can move VERY quickly when they want to.

[bobby.223]

How do you like that Magnum Research boomer? I have been thinking about picking one up.

[MosesKnows]

Bear spray has its place

Advice for people visiting bear counter.

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.

Black bear droppings will contain squirrel fur, berries, and smell of fish.
Brown bear droppings will contain little bells and smell of pepper spray.

[SJackson]

Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.

[BerryDingle]

Back in the mid seventies, I was stationed in Alaska and loved the fishing. I saw the biggest bear tracks I could imagine. I went to a local gun shop and bought a Hawes 44 Magnum western Marshall for about $80.00. Thank goodness I never needed it, but it was fun playing and test firing it, it’s a miniature cannon.

[Carriage Hill]

I’ve seen vids of them rumbling along, in 30-35mph bursts for short distances, and that’s darned fast.