Posted on 07/02/2019 6:09:33 AM PDT by w1n1
Which is Better when you're on a walkabout in Bear country?
is it better to have both? Not one or the other. One thing about bears out in the woods they can be quite stealthy, not your typical Yogi bear hanging out at the dumpster.
If you're in their neck of the hood (bear country) while on a hunt, hike or fishing they see you. You may never even see them. Bears may follow at a distance or run from you. Then there are the bears that size you up for their next meal.
So yes, arming yourself with shotguns and large caliber rifles would be wise. Many people complain of lugging the heavy rifle around the woods. Some even complain about bear spray.
Youtuber American Backpacker has the solutions and it involves both firearms and bear spray. They also stated that using a bear spray is more effective than firearms, based on research done by Fish and Game Department. Bear spray are effective because the spray affects their senses: sight, skin, nose and lungs.
They go on to do a light comparison such as: Bear spray is easier to deploy than a firearm, point and spray. Firearms needs to have good shot placement. Shot placement will likely falter while a bear is coming at them.
The studies that were conducted by Fish and Game Department. Do you ever wonder how they gather the information in order to advise hunters and hikers on the use of bear spray. There are hunting folks that will tell you if they already have their gun in hand, why would they drop it just to pull out their bear spray on a charging bear. Read the rest of bear spray or guns.
I’d say it may be more effective for a lot of people who are not trained gun users. I own guns, get to the range a few times per year, but don’t hunt. So my shooting expertise might not be top notch. But I do fly fish which takes me into black bear country. I always carry bear spray. Could I carry my 9mm, yes, though I’m not sure about NatPk and TN/NC rules on carrying. If I was to be honest though I’d probably be better with a can of bear spray than with the pistol. I don’t know about grizzlies, but I think that the spray works pretty well on the eastern black bears.
Guns can be lethal, bear spray is not (for the bear - humans using it may have a big, hairy problem). That’s all I need to know.
This whole bear debate is bearsht. Just kill them all and hunt whatever deer they missed.
Both never leave anything to chance big ass knife as back up.
Change “Pepper Spray” to “a .375 H&H or similar weapon”. That’s what we were advised when we were travelling just south of the Brooks range. Not that we had the latter option available to us.
Mine comes in 180 or 240 grains made with a mix of lead and tin traveling at 1300-1500 FPS. Probably got a bit more range and speed than aerosol.
“Many people complain of lugging the heavy rifle around the woods.”
Ooooo kay.l
Evidence seems to suggest that bear spray is more effective in repelling bears with the added benefit that it doesn’t generally harm the bears. I realize that on a forum full of gun enthusiasts (I am one myself) that arguing for bear spray as the first recourse is unlikely to be well received, but IMHO it is the better choice... most of the time. Firearms should be carried but mainly as a back up or last resort in case the bear spray doesn’t work or can’t be deployed. The main problem with guns is that you need to...
* Know where to target on the bear’s anatomy.
* Have a weapon that is capable of the kind of really deep penetration needed to strike the vital organs or central nervous system.
* Be a good enough shot to be able to hit the bear in the right spot, and fast enough to do it before the bear reaches you.
Bears, especially brown bears and grizzlies are built for combat. They have thick hides and an enormous amount of flesh between you and their vital organs. Their skulls are also extremely thick. If a bear is simply getting too close for comfort and you shoot it, you had better incapacitate it or you are likely to provoke an attack. If a bear is attacking, chances are you are only going to have a few seconds at most to repel or incapacitate it.
Most folks don’t have enough experience with bears to be able stop an in progress attack with a gun. Too many people think their every day carry piece is adequate for bears. In most cases though they are wrong. I’ve run into a lot of folks who swear by M 1911 45s. But those and most self defense hand guns lack the penetration power to hit bears in their vital organs, which is the only way to stop an attack in time to avoid getting mauled. Bears can move much faster than a lot of people realize. If your relying on a gun, your likely to have time for one or two aimed shots. Three if your very lucky. And you will be shooting fast and under considerable stress (unless you are a moron).
If you fail to stop the bear in those few seconds, it’s probably going to be one of those days.
Interesting article, and the graphic of how to hold the bear spray (aim down not up) is very helpful, but I’ve seen much better articles than this that actually compare statistics of gun use and bear-spray use in bear confrontations. In those articles, guns have much better human-life-saving statistics than does bear spray.
You are right. It never gets old.
So we tried to remove the tusks...no...wait. That doesn't work. Nevermind.
So, how is it possible to surprise a bear? Do they often daydream and are not aware of their surroundings? Like a Millennial stumbling through city streets while facially attached to a smart phone? I doubt it. You'd have to be seriously downwind in a gale to escape detection by scent with a bear.
the article is BS. You have to draw a holstered can and aim bear spray as not to spray yourself. If its windy, which is often up here in Grizz country, the spray will get in your eyes and nose, incapacitating you from further defense. A .44 has enough energy (shock) to stop a bear, and bear spray will not if the bear is pissed.
BTW, Fish and Game carry a gun here too. ALL the Time.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, there are articles who compare the stats of different bear-human encounters, with bear spray and with guns. Not only do guns have much better stats, but bear spray doesn’t seem to be that much help at all, not against grizzlies. I wonder about black bears. I have friends who hike in black bear country, on private land where they could carry guns, but they would never carry guns and only carry bear spray. Will bear spray work against black bears?
I just dip my 350grn .475s in hot sauce. Covering both bases of course. I would claim I used pepper first, as it arrived a Micro second before the big JHP did...
Ah, the smell of nitro glycerin and nitrocellulose and Texas Pete in the morning.
Bears, especially all species of bears, so why even have an especially? Black bears and grizzly bears are all the bears in North America. Polar bears are probably meaner, and kodiac bears are grizzly bears. Brown bears are black bears. The only other kinds of bears are panda bears and koala bears. If you said bears especially grizzly bears it would make sense. If you said bears especially black bears it would be wrong because black bears are not especially anything next to grizzly bears.
ditto
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