Posted on 08/27/2023 6:29:24 AM PDT by marktwain
One of the most quoted and controversial figures used in the debate about how effective bear spray is “98%”. The figure is sprayed about (pun intended) promiscuously and irresponsibly. From thetrek.com, quoting Tom Smith:
Ninety-eight percent of people who used bear spray escaped injury (with 2% being knocked over but not killed) as opposed to only about 50% of people using guns.
The number traces back to a paper authored by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, published in 2008. The paper is “Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska“. It is the seminal paper that launched bear spray as a supposedly credible deterrent to stop aggressive bears. In the 72 incidents used in the paper, only one involved a hunter. He was stalking a wounded bear. 30% were people involved in bear management activities. Aggressive bears accounted for 25 incidents or 35%. There were ten incidents where bears charged people or 14%. All three injuries occurred in the ten incidents where bears charged people. If we consider the bear spray success rate only for aggressive bears and count injuries as failures,
….the success rate for aggressive bears is 88%.
There were 175 people involved in the 71 incidents. The incident which was subtracted from the 72 is not explained. The 98% figure is arrived at by dividing the number of people injured by the number of people involved. The paper does not mention how many of the 175 people had bear spray or sprayed bear spray. We know bear spray was sprayed in all 72 instances. In ten of the seventy one incidents, bear spray had negative effects on the person using the spray. Six of the 71 instances were deemed a failure to stop the undesired behavior of the bears.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
We are hiking at Waterton, Glacier, and Yellowstone next week. We saw a big bruin up close at Glacier in 2020. I had left the bear spray in the car. He was polite, though.
They didn’t count the people who thought it worked like bug spray ...
... and the people it didn’t work for at all never got back to them for some reason.
I’m pro-gun, but I switched from a sidearm to carrying bear spray years ago. It just makes sense - I’d rather have what is effectively a small flamethrower than be trying to hit the brain case of a charging grizzly with my .40 S&W.
That is the illusion which is sold.
Unfortunately, bear spray has many limitations, itself. It does not work well in cold temps, or wind at almost any velocity. It does not penetrate foliage. While I have not seen any tests, It is likely much diminished in rain. Many bears are able to shrug it off or ignore it, especially black bears, or any bears in a predatory mode.
Fortunately, with handguns, you don't have to hit the brain case in every instance.
When it happens, it works very well. But in most cases, it is not necessary.
Bears often break off their aggressive action because of warning shots.
A great number of aggressive bears do not start with a full on charge.
Lots of bears break off the attack if wounded.
Wounding a bear often slows them down enough to get killing shots into them.
Often, the person shooting the bear is someone the bear did not target.
Handguns are far more ergonomic,and have far better holsters than bear spray.
All of those add up to 98% effective for handguns when the handguns are fired.
how can it possibly be that there were more people injured in instances with injury than total people injured? Are they disregarding cases where the same guy is repeatedly bullied by a conspiracy of bears?
That could be just a transportation problem.
They manipulated the numbers.
To show that spray works better then firearms.
No it does not make sense to use spray instead of a firearm.
The anti-pro bear propaganda worked well on you.
Spray has a lot of limitations most caused by mother nature.
It is called weather. Then there is just limitation of range.
If you are not a good enough shot. Get some professional training and practice some more.
As a professional firearms instructor.
I offer a bear and animal defense training.
Could be. Most of the ones I have talked to, however, are uncomfortable (To put it mildly) with the very idea of people carrying firearms. If they only knew...
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