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Spray vs. gun bear deterrent debate rages
the Missoulian ^ | December 03 2007 | JOHN CRAMER

Posted on 12/03/2007 3:09:30 PM PST by george76

Long ago, grizzly bears thrived in Montana as did tales - some tall, some true - told by frontiersmen of a man-eater even more fearsome than the other two bogeymen of the forest, wolves and mountain lions.

Today, the reputation of Ursus arctos horribilis - along with other major predators ...

Also changed is how people can handle encounters with grizzlies, using a chemical spray rather than guns to improve the odds that both humans and bears will escape the encounters unharmed.

But Workman believes that if a bullet was good enough for his great-grandfather more than a century ago, then it's good enough for him when confronted by a charging grizzly, especially since he's wielding a modern, high-powered rifle.

It's an opinion held by many hunters, but Workman also is a member of Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, the citizen board that oversees the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

And that agency, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, devotes considerable resources each year on bear awareness programs that emphasize chemical spray, not bullets, as the way to keep both people and bears safe in the woods.

Last week, Workman drew widespread criticism from bear biologists, wildlife officials and some hunters when he shot a charging grizzly - and later said bullets are far more effective than bear spray in fending off such an attack.

“These people who think that they're safe with bear spray, I'm here to tell them it's a false sense of security,” he said.

“The spray is better than nothing, but I'll choose a firearm every time.”

Workman...also drew fire for saying grizzlies have become so populous in Montana that they should be taken off the endangered species list and hunted to make them afraid of people.

(Excerpt) Read more at missoulian.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: animalrights; ar; banglist; bear; bearattack; bearattacks; bears; bearspray; blackbear; grizzly; grizzlybear; grizzlybears; sss; usfws
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To: 444Flyer

Goodnight MOO’S.


81 posted on 12/04/2007 12:32:23 AM PST by 444Flyer (NEVER take a "mark" to "buy or sell"!Jos24:15, Rev 22:17,John 3:1-36, Eph 6, Rev 12:11, Jer 29:13-14)
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To: damondonion

You may be right on the heavier bullets, but after you meet a upright grizzly in the woods, how about get back to me and
let’s see if you still hold the same opinion about size.


82 posted on 12/04/2007 1:46:30 AM PST by EEDUDE
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To: dirtboy
If you are in a group, pepper spray the bear, and while he is temporarily blinded hand the spray can to someone else in the group.

Pick the one who snores...

83 posted on 12/04/2007 2:07:14 AM PST by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: EEDUDE

That Garrett ammo will flatten out rhinos and cape buffalo; a grizzly is big, but not THAT big.


84 posted on 12/04/2007 4:41:10 AM PST by damondonion
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To: 43north
A .22LR pistol?

LOLOLOL Hope you got a good lawyer !!!

85 posted on 12/04/2007 5:53:27 AM PST by Gilbo_3 (A few Rams must look after the sheep 'til the Good Shepherd returns...)
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To: RKV

Unless you have some sort of super intelligent spire ammo for the 50, I’d still expect the 45/70 with those flat-nosed silver solder bullets to put large animals down faster. Those bullets don’t HAVE to expand. Part of the problem is that there’s no real way to make spire ammo which functions well under all conditions, all targets, all ranges. If you want a 50 to hunt with, go for the 50 Alaskan.


86 posted on 12/04/2007 6:30:20 AM PST by jeddavis
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo

roll your own then. you can load it with really mild loads that even with that butt plate, will kick less than a 20ga.


87 posted on 12/04/2007 6:31:46 AM PST by absolootezer0 (white male christian hetero married gun toting SUV driving motorcycle riding conservative smoker)
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To: Armedanddangerous

huge revolver cartridges aren’t worth spit if you can’t hit the target with ‘em.
i don’t know about you, but that’s a bit too much gun for me to hit accurately with.


88 posted on 12/04/2007 6:37:32 AM PST by absolootezer0 (white male christian hetero married gun toting SUV driving motorcycle riding conservative smoker)
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To: RonF
how far does the spray travel? Aren’t you giving up the first blow if your spraying a charging bear. A spray does not travel more than 4 feet. And don’t you have to get the spray near his face. It seems you have one shot with the spray. A bullet gives you a shot from 20 feet and 5 feet and then you have a problem.
89 posted on 12/04/2007 6:40:44 AM PST by poinq
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To: TC Rider
The Alaskan Co-Pilot, dubbed by guru Jeff Cooper as one of the finest guns ever made.

Chambered primarily in .457 Wild West Magnum, compatable with 45-70.

Other calibers, finishes & options available.

Oh I so want one...

90 posted on 12/04/2007 6:48:15 AM PST by ctdonath2 (The color blue tastes like the square root of 0?)
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To: george76

If it’s basically what I ate for dinner last night, I won’t exactly expect it to stop a large charging carnivore.


91 posted on 12/04/2007 6:52:55 AM PST by ctdonath2 (The color blue tastes like the square root of 0?)
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To: ctdonath2
Bear Gun........The Bushwacker
92 posted on 12/04/2007 7:05:13 AM PST by BigBlueJon (Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas to bed.......Jack Bauer wears George W pajamas.)
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To: BigBlueJon

http://wildwestguns.com/Bushwacker/bushwacker.html


93 posted on 12/04/2007 7:06:33 AM PST by BigBlueJon (Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas to bed.......Jack Bauer wears George W pajamas.)
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To: damondonion

When walking in the woods I carry a S&W 500 4 inch with alternate hollow point and flat head 300 grainers.

For Democrats I recommend a small can bear spray and wear those little jingle bells in your shoe laces.


94 posted on 12/04/2007 7:12:39 AM PST by Plains Drifter (If guns kill people, wouldn't there be a lot of dead people at gun shows?)
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To: fishhound
Dead right. I have a cousin who was a game warden near Big Bear, CA. He was called to a home that had medium sized black bear rummaging through the trash. In the effort to spray the bear he managed to have a small gust of wind blow a dose back into his face. Only by the grace of God and a relatively uninterested bear was he able to clamber onto the top of his truck until his senses cleared enough to climb INTO the truck. In this video it is clear that something like a spray (unless full of lead) would have had zero effect other than being a slight distraction to the pain of the momma bear tearing your heart out.
95 posted on 12/04/2007 8:05:21 AM PST by Honor above all (I'm only here to help.)
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To: Age of Reason
How about a bullet filled with pepper spray?

Or a gun that squirts pepper spray and shoots a bullet at the same time?

You're getting there. When travel afoot in bear country was a daily liklihood for me, my most usual companion was a short-barrelled 12-gauge shotgun, sometimes with a folding or pistol grip, sometimes not.

Ammunition choice was easy: in the daytime [when surveyors work] it was loaded up with 12-gauge solid slugs, known in the midwest as *deer slugs* but as *bear slugs in some corners of the West and Alaska.

For nighttime use, a *Dragon's Breath* round was first up, useful both as a bear deterrent and as a signalling device to aircraft flying overhead. It was expected that if the first round didn't leave Mr/Mrs Bruin fleeing in a smoking, smoldering panic from the Fire God, it'd at least flashblind one loing enough for the following 5, 6 or 7 slugs to follow.

Only caveat with the Dragon's Breath rounds: don't use during fire season, and don't fire straight up when signalling.


96 posted on 12/04/2007 12:39:54 PM PST by archy (Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno. [from Virgil's *Aeneid*.])
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To: dirtboy

“If you are in a group, pepper spray the bear, and while he is temporarily blinded hand the spray can to someone else in the group.”

Preferrably, the slowest runner in the group.


97 posted on 12/04/2007 1:32:06 PM PST by Spok
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To: Spok
Preferrably, the slowest runner in the group.

Skip the middleman (or middlebear in this instance) and just pepper spray the slowest runner to begin with. He's going to make so much racket and noise, you'll have plenty of time to get away.
98 posted on 12/04/2007 1:38:40 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: RKV

Yeah!

Spray the sucker with THAT!!


99 posted on 12/04/2007 2:04:56 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: TC Rider
How's THIS??

Thread - gun - porn... DOH!

100 posted on 12/04/2007 2:25:06 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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