Posted on 11/11/2017 3:29:21 AM PST by marktwain
An off duty Wyoming Game Warden, Chris Queen, was hunting elk in the Little Sunlight Basin north of Cody, Wyoming, not far from the Wyoming border.
He was returning to his horses late in the day, about 6:30 in the evening. The sun had set 15 minutes earlier, but there was still considerable light. A grizzly sow bluff charged Chris, then charged him full out.
Queen told investigators he slowly backed away believing the sow would return to her cubs and move on.
But, after returning to her cubs, the sow exhibited even more aggressive behavior.
Suddenly, the animal lowered its head and fully charged.
Queen said he fired his rifle at the charging grizzly, killing it just a few feet from where he stood.
It is not unusual for an agency with concurrent jurisdiction, to be asked to assume investigative responsibility for an incident when a member of a law enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction is involved,” said Steward. “This maintains the integrity of the investigation and eliminates even the perception of impropriety,”
The off duty Game Warden, Chris Queen appears to be following the best available advise. Tom Smith, Professor at BYU, one of the most quoted proponents of bear spray, said as much in a Sports Afield article in 2012. He said that it would be foolish to drop a rifle to attempt to obtain pepper spray, while being charged.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
And when the screaming starts, we get annoyed and say..”Hey dude! What’s EATING you?”
Yes,
I chuckled.
When I went to youtube & wrote in “pepper spray” I found a vid of the spray you describe being used in a riot. Large cannister and abundant wide spray which colored the rioter’s face orange.
He advances menacingly on police shouting “I’m right here!!” and then his entire face is whooshed with orange spray & lots of it. Instead of screaming or cursing, the orange faced rioter is strangely subdued; he stands there quietly until pulled to the pavement by his dreadlocks. Afterward he is cuffed & carried off like overstuffed luggage.
You had mentioned that bear spray has less capsicum; maybe that explains the rioter’s silent acquiescence.
Since law enforcement was using it, could be a different potency. Guess in my mind, if I’ve got 7 to 9 ounces vs 1-1.5, that makes up for it. And the cloud and distance is a plus. If it’s all I have, fine, but if I’m faced with a violent attacker within a couple feet, not sure spray is my preferred choice. And as you note, large canister. They don’t carry the little lipstick sized containers. And it’s easy to miss with the little ones, you have to hit the eyes. Usually with a stream.
I just didn’t understand your first post...never mind.
He said that it would be foolish to drop a rifle to attempt to obtain pepper spray, while being charged.
The pepper is only seasoning you add to yourself for the bear.
but I was told of a fishing guide who was attacked and put 4 rounds of .44 mag in the body with no immediate effect. The attack was halted by another guide who sprayed the bear.
Possible. I actively search for these stories, and I have not seen it.
I have seen a few where the spray does not work, but a firearms does.
Interestingly, I have not found one case where a pistol failed to stop a bear. At least not yet.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/10/where-are-bear-attack-pistol-failures.html
Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska
AbstractWe compiled, summarized, and reviewed 269 incidents of bear-human conflict involving firearms that occurred in Alaska during 1883-2009. Encounters involving brown bears (Ursus arctos; 218 incidents, 81%), black bears (Ursus americanus; 30 incidents, 11%), polar bears (Ursus maritimus; 6 incidents, 2%), and 15 (6%) unidentified species provided insight into firearms success and failure. A total of 444 people and at least 367 bears were involved in these incidents. We found no significant difference in success rates (i.e., success being when the bear was stopped in its aggressive behavior) associated with long guns (76%) and handguns (84%). Moreover, firearm bearers suffered the same injury rates in close encounters with bears whether they used their firearms or not. Bears were killed in 61% (n = 162) of bear-firearms incidents. Additionally, we identified multiple reasons for firearms failing to stop an aggressive bear. Using logistic regression, the best model for predicting a successful outcome for firearm users included species and cohort of bear, human activity at time of encounter, whether or not the bear charged, and if fish or game meat was present. Firearm variables (e.g., type of gun, number of shots) were not useful in predicting outcomes in bear-firearms incidents. Although firearms have failed to protect some users, they are the only deterrent that can lethally stop an aggressive bear. Where firearms have failed to protect people, we identified contributing causes. Our findings suggest that only those proficient in firearms use should rely on them for protection in bear country. Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261982557_Efficacy_of_Firearms_for_Bear_Deterrence_in_Alaska [accessed Nov 12 2017].
And, of course, there are incidents like this. Teenager Killed by Polar Bear Because Adult Forgot To Turn Off Mauser 98K Safety
One of my favorite stories is from the Stephen Ambrose book “Undaunted Courage”. He talks about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and when they went further west, they began to encounter enormous grizzly bears, the likes of which they had never seen. I don’t doubt this, because being the apex predator that they are, they had probably grown to enormous sizes without a lot of interference from humans.
They made it clear to the Indians who befriended them that they were going to go out and hunt these bears, the Indians were astonished, and communicated to them in every way possible that doing so was an extremely risky and foolhardy endeavor. Apparently, they couldn’t believe these white people were crazy enough to do that.
Lewis and Clark were “undaunted” by the admonitions, and made it clear that they were perfectly confident because of the advanced weaponry that they carried with them, that the Indians did not have… their rifles.
I imagine that if I were there, I could just see the Indians turning to each other and shrugging their shoulders, saying the equivalent of “Well, I guess it’s their ass…”
When they came across a particularly large specimen of these grizzly bears by the side of a river, they set upon it and begin shooting it. The way the story goes as I recall, at one point there were 12 guys firing away with these black powder guns, and ended up throwing down their guns and running into the river to try to escape while this massive grizzly bear chased after them into the water.
I do believe that there was illustration that one of the party had drawn of this incident at the time, and it showed a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs in the middle of a large spread out ring of frontiersmen all firing their weapons in what looked for all intents and purposes like a circular firing squad, except that all their rifles were pointed up at what looked to be at least a 45° angle. The bear, standing erect on its hind legs, with the perspective of the amateur artist looked to be, oh, say, 30 feet tall, with both of its forepaws straight up in the air with claws extended! I think I’ve always been surprised that the artist didn’t make the bear appear to be 100 feet tall, rivaling Godzilla…
What was really funny though, was the dry log entry by one of the guys that basically said “We decided to avoid encountering those types of beasts in the future…”
It reminded me of the other entry later on their journey, when they reached the Columbia River. Now anyone who pays attention to these things knows that the Columbia River in those days was a particularly wild River, so when Lewis and Clark made it clear to the Native Americans out in that area that they intended to take their funny looking (funny looking to the Indians at least) wooden boats down the river, the Indians again must’ve looked at each other in astonishment and said “These pale faced white people are absolutely insane…”
Sure enough, on the day went down the river, there were hundreds and hundreds of Indians lining both sides of the river to watch the spectacle of these white guys completely destroy themselves… it promised to be a real show. This has to be one of the times though, where Lewis and Clark really did know what they were doing, and the Indians were extremely impressed and again, astonished in a positive way, that these guys in their buckskins and funny looking wooden boats actually made it down the boiling white water river.
The PBS Documentarie of
Lewis and Clark
Is Truely one of My FAVS!
Those guys had major stones, that is for sure...
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