Posted on 11/02/2019 5:01:00 AM PDT by marktwain
In the United States, some governmental authorities are strongly pushing the use of bear spray over other methods of protection against bear attacks. From the Montana Hunter Ed Course:
In sudden encounters, bear spray has proven to work. Bears sprayed with bear spray often stop attacking and, as such, are less likely to inflict serious injury. Use a firearm only as a last resort and only if bear spray is unavailable. Always use your bear spray to help a hunting partner who is being attacked. Misdirected bear spray is survivable; bullets are not. Bears wounded with an arrow, knife, or firearm may intensify the attack, and killing a bear charging at full speed is difficult at best. If you shoot a bear in self-defense, leave the scene as soon as it is safe, and report the incident to Fish, Wildlife & Parks immediately.
The implication seems, if you are armed with a firearm, put it down and use bear spray instead! This is problematic advice at best. The advice ignores the possibility that bear spray will intensify an attack. It ignores the possibility a person attacked will only have 2-3 seconds to react.
The studies on bear spray were never done against aggressive bears. In this interview with Tom Smith, one of the principle authors of the most cited bear spray and firearms studies, Tom clarifies the issue. He says the methods are not comparable. He says bear spray has not been shown to be effective against aggressive bears. From outsideonline.com:
I asked Tom Smith if it was valid to conclude that the studied effectiveness of bear spray in brown bear charges is just 33 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Just like pepper spray and mace, bear spray often backfires on the user, causing them to be incapacitated.
A firearm does not do that.
Bears do not disarm you and use your weapon against you.
Firearms - 1
Bear Spray - 0
Often.
Sounds a bit like Russian Bear Roulette.
If bears owned AR15s, they would win the fight.
Bear spray does not have striations, lines or grooves or other identifying marks. There is no database for bear spray dna.
Hence, while potentially lethal, it much less likely to land a user in court for years.
Bears? I don’t go near them. But, I’d shoot them with something really accurate and likely to remove the top of their heads. I’m thinking 45-70.
Did the government have a bear in their face when they decided? Or is this an academic thing about what’s best for the little people?And the bear.
If a frog had side pockets, he’d carry a handgun.
Had a neighbor complain to the animal control people here in Virginia about a bear that was showing no fear. They never came out. Rather, they sent him one shell with a rubber slug.
The neighbor took care of the problem quietly without the use of their rubber slug.
I’ll make sure spray is not available.
Spray a little on your bullets before loading.
The bear will get the spray a few microseconds before the lead.
Just like they want.
The bears in my neck of the woods have settled in for the winter...
Shoot, Spray and Shut up.
Ya think a .470 Marlin will stop a bear Mr.Government man? Or how about an AK-47 with a 30 round magazine? I guess you could tape the bear spray to the muzzle and give him/her a cocktail of chemicals and lead.
Proof that liberal bureaucrats are everywhere, even Montana.
Even in BC:
Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen and any persons that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while in the field.
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advanced warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out-f-doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with him is case of an encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear shit has bells in it and smells like pepper.
DK
I wish people would stop posting that silly joke.
many years ago, a friend worked for the US Forest Service in the back country of Alaska. They issued him a 375 H&H Magnum. No, that is not a bear spray....and it would make a 44 mag seem mild!
Hikers in bear country often wear ribbons with bells to warn the bears and keep them away. How do you tell if black bears or grizzly bears are in the area? Black bear scat has the remains of small animals, nuts and berries, grizzly bear scat has ribbons and bells.
Using bear spray (concentrated pepper spray) on grizzlies has limited effectiveness and may make you taste better.
Often...
I watched the video. A .454 Casull is not affected by the wind at bear range.
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