Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Study: Guns no more effective than pepper spray in bear encounters
Star-Tribune ^ | March 25, 2012 | KELSEY DAYTON

Posted on 03/25/2012 5:11:10 PM PDT by SJackson

LANDER — As bears begin to emerge from dens in the greater Yellowstone National Park ecosystem, a new study says carrying a gun into bear country doesn’t make you any safer.

Tom Smith, a professor of wildlife conservation at Brigham Young University, and fellow scientists studied 269 bear-human conflicts in Alaska for a paper appearing in the Journal of Wildlife Management. Those incidents involved 444 people and 357 bears, 300 of which were brown bears.

The team found firing a gun is no more effective in keeping people from injury or death during bear attacks than not using a firearm. Research didn’t find a statistical difference in outcome — injury, fatality or noninjury — when they compared those who used their gun in an aggressive encounter (229 instances) to those who had guns but did not use them (40 instances).

Smith found many people didn’t want to shoot a bear and often went through a decision-making process that took too long when a bear charged, Smith said.

“That reluctance is a built-in problem for this deterrent,” he said.

In his study, 24 percent of people who used guns were injured and of that group, 17 people were killed.

In a paper he wrote in 2007, after analyzing the use of bear spray as a deterrent, Smith found only three of 156 people involved in bear encounters who used spray were injured (less than 2 percent). And all of the injuries were minor, he said.

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


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last
To: SJackson
The team found firing a gun is no more effective in keeping people from injury or death during bear attacks than not using a firearm.

Depends on whether you kill the bear with the firearm. My son took out a grizzly that was raiding his tree-planting camp kitchen in northern BC with a shotgun. Absolutely no chance of injury or death from that bear attack. I'll go with a firearm 7 days a week.
41 posted on 03/25/2012 6:34:01 PM PDT by caveat emptor (Zippity Do Dah)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Who wants to deter a bear? With the right weapon, you can eliminate the problem and cook dinner at the same time.

42 posted on 03/25/2012 6:35:41 PM PDT by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

One simply cannot derive the conslusion they presented, based upon the facts in evidence!


43 posted on 03/25/2012 6:38:23 PM PDT by 2harddrive
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Okieshooter
.500 Linebaugh revolver

That'll work.
44 posted on 03/25/2012 6:38:36 PM PDT by sasquatch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: caveat emptor

Someone pointed out that all you need is a .22 pistol. Shoot your partner in the leg so that you can out-run him.


45 posted on 03/25/2012 6:40:22 PM PDT by aviator (Armored Pest Control)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: rlmorel
.460 S&W Magnum

Those are FUN to shoot. And yeah, it would hurt a bear in a serious way. The ammo resembles rifle rounds, LOL!


46 posted on 03/25/2012 6:41:56 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (If my candidate doesn't win the nomination I'm going to kick my feet, cry like a baby, and stay home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Another government/environmentalist study that only lacks the stamp of approval by Mann, Hansen, Jones or other self acclaimed and infallible expert!


47 posted on 03/25/2012 6:42:21 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (There's a pill for just about everything ... except stupid!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Spray and pray?


48 posted on 03/25/2012 6:43:41 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pollster1

Google “Dragon’s Breath” ammo.

Burnt Bruin!


49 posted on 03/25/2012 6:46:20 PM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is necessary to examine principles."...the public interest)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Of course with sea bears, you need an anti-sea bear circle.

50 posted on 03/25/2012 6:47:16 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

Considering you are dealing with an animal with teeth and claws measured in inches, vital organs either feet of soft tissue or inches of bone away and the ability to run you to the ground even after being shot, avoiding pissing it off is probably wise.

In Alaska, hunters are on the menu.


51 posted on 03/25/2012 6:47:18 PM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

Is this a joke?


52 posted on 03/25/2012 6:51:03 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: yarddog
"I think pepper spray is more effective than most people think."

Except in Canada, where pepper spray is considered a weapon and deemed illegal.....unless it is labeled 'bear spray'."

Bought a pack of spray from Cabelas that had three different sizes of sprays in one package. Was asked about them at Canadian customs in Hyder, AK, they inspected them and confiscated two...all three had drawings of bears on them, but only one said 'bear spray' making it legal.

And trust me, Hyder IS bear country, a fatality having occured there recently.

53 posted on 03/25/2012 6:59:38 PM PDT by diogenes ghost
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: JSteff

Hahaha...no, I am a lousy shot. Partly because my vision sucks, but mostly because I haven’t had enough instruction or practice.

I’ll tell you, I could just as likely be one of those people who wouldn’t even get off a shot.

If I want the gun, it is mostly because psychologically it makes me FEEL safer!


54 posted on 03/25/2012 7:01:10 PM PDT by rlmorel (A knife in the chest from a unapologetic liberal is preferable to a knife in the back from a RINO.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: MasterGunner01
or a Saiga shotgun with a 12 round magazine loaded with Brenneke slugs.

That would be my first choice.

55 posted on 03/25/2012 7:07:15 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: yarddog
Still I think I would prefer a hot loaded S&W model 29 (hard cast Keith style 240 grain bullet) with a 5 inch barrel. I would rather have an even more powerful handgun but then you start talking about so much weight, one might not carry it.

That's precisely the problem this was created to solve:

Smith & Wesson’s 329PD .44 Magnum Lightweight Revolver


56 posted on 03/25/2012 7:21:27 PM PDT by Talisker (He who commands, must obey.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: SJackson
I am not one that is in love with large caliber handguns for my trail gun. I have heard of at least one Grizzly taken with a .22. LR or magnum? I don't know.
But there are exceptions to every rule. For a trail gun in Alaska, I think the .454 or .500 are a good starting point. At least until something bigger and better comes along.
57 posted on 03/25/2012 7:38:10 PM PDT by Tupelo ( 2012 TEA PARTYER but no longer a Republican)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Ummm... so a .44 Magnum revolver isn’t any more effective in deterring or ending a bear attack than pepper spray? I just don’t buy that. A couple of .44 slugs to center-body mass or head won’t slow down or stop a bear attack?

Please...


58 posted on 03/25/2012 7:41:38 PM PDT by TheBattman (Isn't the lesser evil... still evil?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

Really? And bears are all cuddly.

I’ll take a galling gun loaded with .338 over pepper spray.

Or a friend with a broken leg.


59 posted on 03/25/2012 8:08:26 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson; kanawa
You should carry a Kanawa in bear country.
60 posted on 03/25/2012 8:11:02 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (Steyn: "If Greece has been knocking back the ouzo, we're face down in the vat.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson