[Tupelo]

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.

[TheBattman]

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...

[Vendome]

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.

[NonValueAdded]

You should carry a Kanawa in bear country.

[ctdonath2]

Another version of this thread noted that an old bear hunting guide observed that after a few instances, bears LIKE bear spray.

Think about it.
It’s a CONDMENT.
Not much different than the “Ass In Hell” sauce I put in my chili to liven it up.
Bears are smart, and may come to like spicy foods too.

[bill1952]

Oh horsecrap.

Somebody here thinks that a charging grizzly is going to be stopped in the last 10 feet of a brutal attack meant to kill?

Nuts - they ARE fast - a grizzly can cover 100+ feet in SIX seconds from a dead stop. Thats over 30 mph, guys

Your spray is going to stop that instantly??
Fine, go bet your life on it.

[GunRunner]

I know this is a serious issue, but this kind of reminds me of a line from Blazing Saddles.

When Cleavon Little straps his guns on to go deal with the Alex Karras' character Mongo, who's a huge hulking beast, Gene Wilder says, "Not, no, no, don't do that. If you shoot him, you'll just make him angry. "

[Graybeard58]

A .22 pistol is all you need when encountering a bear but be sure to bring a friend along. When the bear charges, shoot your friend in the leg and run like hell.

[Washi]

If Professor Smith were to be dropped into a pit with a bear and given his choice of a gun or pepper spray, I wonder which one he would pick?

[Joe Brower]

"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 charge"

Then the title is deliberately misleading. The lack of effectivity is not in the firearm's capability but in the mindset of the shooter.

Old news: If you don't have the stones to drop the hammer when required, then don't even bring it along.

[Hugin]

My guess is pepper spray (the kind that looks like an undersized fire extinguisher) really does work better than a gun 90% of the time. The problem is the other 10% when it just pisses them off more.

[General Heinrich Von Nuisance]

Ping for Reference

[archy]

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.

Great news! I'll believe it just as soon as I see the Yellowstone Park Rangers turn over their handguns and the shotguns and assault rifles in their vehicles for cans of bear spray.

I know three people who've been part-eaten by bears. I agree that the spray works to send the bear off, sometimes. But once they close and smell blood, it takes a whole lot more. And in the case of one of my three pals, it was two bears.