Pepper spray vs bear

Register to hide this ad
Glad he's gonna be OK. Good reason to carry a real weapon....of course there's certain ones (usual suspects) on here that will probably say he got what he deserved and complain that he harmed the poor bear by spraying pepper in it's eyes.

Don
 
The guy's lucky to be alive, especially after being attacked twice. If that bear had chomped down harder on his head, he'd never have survived. And unless he's really quick on the draw and a dead shot, I'm not sure a sidearm would have done any good.
 
carpriver said:
Sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Click to expand...

Just like so many other times over the course of a person's life. Fate? Karma? Predestination? God's will? Who knows? And what difference does it make?

Whatever the reason, bad stuff happens to people, and all the "preparedness" in the world ain't gonna stop it from happening.
 
Statistically, bear spray still works better than firearms by about 30% (in about 1000 actual attacks on all 3 species in North America--I understand it also works on European and Asian bears but there's not a lot of data). I've used the weaker dog spray on two German Shorthairs and got some in my face by accident==and that's a lot weaker.

Bears cannot crush a skull as their jaws don't open wide enough==they just scrape all the scalp off. (Or bite your face off!) If they could get your head in, they might be able to, although wolves (and dogs) have stronger jaws, power wise.
 
Two rules when in bear country....

1) Never travel alone, bring a friend...

2) Make sure you can outrun your friend.
 
On the other current bear thread, on one of the web sites posted on it, advocated using bear spray to ward off bears, but then went on to say that in 56% of all maulings of humans by bears, bear spray was used. They did not list how often the usage of firearms failed in preventing loss of life & injury. So they admit that the spray failed more than one half of the time.

In the same thread, one guy who was attacked (the OP), chose to use his bear spray instead of his firearm & suffered serious injuries.

No one will know if he would have been able to drop the bear & stop the attack if he had wisely used his firearm instead of the spray... but this was another clear instance of the spray failing.

If he had relied on his handgun, he would have at least had a chance...like the game warden did who was forced to use his revolver to fight off & kill a bear they were relocating. The bear was killed by what appeared to be a S&W mod 66 .357 mag., while it was attacking the warden.

I'd rather take a chance on using a firearm than hoping that what's really nothing more than a large can of Mace will deter an animal bent on seriously harming me or those I am with.
 
Reminds me of the old joke:

Park Ranger: "We advise that all hikers attach small bells to their packs and carry a large can of pepper spray. The bells will warn any bears of your approach, and the pepper spray can be used if attacked. You should also keep an eye out for bear scat, so you can determine if black bear or grizzly bear are in the area.

Concerned Hiker: "How can we tell the difference in black bear and grizzly bear scat?"

Park Ranger: "Well that's easy. Black bear scat is darker and has small berry seeds in it. Grizzly bear scat will have small bells in it and smell like pepper spray."
 
CQB27 said:
Reminds me of the old joke:

Park Ranger: "We advise that all hikers attach small bells to their packs and carry a large can of pepper spray. The bells will warn any bears of your approach, and the pepper spray can be used if attacked. You should also keep an eye out for bear scat, so you can determine if black bear or grizzly bear are in the area.

Concerned Hiker: "How can we tell the difference in black bear and grizzly bear scat?"

Park Ranger: "Well that's easy. Black bear scat is darker and has small berry seeds in it. Grizzly bear scat will have small bells in it and smell like pepper spray."
Click to expand...

VERY old joke!
 
From what I can gather, I guess it just depends. Like the use of pepper spray against criminal assailants, sometimes, for some unknown reason, it just doesn't work. Just makes 'em mad.

For example, one of our neighbors has a 6-month old Border Collie pup that loves to chase cars. The neighbor asked me if I knew how to get him to stop.

"It's fairly easy," I said. "Go down to Sportsman's Warehouse and buy the heavy duty bear spray. It's gonna cost about forty-five bucks, but it's worth it. Be sure you get the real heavy duty stuff...not the little canister that your wife keeps on her key chain. Then, get in the car and drive by your place so the dog will give chase. Then have one of the passengers armed with the bear spray and spray the heck out of the dog, making sure you get him in the mucous membranes...eyes, nose. You'll probably have to do it about two or three different times, but it works."

Well, they tried it. Sure enough, ol' Hank gave chase and they nailed him good right in the face. He stopped, shook his head a few times, tried to rub it off...but then he was okay and ready to give chase again.

Like I said, for some unknown reason, it seems to effect some differently than others.

As the poor guy said, I guess it's better than nothing. Still, whenever I'm in bear country, I take a handgun in .45 Colt and a stubby rifle in the same caliber, both loaded with fairly substantial loads (300 grn. J.F.N. 1325 F.P.S.).

Even with that, though, I still keep my fingers crossed and pray that I don't have an encounter.
001_zps6510162a.jpg

005_zps27a3abc1.jpg
 
Last edited:
da gimp said:
On the other current bear thread, on one of the web sites posted on it, advocated using bear spray to ward off bears, but then went on to say that in 56% of all maulings of humans by bears, bear spray was used. They did not list how often the usage of firearms failed in preventing loss of life & injury. So they admit that the spray failed more than one half of the time.

In the same thread, one guy who was attacked (the OP), chose to use his bear spray instead of his firearm & suffered serious injuries.

No one will know if he would have been able to drop the bear & stop the attack if he had wisely used his firearm instead of the spray... but this was another clear instance of the spray failing.

If he had relied on his handgun, he would have at least had a chance...like the game warden did who was forced to use his revolver to fight off & kill a bear they were relocating. The bear was killed by what appeared to be a S&W mod 66 .357 mag., while it was attacking the warden.

I'd rather take a chance on using a firearm than hoping that what's really nothing more than a large can of Mace will deter an animal bent on seriously harming me or those I am with.
Click to expand...

There are numerous articles (scientific papers) that analyze firearms and bear spray. One examined almost 1000 attacks (author: Stephen Herrero) by three species of bears (polar, grizzly/brown and black).

See:

"Bear Attacks" (1985) (Stephen Herrero)

"Fatal attacks by American black bear on people: 1900–2009" (Herrero, et al)

" Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska"
TOM S. SMITH · STEPHEN HERRERO · CALI STRONG LAYTON · · KATHRYN R. JOHNSON

"Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska"
TOM S. SMITH · STEPHEN HERRERO · TERRY D. DEBRUYN · JAMES M. WILDER

"From the Field: Brown bear habituation to people—safety, risks, and benefits"
Stephen Herrero · Tom Smith · Terry D. DeBruyn · [...] · Colleen A. Matt

" Injury to People Inflicted by Black, Grizzly or Polar Bears: Recent Trends and New Insights"
Stephen Herrero · Susan Fleck

You can get copies of most of these (and more) at:
Stephen Herrero - Publications

Also, the warden who shot the bear was injured.
 
Last edited:
But if the warden who was injured had not used his revolver... it is a certainty that his injuries would have been worse, if not fatal. He managed to kill the bear as it was chewing on him.

Folks have bled out in a short amount of time when arteries have been torn open. I was surprised that they did not have someone assigned to protect him with a large bore rifle or shotgun with slugs. My guess is that in the future they will have..
 
When out and about in the tall and un-cut.......

I take my chance encounters with bears serious.

In addition to a heavy loaded 44 revolver, I carry this short rifle

loaded 'for bear' with some heavy Barnes bullets. It's jest purty handy.
If my horse smells bear or I do, I just slide it out of the scabbard and carry it
across the swells of my saddle. He who doesn't respect a bear, may well end up in a fix for sure.




.
 
da gimp said:
On the other current bear thread, on one of the web sites posted on it, advocated using bear spray to ward off bears, but then went on to say that in 56% of all maulings of humans by bears, bear spray was used. They did not list how often the usage of firearms failed in preventing loss of life & injury. So they admit that the spray failed more than one half of the time.

In the same thread, one guy who was attacked (the OP), chose to use his bear spray instead of his firearm & suffered serious injuries.

No one will know if he would have been able to drop the bear & stop the attack if he had wisely used his firearm instead of the spray... but this was another clear instance of the spray failing.

If he had relied on his handgun, he would have at least had a chance...like the game warden did who was forced to use his revolver to fight off & kill a bear they were relocating. The bear was killed by what appeared to be a S&W mod 66 .357 mag., while it was attacking the warden.

I'd rather take a chance on using a firearm than hoping that what's really nothing more than a large can of Mace will deter an animal bent on seriously harming me or those I am with.
Click to expand...

I'd like to know how many who used bear spray, in the statistic you cited...employed it properly? I'd bet that saying you simply sprayed it....maybe into the wind, or when the bear was still too far away. Certainly skews the data.

And regarding the Montana FWP Warden who killed the bear with his issued M-66 four incher. He was very lucky. His first five shots (125 JHP's) did little damage...insufficient penetration. His last shot went in the lower jaw of the bear and into the spine IIRC.
 
keith44spl said:
When out and about in the tall and un-cut.......

I take my chance encounters with bears serious.

In addition to a heavy loaded 44 revolver, I carry this short rifle

loaded 'for bear' with some heavy Barnes bullets. It's jest purty handy.
If my horse smells bear or I do, I just slide it out of the scabbard and carry it
across the swells of my saddle. He who doesn't respect a bear, may well end up in a fix for sure.

Click to expand...

Very wisely said from someone who's been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.
 
Last edited:
After reading threads about .22s taking down 1,500lb man-eating grizzly bears, I'm expecting to see some interesting posts about pepper spray. :D
 
I feel that if those wardens had tied that bear trap down into the bed of the pickup it would not have been necessary to kill the bear and the warden would not have been injured.
 
It is pretty easy for humans to teach cub bears that humans are not fun to play with, but SPCA and Game and Fish would probably go nuts if they knew about it.
 
I have no doubt that an angry bear can climb up into the bed of a truck if it wants to... yup the trap should have been secured to the bed... but a determined bear can do a lot... & I want firepower to help.. not just a big can of mace...
 
I had seen this last week as a friend forwarded it to me.

I would not consider this a testament as to how Bear spray helps
in any way shape or form. If you asked the guy who was attacked
if he'd rather have a gun or some spray the next time he runs into
a sow with cubs i'll bet he would opt for the gun.
He stated he saw them at 80 yards. That gives ample time to take
steady aim and possibly get off more than one shot as the Bear charges.

He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Could have
happened to anybody. The difference is in how your prepare yourself
for just such an encounter. For ME it will not be with an aerosol can.


Chuck
 
chud333 said:
I had seen this last week as a friend forwarded it to me.

I would not consider this a testament as to how Bear spray helps
in any way shape or form. If you asked the guy who was attacked
if he'd rather have a gun or some spray the next time he runs into
a sow with cubs i'll bet he would opt for the gun.
He stated he saw them at 80 yards. That gives ample time to take
steady aim and possibly get off more than one shot as the Bear charges.

He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Could have
happened to anybody. The difference is in how your prepare yourself
for just such an encounter. For ME it will not be with an aerosol can.


Chuck
Click to expand...

In many places. shooting at 80 yards would be considered poaching and not defense of life.
 
If it's charging at 80 or 800 yards bud, i'll take my chances.

If you know Bears like you say you do then you know how
quickly a Bear can cover that distance.


Chuck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Potent bear spray?
2
Replies
37
Views
1K
Autonomous
Autonomous
cracker57
Pepper spray
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
Shrek Of The Arctic
S
Kanewpadle
Pepper Spray
2 3
Replies
70
Views
3K
drcotlar
D
R
Detail spray gun recomendations for Duracoat?
Replies
6
Views
286
Tinkertech
T
Faulkner
First black bear attack in Arkansas in decades.
Replies
11
Views
429
Onomea
Onomea

Latest posts

Back
Top