Bear spray???

[G5Archer]

Was just wondering how many of you take it on a backcountry hunt and have you ever had to use it?

 

[Solitude]

Have packed it the last few years. Never had to use it. I have been around and seen bears during the trips, so that's enough for me to pack it during archery season.

 

[kodiakfly]

I've never messed with it, even here bowhunting. If I'm worried about bears I carry a sidearm. Bear spray is big and more weight that only serves one purpose and you better check the wind before you use it...not the case with the hand gun. We have a joke here that bear spray (pepper based) is just a bear's version of Tobasco sauce.

I'm not saying it's not potentially effective. I just saying I don't think it's the best tool for the job.

 

[BRobertson]

I have always had great distrust for the stuff!!
A friend of mine that was involved in bear research in Wyoming had 2 failures with it on Black Bears.

This summer I had an opportunity to use it on a Black Bear on our deck. He had climbed onto the handrail from the steep hillside, and then stepped onto the hot tub. When I approached him , he hissed at me , and a low rumbling in his throat. I sprayed him with a face full, and he was not that impressed!
He moved off a few yards, but was back immediately. I came close to shooting him with a 300gr. .44 , but it is a hassle to skin one when you don't get to keep it, and do the paper work for ADF&G.
I have always hated to see all the gorpeaters that show up with bearspray only, no firearms, and then we fly them out to remote spots around the State.
I always tell them that I consider it " Natural Selection" if anything happens to them.
We keep it around for when we walk our dogs, as our Rottweilers seem to be dog magnets. I know for a fact that the bearspray works very well on dogs!!

Bob

 

[WonkyWapiti]

I take it on my fly fishing trips to BC since I can't bring a handgun.

 

[robby denning]

I got sick of it freezing, expiring, and worrying about leaving it in a hot truck. My friend and fellow Rokslider Madnik had a can explode in the heat in his jeep and couldn't drive it for like a year.

I'm sure it works, but I carry a handgun on all my bowhunts. If it's a really big bear, then the guns for me.

 

[Coyote Commander]

I have a theory on bear spray and the claimed "effectiveness" of it.

I qualify my theory with the fact ive worked in research for quite a few years, and have seen all the dirty little tricks to skew the numbers and tell the tale you have pre-conceived while not actually lying.

The people that claim to have done the tests, and claim to its effectiveness, would rather see the bear live than the human. And spray is more bear friendly than a .44.

Ive seen the tenacity of animals much smaller than a bear in going after something they really want. If they really want it, it often takes a lot more than youd think to stop them.

Hell, even a large bore handgun on a big bear is a 50/50 deal if he REALLY wants you.

 

[IdyllwildArcher]

There was a study done by the U of WY that showed bear spray to be more effective than a side arm in preventing mauling (and harm to the bear, but that's kind of a given). I hunt in Grizz country (WY/ID) and carry it.

I recently took a job in Kotzebue, AK. Although there's not a large Grizz population on the peninsula, there was a sow with cubs spotted near where I roamed/fished last month. Every Eskimo I talked with asked if I had a gun with me, to which I replied no, I carried bear spray. They all said the same thing: "Oh, that doesn't work up here." After I heard that for like the 20th time, I figured I'd educate this Eskimo about the U of WY study to which he flatly replied, "oh, well, up here, it's too windy. Most the time, the spray blows to the side or back in your face and you still get killed."

I hadn't even thought about it. Out on the tundra, there's always a very stiff wind as far as I've seen except for like one day (bugs were really bad that day with no wind). In the lower 48, with all the woods that we're usually hunting in, I assume that bear spray is viable. Out on the tundra, I'll be carrying bear spray. And a Glock .45

 

[kodiakfly]

There was a study done by the U of WY that showed bear spray to be more effective than a side arm in preventing mauling (and harm to the bear, but that's kind of a given). I hunt in Grizz country (WY/ID) and carry it.

How is "preventing" a mauling quantified? I guess what I'm saying is, if they're saying that spraying a bear in the face with spray is more effective than shooting a gun in the air, I could buy that. And how did they know the bear was in fact intending to maul the test subject? It just seems like there's a lot of room for interpretation of those numbers.

My train of thought is such that if a bear wants to get on top of you, it will get on top of you. "Preventing" a mauling is like preventing a car wreck or a heart attack...how do you know it was prevented from happening vs it just wasn't going to happen in the first place? And I'd like to see the study numbers on what's more effective in "ending" a mauling; a shot of spray to the face, or a shot of a .44 or 10mm or .454 to the face.

Like I said above, I'm not saying spray is ineffective. Hell, there's been plenty of times that a big bore firearm have been ineffective. I just don't think spray is the right tool for the job. I hope to never ever kill a bear in self-defense. But if a bear is mauling you, kill it. Don't scare it or give it discomfort, kill it.

Though the point about handguns in Canada is valid.

 

[BRobertson]

How is "preventing" a mauling quantified? I guess what I'm saying is, if they're saying that spraying a bear in the face with spray is more effective than shooting a gun in the air, I could buy that. And how did they know the bear was in fact intending to maul the test subject? It just seems like there's a lot of room for interpretation of those numbers.

My train of thought is such that if a bear wants to get on top of you, it will get on top of you. "Preventing" a mauling is like preventing a car wreck or a heart attack...how do you know it was prevented from happening vs it just wasn't going to happen in the first place? And I'd like to see the study numbers on what's more effective in "ending" a mauling; a shot of spray to the face, or a shot of a .44 or 10mm or .454 to the face.

Like I said above, I'm not saying spray is ineffective. Hell, there's been plenty of times that a big bore firearm have been ineffective. I just don't think spray is the right tool for the job. I hope to never ever kill a bear in self-defense. But if a bear is mauling you, kill it. Don't scare it or give it discomfort, kill it.

Though the point about handguns in Canada is valid.

Very good points!!

I have spent MANY hundreds of hours flying some of those WY, MT, ID, AK "researchers " around for some of their work.

Frankly, I think I will make my decisions on my experiences, and those of people that I know rather than the mostly "anti" professionals that the schools are turning out nowadays!!!

Bob

 

[BRobertson]

I am not totally against bear spray. I think it is way better than nothing, useful in areas where a gun is not practical, or legal. Anything is better than sticking your hand down their throat in a wrestling match!!

Also, I think the bear danger thing is WAY overstated. Bears are far less aggressive than their reputation would have us believe!! If they were as apt to attack as their reputations indicate ,it would not be safe to be in the woods at all, no matter who you are!! Grizzlys are like an 800 lb cat when they want to be!!

Also, for a lot of people, a handgun is almost a false sense of security, due to lack of ability. But it makes us feel safer, kind of like the airport security procedures nowadays!!
Having said all that, the next time I am out, amongst bears, I'll probably get my assed chewed!!


Bob

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

In Cali where a side arm is illegal during archery I carry it just for cheap insurance. Probably never have to use it but it's worth the security to me. Only bad part is I think me and the bear are going to boy lath be in pretty bad shape if I have to use it. The stuff is extremely potent! And taking the slightest sniff of the stuff will really make you think twice about discharging it unless it absolutely needed lol

 

[Matt Cashell]

I carry it in Grizzly Country.

 

[307]

I'll carry spray and a Ruger .480. Different situations call for different tools.

Anything smaller than .44 is unlikely to be lethal according to some experienced folks I've talked to, especially for AK bears.

 

[307]

Just talked to SAR director this morning that claimed no archery hunters had been mauled since they began allowing them to carry sidearms in WY.

 

[BRobertson]

One thing that you folks in the "States" are up against, compared to AK, is that your bears are not generally hunted,(grizzly), and they have lost their fear of man. That is my long held theory anyway. I have heard recent discussion on the same thing happening in Cougar and Black bear areas in Calif. and some area in Canada?
When I was down there flying surveys with the Game Wardens and Biologists they told me that it was not unusual for a grizzly to see someone from one ridge, and go all the way over to a far ridge to check them out. That brings up another wives tale , I am sure that bears have better eyesight than is rumored.

I do believe that your bears are more aggressive, maybe lack of food source, compared to our coastal-salmon fed bears???

I know in some of our few areas that hunting has been curtailed, like all the new Fed park/ Carter country areas, that the assholes established in the 80s,
the bears after a few generations of not being hunted, have changed.

Bob