Rangerpants
Lil-Rokslider
Just looked it up and I stand corrected! Interesting. Probably still won't carry bear spray in black bear country, as I usually have a tag in my pocket anyway, but something to think about.
Do you guys carry bear spray in Black Bear country?
- Thread starter jarrettd
- Start date
Rokwiia
WKR
As it relates to black bear fatal attacks, here are a few statistics for the period 1900-2009:
1) 91% of the fatal attacks were on either 1 or 2 people.
2) In 38% of the cases, food or garbage likely influenced the location of the attack.
3) It was judged that in 88% of the fatal cases predation was involved. The black bear was the predator aand viewed the human as prey.
4) Adult males were involved in 92% of the fatal attacks.
It shows that females with cubs are not the most dangerous black bears.
The statistics above come from the April 2011 edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management.
As it relates to black bears and bear spray:
In a comprehensive review of black bear pepper-spray incidents in Alaska from 1985-2006:
1) Pepper spray stopped black bear's undesirable behavior 90% of the time.
2) No injuries were inflicted on the individuals
The pepper spray information comes from the December 2010 edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management.
1) 91% of the fatal attacks were on either 1 or 2 people.
2) In 38% of the cases, food or garbage likely influenced the location of the attack.
3) It was judged that in 88% of the fatal cases predation was involved. The black bear was the predator aand viewed the human as prey.
4) Adult males were involved in 92% of the fatal attacks.
It shows that females with cubs are not the most dangerous black bears.
The statistics above come from the April 2011 edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management.
As it relates to black bears and bear spray:
In a comprehensive review of black bear pepper-spray incidents in Alaska from 1985-2006:
1) Pepper spray stopped black bear's undesirable behavior 90% of the time.
2) No injuries were inflicted on the individuals
The pepper spray information comes from the December 2010 edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management.
Last edited:
A buddy of mine was hunting this past fall with his 13-year-old son. We are in extreme North Georgia in the southern Appalachians where there are lots of black bears. This guy is a local, and has grown up hunting these mountains for the past 30 years. Hands-down, the most accomplished public land Southern mountain hunter I’ve ever known.
On this day my buddy and his son would be bowhunting separately, but in close proximity to one another. His son has been tagging along with him for years, and just started hunting without dad sitting right beside him in the past year or two. They climb the main ridge together, and once they get to the top of the lead my buddy sends his son just a hundred yards down the side of the mountain to hunt a small bench that was covered in dropping whiteoaks. Shortly before dark, he gets a text from his son saying that he has shot a bear.
It was getting dark fast so he quickly made the one minute walk down to his son to try and locate the bear before it got dark. By the time they found the bear it was completely dark and my buddy told his son to sit tight for a moment while he walked back up the hill to grab his pack, knives, and game bags. When he was about halfway between his son and his gear he simultaneously heard/saw movement just outside of his headlamp beam. He stopped and turned to see a huge bear looking back at him at only 10 yards. When this guy says huge, he is not exaggerating. He has killed a ton of them over the years.
For the next 10 or 15 minutes, the bear refused to leave, even as my buddy yelled, and made himself appear large. The bear grew more and more agitated by the minute, raking bark off a large pine tree and snapping over small saplings, and would not budge. My buddy did have his Glock 40 Cal on his hip, but due to the size of the bear and the close proximity he did not want to use it for fear of just creating a horrible situation with his young son just 50 yards down the hill.
He said it was literally a standoff for 10 or 15 minutes. He eventually picked up a couple of dead limbs which he threw in front of the bear to try to scare it. Nothing seemed to work, and the bear continued to just destroy everything immediately around it. He finally picked up a fairly heavy broken limb, about a foot and a half long, and hurled directly at the bear striking it in the face. The startled bear jumped a few steps away, and then slowly walked away back up the hill where it had come from. I guess he knocked some sense into it.
This guy has seen and done it all in the mountains, and does not get rattled. He said in 30 years of hunting. He has never experienced anything like this. Black bears will almost always show fear of humans, but there’s always that one. Sorry for the long post, but thought it was relevant.
On this day my buddy and his son would be bowhunting separately, but in close proximity to one another. His son has been tagging along with him for years, and just started hunting without dad sitting right beside him in the past year or two. They climb the main ridge together, and once they get to the top of the lead my buddy sends his son just a hundred yards down the side of the mountain to hunt a small bench that was covered in dropping whiteoaks. Shortly before dark, he gets a text from his son saying that he has shot a bear.
It was getting dark fast so he quickly made the one minute walk down to his son to try and locate the bear before it got dark. By the time they found the bear it was completely dark and my buddy told his son to sit tight for a moment while he walked back up the hill to grab his pack, knives, and game bags. When he was about halfway between his son and his gear he simultaneously heard/saw movement just outside of his headlamp beam. He stopped and turned to see a huge bear looking back at him at only 10 yards. When this guy says huge, he is not exaggerating. He has killed a ton of them over the years.
For the next 10 or 15 minutes, the bear refused to leave, even as my buddy yelled, and made himself appear large. The bear grew more and more agitated by the minute, raking bark off a large pine tree and snapping over small saplings, and would not budge. My buddy did have his Glock 40 Cal on his hip, but due to the size of the bear and the close proximity he did not want to use it for fear of just creating a horrible situation with his young son just 50 yards down the hill.
He said it was literally a standoff for 10 or 15 minutes. He eventually picked up a couple of dead limbs which he threw in front of the bear to try to scare it. Nothing seemed to work, and the bear continued to just destroy everything immediately around it. He finally picked up a fairly heavy broken limb, about a foot and a half long, and hurled directly at the bear striking it in the face. The startled bear jumped a few steps away, and then slowly walked away back up the hill where it had come from. I guess he knocked some sense into it.
This guy has seen and done it all in the mountains, and does not get rattled. He said in 30 years of hunting. He has never experienced anything like this. Black bears will almost always show fear of humans, but there’s always that one. Sorry for the long post, but thought it was relevant.
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ricknmontana
FNG
ricknmontana
FNG
Explain to who? And why?
jimh406
WKR
Explain to whatever authority might want to prosecute you for shooting a Grizzly because they will do an investigation assuming it's reported.
ricknmontana
FNG
Keep running scared. Why "assume" it will be reported? Wow, paranoia at it's finest!
NikTheHick
FNG
Usually a black bear tag isn't too pricey, potentially cheaper than the can of bear spray. I hunt in WA and OR, and have never carried bear spray or worried about black bears.
Apollo1218
FNG
Only when hiking otherwise I usually have a tag.
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