I have been to Glacier and Yellowstone numerous times. This is a good reminder for where ever you are at in Grizzly Country to be prepared. I will be replacing my expired bear spray as well as arming my wife for our summer hiking plans. I always carried a 9mm because of capacity but going to switch to my 10mm this year. Condolences to family of the deceased and hope the two attacked in Yellowstone will be ok.
Grizzly fatal attack at glacier and another attack at Yellowstone
- Thread starter repins05
- Start date
My bear spray expired in 2022. You think I should replace it? I just assumed those dates are arbitrary....like the California Cancer warnings.**
sierracharlie338
WKR
Info on glacier attack? Saw the yellerstone one
sierracharlie338
WKR
Sprays do go bad to the point they are ineffective. It’s not automatic as soon as the date hits but the longer you go the less effective it will be.
Glacier National Park's First Fatal Bear Attack Since 1998 Underscores Anomaly of Lethal Encounters - Flathead Beacon
The slate-gray sky over Glacier National Park hinted at rain on Friday afternoon, but it did not deter a steady stream of hikers and bikers from exploring the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Neither did the nearby orange-and-red safety signs warning of bear danger at one of the park’s most popular...
flatheadbeacon.com
This was an interesting article that also looked back into the fatal attack before the one last week.
Yea I actually noticed it this spring when I started bringing my 11 year old shed hunting. I gave him my spray that ive been carrying for years because its in the nicer Kydex holster. I got to thinking about it so I checked and sure enough, ive been carrying expired spray for 3 seasons now
. I switched without and took the expired one and gave him a brand new one. I always have a pistol anyway, but I guess ill just have to pick up a 2 pack soon.Its interesting there have been 2 attacks already this year. Ive put on about 75 miles shed hunting in the densest grizzly counrty imaginable so far this year and have not laid eyes on one. Ive only seen 1 set of tracks. All of this is wildly out of the norm for this area. I guess ive just been lucky though. My buddy had one at 50 yards today.
I would highly recommend staying with your 9mm with good ammo as a posed to switching to a 10mm, unless you shoot your 10mm significantly better than your 9mm.
I sold my 10mm and have been carrying a 9mm for the last 2 years now. If you want some more context this podcast is a good listen.
FF. EP 6. 22 Mag for Bear Defense? - Shoot2Hunt
Form goes over why the 22 mag is his preferred caliber for bear defense and how he is proficient with it!
www.shoot2hunt.com
I started carrying my 9mm as well. The 9 takes up less real estate and was 12oz lighter than my 10 for the exact same set up. With the hot hard cast stuff, I shoot my 9 considerably better. (Glock 19 vs 20) Probably tade in my 20 at some point.
406flyfish
WKR
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- 802
I live outside of YNP, but did the Brown’s Fire tower hike with my family a few years ago in GNP in early May. We didn’t see any grizz on this particular hike, but did see plenty of tracks in the snow. Usually there decent amount of traffic on this trail, but probably not this early in the season. Sad situation.
I carry my 10mm and bear spay when I’m solo. I think a lot of people don’t account for how bad the wind can be when discharging bear spray. I counted 17 grizzly during the course of last rifle season and I only got out for a few days that year. It’s not if, it’s a matter of when if you spend time in the backcountry here.
Rather be safe than sorry.
I carry my 10mm and bear spay when I’m solo. I think a lot of people don’t account for how bad the wind can be when discharging bear spray. I counted 17 grizzly during the course of last rifle season and I only got out for a few days that year. It’s not if, it’s a matter of when if you spend time in the backcountry here.
Rather be safe than sorry.
I agree with guys going to high capacity 9 mm's with good bullets over 10 mm's. A 10 mm with full factory ammunition is just not very much fun to shoot. grfox92 made an excellent point about ammunition costs between the two. For both of these reasons, it is likely guys will get more trigger time with a 9 mm than a 10 mm. And as we all know, this familiarity is critical in high stress situations (like grizzly encounters).
AM_Hunter
WKR
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2021
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Does anyone, maybe a lawyer, know the repercussions of discharging a firearm and killing a grizzly, even in self-defense, in a NP? Obviously the positive outcome is you or your loved ones live but what are the legal repercussions? I remember hearing a few years back you can be in deep deep legal trouble if you end up shooting your gun, even in self defense. Is that true?
Turkeygetpwnd38
WKR
Killing a grizzly anywhere is going to be a headache. If it is truly self defense and you are in a park in a state which allows firearms to be carried, you would probably come out fine.
Throw in some level of doubt about how "imminent" the danger was or doing some kind of warning shot could get you in trouble. I could easily see cases where people unfamiliar with bears thinking some posturing or a half hearted bluff charge to be life threatening and that leading to some legal trouble. In the grand scheme of things, it's crazy how few incidents there actually are.
Correct, propellant goes bad. We used to train folks with the expired cans. Most still do pretty good but I've seen a couple just basically ooze out the front or not spray at all. Would be no bueno.
Kenai_dtracker
Lil-Rokslider
My wife, 12 year old daughter and I are hitting Glacier this summer and camping out for 5 nights. We did the same three years ago in Yellowstone and the Tetons, and did see one smaller Grizzly on the backside of Jenny Lake off the horse trail. Flying in, so we have to buy new spray anyway, but now considering bringing my Glock 23 as well. I carried that when archery elk hunting in MT, loaded with Underwood 200gr hardcast.
RockAndSage
WKR
It'd be interesting to know how many had eyes on you, or winded you.
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