Guns > Bear Spray start your trip here

[chancey]

Sometimes I carry spray, but if I’m in serious bear country I’ll carry a pistol. As said above, the best bear gun is a rifle combined with a bear tag. When I want to go light, or when I have a rifle , my preference is to leave the pistol at home. All depends on the location.

Also as said above, there is so much ridiculous fear over bears it’s kind of exhausting. People act like they’re zombies from a horror movie or something. I have a few non hunter friends that do absolutely insane cross country traverses here in Alaska that do it with either spray or nothing at all. Some hunters that I know wouldn’t go near these places without a 12 gauge and a 44 mag.

I have had to pull a pistol one time on a bear to seriously shoot it. I was quite happy that I chose to take my pistol that day.

Your last paragraph ends the debate in my opinion. What if one of your non hunter friends was in that situation with zero bear protection?

 

[Marbles]

The best tool is you, these are ridiculously low numbers in a world of 8.3 million. Far below .00000005%. Taking your wife to dinner is far more dangerous, or taking a bath...
Handguns have a place, but on the flip side spray has prevented many handguns from ever needing to be used. It has also saved a lot of people who didnt have a gun.
These posts are getting old. Grown men shouldn't be afraid of the boogeyman.

Your math is wrong because you forget that the full 8.3 million don't live in brown bear country. If we assume that the populations of Russia, Canada, and Alaska (not all of Russia or Canada is brown bear country) is roughly equal to the numer who are in brown bear country, you get 186 million. Intentionally overstating an argument by more than 40 times is not the behavior I expect from a grown man.

Though, using your argument, carrying bear spray is a grown man being afraid of the boogeyman too, so I hope you are never pathetic enough to carry either. Your arguments mutual destroy each other.

No one is saying bear spray should never be used, rather pointing out that there are better tools. You, on the other hand, did just say a grown man should never carry a handgun for bears with zero context on were they are in the world or what they are doing.

Edit: Last two paragraphs removed as my quick head math was erroneous.

 

[Marbles]

Alaska no longer publishes DLP numbers to my knowledge.

In 2002, 31 browns were DLP'd. Same number in 2003.

Between 1986-96 there were 677 brown bear DLPs reported. Keep in mind, many hunters carry a brown bear tag as a sport kill is much less troublesome than a DLP and they can keep the animal rather than having to salvage and turn it over to the state. So these numbers under report human-bear encounters,

A few years ago, I was told there were over 20 DLP kills on the Kenai Peninsula in April and May. But I have no way to verify that.

Lots of people with bear spray never face a problem bear because someone with a gun took care of it already.

You figure an average of 61.5 DLPs a year and 1.5 people killed by bears a year and you have roughly as many fatal human-bear conflict encounters (fatal to one of the involved) as you do fatal human-human encounters in the state.

I avoided situation that would increase my risk of a fatal human on human encounter. But, I activity go places that increase my risk of a bear on human encounter.

 

[Banana_Horn]

Your last paragraph ends the debate in my opinion. What if one of your non hunter friends was in that situation with zero bear protection?

Their dog would’ve gotten eaten by a bear

ETA: I do think there is some room for discretion on where you’re going and what you’re doing. I go on a lot of mountain bike rides in AK without a pistol, probably biked 5000 miles without it, but for a couple spots, it’ll be a pistol on my chest AND spray on my hip.

If I’m mountain goat hunting,where every ounce counts and the likelihood of seeing a bear is super super low because of where I am, the pistol stays.

If I’m goat hunting and I have to bushwhack a salmon creek to get where I want to be… pistol comes along.

 

[schmidty3]

Ive only been in bear country once. My opinion should have little weight.

But it was logical to me that:

Curious bears get the spray
Aggressive bears get the lead

Ive shot maybe 15,000 pistol rounds in my life

Ive shot 1 practice can of spray

Im gonna perform better under stress with a pistol. And its gonna end it.

...

And that practice can of bear spray, allegedly the best spray to get, didnt even make it to my fence 10 yards away. That WAS NOT reassuring at all!

 

[Thegman]

The best tool is you,

The best tool is "you"? What does that mean, practically?

these are ridiculously low numbers in a world of 8.3 million. Far below .00000005%.

Do you mean in a world of 8.3 billion people? Far below .0000000005% what?

Less than 2% of the world population lives or spends significant time in areas, for example, where grizzlies/brown bears are a concern. The calculus, and risk to those that do, is far different than the billions living in places like Manhattan or Beijing or Paris or New Delhi, etc.

Speaking for myself, although still miniscule, my daily risk of an issue with a bear is far larger than an issue with a human and I suspect there are quite a few who post here much closer to this group than the other 98% mentioned above.

If I, like many others, consider CC a prudent decision in places populated with people, would it not be prudent to consider carrying a firearm in places populated by lots of bears? Neither decision is driven by fear, but rather common sense precaution. Kind of like buckling a seatbelt. I've never been in an accident, but still do that.

Taking your wife to dinner is far more dangerous, or taking a bath...

Well, I guess I'll have to start carrying in the bathtub then! Thanks for the heads up...

Handguns have a place, but on the flip side spray has prevented many handguns from ever needing to be used.

What data indicates bear spray has prevented handguns from needing to being used? And why is that a perceived advantage? What perceived negative is there from handguns "being used"?

It has also saved a lot of people who didnt have a gun.

Perhaps, but definitely has got some killed that didn't.

I think it's a reasonable argument that bear spray is better than nothing, and don't think anyone is saying otherwise. The argument is that it's not as good as a firearm at saving someone's life when it's actually needed and has actually (likely) gotten multiple people killed who chose to use it instead of a firearm.

These posts are getting old. Grown men shouldn't be afraid of the boogeyman.

I did a quick web search and apparently you're correct: "Bears have killed more people than the boogeyman, as the boogeyman is a fictional character who has caused zero fatalities."

You're perhaps tearing down a strawman argument about people considering these decisions because they're "afraid of the boogeyman". I know a lot of people who spend a ton of time around brown bears and grizzlies. Not one is afraid of bears, but the large majority think it prudent to carry a firearm and don't make a big deal out of it.

 

[Texas270]

People who support bear spray over guns are ridiculous and coping.

Guns are always the answer.