Rational fear?

[Browtinemt]

Just goes to show even black bears hate hoochie mammas, . I think Mr. Dill has it about right. Take what you feel safe with and can competently use, but don't judge those that feel safer with something else.

 

[COlineman78]

If we had a better understanding of the likelihood of severe injuries, we would probably sell our spray and our sidearms. We would use that money to buy crash helmets and 4-pt safety harnesses for our cars. We (as humans) aren't afraid of wrecking when we drive, but we are afraid of bears, sharks, lightning and things which produce horrible deaths. The odds are miniscule, but knowing the odds still might not help you relax when a twig snaps at 2 am.

When I hunt alone in serious wilderness grizzly country, I carry a sidearm. That's mainly because I can use it multiple times if needed. I can haze a threatening bear with a warning shot. I can shoot through my micro-thin tipi fabric and not gas myself to death. I can ignore wind direction. I can fly with my gun(s). I like gunpowder propellants better than compressed air. I don't need to have a bad-ass bear at handshake distance before I can start defending my hide.

There is a considerable amount of pressure to NOT use firearms for general bear defense. It's unpopular to gun down Mama-Grizz for busting up your camp and threatening to realign your facial features. The data put forth generally favors spray products. I get it. There is plenty of data available which will also tell you that concealed carry is more likely to end with your own injury and you'd be better off with a different strategy. That doesn't stop us from examining the data, the source, and the real world...people and their encounters...and what worked for them. Guns work. Spray works. Each is different and has a place. Calling one or the other vastly superior is probably incorrect, but might be politically correct. Anyway, I've heard it said that a .454 (etc) is simply a more expensive sleep aid than a can of pepper.

I have more thoughts on this. Right now I've got to figure out a lightning rod for my tipi. Dang!

You always hear this justification that you are much more likely getting killed in the car ride somewhere and while I agree that in general this is the case I agree with the others also that the likelihood increases with exposure. That said, I think the rationality why people are more afraid of things like this is that we feel that it is something out of our control and we like to be in control of our destinies. Some sort of protection gives us that feeling, whether false or not, of control.

For me, the last thing I want to do is shoot a bear for just being a bear. So often for when I am out with those that don't spend much time in the wilderness their fear is indeed irrational, but I carry for the same reason people conceal carry when they go to the mall: sh!t happens. Assuming that I saw the encounter coming, I would give the bear plenty of chances to go upon it's merry way; yelling, warning shot, etc... I would expect that 99% of bear encounters would never escalate to the use the point of having to shoot it.

 

[DaveC]

Especially considering as hunters (especially bowhunting), we basically do everything you are not supposed to do in griz country. Moving quietly, camo, using scent control/working the wind, hopefully dealing with hundreds of pounds of meat and guts. Carry a firearm and/or bear spray and keep your wits about you. A little fear is natural and probably helpful with the heightened senses. I just think it's important not to fear an imminent attack. Some of the best elk hunting is in bear country and having an irrational level of fear will ruin your hunt.

Dead on advice.

When I backpack in Griz country, be it hunting or not, I make a point to not camp in areas bears are likely to frequent. Hang food, and especially meat, well away from camp. Do your research and be smart.

 

[coyoteman]

Thanks for the good info guys! We'll definitely be carrying a pistol along with the spray this fall and if worst comes to worst I guess I'll make a tasty soft shell bear taco

 

[Where's Bruce?]

No input on the bleach thing?

 

[Beendare]

No input on the bleach thing?

best is an electric fence

Bear charges; It was in the most recent Bugle mag in article on the GB that travelled 2,800 miles in Mon, Id and Wyo- I think it said 85 bear charges in Montana/Wyoming in the most recent one yr period- about 1/3rd were hunters. Point is, bear charges are becoming more frequent as the bear population rebounds. ...walking trails to hunt in the dark increases your odds of an encounter.

I've never packed a firearm on any bowhunt in US or Canada even most Ak islands- except on Kodiak [shotgun there]...but plan to in the future in Montana...

 

[dog812]

I made a DIY camp area / pack alarm , fishing line, and a cheap $5 pull pin siren ( personal alarm ) It will etleast alert you to if something is coming into camp.. and maybe scare off the bare.. 130db.. but who knows..

 

[AndyB]

Be aware of the risks, research the options to manage those risks and go with what you are comfortable with. For some its spray, others side arm, some both..(some nothing apart from their common sense) As far as statistics go most people don't go anywhere near bear country, I would imagine that risk would rise for outdoor user groups. As has been mentioned above we are doing everything wrong bowhunting in bear country.
Personally I was not comfortable leaving things to chance so carried spray and side arm ,slept better with the side arm, I look at them like insurance, probably never need them. Hung my food and ate 60yds away from sleep area etc, but there is nothing bigger than a badger in the woods where I come from so maybe I'm a little paranoid. This was Black bear country, don't know whether I'd have the nerve for Grizz country,


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

 

[ssliger]

When I was 16, I was lucky enough to draw a moose tag for over in the Greys River area. It was well known that there was grizzly's in the area. We where camping in a camper and hunting from the truck everyday. I had never seen a bear other than in Glacier National Park. Someone told my dad that Grizzly bears had an odor to them. Well there was a foul odor near our campsite, and I was sure it meant there was a Grizz in the area. I ended up getting a bull a few miles from our camper, and while my dad walked back to the truck to get butchering supplies I had to wait with my moose in the middle of a bunch of willows. I was scared chitless. Funny thing is the foul odor near our camp was a rotting cow moose skull, I found it on our last day there.

 

[TJ]

No input on the bleach thing?

Ya, maybe the fresh daisy scented.

Just kidding Bruce. I would think any thing that creates an unusual scent would attract a bear.

That's the last thing I would want in grizz country.

 

[muleman]

Employer of bear-killed hiker cited

Given the theme of this thread, I thought this article was interesting. Looks like Wyoming OSHA expects "working" people in areas with bears to have some form of protection from bears.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jacks...cle_f0b91073-6087-55f5-81b3-ab7d5272fc56.html

"The first citation, for $4,410, was deemed “serious” and alleged that Nature’s Capitol’s employees were not adequately protected from contact with bears.



Stewart, who was hiking alone when he was killed, did not carry bear-deterrent spray or a firearm.



“The hazard contributed to the death of an employee due to not implementing the industry-recognized practices to avoid bear contact,” the citation papers said."

 

[Bar]

Never underestimate how sensitive a bears nose is. An average dog's nose is 100 times better than a human. A bloodhound is 300 times better than a human. A bear is 7 times better than a bloodhound. That makes a bears nose 2100 times better than yours.

You need some imagination to figure what a bear can smell. It's usually way more than you think.

 

[ssliger]

Never underestimate how sensitive a bears nose is. An average dog's nose is 100 times better than a human. A bloodhound is 300 times better than a human. A bear is 7 times better than a bloodhound. That makes a bears nose 2100 times better than yours.

You need some imagination to figure what a bear can smell. It's usually way more than you think.

That just means it can smell me piss my pants when it charges before I actually piss myself right?

 

[Bar]

Yes, and that makes bears very happy to have that effect on you.

 

[Beendare]

No input on the bleach thing?

Yeah whomever told you that probably has little experience with bears.

Funny story [though it wasn't funny at the time] I was moose hunting on the Stikine river in BC and we decided to go way up river one day. [Do you want to go on an adventure, the guide asked- of course!] The boat would need refueling but the guides had a stash of fuel, firewood, and a tarp in a spot along the river for emergency. We stopped to refuel in late afternoon.....and the metal gas can had been drained by multiple bear bites in the can. One would have thought the smell from fuel would have put them off....

Long drift back.....way after dark with a pretty beat up leaking boat from banging into boulders in the river.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Gotta love those crazy "your odds of being attacked" statistics. I remember being told i stood a better chance of being struck by lightning ten times than being bitten by a shark. Well there weren't a lot of people spearfishing in the Gulf and when I saw a large tiger shark less than 20' from me I'm pretty sure the brown stain in the water saved my life.

 

[realunlucky]

Gotta love those crazy "your odds of being attacked" statistics. I remember being told i stood a better chance of being struck by lightning ten times than being bitten by a shark. Well there weren't a lot of people spearfishing in the Gulf and when I saw a large tiger shark less than 20' from me I'm pretty sure the brown stain in the water saved my life.

But it didn't bite you

 

[Shrek]

I personally know a half dozen divers that have been bit by sharks spearfishing in the gulf. Somehow they never show up in the shark attack statistics. Danny lost most of his left ass cheek and came close to bleeding to death. Almost always they had pulled their stringer up on them while negotiating a wreck or pass in a reef. Like grizzly bears , you are usually safe....except when you're not.

 

[Bar]

I can think of a lot better ways to die than being eaten by a bear.

 

[Shrek]

I can think of a lot better ways to die than being eaten by a bear.

Or worse , not eaten but mauled and left to die slowly with your guts hanging out.