Bear Defense?

RescueRiley said:
I never used to carry bear protection, until was repeatedly charged by a black bear last summer with the final charge placing him about 15 feet from me. Despite yelling, whistle blowing and tarp flapping... it was the longest 10 minutes of my life. til eventually the pot banging cause him to casually amble off.. since than i pack bear spray...a definitive improvement over the tomahawk I had during my last encounter. It's got an effective range of about 30 feet. and a decent enough spray pattern to accommodate for the oh crap jitters.
Click to expand...
False charges are common. It's the bears way of telling you to get the heck away from him.
 
Quirt said:
I don't expect to be T-Boned in an intersection today but wear my seat belt and have my air bag armed nevertheless. I don't expect a fire tonight either - highly unlikely really but I replaced the batteries in my primary and secondary smoke alarms plus have two ways to escape my master bedroom if fire cuts me off or tries to trap me.

I don't ever expect to be bothered by a bear or Mtn lion either but carry bells on my pack, have bear spray, and a rifle as a very last resort. I'm not scared or paranoid, just prepared to survive on my own which is what I thought this forum was all about - survival skills and equipment.

There are two critical elements in any survival - hardware (the gear) and software (our mindset). The hardware is easy to procure but the mindset not so much. Each to their own but don't be critical of those who have a survival software/mindset and are taking the necessary hardware and software to survive a two or four legged attack.
Click to expand...

And I would add that part of your mindset is threat assessment and preparing for the likeliest problems first and then going down the list of lesser and lesser likely problems. For instance in your example the odds are a lot higher that you're going to have a house fire and really high for a car accident. Camping you're more likely to have a cramp, blister, sprained leg, infected cut, head injury, laceration,broken limb, burn, etc... I could think of all kinds of more relevant gear to carry in place of your 7-10 pounds of bear protection because unlike your seat belt and smoke detectors, you have to carry your bear protection.

Another part of your mindset concerning bears that never gets talked about is understanding the behavior of the animal. Just like dealing with people, knowing what signals to look for will get you a lot farther then just relying on your gear.

In the end carry what you like. If that gear makes you more comfortable then it's all good.
 
Shotgun said:
And I would add that part of your mindset is threat assessment and preparing for the likeliest problems first and then going down the list of lesser and lesser likely problems. For instance in your example the odds are a lot higher that you're going to have a house fire and really high for a car accident. Camping you're more likely to have a cramp, blister, sprained leg, infected cut, head injury, laceration,broken limb, burn, etc... I could think of all kinds of more relevant gear to carry in place of your 7-10 pounds of bear protection because unlike your seat belt and smoke detectors, you have to carry your bear protection.

Another part of your mindset concerning bears that never gets talked about is understanding the behavior of the animal. Just like dealing with people, knowing what signals to look for will get you a lot farther then just relying on your gear.

In the end carry what you like. If that gear makes you more comfortable then it's all good.
Click to expand...

Well said. Situational awareness, and following basic protocols in bear country (making noise to avoid surprise encounters, etc) will go a long way toward never needing spray or a gun. These conversations tend to focus a lot on "what to carry" when the reality is that "how to conduct yourself and what to pay attention to" is far more effective and important in the big picture.
 
Shotgun said:
False charges are common. It's the bears way of telling you to get the heck away from him.
Click to expand...
I;ve seen a few bears in my day this was the first time I was ever charged by one.. and when he's within 15 feet the difference between false charge and charge becomes a little blurred.
 
median said:
What is a good product for this?
Click to expand...

A spoon, banged on the back of a pan, at 2am, has always worked really well for me.

Hang your food on a line between two trees or in an approved container. Black bears are generally about as harmful as raccoons in my experience - they are a nuisance, but noise will run them off.
 
When I lived in Alaska, several resident scouters told me they carried a gallon of ammonia and left a trail of it out 30-50 yds or so around their camp. I never tried it. But one of my scouts ran off a German Shepard with a squirt bottle full of ammonia. Oh yea. the scouters who told me about the ammonia also carried a .338 magnum rifle. Never used it, but that was the minimum recommended caliber (no hand guns). I was Grizzly country.
Any one else ever used or heard of using ammonia to keep bears away (not as a deterent against an attacking bear).
Ron Athay
 
I'm not a bear expert.

I have been around them on a few occasions.

A lot of black bear. I have been "pursued" on my motorcycle. In a 4x4, and on foot. By that, I mean they followed me for some distance. I have had bear try to get into my vehicle more than once while I was in it! That has happened with both black and grizzly.

I had a black bear follow me out onto a dock on the lake. I had no where to go but in the water. I dove off the end of the dock (it was a T dock), and swam underwater and came up under the next dock about 15 feet away. He seemed confused! That bear was not huge. We chased him off a couple times over the weekend, but the neighbor eventually killed it with a compound bow.

I have been out on a motorcycle (dirt bike) in that same area, and come across bear several times. Had one run at me. Had more run away.

I have been around Grizzlies in Yellowstone more than once. They make me much more nervous than black bears. For one thing, they are a crap load bigger. More importantly, many of these bears are a little too comfortable with bothering people. I had quite a few bad experiences with poorly behaved grizzlies many years ago in Yellowstone. You cannot "train" the stupid out of tourists. No posted rules will make morons stop feeding the bears. Making them more dangerous for the next sap who walks by.

We had one push the door off the hinges of the cabin next to ours, and ransack the place while we were about 10 feet away. It was like watching some one pop the top off a soda.

I have been back in years since, and feel that the problem has gotten a bit better.



When I am in "bear country" I do feel a bit better having a gun.

I take a gun many places, so not a big deal.

I am not hiking up any mountains with my shotgun, unless I happen to be in Snow Bear country, and even there, lest face it, If I don't have a Sherpa and seriously, not getting any skinnier here.

Pistol or one of my revolvers makes a good compromise depending on where I am at.


I have looked at bear spray, but never have bought it .
 
Bigfattyt said:
A lot of black bear. I have been "pursued" on my motorcycle. In a 4x4, and on foot. By that, I mean they followed me for some distance. I have had bear try to get into my vehicle more than once while I was in it! That has happened with both black and grizzly.

.
Click to expand...

A bear destroyed the seat of my ATV when it was less than one year old. I came home late in the fall with an inch of snow on the ground after cutting wood further back on my property. I looked out the window minutes after coming inside to see a big black bear chew my ATV seat. He shredded it up badly by crotch of the seat. To the bear it looked like the neck of a prey animal, by the way he bit and chewed into it.

The bear ran off after giving it a warning shot, and then I checked the trail, he left tracks in the snow and had been following me from where I had been cutting wood. That bear probably had been observing me working for some length of time and then followed me home as I drove back on the ATV.

It seems these things always happen to brand new machines or good seats, it wouldn't be so bad if they chewed on an old beater.
 
I do a lot backpacking in the Sierra Nevada and I have encountered plenty of bears, mostly at night while eating my dinner. I used to be terrified of them, but after a while I learned to just accept them like any other animal. Black bears are non-territorial and are not know to harm people. They really are not a problem if you secure your food away from your tent. Carry spray if you want, but it's something I don't bother with (and it's banned in Yosemite). I just yell and throw rocks when one tries to get into my bear canister. I actually met a guy who slept with food in his tent and a bear let himself in at about 4am. The bear took off running when it realized there was an angry human in there. Now cougars scare me--if a cougar wants you, it will have you, but fortunately there are plenty of deer in CA to keep them fed.
 
I've never had an "aggressive" encounter with bears, but I have been too close for comfort with a couple of black bears on two different occasions in Arkansas. If I'm in bear country, I'll carry my Remington with me. But I won't use it unless I really have to. If I spot a bear I'll definitely keep my distance first. And when I know bears are around I'll make sure to take care of my food and not do anything to attract them. The best bear defense is to stay away from them and not give them a reason to come to you in the first place. But I prefer to stay armed just in case.
 
Some good info here.

I have encountered bears in the open woods and bears in campgrounds- they do not really behave the same. It is easy to accidentally get into trouble, step on an unseen snake and get bitten, go for a dark thirty pee beside the capsite and get between momma and cubs. You do the best you can to prevent encounters and hope for the best.

I used to work fence on foot through woods and side of mountain. I carried bee spray for nests and a 10/22 for varmints. Then a local 400+ Black Bear became a nuisance to Game and Animal Control officials(eating dogsd, peering in windows, chasing ponies) so I carried a 12guage 870 until the complaints fadded away. Knowing what I do now, a large can of bear spray might have been my choice.

Bill
 
I actually worry about mountain lions more than bears around here. Getting stalked by a big cat is no fun. A pissed off moose is also a lot scarier and more dangerous as well.

Having said that, I always have a pistol with me and will carry spray depending on what I am doing. Most bear attacks happen in camping areas around here where car campers leave trash/food around the campsite and bears get used to coming around and looking for an easy meal. I am generally in more remote areas and haven't had any issues.
 
Brimstone said:
I actually worry about mountain lions more than bears around here. Getting stalked by a big cat is no fun. A pissed off moose is also a lot scarier and more dangerous as well.

Having said that, I always have a pistol with me and will carry spray depending on what I am doing. Most bear attacks happen in camping areas around here where car campers leave trash/food around the campsite and bears get used to coming around and looking for an easy meal. I am generally in more remote areas and haven't had any issues.
Click to expand...

Bear attacks or encounters? In California, black bear attacks are pretty much unheard of (not counting destroyed cars/campsites, false charges, and subsequent heart attacks). There have only been 12 since 1980, none of which were fatal (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/bear/bear_incidents.html). I'm moving to Utah soon, so knowing about bear problems would be good considering my hobbies. Are there grizzlies? I would have to agree that mountain lions are much scarier than black bears. I was stalked by a cougar once when I was about 12, and I'll never forget it. I felt like I was in that movie Predator.
 
sams said:
Intersting read about spray. I only once had a black bear interupt my lunch out in the National Forest.

http://www.udap.com/
Click to expand...

I carry some of their stuff for personal defense, and for the potential coyote encounter. In the Adirondacks where I do most of my camping the likelihood of a bad encounter with either bear or coyote is extremely unlikely, but the number of coyote is increasing and with it the possibility of a meeting. Also, cougar have been spotted in the preserve. DEC says not to worry, there's no indication of a breeding pair. I'll be picking up some of their dedicated bear spray in the very near future, their personal defense stuff is downright toxic...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top