bears- run,hide, freeze,bamboozle, or pray?

A couple years ago, in Yosemite, I met the woman who invented bear repellent. (I forget her name; sorry.) She was working on an experimental program of using "Karelian bear dogs" in the national parks to deter "habituated" bears from scavenging in campgrounds. She was currently working on this project at the Tuolumne Meadows campground. I got to see her use these dogs to tree a bear. It sounds absurd, because these bears are probably five to ten times larger than the dogs, but the bear did seem to be afraid of a couple dogs. The dogs were about 30-40 pounds each.

She said that the progam seemed to be working well. She also noted that she was only doing this experiment with black bears.
 
I havn't tested these theories (thank god) but I've been told that if worst comes to worst... a good punch to the nose of a bear will at least dazzle it:eek:
and also remember that if you have to run, run downhill if at all possible.. a bears hind legs are longer than its front legs. so when it runs downhill it gets top heavy and has a hard time...

just my .02
thanks for listenin
 
i use slugs in my 12g, load with federal tacticals and also have the brennke. the brennke slugs are accurate as anything. no matter what you are, that will HURT.

grizzly attacks sound worse than shark attacks. at least you're chopped up and swallowed rather than being splayed over an acre. well, i guess you can decide which is worse.

i heard about the dog packs being used for active control of habituated black bears. they treat them as a nuisance now since they don't want to just put one down because it's tipping over trash cans. i heard they have packs "on call" that will come around and chase one off the property. sorta like pest control.
that's the smartest deterrent i've heard of so far. live with nature, fight nature with nature.

maybe bears look at us as tipping over THEIR trash cans?

toast
 
I agree with Fallschrimjager that bringing a normal dog into bear country can be counterproductive. The Karelian bear hounds have been bred for hundreds of years for their intended purpose and are carefully trained.

I have some experienced friends, who have lived in Griz country and hunted them, who subscribe to the alternating buckshot/slug theory described. Especially for a shotgun kept in your tent at night. And, I acknowledge that I've at times done it too. However, some experts totally disagree. I'm not criticizing the suggestion, just pointing out that there is a controversy. Anyone carrying a shotgun in Griz country should read all that he or she can and, more importantly, talk to as many people as possible who have actually used a shotgun against large bears.

With regard to Alberta Ed's remarks, I just want to say that Bella Coola is one of the "Coolaest" places I've visited. What a gem of a valley and fjord! And when they warn you for 200 kilometers (or more) that Heckman Pass is really steep, they are NOT BSing you! However, the gravel surface, sheer dropoffs, and lack of guard rails sort of make up for the extreme steepness!

DPD.
 
Originally posted by DPD
If you must use a 44 pistol, Cor Bon produces 305 and 320 grain hard-cast penetrator loads on which hunters have made favorable reports.
Click to expand...

I have heard good things about the Cor-Bon penetrators too, but when I did some research on bear defense before an Alaskan vacation I ran across this site:

http://www.garrettcartridges.com/

It turns out that my Taurus Raging Bull handles their larger 330gr .44 Magnum rounds at least as well as the Ruger Super Redhawk. I suspect the porting makes it a lot easier to handle too. :D

--Bob Q
 
I should have mentioned that both Garrett and Buffalo Bore make some formidable 44 mag loads. Their 45-70 is also impressive. Several of my friends hunt with the Garretts. The only advantage of the Cor Bon is that I was able to buy it off the shelf and have seen it in a lot of shops, whereas you have to mail order the other stuff. Incidentally, some cities like Left Angeles don't allow handgun ammo to be mailed in.

Thanks for the Garrett reference,

DPD.
 
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