Random Thought Thread

bluemax_1 said:
I prefer something that goes BANG. The other person can carry the spray. I'll be the backup.

Read too many accounts of fatal bear attacks where after hunting and putting the animal down, they confirmed that it had bear spray residue on it.

From everything I've read, bear spray works on curious bears. It doesn't seem particularly effective on attacking bears. Not to mention if you watch one of the numerous Grizzly charge videos on YouTube, they're ridiculously fast. The bear would be through the cloud and on you before it even realized there was any bear spray.
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By the same token, as fast and violent as the attack may be, a handgun is no guarantee of success either. (I carried a Colt Gov't Model in Alaska, but it was mostly just to make me feel good. LOL.) Their noses are so much more sensitive than a dog, I think there may very well be a better chance diverting them with the spray...but thankfully, I've never found out.

I carry pepper spray with a J frame walking around here. I don't expect the .38 to do anything but possibly scare off a bear.
 
bluemax_1 said:
From everything I've read, bear spray works on curious bears. It doesn't seem particularly effective on attacking bears.
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Agreed. And for anyone interested in the subject, I'd highly recommend the Outside article linked below, interviewing Tom Smith. When I first read it a few years ago, it was a real eye-opener for me, and caused me to seriously re-evaluate a number of my cherished beliefs when it came to bear spray (and firearms) with bears.
------------------------------------------------

Fact #1: Bear spray is 98 percent effective.

Fact #2: Your odds of being injured by a bear while carrying a firearm are the same as if you’re carrying no defense at all.

I’ve always taken the scientific studies that arrived at those two conclusions as gospel. And I’ve written articles repeating their findings while arriving at the invariable conclusion that bear spray is better than a firearm when it comes to defending against a bear attack. But you know what? I was wrong.

“There was no thought of comparing the two [studies], though some do that,” says Tom Smith, who authored both reports, titled the “Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska” and “Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska.”

Yet many people—including me, obviously—have compared the results of those two studies. And that, according to Smith, was never his intention...

www.outsideonline.com

Does Bear Spray Work?

The science is clear, right? Not so fast, according to, well, science.
www.outsideonline.com www.outsideonline.com
 
I'm probably not going to tote a caliber around home, (bear environment), which is likely to pull my sweatpants down around my ankles and induce the bear to laugh at me. There are some things I simply will not abide.

Belt and suspenders sounds about right. (And even that's no guarantee.)
 
Blues said:
By the same token, as fast and violent as the attack may be, a handgun is no guarantee of success either. (I carried a Colt Gov't Model in Alaska, but it was mostly just to make me feel good. LOL.) Their noses are so much more sensitive than a dog, I think there may very well be a better chance diverting them with the spray...but thankfully, I've never found out.

I carry pepper spray with a J frame walking around here. I don't expect the .38 to do anything but possibly scare off a bear.
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Lots of black bears have been stopped with a 9mm. The .38 isn't that much weaker.

...unless it's a crazy pissed off bear like this one

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/a-new-mexico-bear-attack-finally-stopped-by-a-glock-10mm-pistol/
 
Bears are common where I live and recreate. We had a black bear sow with 3 cubs in the neighbor’s yard for a few hours this week in town. My remote cabin property has numerous black and brown bears on and around it and a very large brown bear killed a moose 25 yards from my cabin. I have been around lots of bears and they are amazing creatures. Getting bluff charged is always a sphincter tightener regardless of what you are carrying! Bears have been killed with small caliber weapons, but if you are in the woods a-lot up here, you tend to choose heavier calibers and hard cast bullets. I usually carry a .44 mag with hard cast rounds in a chest rig when doing chores or trail maintenance, but when in doubt I carry a 12 gauge with heavy slugs or a 45-70 with hard cast heavy rounds. Spring and berry eating bears can taste very good and not smell rank, but fish eating ones are foul. Just an FYI the winning fat-bear at Brooks Falls is estimated to be 1400 lbs. I have taken care if bear mauling victims and the wounds are pretty horrific for very quick attacks. Most true attacks happen very suddenly and the people who have time to get spray or a weapon out are either lucky or saw the bear from a distance. I will tell you that making eye contact with a large brown bear from less than 15’ (and not getting hurt) is an experience that changes your outlook on life.
 
Murphjd25 said:
The only bears that are tasty are the high elevation bears who have mainly a diet only if berries and what not. You don’t want to shoot and eat a damn bear down low that has probably been in someone’s garbage can. Yuck. Happy Sunday cocks!
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Or a coastal bear that's been eating salmon for a month.

But a Fall bear that's been feasting on blueberries can be sublime. ;)
 
beeinak said:
.....Most true attacks happen very suddenly and the people who have time to get spray or a weapon out are either lucky or saw the bear from a distance.
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Yup. A common theme in a lot of bear attacks is, "I didn't know the bear was there, and suddenly it was right on top of me."

For this reason, if you're going to carry in bear country, train for the realistic scenario of a very quick draw under duress and accuracy on a fast-moving target at close range. Standing at a static range shooting at a static paper target doesn't prepare you for much when it comes to bear attacks.....or most two-legged attacks either, for that matter.
 
beeinak said:
Bears are common where I live and recreate. We had a black bear sow with 3 cubs in the neighbor’s yard for a few hours this week in town. My remote cabin property has numerous black and brown bears on and around it and a very large brown bear killed a moose 25 yards from my cabin. I have been around lots of bears and they are amazing creatures.
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Good to know you recreate :)

Was just digging through old photos. This was 2011. Was still shooting film back then, my longest lens being 180mm (meaning I got quite close for the photos below). First is a Kodiak at Brooks Falls, 2nd a Grizzly at Denali. Added the sheep and lake/mountain because I remember them fondly. God’s country, except for mosquitos.

1666567320058.jpeg

1666567275591.jpeg


1666567393314.jpeg
1666567757662.jpeg
 
Smithhammer said:
Yup. A common theme in a lot of bear attacks is, "I didn't know the bear was there, and suddenly it was right on top of me."

For this reason, if you're going to carry in bear country, train for the realistic scenario of a very quick draw under duress and accuracy on a fast-moving target at close range. Standing at a static range shooting at a static paper target doesn't prepare you for much when it comes to bear attacks.....or most two-legged attacks either, for that matter.
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I practice drawing and shooting from many positions including from on my back. Chest rigs like Dimond D holsters are popular up here for keeping a handgun accessible regardless of activity, out of the water when fishing, and something I like is it is at your core if you are balled up trying to protect yourself from a large critter. Putting your size 12 boot lengthwise inside of the width of a fresh front paw print makes anything you are carrying seem too small. Thank goodness that the best bear protection is awareness and common sense.
 
beeinak said:
....Thank goodness that the best bear protection is awareness and common sense.
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Definitely. I spent 12 seasons leading extended backcountry expeditions in AK and have lived for the last 17 years on the edge of the Yellowstone/Grand Teton wilderness, where every time I head up a trail I'm immediately in grizz country. And I attribute the fact that I've had very few close-up bear encounters during all that time to exactly this ^.
 
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