Bear Spray- who has used it?

an aquantance of mine visited when they first came out ,he got pinned by my doberman near some trees in the back yard,he tried those big spray bottles on the dog ,beleive or not the dog lapped it up,had no effect at all thank god, ,i think it depends if the animal is all fired up or not if it is your bear crap
 
Gatehouse said:
I've used it a coupel of times now, worked really well once, bear freaked out and ran away, bawling. Not so good the other time, seemed to piss off the bear, he didn't run away, sorta kept his distance.

I've used it enough in sworling wind to know I'd prefer a handgun to spray:)
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My experience pretty much duplicates what is said above.

The first time I used it was an embarrassing experience. I was guiding a bunch of tourists watching grizz and a young pushy little bastard was getting a little to bold and curious and was not being deterred so I attempted to lay down a shield of spray as we backed out that it would have to move through..... a wind shift pretty much gauranteed a lack of tips for that multi day trip. The bear took off but I wasn't sure if it was from the spray or the massive ruckus that followed. :redface:

I work in the bush enough that bear encounters are inevitable. I sprayed a nuisance black bear who ran off like it was being chased. I srayed a cranky grizz who was fixing to charge on the central coast. He proptly shook his head snorted and false charged a couple of times while I emptied the can for sure measure. I don't think it did much but piss him off.

Carry a gun it's the only sure thing.
 
I had the delightful experience of using it once, on a charging grizz. It worked, Momma went by me and started rubbing her eyes, nose and face on the blueberry bushes and lichen. I took off running the other way. What was really frightening was the delivery. It only works 15' and closer, and bears charge FAST. Getting out of the way after spraying was a real challenge, and one I accomplished much more by luck than good management. I think the spray saved my life, but I now tend to favor much more reliable (and longer range) technologies like a 12 gauge or a 44.

Just my 2cents
 
This is why I carry both a shotgun and spray, although there are times when I can't always carry one or the other. I also had my shotgun fail on me, so nothing is perfect.
 
A very close, long time family friend was blind sided by a grizzly two years ago while hunting moose in BC, never knew what hit him. This fellow is one of the most hardcore outdoors men I know, he was also in his mid 70's at the time.

After over two months in the Foothills hospital, minus one eye and some of the structure in his face he was back out hunting the next season. Dad talked with him not long ago about a goat hunt and he says that he still has nightmares about it on a regular basis. This is a man who has spent his whole life guiding and sleeping in big bear country.

Nothing is ever a sure thing...
 
crazy_davey said:
A very close, long time family friend was blind sided by a grizzly two years ago while hunting moose in BC, never knew what hit him. This fellow is one of the most hardcore outdoors men I know, he was also in his mid 70's at the time.

After over two months in the Foothills hospital, minus one eye and some of the structure in his face he was back out hunting the next season. Dad talked with him not long ago about a goat hunt and he says that he still has nightmares about it on a regular basis. This is a man who has spent his whole life guiding and sleeping in big bear country.

Nothing is ever a sure thing...
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Wow, you are so right , though..quite the story, thanks for sharing , hun.
 
zthou said:
there is a guy named James Gary Shelton from Bella Coola B.C. who wrote three books on bear attacks. some of them are out of print already but I still see one of them on amazon.com. He is very knowlegable on this topic and has tested and interviewed people who have used various brands of bear spray. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. These are great books for anyone interested in fishing or hunting in bear country. He says carry spray, a bowie style knife with a long blade, and a rem. 870 with a rifled barrel in 12 gauge with slugs. when a grizzly is approaching and comes within 30 meters it's trigger time.
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Gary's books are still in print and worth reading.
As for spray I have found through testing that 3m is about the maximum effective range of the stuff IMO.
 
in the summer of '05 I went to the Yukon with a friend for a vacation... She had bear spray, I had my rifle. Guess who slept better? :D

L
 
Other than the wind, the real issue with bear spray is as noted...
The bear has to be right damn close before it's real effective..

I don't want an aggresive bear to get closer than 30 yards to me, and that's beyond the reach of effective bear spray but not lead....
 
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