My preference is to carry both, I had a shotgun failure to feed, luckily found that out when I went to unload the tube by cycling the round after my walk in the bush. Also you need to replace the cans on a regular basis and keep them from Freezing. As I recall the oil base is better than the powder based stuff. What we need to do is to have people relate these stories in writing so we can push for a higher concentration beyond 1%
Bear spray experiences, had an interesting one last night.
- Thread starter Ardent
- Start date
Slight revision!
Your version is more accurate.
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Perhaps spraying the bear spray on oneself would work. They would not like the taste and stop chewing on you. Alternately, it would be useful to spice the bear on the barbeque.
Better than nothing. Might make the person with it feel more confident and that attitude might stop the attack or get you seriously mauled. Most...99/100.. black bears are more afraid of you than you are of them. Unfortunately they do not come numbered.
Bears in the bush, can often be avoided. I would see Bear spray as a useful tool on some in those situations. When it comes to Bears that have become accustomed to people or are getting food from our garbage or orchards, i see a ride in a Ford in their future.
Better than nothing. Might make the person with it feel more confident and that attitude might stop the attack or get you seriously mauled. Most...99/100.. black bears are more afraid of you than you are of them. Unfortunately they do not come numbered.
Bears in the bush, can often be avoided. I would see Bear spray as a useful tool on some in those situations. When it comes to Bears that have become accustomed to people or are getting food from our garbage or orchards, i see a ride in a Ford in their future.
Grizzly climbs too ...
The young ones.
we maybe don't have the same I ve seen a sow with their cubs in a tree .... she was not huge and big but still ... if there like ladder branches I wont take a bet with a huge one ...
from here :
www.bearaware.bc.ca/?q=education/about-bears
Can grizzly bears climb trees?
Yes, grizzly cubs can climb trees very well. Sub-adult and adult grizzly bears can also climb trees. However, the ability of adult grizzly bears to climb trees is generally not considered as great as that of black bears. Black bears and younger grizzly bears, especially cubs, have shorter claws than adult grizzly bears. Shorter claws make it easier for them to climb trees. Nevertheless, adult grizzly bears have been observed climbing trees. Black bears are very good tree climbers.
Black bears and young grizzly bears use their claws to climb trees. Adult grizzly bears use the limbs of trees to climb, similar to humans, by pulling themselves up.
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mcpherson284
Regular
- Location
- Vancouver Island
I have been in this conversation one to many times and my answer to this is simple. If you want to piss the Black Bear or Grizzle off, by all means try and hose him down from 30 feet or less with bear spray. If he gets pissed off and tries to eat you, I will do you the favor and not use my gun to protect you as you do not wish the animal to be killed. That said, I will openly admit, this conversation of Bear spray over bullets pisses me off, especially when I hear it from hunters and gun guys. I don't get why the topic automatically goes to death? Why is it that people automatically assume that it is going to be, " HOLY @%#$ING @%#$! BEAR!" BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM...... There is never any talk of situation, distance blah blah blah. So, I will lay it on the line, and feel free to use this for yourself. A gun/ammo is a tool with no short term shelf life, and no extreme short range limitations. Bear spray has a shelf life expiration date. If a bear walks out and you feel threatened, the gun goes up.... that doesn't mean you are required to shoot. There is none of this waiting till it is within 15-30 yard and hoping the spray will stop him.
migrant hunter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
There is no need to shoot a bear at 30 yds, most bluff charges end way closer than that. Try shooting a Grizz in Alberta at 30 yds and see where it gets you.
I always love this bluff charge business. Just at what point are you supposed to decide if the bear is or is not bluffing ? If you're wrong, you're likely tits up.
By the time he's down to 7 or 8 yards, chances of getting a good shot or even effective bair spray into play are about nil. Attended a court case some years ago. Guy shot a sow and 2 Grizz cubs 11 0'clock at night because he claimed they were charging him on the trail. All shot between the eyes. Good lawyer, a bunch of experts and the judge bought it. Grizz
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So this pic was taken today, in Swan Hills, by one of my buddies... lucky it was only a bluff charge.
He was ####ting his pants after.
One of those deals, where he took 1 too many pics, bear got way too close. He was still taking pics when he heard the 'whoof'... looked up went "Oh ####!" (or something like that).
My uncle gave me a handful of loose bear claws a few years back. He lives in the bush of BC in isolation and has a lot of trouble with bears on his property. All I have to do is pull out the bear claws and stare at them for 30 seconds and my mind is made up. I know what I'll be packing every time I go out into the bush when I move back west.
turbo_bird
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
If a bear is charging me, bluff or not, it will be getting shot, and from as far away as possible. I have no intention of waiting for them to maybe stop.
Kristian
I always love this bluff charge business. Just at what point are you supposed to decide if the bear is or is not bluffing ? If you're wrong, you're likely tits up.
Grizz
It's all in the ears. If the bear's ears are back, it for real. If they are forward, then it's a bluff. if I encounter ears in either position, I will decide in the moment what I'm going to do.
Looking at Demonical's last picture, it's obvious that bear is not a happy camper.
Grizz
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Well, considering I started this thread critisizing spray, should share my thoughts.
We are, as a lot, overly trigger happy much to the detriment of bears- especially Grizzlies. I've been bluff charged, and it was my fault, I got in the bubble and knew the bear was there. The bear's fine, my shorts didn't fare as well. Unfortunately, bluff charges are one of a disgruntled bear's communication methods, and it often leads to the bear's death when it wasn't necessary. Everybody wants a charge story, which also doesn't help the bears survive. I see the guy who holds his ground on a bluff charge and doesn't pull the trigger in a better light than the fellow who shoots first, asks questions later. I've been spending time in southern BC lately and it is so sad compared to up here, there's almost nothing left. A few straggling bears, but not the hordes you see populating every open area up north in spring. I'd like to hope the southern mentality of years gone by, that being a complete lack of understanding of bears and their behavior with tragic consequences, doesn't invade the north and cause the same thing up here by the time my sons have kids. It could happen, places aren't wild without their big predators, it's what I always look for anywhere in the world to get a feel for how wild a land is.
This said, I don't like spray from what I've seen, and if the situation is proper dire, gun is my preference. I just won't rush to shoot and hope others think the same way.
We are, as a lot, overly trigger happy much to the detriment of bears- especially Grizzlies. I've been bluff charged, and it was my fault, I got in the bubble and knew the bear was there. The bear's fine, my shorts didn't fare as well. Unfortunately, bluff charges are one of a disgruntled bear's communication methods, and it often leads to the bear's death when it wasn't necessary. Everybody wants a charge story, which also doesn't help the bears survive. I see the guy who holds his ground on a bluff charge and doesn't pull the trigger in a better light than the fellow who shoots first, asks questions later. I've been spending time in southern BC lately and it is so sad compared to up here, there's almost nothing left. A few straggling bears, but not the hordes you see populating every open area up north in spring. I'd like to hope the southern mentality of years gone by, that being a complete lack of understanding of bears and their behavior with tragic consequences, doesn't invade the north and cause the same thing up here by the time my sons have kids. It could happen, places aren't wild without their big predators, it's what I always look for anywhere in the world to get a feel for how wild a land is.
This said, I don't like spray from what I've seen, and if the situation is proper dire, gun is my preference. I just won't rush to shoot and hope others think the same way.
