Bear Spray- who has used it?

My crew set one off in a helicopter when it first came out. Can't really say how it works on bears, but works good on pilots!
 
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:)
 
I was asked to test it on bears back in the early 90's, when I worked for parks, but I could never get close enough to use it. The only time I've sprayed it was for practice and I hit the girl that was behind me... I'd rather have my Redhawk but I guess it is better than nothing. Just have to ask the bear to stand still while I move up wind of it ;)
 
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.
 
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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Amen brother.

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My uncle set it off in his clothes... was slung on a shoulder rig and it caught as he tripped. Went off and got tangled in his jacket, ended up tieing his arms to him with it firing up his left shirt sleeve. Luckily he was close to a lake at the time and could breathe enough to get some air before jumping in. I don't know how it works on bears, but it works great on hairy grumpy uncles!
 
A friend of mine had a raccoon problem, emptied a six shooter pellet gun into one and it didn't even bother it. Then he emptied a can of bear spray on a pair of them, he never saw the raccoons again.
 
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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I have all of Gary's books, signed by the author himself. His books are must read material for understanding bear behavior during close encounters. I carry the spray, but prefer an 870 express magnum with 2- 3"magnum salt loads and after that.... the slugs are up next. My comfort range and "will kill zone" is 50 yards, unless it's moving away or if i can move away without being followed
 
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I hunted with a few guys who used bear spray on their dinner. They liked the strong pepper.

I saw one of them use it against a bear but dude was down wind. We thought it was funny once we knew he was ok. One of the other guys shot the bear before the bear had a shot at the other guy.
 
I used one at work last year on a bear that was stealing the flag girls lunches out of their packs on the side of the highway.

It blew back in the window and blinded us all for about 5 minutes.
 
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