So it means that to use pepper spray one would also have to practice just as much as practicing with a gun, and only at that point, with an equal number of people at each side, one may have a better idea of which one of the two (guns and pepper spray) would be better.
But one also has to take into account that a hunter who is alone sneaking around the woods has a greater possibility to encounter bears while hunting, than more than one hiker making noise on a hiking trail.
I have seen several bear repellent studies where the biologists testing the effectiveness of the spray enter the bear's danger zone (at places where bears congregate such a dumpsite), and then use the spray. But I imagine that an enraged bear that charges a hunter at close range in the woods-to protect its cache or cubs-is not going to stop that easily, not even when pepper spray is used. Now, if the hunter who is standing next to the biologist testing the bear spray at a dumpsite tests the effectiveness of his gun, his or her chances of killing it may not be that bad as long as he is using the right gun and load to do the job, of course.
Just remember the following: what is the usual tool used to kill a bear that has killed or consumed a human (s)?
That said, "I know nothing about bears." That's why I take such studies with a grain of salt.
Last edited by Ray; 05/24/15.
