Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Living with grizz and wolves.

The claims of success need to be checked pretty carefully as people often let fly on bears in situations where the bear was never going to do anything anyway. There have been many successful spray reports on bears 40 yards and more away...

Art,

The successes I KNOW of with spray have not been only on young, duymb bears, by any means. And I know at least one very experienced brown bear outfitter who trusts spray enough to always have it on hand.

I know this about him partly because I was standing next to him one day when a dumb-ass tourist woman chased a big sow down a river, trying to get a close-up with a point-and-shoot camera. The sow came out of the brush at most 10 yards away. My friend had a revolver in his left hand but the spray in his right (dominant) hand, pointed at the bear--and that friend has killed several charging browns with a rifle. Luckily, the bear chose not to come.

Also have a friend here in Montana who spray-stopped two big, mature bears in their tracks when they were within a few feet.

One of the problems with this subject (which has been beaten to death several times before on the Campfire) is that most people don't have any experience with spray, or cite an instance or two where it didn't work. There have been plenty of studies of numerous "bear indicents" done by people who were not anti-hunters indicating somebody using bear spray is at least as safe, and probably more so, than somebody depending solely on a firearm.

Anybody who's been around bears much can cite instances where spray didn't work and bullets did. But I tend to play the odds, whether hunting in grizzly country or buckling seat-belts. Yes, there have been instances where seat-belts severely injured people, or even kept them inside burning vehicles. But the odds are much better when buckled up.

Not exactly.

A lot of people think a firearm is far more effective than spray, but on average spray works as well, and often better. One of the classic Montana examples occurred a few years ago, when a couple of bowhunters bumped into a sow grizzly with cubs, and sow showed signs of aggression. One of the bowhunters had a .45 semiauto and started shooting, wounding the sow, which charged, knock him down and started chewing. The other bowhunter had a spray bottle and chased the sow off with it.

Hunters like to cite instances where spray doesn't work, but statistically it works around 90% of the time. I know several people that have used it here and it worked in every one of those instances. Two things. One, bear spray works very well except when you use it in a head wind. If you spray it,the blow back will incapacitate you. I have practiced with it,and it will knock you down in short order,and it doesn't take much. Secondly, I have shot several large black bears in the face at 10 to 15 steps with a 12 gauge using both BBS, and 4 buck. It absolutely makes this head into a jig saw puzzle. If you want to be serious about bears at close quarters use spray if the wind is right,if not use a shotgun. There are not 5 people in 100 that can reliably hit a charging griz with a lethal shot from a pistol,and maybe 1 in 10 can do it with a rifle. The charge happens very fast,and those bears are way faster than you think.

I've also been to Alaska a lot, and many guides (especially when fishing) carry both spray and a firearm, and often only the spray. Some also issue a spray bottle to each fishing client, just in case.

Yes, a firearm will work, but only if you hit a seriously charging bear in exactly the right place. Not many handgunners can do that, despite what most think, especially on a charging bear. A shotgun will also work, but only with tough slugs; most buckshot and slug loads don't penetrate enough. A rifle is usually most effective, but spray doesn't demand the precision of a well-placed shot.

Sorry my post ended up in the middle of mule deer's post above. Bear spray works well except when using it into the wind. Then the blowback will incapacitate you,and it only takes a little bit.I have knocked myself down with the faintest of breezes. I have shot several large black bears that were in foot snares in the face with a 12gauge using bbs and 4 buck. It makes their head into a jigsaw puzzle at 10 to 15 steps.very effective. Only 5 out of 100 people are capable of killing a charging bear with a handgun, and I bet only1 out of 10 could do it with a rifle. So carry spray and use it if the wind is right,or use a shotgun. Theses bear attacks happen very quickly and the bears speed is incredible.

Art,

The successes I KNOW of with spray have not been only on young, duymb bears, by any means. And I know at least one very experienced brown bear outfitter who trusts spray enough to always have it on hand.

I know this about him partly because I was standing next to him one day when a dumb-ass tourist woman chased a big sow down a river, trying to get a close-up with a point-and-shoot camera. The sow came out of the brush at most 10 yards away. My friend had a revolver in his left hand but the spray in his right (dominant) hand, pointed at the bear--and that friend has killed several charging browns with a rifle. Luckily, the bear chose not to come.

Also have a friend here in Montana who spray-stopped two big, mature bears in their tracks when they were within a few feet.

One of the problems with this subject (which has been beaten to death several times before on the Campfire) is that most people don't have any experience with spray, or cite an instance or two where it didn't work. There have been plenty of studies of numerous "bear indicents" done by people who were not anti-hunters indicating somebody using bear spray is at least as safe, and probably more so, than somebody depending solely on a firearm.

Anybody who's been around bears much can cite instances where spray didn't work and bullets did. But I tend to play the odds, whether hunting in grizzly country or buckling seat-belts. Yes, there have been instances where seat-belts severely injured people, or even kept them inside burning vehicles. But the odds are much better when buckled up.

Phil has made his points about spray and I would certainly never question any aspect of his bear credibility. But if bear spray was perfect why did he even have a gun in his hand?

Carrying a gun all the time, for everything can get pretty old.

Who makes a handy lever action in 45-70?