Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Bear protection: 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP?

As one who has felt the effects of a taser in a training situation, I can testify to its effectiveness on humans, but I have a couple of concerns about using one in a situation anything like the one Phil handled so adroitly with his 9mm. A taser is certainly powerful enough to take down a bear or a bull under ideal circumstances, but:

First, a taser shoots out two fine wires with sharp probes, which must contact skin in order to guarantee that the electric charge is delivered to the subject. It requires both probes to hit the target. If only one hits, there is no circuit established and there is no effect on the subject.

From Phil's pictures, it would be difficult in my opinion for the probes to reliably penetrate the brush, and even a stout blade of grass would probably stop or deflect a probe.

Also, the bear's fur coat would be quite likely to keep a probe from making close enough contact with the skin. No contact, no shock.

Additionally, you only get ONE shot, and there is no such thing as a quick reload. If the probes remain in the subject, however, you can pull the trigger additional times for additional shocks.

Lastly, as soon as the "ride on the lightning bolt" (typically 5 seconds per trigger pull) is over, the subject, whether man or beast, is immediately back to 100% physical and mental capacity. Most humans decide to be more cooperative, but a bear might just be mad.

I can see how a taser might be useful in a captive bear control situation, but have grave doubts it would be a good choice for bear defense in the field.