Will bear spray stop a charging bear or at that point are you basically fucked?

Funny how everyone talks about their casual encounters with bears.

Get a 10mm handgun with a lot of +P ammo. Aim for mouth/neck to try and sever the spinal cord.

Also good luck lol

 

Wasp spray works well and has a nice long range nozzle and kinda good gel texture. Hopefully you've got good aim!

 

My idea of a bear spray is a Schmeisser.

 

No, you can tell by the posts who has spent a lot of time in the deep woods. If you have a problem with a bear then you have done something beforehand to warrant that problem.
Like not policing your camp, leaving food out, being too quiet or poking around where you shouldn't be.

 

lol you must be a hell of a shot, funny I didn’t see you in any of the marvel movies.

Some people do have “casual” encounters. It all depends on your definition of casual encounter. Bear down in the valley as you drive by or hike a trail isn’t all that uncommon depending where you are. I have deer that come through my yard every evening and every morning and that is in town. I’m sure AZ has common animals, bears just happen to be one of our semi common ones.

 

We have lots of bear in these hills and they mostly stay to themselves.

 

It’s not a matter of saving $ or filling a freezer. No issue with anyone that hunts, I just don’t because I don’t enjoy the sight of dead things anymore. Seen my fill.

 

I read a lot of guides in Alaska now are carrying Glock 10mm with Underwood Bear ammo.

 

Black bear I presume?

 

My point exactly.

 

12 Guage with a couple of slugs to the skull will stop one cold.

 

I recommend shooting the bear before adding any seasoning.


Kidding aside, I've backpacked extensively amongst the grizzlies and did carry bear spray. I never came close to using it and I had some very close encounters. It's more about them knowing your around. Bear bells are probably more effective at warding off an attack and they are oh so festive.

Also very important is following the triangle rule for food storage and cooking. (Food in bear-tight containers) at one point of triangle, tent and cooking area at the other 2 points. Don't keep a midnight snack in your tent.

 

If people enjoy the sight of dead things for the death itself that’s messed up. I enjoy the satisfaction of time spent in nature, hard work rewarded and food to eat. I’ve seen plenty of death outside of hunting but that’s different to me. I have friends who ended up feeling like you and turned to shooting game with expensive cameras instead of guns/bows.

 

This is about the oh shit moment when you are faced with a charging bear.

And I told marvel my schedule was too busy to be in their movies. They are now working on my own spinoff

 

I know some are super shots and could ninja kick a bear dead but let’s use some common sense. Any time you carry the point is to avoid using, it’s there as a back up. Being a hard target is preventing yourself from getting in the situation to shoot in the first place.

http://sportsafield.com/grizzly-defense/

Studies by biologist Stephen Herrero and others indicate that pepper spray works on charging bears about 90 to 96 percent of the time.

When a bear hits the wall of fog and breathes it in, his sense of smell is instantly shut down, which confuses any animal. Chemically, pepper spray is an inflammatory agent, an irritant, that gets into the bear’s mucus membranes, causing temporary blindness, choking, and difficulty breathing. In many cases, they go off hacking and coughing.”


Another compelling reason for the use of pepper spray instead of bullets is that many grizzly charges are not full “attacks,” but are only attempts by the bear to discourage and intimidate human intruders. For instance, if you surprise a grizzly feeding on an elk carcass (possibly your elk carcass), the bear might charge without intending actual contact, its purpose being to simply drive you away.


Some people think a .44 magnum or large-caliber rifle is going to have the ‘power’ to stop a bear. But you’re talking about a bullet not much wider than a writing pen hitting a vital area. That’s assuming you even get a bullet off. Most times when someone with a firearm is attacked, they don’t get a shot off.

 

Always travel in bear country with a slow friend that you can out run.

 

Im just gonna drop in what a trusted Alaskan guide recommends. I forgot the exact gun and caliber, but the first 2 shots are bird/rat shot. It makes a cloud of pellets and are intended to blind the bear, also destroy its nose so it cant smell you. Then the next shots are slugs, intended to put it down. Its terrible killing or harming an animal like that, but if its my life of the animals Ill keep mine.

 

Yeah we do spotting just before hunting season now.

 

This is if you can even get a shot off. A bear charging you by surprise is not going to allow for much time. This probably only works if you see it coming from a bit away.

 

Probably something like a judge.. you can load 5 shots of .410 or .45 colt, or any combination of.