Effectiveness of Bear Spray

H

Hutch218

New member
I was at my local shooting range today, and a conversation came up about carrying a pistol or bear spray in bear country. I don't know much about this subject, but I was under the impression that bear spray was very effective. In fact, I have read about a couple studies that said the spray was more effective than a gun. But the guy I was talking to, who has lived in Alaska and been around a lot of bears, told me that bear spray is not very effective. He said that since it smells like pepper it will actually attract bears and that if a bear has any intention of harming you then bear spray will not be enough to subdue it. Somebody mentioned that there was a study in which bear spray was sprayed all over a fake camp site and that it did in fact attract bears into the site. So I figured I'd ask some of you guys on here to see what your input on this is. What is more effective-bear spray or a gun? Is bear spray even worth carrying or do you just carry a pistol? I'd really like to hear from some of you guys that live or have lived in places with brown or grizzly bears. And do you think the same is true with mountain lions? What is the better means of protection from mountain lions?

Thanks,
Matt
 
Not only that, but you can get it in several different flavors, Beef, chicken, liver...

Actually it does seem to be effective. If you do a google search you can find a lot of info on it's use. One of the common scenarios seems to be that if your in bear country have it where it can be used quickly, either in hand or on one of the carriers where it can be gotten to in a seconds notice.

As for me I'm carrying a 41 mag on a belt holster and will leave the bear spray to the folks that don't want to carry a handgun. When I lived in Alaska I carried a short 12 gauge. Good awareness in bear country is one of the best defenses you can use.
 
I spoke with a professor that did some research on the benefits of bear spray vs a gun. You will see it cited in a good deal of magazines.

Bear Spray Debate

Research

What it comes down to is that with spray you can deter a nonserious bear. But when the cards are down a gun is what it takes to kill. The spray is VERY GOOD at shewing away a bear that does not want to eat you. Here is a wildlife magazine that has a story of a hunter in alaska that has a bear attack them while cleaning their moose kill. Ends up putting a 44 in the bear to stop it from chewing on his buddy. Spray is fine if you are not on the bears dinner menu.
 
Most articles I have read, including those two just posted, seem to really lean towards bear spray over a gun. But to me it just seems like bear spray would only work on a false charge or something like that. You have to consider how pepper spray works on people, too. There have been plenty of people that were mugged or attacked and used pepper spray and it didn't stop the attacker. If there are people that can withstand it, then a bear sure as [beeep] could. And I also worry about it getting blown back in my face if the wind is blowing hard in my direction. I sure as [beeep] wouldn't want to be in a confrontation with a bear and have my vision impaired. I'm still kinda skeptical about the bear spray. But on the other hand, hitting a moving bear with a gun is not easy, especially when you only have a couple seconds to do it. And in some cases you probably don't even have enough time to draw, but at the same time its probably easier to draw and aim a gun than it is to draw and aim a spray can.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top