I know a bear hunting guide who doesn't think too much of pepper spray. He
says it may work on a brown bear who isn't too serious about getting you,
but should the bear have you in mind as a primary target, it will do little
to prevent an attack. Fortunately, that rarely happens. As for black
bears, I've read somewhere that their ability to produce large amounts of
saliva prevents capsicum from having any major effect.

More often than not, it seems most people are not prepared for an attack
regardless of what they are carrying for protection. While working through
thick alder brush, its fairly difficult to maintain ones sense of sanity
much less readiness for a bear encounter. Often, the
spray/firearm/flare/whatever gets buried in a pack somewhere and is useless
if needed in a hurry.

While doing some work for Fish and Wildlife this past spring, I was
equipped with a flare gun. I suppose it might have an effect on a bear if
it made a direct hit - don't really know for sure and would hate to have to
test it. I did come across one fresh brown bear print in the snow, but it
was above tree line and so I had a good look-see before continuing on my
way. I threw rocks at a young brownie once to deter him from taking my
catch of salmon - fortunately it worked. My only other alternative was to
go swimming in some pretty rough water so I'm glad the rocks worked.

A man was just recently killed this month by a brown bear on the Kenai
Peninsula from a bear attack. A crew was doing some sort of survey work
and stumbled upon a denned up bear. The bear killed one of the crew (I
guess the others made it up a tree) before it ran off, never to be seen
again. Little can be done in a situation like that as the bear totally
surprised them.

My choice of defense? Try and stay alert to what is going on around you is
good advice. Still, I prefer a firearm with me if I'm in country heavily
populated by bears. I've never had to use it yet except to fire a warning
shot when a very large brown bear was approaching my camp. He had no clue
I was even there, and no amount of yelling would get his attention (too
windy). When he heard the shot, he wasted no time lumbering away. Even
when you carry a firearm, the old timers in Alaska jokingly (?) say to
always save a bullet if you happen to be attacked by a bear. When asked
why, they'll say after using 5 shots on the bear, to use the last one on
yourself! Yikes!!

Fortunately, most bears don't want anything to do with you. If you make
enough noise, chances are you won't see a bear (or any other wildlife for
that matter ;o)) Just don't let the fear of bruins ruin your enjoyment of
your outings.


Andy Sorensen
Anchorage, Alaska
ajstudio at ptialaska.net