At 06:59 PM 2/20/98 -0900, Andrew & Rebecca Sorensen wrote:
>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.

I don't place much credence in this sort of anecdotal evidence.

Has the guide ever tried pepper spray on a bear that had him in mind as a
primary target? Or is this just his tequila-laced folkloric opinion which
has no basis in fact?

Read Stephen Herrero's "Bear Attacks - Their Cause And Prevention" for
detailed
information on how to use a rifle to stop grizzly bears, as well as detailed
information as to why this isn't an option for most folks (it takes an expert
marksman).

> 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.

Since black bears mostly bluff and (in the statistic sense) rarely hurt or
kill folks, if you're in grizzly country worry about griz.

Read the aforementioned book for detailed statistical analysis of why this
is a good strategy.

>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.

Evolution in action! The bear deserves cheap munchies in this case. Who
would
hike through thick alder brush in griz country without some means of
defense in
reach??? Crashing through such traditional get-killed-by-griz stage sets with
your pepper spray in your pack?

Sorry ... no sympathy.

>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.

This is a classic griz kill scenario - a bear surprised too close (in its
humble mind) to run. Griz with cubs and griz guarding carcasses are other
such scenarios. In essence, when griz feel they need to defend something
(and perhaps the denning site fits their "need to defend" criteria?) they
attack, and due to their size vs you or I, win. Quickly. No contest. One
or two blows.

>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!!

Dropping a full-grown griz charging you is not an easy task. Read the
reference
I've provided above. It is easily done if you have the skills, but if you
don't, a firearm will prove ineffective or even counter-productive, as a
wounded
griz is likely to be more dangerous than an unhurt one. The pepper spray
argument lies on the fact that you don't have to be quite so precise in aim,
and it's easier to learn to use. It's also a weapon of last resort, as is
of course a firearm (as you acknowledge).

Oh, Herrero is one of the leading griz experts in Canada, and stood next to a
dismounted Mountie who dropped the largest griz (not brown, but interior griz
still in the 1000+ lb range) measured in interior Canada as it came to them in
full charge, after having killed fishermen outside Banff. He knows his shit.

Anybody who cares about these issues should read his book and treat anecdotal
evidence as entertainment which might, but which doesn't necessarily, contain
useful information.


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net