Subject: Re: Bears and Pepper Spray
Date: Feb 22 19:03:48 1998
From: Don Baccus - dhogaza at pacifier.com


At 05:36 PM 2/22/98 -0900, Andrew & Rebecca Sorensen wrote:

>An educated hunter should have done his homework before going on the hunt.
>There is no better shot than the one that puts a bear down on the spot -
>breaking the clavicle. Good point.

I think part of Herrero's point is that for a long time there was no homework
to be done, in the sense that there was really no place to pick up objective
information on how best to put down a charging griz. I'm not sure how
widely known Herrero's book is, either - I bought it after it was remaindered.

Interesting that the .44 handgun guy had his rifle knocked out of his hand
before he got a shot off, though...if he'd lost the .44 as well, he might've
wished for pepper spray as a backup to the two weapons :)

>As stated earlier, I believe, it all comes down to personal choice - got to
>use some good ol' fashioned common sense and all the information you can
>gather in making it. Where I may prefer one, you could easily prefer
>another. And I know some people who believe the danger is way overstated
>and go with nothing more than a walking stick.

It may also be that the ability to defend with any weapon is largely a matter
of luck, and that luck has more of a role to play than the actual choice of
defense. If you have a chance to deploy your defense, you have a chance. If
not - well, playing dead actually works really well if you survive the initial
blows :) It takes a certain self-discipline in order to ignore the bad breath
of the bear gently massaging your head with its mouth, not to mention ignoring
the pain that goes with having ears ripped off, scalp shredded, etc that often
results from the bear's trying to figure out if you're really still a threat
or not (we have mentioned that Herrero loves to supply graphic detail, didn't
we?).

>***** As for bird watching and avoiding bear confrontations - be on the
>alert for any obvious concentration of corvids. This may indicate that a
>bear kill is in the area.

An excellent point! Bear kills are really the worst scenario, if for no
other reason that many are guarded by huge males while moms with cubs are,
well, female griz, which are smaller than full-grown males and less powerful.
While certainly strong enough to attack and kill you without raising a
sweat, a big male on a kill is big enough to kill you without your noticing,
i.e. VERY quickly. Thwack! That's all she wrote, birder pieces scattered
across an area the size of Rhode Island!

I mentioned a bear which I thought had killed two fishermen outside Banff.
It actually only killed one but injured three others before being put down
by the Mountie I've mentioned.

It weighed 761 lbs. There's a picture of Herrero holding the rear foot. He's
got it cradled in his hands with his arms fully extended. The tips of the
claws reach to his armpits. OK, everyone, make a cradle with your hands
and extend your arms. Look at your hands. Look at your armpits. Think
about how big that foot was. Oh, man! A big male, indeed.

Of course, brownies get even bigger!



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