quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Thing is, WE have hunting seasons.

Bears, in general, don't give Jack Sh*t about hunting seasons.

For some, this is news.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
We have one or two threads about grizzly bears in the forum every year. If I’ve responded, it’s been as an advocate of bear spray. My support for it came from personal conversations with those who should be in a position to know best, grizzly bear researchers and predator conflict resolution specialists from USGS and Wyoming G&F.

I will admit that one researcher from USGS told a pretty scary story of working a trap site and a sow grizzly that kept coming again-and-again. They used up two cans of bear spray. The charges were finally broken off when he fired a 12 gauge slug by the ear of the sow, close enough that she had no doubt the next would be in the ear.

Anecdotally, in AARs of bear charges, the bear spray seemed to work well enough to continue to advocate for it being the first line of defense. Ultimately, although I have had more training than all but one or two members here, I’m still not certain I could reliably read the body language of a bear and determine, with any certitude, whether this a bluff charge or a serious, potentially fatal attack. Long preamble to introduce this article. Essentially, what it says is that firearms and bear spray for defense have NEVER been truly studied side-by-side to demonstrate that bear spray IS the most effective means of protecting yourself.

When I went fly fishing, on my own time, I carried a .44 mag in a chest holster along with my bear spray. I had determined that, given time to make the decision, I would deploy the bear spray first. Remember, for myself, and those I spoke with, killing a grizzly was something that was almost unthinkable because of the repercussions in, not just the community, but nationally.

See what you think. BTW, Outside Magazine is not way up there in my estimation for go-to reading material.
Does Bear Spray Work?

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
We have one or two threads about grizzly bears in the forum every year. If I’ve responded, it’s been as an advocate of bear spray. My support for it came from personal conversations with those who should be in a position to know best, grizzly bear researchers and predator conflict resolution specialists from USGS and Wyoming G&F.

I will admit that one researcher from USGS told a pretty scary story of working a trap site and a sow grizzly that kept coming again-and-again. They used up two cans of bear spray. The charges were finally broken off when he fired a 12 gauge slug by the ear of the sow, close enough that she had no doubt the next would be in the ear.

Anecdotally, in AARs of bear charges, the bear spray seemed to work well enough to continue to advocate for it being the first line of defense. Ultimately, although I have had more training than all but one or two members here, I’m still not certain I could reliably read the body language of a bear and determine, with any certitude, whether this a bluff charge or a serious, potentially fatal attack. Long preamble to introduce this article. Essentially, what it says is that firearms and bear spray for defense have NEVER been truly studied side-by-side to demonstrate that bear spray IS the most effective means of protecting yourself.

When I went fly fishing, on my own time, I carried a .44 mag in a chest holster along with my bear spray. I had determined that, given time to make the decision, I would deploy the bear spray first. Remember, for myself, and those I spoke with, killing a grizzly was something that was almost unthinkable because of the repercussions in, not just the community, but nationally.

See what you think. BTW, Outside Magazine is not way up there in my estimation for go-to reading material.
Does Bear Spray Work?