# Bear Spray vs Firearm vr Bears.



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I know that this could open up a hole new debate of which is better but there is a great article in the September/October issue of RMEF's Bugle magazine on using bear spray and or a firearm when you encounter a bear. If you are not a member of the RMEF then you should be able to find it in the magazine racks.

One of the quotes from the article is: 
"_Talk to anyone who's used bear spray in a griz encounter and you're talking to a convert. They're alive and well. And every bear that has a negative encounter with bear spray learns something positive_"


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## Fishrmn (Sep 14, 2007)

Critter said:


> I know that this could open up a hole new debate of which is better but there is a great article in the September/October issue of RMEF's Bugle magazine on using bear spray and or a firearm when you encounter a bear. If you are not a member of the RMEF then you should be able to find it in the magazine racks.
> 
> One of the quotes from the article is:
> "_Talk to anyone who's used bear spray in a *griz* encounter and you're talking to a convert. They're alive and well. And every bear that has a negative encounter with bear spray learns something positive_"


When was the last time anyone saw a Grizzly Bear in Utah?


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I would think the only down fall of bear spray is if the wind was blowing toward you and you let it go. Pepper spray is not fun at all. I had to take a hit for corrections school and it pretty much wiped me out. 
Other than that I would think it is a great weapon against bears. 
Hand guns are good if you hit the bear which is hard to do if its charging you. And you would have to hit it pretty good. Those bears are tough animals.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Both! :mrgreen: 

If it's charging me, I dont want to teach it a lesson. I want it to hurt bad! Also, you dont have to worry about a bullet blowing back in your face…


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## jpolson (Jun 12, 2011)

I just wrestle them.


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Last wednesday Me and my brother were sitting on a good trail hoping for an elk to wander by. We had been there for about a half hour when to my left, some movement catches my eye. I look over and twenty yards away out of the trees steps a nice chocolate colered bear. I about peed my pants! My brother says to me " where's your gun" my reply "not here!" I grabbed my bow with arrow nocked and prepare to die!! Then the bear saw us and he had the same look on his face as we did. He didn't growl or charge or anything like that He turned tail and ran off. It was a really awesome and educational encounter. I am not so scared of bears anymore. I would not want to shoot one either. If i ever do carry anything to fend off bears I think i would get spray.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Just so that you know that the article is also about black bears. Also if the wind is blowning back into your face and you have a encounter with a bear I doubt that you are going to have much time to do anything other than say OH SH%$ since the bear would not of smelled you and you would be standing on top of it. 

I know that it isn't going to change a lot of your minds and that you will feel safer with your handgun on your hip but the statistics that they have accumulated don't lie. Bear spray works.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

bear spray saved my life in Alaska so ill trust it again


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

jpolson said:


> I just wrestle them.


That's a goodun. I'm kinda the same way. A griz takes one look at me and runs the other way. 

We've had this debate many times here. As always, I will add this: I backpacked across Yellowstone N.P., before firearms were allowed in the park, with just bear spray. I knew how to use it and felt confident carrying it. It has to be carried on your belt where it's readily accessible, not in your pack.

I worked on the North Slope, Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska. They had both Polar Bears and Grizzlies. Some of the contractors carried bear spray. Naturally firearms were not allowed at work. I always worked for an engineering department and had neither spray or a firearm. The joke was ".... bears won't eat anyone from Engineering".

How to get in a building and not get attacked by bears:









How to get out of a building and not get attacked by bears:


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## JERRY (Sep 30, 2007)

Just make sure you don't piss off anyone in the control room! "Bear check?" "All clear." :shock: :O—–-:


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

statistics say spray. a kill shot at a bear coming 40 mph at you is nearly impossible if you have a rifle. a pistol, little better odds and a shotgun shortie with double ott buck even better odds. almost everyone can hit one with spray. everyone i have talked to who has had or studied bear encounters recommend spray.
rj


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

Everyone here has missed the obvious choice......what's wrong with carrying both?


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## 10000ft. (Oct 29, 2007)

I have both, but as far as my wife knows "the spray is the less effective back up"  . The handgun was the necessary purchase.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

The problem is if you have a bear at 20 feet and it's intended purpose is to eat you what are you going to draw the pistol or the spray. 

As for the wife know, what she don't know won't hurt you.


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## 90redryder (Oct 10, 2011)

Chances are not very good that my .357 magnum with hot buffalo bore rounds will stop a grizzly bear from moving another 20 yards, if I had spray Id grab it and then the pistol is backup just in case the bear doesnt turn and run away. But I also have to admit that here in Utah I wouldnt buy bear spray I just carry my revolver and I figure im safe from black bears or cougars. Maybe if I was hunting in grizzly country then id buy bear spray, and probably a .454 casul as well.


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## 90redryder (Oct 10, 2011)

swbuckmaster said:


> bear spray saved my life in Alaska so ill trust it again


I think we deserve to hear your story.


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## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

9mm with Critical Defense hollow points alternated with solids. My aim is better with a pistol because I practice with it a lot... it may not "stop" a bear in its tracks, but with the repeated muzzle flash, loud bang and potential for multiple sore spots in his head and torso, he'll probably change direction faster than I could.

Oh, yeah. And there have been grizzly sightings in the Cache Natl Forest for the past 4 years confirmed by radio tracking collar by the USFWS. Currently there are at least 3 mature Griz and 2 offspring in the mountains east of Logan.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

90redryder said:


> swbuckmaster said:
> 
> 
> > bear spray saved my life in Alaska so ill trust it again
> ...


Called in a rutting moose to 15 yards. I was all by myself. It wouldnt leave and was pissed off. I pulled the spray out as it circled down wind. I was yelling he bull hey bull and get out of hear ect and waving my arms. That's when it put its head down and charged. I hit it with the spray at about 5 yards. It veered at the last second and tried to kick me. It ran off snorting and coughing. I know for a fact it would have killed or severely wounded me without it. I was also 10 miles from camp and no one new where i was at the time. The moose up there kill more people then bears i hear.


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

I choose neither. I give them a paralyzer to the chode. If you don't know what that is watch the video in the fly fishing section. Also what do you do if you encounter a mother w cubs? You grab a cub. A mother won't attack one of her own so your safe.


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## guner (Sep 25, 2007)

I think we should get some Salt spray also, then when it eats me, I will be well seasoned


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

Critter said:


> The problem is if you have a bear at 20 feet and it's intended purpose is to eat you what are you going to draw the pistol or the spray.


Both! :mrgreen:


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

I was hunting deer in the Mendicino Forest in Cali a few years ago, an area with LOTS of black bears. Was in a deep dark canyon three miles from my truck. A landslide had washed out the road to the area so no other hunters were anywhere around. Long story short, a bear comes down the trail I am virtually standing on with my rifle craddled in the crook of my arm. She stands, decides she doesn't like me and boom, her she comes. She covered 30 yards in the time it took me to move my rifle to a forward position and fire, hitting the ground several feet in front of me just in front of her. No way I would have had time to pull out a can of spray or a sidearm, aim and fire at her face, she was that fast. I was lucky that day. I guess bullsnot has the best idea, carry both just in case, but I would venture to say it would be more than tough to stop a charging bear from short range with either....


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