Eps 353: The BEST Bear Defense Options - Myths vs Facts

My wife can barely run at all, so I just always take her with me into bear country. Problem solved!

"The wild is neither good nor evil! It is simply wild!" The late Colonel Jeff Cooper

I've been charged by both grizzlies and black bears here in NW Wyoming. When they charge, you never think about what species is coming at you at that moment. I thankfully survived both attacks, ending in one bear demise via a bow and 5 yard shot. Do NOT underestimate black bears, please, when they attack, they have every intention of killing you. Claws and teeth are claws and teeth.

There was this incident about 20 years ago where a man hunting ducks with a shotgun ran into a bear and cubs. He had his dog with him. The bear turned around and was running away but suddenly decided to turn around and attack. Maybe it got pissed off for the dog barking at her or maybe she thought the dog was chasing her and the cubs. Anyway, she did turn around and attack. The hunter used his shotgun in the last minute about two yards away because the gun was naturally loaded with birdshot. The bear died in his feet. Don't underestimate the power of a 12ga shotgun at close range.

Heck, grizzly country is safer than going into the habitat of the 2 legged pavement walkers

I started my guiding career for James Gary Shelton in 1989. Gary he was against the use of bear spray for self defense on a bear. He always said that too many things had to be in your favor for bear spray to work. He favored a large caliber rifle or Handgun if you could handle one over bear spray. He wrote a few books on bear attacks.

I was hiking on Afognak island and my feet were getting sore and wet from recent rain. The sun had just came out so I found a rocky beach and took off my boots and socks to air out. All my stuff was scattered everywhere. It felt good to be in the sunshine and dry out. I heard a noise and watched in astonishment as a large sow with two cubs came down to the beach with intention of walking past me 15 yds away along the water. I really could not walk well on the sharp rocks with my tender feet and I didn't want her to get into my lunch so I just started yelling and grabbed my pistol. I could tell she was getting nervous because her cubs just wanted to run up to me and play. She just waited there for her cubs to turn around and swaying her head. I kept yelling until finally they did and mom took them back the way they came. It was a very stressful situation! I put on my boots and got the heck out of there!

I live in Alaska and hunt with a 30-06 with a 180-grain Core-Loct bullet. I use this for bears and moose!

I'm no expert, but I did a bunch of research for a grizzly television show I worked on in 2018. I can't find where I saved it, but this is essentially what I remember: 1. Bear bells and spray work well... When the bear isn't charging. In fact, every time they failed to stop the threat was when the bear was charging. The majority of times that guns failed is when they weren't even used but were present. Spray is good when bears are getting too close but aren't yet aggressive. A charging bear should be addressed with a firearm. 2. There is anecdotal evidence of 9mm and even 22lr successfully terminating bears, and anecdotal evidence of 10mm and 44 mag failing to do so, but these incidents statistically are outliers for larger bears especially. Based on tests performed on bear skulls and actual successful brown bear and polar bear kills, the optimum bear defense load for a handgun is at least a 200 grain, non expansive projectile going at least 1,200 fps. This makes sense when you realize that 44 Magnum and 454 Casull effortlessly meet this criteria and 10mm and certain 357 magnums barely achieve this. However, keep in mind that these specifications achieve penetration, not cavitation. 3. Virtually every rifle caliber is effective against bears, including 556. In fact, while doing my research I read an article about Scandinavian Polar bear hunter exclusively using AR 15s. The speed provided the penetration and cavitation necessary to achieve lethality, even in a massive white bear. Also, a failed shot can be quickly followed up by many more in the AR platform. Having said that, my dedicated bear gun is a 450 bushmaster, with 250 grain, 2,200 fps projectiles providing penetration and cavitation.

I think one reason for the inflated success rate for bear spray may be that the spray is often used on bears that are simply near but haven't acted aggressive yet. A successful hazing of an uncommitted bear gets counted as a successful defense against an attack. Guns usually won't be used until the bear actually charges. I see a reason for carrying both spray (or a BYRNA) and a gun. Kind of a version of using spray as a first result and a gun as backup, but with a difference: Use spray to "keep an honest bear honest" that is, a bear that is near but not yet aggressive. Use the gun on a bear that is actually charging.

Here in western washington black bears never really caused much concern for me. Mountain lions sketch me out a bit. Always armed in the woods.

I don’t usually like to hear people just speaking but this gentleman is an exception. Excellent content

Great podcast, awesome you include listener stories. One important thing you left out about bear spray is the wind 💨. If the wind is not right, you damn near screwed with just spray.

I have friends in British Columbia who own a beautiful mountainside home near Mt. Currie. They'd been living there for at least 15yrs. I asked them if they'd seen bears around & they said "all the time". I was going to take a walk with my niece in the paths around their home (there are other homes every 200yds or so), and asked if they owned a shotgun or rifle I could take with me & they all looked at me like I'm crazy. The didn't own a gun at all, "bears left people alone", they said. "Just make noise". I don't want to shoot an animal for the sake of it. I don't want to bring a gun where it's not welcome. But having my 11yr old niece watch as her uncle gets eaten alive by a black bear while a bell dings away on my ankle isn't exactly something I want her to live with. There were people on ATVs with shotguns on their backs, there were seniors in golf carts with rifles strapped to the frames. I relate to them far more. I know this is Canada, not Chicago, but sometimes I think Canadians put too much faith in statistics & have a naïve, altruistic approach to apex predators, as though 'respecting its turf' will keep me safe. I don't give a good g.d. about how rare an attack is or whose turf I'm on. As a very species, people in bear or wolf country have to prepare themselves.

I was smoking a cigarette by the camp fire one night while vacationing in a national park. Suddenly I felt a huge paw grasp me from behind by the collar, lift me off my feet and then spin me around like a toy and in my terror I was face to nose with a huge brown bear. It was at that moment he growled in a husky tone, "Remember. Only You can prevent forest fires!" Then he set me down and (with a tip of his hat) lumbered away into the wild. I gave up smoking that night.

5" 454. Casull in a chest rig. The largest back up gun I can shoot well at 50 yrds. I carry bear spray, just so I can articulate that I had it with me.

When i hear stories about bears, i always think about Patrick McManus's story " The Bear that Ate Gomba". Check spelling on that. Hilarious. Really miss the old writers from the magazines of my youth. Only a few are still active, and electronic media has relpaced magazines. Thanks Ron for staying in the business, been reading your stuff for years, watching your web stuff for half a decade or so.

Something I've noticed reading these stories about bear encounters and attacks. Seems like if the bear is aggressive bear spray doesn't work very often. But if the bear is more curious then it seems like bear spray works more effectively. Just something I've noticed.

Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Brown bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

I use my GAU-8/A 30x173mm with a 3,700 grain AP projectile traveling around ~3,500 FPS. It produces just over 100,000 ft/lbs of energy. Just enough to make a complete pass through on any bear. Recoil can be a bit much, but the weapon system is over 600lbs. So, it is manageable. Some may think that a 600lbs rifle is too heavy to hunt in the mountains with. However, I train by carrying the weight of my poor decisions. Over time, this makes the weapon feel about 8.5-9lbs. Perfect for a mountain rifle.