Carrying firearms for defense against an aggressive bear?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In this post over in this thread, @Broomstick said the following:

I have guns, too, but would not use them in self-defense against a bear. The vast majority of firearms are simply not that effective against an attacking or charging bear. The way to safely take on a bear with a firearm is at a distance with a high-powered rifle.

A bear attack, on the other hand, is by definition at a much closer range such that a rifle is difficult or impossible to use. And the vast majority of handguns are far too underpowered to do much against a bear. And that’s assuming you are actually able to get an aimed shot off and hit the bear before it’s in your face and mauling you to death. Not to mention the fact that if you do actually hit the bear, you are now dealing with an injured and likely more aggressive bear. You are almost certainly not going to be able to take it down before it kills or seriously injures you.

Bear spray, on the other hand, is reportedly far more effective. It produces a cloud of irritating spray that is far more likely to repel a bear and stop an attack.

There was a study from BYU that compared three options in fending off an aggressive bear: doing nothing, using a firearm, and utilizing bear spray, and they concluded that bear spray was by far the most effective. More specifically, the people who used a firearm against an aggressive bear suffered the same injury/fatality rate as those who did not. (Note that most of the bears involved in the study were brown bears, aka grizzly bears, which are typically much more aggressive than the smaller black bears.)

A related study by the same researcher found that bear spray effectively halted aggressive bear encounters in 92 percent of cases.

The National Park Service agrees with this advice.

For what it’s worth, I took my own advice when I took a trip to Alaska last summer and went on four hikes in bear country on the Kenai peninsula. (There were warnings about bears at every trailhead.) I and my hiking partner each carried bear spray at all times, and not in our packs, but in holsters on our hips. (We also took all of the other recommended precautions, like making a lot of noise, not hiking alone, and not bringing a dog along.)

2

I was going camping in Alaska one weekend, and we stopped to get bullets for her .357 magnum on the way out of town. The shop owner asked why, and we said “because of the bears.” He said the .357 wasn’t going to do any good.

3

It’s not impossible to kill a grizzly with a .357, but it’s unusual enough that when an old friend of mine did it, (he was a ranger in Alaska) he got written up in the local paper.
If I was going into brown bear country I’d carry both, but use the bear spray first.

4

On an I-hope-related-enough-note, then why aren’t you allowed to carry bear spray in Yosemite National Park, which is in bear country?

5

Bears get hungry too.

6

If I had to guess, it’s because Yosemite has lots of smaller black bears but no brown (grizzly) bears. Also the black bears at Yosemite are so used to people that that they don’t see people as a threat, and are therefore not aggressive. They are just after people’s unattended picnic baskets and ice chests. But if people started spraying them constantly that would change, the bears would start seeing people as a threat, and thus create lots of problems for the park service.

The bottom line is that Yosemite is a completely different environment that a remote area in Alaska, or even a park like Yellowstone. Yosemite is overrun with people. And when lots of people are present, you get lots of stupid people, who would be spraying bears left and right if allowed to do so, even non-aggressive bears.

Lots of pretty good discussion here.

7

It appears they consider it a “weapon” akin to pellet or BB guns; in other words, I guess the fear is that humans would be more likely to hurt each other than bears with it. Which, given that there has never been an attack on a human by a bear in Yellowstone, seems plausible.

8

I think you mean “Yosemite,” not Yellowstone. There have been fatal bear attacks at Yellowstone. (And bear spray is also allowed at Yellowstone.)

9

D’oh! You are correct, sir.

10

My friend who was horrifcally mauled by a predatory black bear was saved by an American with a gun that was on his way up to a Bible college in Alaska. I do not know what kind of gun, always assumed a high powered rifle.

The bear had already killed two people and multiple people were surrounding my friend, kicking and throwing rocks and trying whatever they could to get bear the bear off.

He later became friends with a bear attack researcher who interviewed him. This fellow was recognized as a leading authority on bear attacks in western Canada. His advice on using bear spray was to find cover and direct a sustained spray at the bears face. The bear needs to deeply inhale the spray to be deterred. Merely getting it in its eyes and nose isn’t goingvto be sufficient. The sprayer and any bystanders are likely to be incapacitated themselves I would think with that level of capsicum being released. A very desperate situation indeed.

11

To clarify - I myself do not (in fact, never have) owned any firearms of any sort. I do know how to use them, but I do not own any.

The guns we had last summer were, indeed, high powered rifles. I don’t have the exact type/model as, again, I do not own them.

We chose those on the advice of locals, people who live with this population of bears year-round, including those whose job is to respond to reports of problem bears.

The bears in question are Eastern Black Bears, not brown/Grizzly Bears.

There is formal bear hunting in the area, at least one season (I did not ask for details, not being interested in that activity) so bears in the area generally avoid humans. They ones that didn’t are largely deceased now.

I have concerns about bear spray - we have two asthmatics in the group, if they get hit by that cloud they might well need medical evacuation from the situation. That doesn’t rule it out entirely but, again, the local authorities did not recommend that method.

We were advised to keep food in the car and make lots and lots of noise when moving through the woods/fields so as to not surprise any dangerous wildlife.

We were also cautioned that more people had been attacked and killed by moose in the area than bears, so DEFINITELY give any moose spotted a wide bearth.

YMMV and please seek advice from local sources on whatever area you plan to visit.

12

I went solo hiking in southern Montana (just outside of Big Sky) last year, having a few free days on a work trip. Prime grizzly territory. I enquired with the locals who I was meeting who all agreed, bear spray, no gun ([Waco Kid] No, don’t shoot him, bullets just make him angry[/Waco Kid]).

I rented the bear spray from a place in Bozeman. They had me watch a video and show them that I could deploy the can from the holster, pop the safety open, and spray in less than 2 seconds (I think 1.8 was the magic number).

Between the reading about grizzly bear attacks and the training, I’ve never been so on guard in the woods in my life - and I’ve spent decades in black bear territory in NH without so much as a thought. I was also doing everything they said not to do short of having my dogs with me. Hiking alone, at dawn, known grizzly bear territory, etc. At the slightest sound my hand was on the can.

Beautiful hike, though (Dudley Creek trail). I’d love to go back when the streams are lower (and maybe warmer). And maybe bring a friend.

13

South Arkansas.
Very rural area. Lots of varmints.

If we walk away from the immediate house, barn, yard area we are armed.
We had a bear that decided to live in our acreage. Making use of the pond and trails. About 3 years ago.

I’m sure I could’ve got a shot at him, if I had needed to.
The only time I took the rifle off my shoulder and undid the safety, I was sure of a clean shot. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t really feel threatened. He was close enough. But he wasn’t charging. He was eating fox grapes and watching.

So me and the dogs backed a long way back up to the house. When I couldn’t see the bear anymore. We ran.

I now carry bear spray, I jingle. I’m still armed. I don’t walk alone any more. And we talk. Or, rather I listen, she talks.

We had the Game Warden out and he deemed the bear a nuisance animal. (Which came with a kill permit).
The bear got the memo and moved on. I was never so happy.

14

Yea, when it comes to big animals, a bullet in the center-of-mass won’t immediately stop them. It might eventually succumb to its injury, but in the mean time it will have amply opportunity to kill you. If you want to immediately stop it with a gun, you need to shoot it in its brain. The caliber is not all that important, but it takes a lot of skill to pull it off, especially when you’re under extreme stress.

One person who perfected this was W. D. M. Bell. He was a big-game hunter in Africa. His contemporaries were using big, heavy, big-bore rifles to take down elephants, and with only limited success. Bell took a different approach: he became an expert on the anatomy of the elephant, especially the brain and surrounding bones & muscle. He would carefully place each shot to hit the brain, and he did it with a small-bore rifle. He was extremely successful at it.

So unless you know you can reliably shoot a bear in the brain, bear spray is probably a better solution.

15

Whenever my cousin and I would go salmon fishing in Alaska back in the 70s one of us would always face away from the river, armed, while the other fished. If a bear showed up wanting our catch, they could have it. But if they acted aggressive or we were in a precarious position, we were prepared to put them down. Jim carried a Mossberg 500 loaded with saboted slugs. I carried a Marlin 1895 .45-70 lever action. Never had to use them, but they were adequate for the job.

16

Lord help me, at first glance I thought he’d made friends with the bear.

mmm

17

You need a still for that.

18

You know how you can tell grizzly scat from a brown bear’s? It smells like pepper and has little bells in it.

19

I am going to speak for and (more strongly) against firearms in general, and pistols especially for dealing with most bears in greater America.

First, straight up, unless you are trained to be nearly perfectly accurate, quick, and have nerves of at least bronze, the best use of a pistol against a bear is to make a loud noise to scare it the fuck away, NOT to shoot it. Granted, a pistol can be useful for other dangerous wildlife, and I know several people who carry pistols loaded with bird/snake shot for substantially more common rattlers, and I know a few who claim to do so because rarely a mountain lion will come down into the front range and take a beloved pet or two. But still, no on pistol as an effective deterrent.

I have acquaintances who have done semi-professional wildlife guide trips here in the Rockies, and they all carry various lever action trail carbines, most of whom swear by the same .45-70 @silenus mentions. And they all carry bear spray as a first choice. But, here’s the thing, using a firearm can provoke a deadly response. I know about this story because it happened not far from where my folks used to have a place here in Colorado:

Fatal attacks by bear rare, official says, but caution advisable.

The recent death of a man who was mauled by a black bear is only the second such death to occur in Colorado in 22 years.

Colin McClelland, 24, of Buena Vista, was found dead last Thursday near a camper trailer on Waugh Mountain. Division of Wildlife authorities believe a black bear attempted to get into the trailer when McClelland shot and wounded the animal.

“A wounded bear can become enraged and it has one thing on its mind - that is to survive. He wants to get away alive,” said Stan Ogilvie of the Salida Division of Wildlife office.

Now, if you want to carry a pistol to deal with smaller, but still animal risks, I won’t say “no”. But you’re a lot more at risk from a snake than a bear in terms of frequency in most of the West/Southwest. And while some people find snakes scary, the time it takes to clear a holster and shoot it are much better spent getting away. Snakes aren’t known for relentlessly hunting you down if you move away. :slight_smile:

Having a pistol to deter human predators makes more sense, but seems to be much mitigated in the great outdoors. I won’t say “no” again, but unless/until you make safety habits of carrying a firearm instinctual, which most of us will never do (including myself, and I have a CCW permit!) then you’re probably more at risk from the firearm itself.

If you’re doing it for a living (nature/wilderness guide) in an area with bears, or other large critters, take a rifle. Something rugged, ideally easily portable, and with enough punch to deal with the target as quickly as possible. Which again, speaks to higher caliber, compact rifles such as a level action. But plan on that as a last resort.

20

Nice post. I agree with every word. Thank you.