# Carrying firearms for defense against an aggressive bear? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420 "2024-04-17T18:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/41 "2024-04-18T21:14:09Z")
Okay, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/42 "2024-04-19T01:20:59Z")
@Beckdawrek - I too have experience in this. When a bear is 100 feet away or so from the house, casing the joint, I’ll take the 336 Marlin chambered in .356 Winchester and shoot at something close to him. That gets their attention. But we also have bears break into our SUV’s. You can tell if a door is open. It’s recommended that you don’t lock the doors because they will just rip the handle off. They have left nothing but muddy foot prints in the cars. And some scratches near door handles. In a case like that, I can’t really approach the car, or see in side. Don’t want to go that close. They may still be in there. From my deck, and having an escape route into my house, I fire a .357 mag into the ground near the car, and I look for movement of the car (bear wakes up). With no movement, I feel safe enough to approach the vehicle. I may stand a fighting chance with the revolver if I can hit it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/43 "2024-04-19T01:40:36Z")
Thank you all for reminding me why I like living in cities and old, close suburbs 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/44 "2024-04-19T01:41:17Z")
Well, my hunters around here have told me try the scare off first. And I will. If charged, all things become different… I am a good shot. Some reason, I just am. Can’t say why. But if I am shaky or in a fear response I don’t know how it would turn out. I hope I don’t have to make that decision. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/45 "2024-04-19T02:07:25Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Thank you all for reminding me why I like living in cities and old, close suburbs Yeah… well… perhaps where you’re at that’s sufficient. One of the reasons I had so much research at hand about black bears is because they (rarely) come into the city limits of Colorado Springs. Oh, well, at least not anywhere near me (I live pretty centrally) but the western part of the city and suburbs run up into the foothills these days. My Mother-in-law had a young black bear in the middle of her suburban sized backyard around 10 years ago now to browse through their trashcans. She shouted at it to scram while brandishing a hockey stick and apparently it moseyed off. I cannot make this up. My wife, who works in town as well, on the south side had a black bear on the company grounds _yesterday_. It too did no harm according to all accounts, but again, within the city limits. And Colorado Springs is just shy of half a million residents. We aren’t exactly a tiny city. So, a city is no defense (nor is a firearm in most cases, back to the thread point). It’s the price we pay for living in a city interspersed with greenery up against the mountains in the American West. See also: > **[4 bears spotted near Colorado Springs home in Broadmoor area](https://gazette.com/news/wildlife/4-bears-colorado-springs-neighborhood/article_2052551c-7057-11ee-94e7-33932231ffbe.html)** > > A Colorado Springs family woke up to quite the furry surprise Saturday morning as four bears were spotted strolling in front of their home. The advice of Colorado Parks and Wildlife? > “If you see one, yell at it, throw things at it, make noise to scare it off,” CPW officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/46 "2024-04-19T02:17:38Z")
FWIW the northernmost city in the world, Longyearbyen, Norway, has a law that [all residents must carry a rifle with them when outside](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyearbyen#Unique_laws) as a defense against polar bears (which are bigger and more aggressive than grizzlies). I’m guessing they do not think bear spray or handguns are sufficient for a polar bear. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/47 "2024-04-19T02:24:00Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > The advice of Colorado Parks and Wildlife? The very loose rule of thumb I was told (this is **NOT** expert advice at all…just humor): - Black, fight back. - Brown, lie down. (play dead and find religion) - White, you’re fucked. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/48 "2024-04-19T02:31:43Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > … perhaps where you’re at that’s sufficient. Sure, I admit it, I cheatcode by having my choices so far of locations be such as the probability of bears in the car is infinitessimal. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/49 "2024-04-19T02:40:34Z")
I never understood the “lie down”. Nope. I’m running, I probably will be caught, but dang it I’m gonna try. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/50 "2024-04-19T02:45:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > FWIW the northernmost city in the world, Longyearbyen, Norway, has a law that [all residents must carry a rifle with them when outside](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyearbyen#Unique_laws) as a defense against polar bears (which are bigger and more aggressive than grizzlies). I’m guessing they do not think bear spray or handguns are sufficient for a polar bear. I think polar bears see humans as potential food. That makes them a more more dangerous than black and brown bears. We only have black bears around here, and common wisdom is that they aren’t terrible dangerous unless you corner them or threaten their cubs. Obviously they are huge and powerful and can hurt people, but mostly they’d prefer to just keep away from us. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/51 "2024-04-19T03:01:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > We only have black bears around here, and common wisdom is that they aren’t terrible dangerous unless you corner them or threaten their cubs. Obviously they are huge and powerful and can hurt people, but mostly they’d prefer to just keep away from us. My family would vacation in northern Wisconsin a lot when I was growing up. A thing to do was to go to the local garbage dump (small rural one but big enough) and watch the bears. We knew enough to keep at a reasonable distance from them (social media didn’t exist, we never tried to get close). We’d get out of the car but always stayed next to the car and could get back in quickly if we had to (we never had to). The bears (black only) certainly knew we were there but completely ignored us and never approached us either. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/52 "2024-04-19T05:11:59Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > > [@ParallelLines](#): > > > > … perhaps where you’re at that’s sufficient. > > Sure, I admit it, I cheatcode by having my choices so far of locations be such as the probability of bears in the car is infinitessimal. 😁 So, among other things, your pick-a-nick baskets are safe! You have chosen… wisely. Seriously though, I brought it all up because while I was able to provide both anecdotes and cites (!) for black bear exposure in the area, it is almost always as a “Be aware, be careful, and don’t **panic** ” sort of thing, and almost _never_ a OMFG KILL IT ON SIGHT sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/53 "2024-04-19T05:52:37Z")
No chance. A griz will run you down when its prey instinct kicks in. But you just have black bears by you so fight back is the right call. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/54 "2024-04-19T05:58:03Z")
Yep. Not likely to be where Grizzlies are My Siamese cat is named “Bear”, I’m certain he’d catch me and might kill me too. He just pretends to love me. It’s all a clever ruse, he thinks. But, I know…yes, I know. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/55 "2024-04-19T10:17:05Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > “If you see one, yell at it, throw things at it, make noise to scare it off,” CPW officials said. Did that once. Actually banged pots and pans. It stood it’s ground just looking at me. At the time I did not have the .356 rifle, but I did have a 30-30. Fired it into a tree stump near it and it ran off. I was in my (home) office 2 years ago and my wife was downstairs getting ready to leave. I looked out the window to see mamma bear and two cubs walking on our lower deck. I yelled to my wife to not leave and waited. And then cautiously got her to her car. I have a tool shed that I keep our trash in between runs to the transfer station. I do that about twice a month. Door has been ripped off the shed twice. I’ve reinforced it pretty well and other than scratches seems to be holding up well. We have moose too. They can also be very dangerous. I worry about my dogs when I walk them. Mostly though the moose quietly graze our ‘grass’ in our ‘yard’. Moose aren’t afraid of anything. Well may cougars, but I haven’t seen one of those thank god. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/56 "2024-04-19T14:37:53Z")
My first experience with a black bear happened twenty some years ago, when we all had flip phones with shitty cameras. I saw a bear in my back yard eating blackberries. I was excited, to say the least. I quietly stepped outside and took a picture, but I was too far for a good pic. So I moved closer, but still too far. I took a few more steps and tried again. Rinse, repeat. When I finally got a good picture I was way too close. I walked (backwards) back to my house. The bear sauntered away. Looking at the good close up picture I could see an ear tag with a number. A call to the game commission revealed that this was a problem bear that had destroyed a swimming pool, was trapped, and hauled far away. Not far enough, though. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/57 "2024-04-19T16:59:38Z")
When we go for hikes in Northern BC where there are many bears (Grizzly and Black). I carry a short barreld (just legal by 1/4") 12 gauge shotgun. It is chambered with 1.5 ounce hollowpoint magnum slugs. We always “carry” it at the ready (but we don’t have a round chambered). We’ve only had to discharge it once to send a grizzley on his way, always glad we carry it! MtM ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/58 "2024-04-19T17:15:22Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Moose aren’t afraid of anything. Well may cougars, but I haven’t seen one of those thank god. I saw one near Half Dome once. It was chilling out and watching what I would do, which was not fuck with it. I would worry more about the moose. As mentioned, note that no weapons, bear spray, etc., are allowed in the park. There was a Federal law that made it legal for people to legally possess/transport firearms, but it has always been highly illegal (except for authorized rangers and so on) to discharge a firearm, for any reason. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/59 "2024-04-19T20:00:33Z")
My wife was walking with a friend a few years back, and a moose sauntered on to the trail in front of them. The friend dived off of the trail. My wife just waited. The moose went on its daily business. The friend might had a scratch or too, and perhaps a bruised ego. Not really a stupid thing to do though. All creatures react differently. Especially humans. The first moose I saw was in our drive way. This was back when I wore glasses, and I had been awakened from sleep. I looked out the window and told my wife ‘there’s a horse in our driveway’. They are big. The fellow was licking road salt off our cars. One of the things they do. Makes a real mess of the cars though. They miss a lot of spots. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/60 "2024-04-19T21:45:45Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > We’ve only had to discharge it once to send a grizzley on his way, always glad we carry it! Did you shoot the bear or fire the weapon in the air or near the bear? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420.md?page=4)