# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/141 "2024-05-12T12:24:28Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Can’t really see into either my wifes or my SUV. So before approaching, I will fire a large round into the ground looking for any movement of the car on it’s springs. Then I will cautiously approach. Do you do this every time you approach your vehicles? If so, that must give a start to the other shoppers in the Walmart parking lot! 😉 Seriously though, even if you can’t see into your vehicle, surely there would be some evidence that a bear is inside—like a door being open. They don’t close the car door after themselves, do they? ETA: Also, I would look into why they are repeatedly getting into your cars. Are you leaving food or something that smells like food inside? Or are the local bears habituated to cars often having food in them due to the actions of others? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/142 "2024-05-12T12:26:21Z")
They do, they do: [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/augiedoggieanddoggiedaddy/images/4/4f/Yogi_Bear_%28Pop%27s_Nature_Pup%29.png/) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/augiedoggieanddoggiedaddy/images/4/4f/Yogi_Bear_%28Pop%27s_Nature_Pup%29.png/) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/143 "2024-05-12T13:06:55Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Seriously though, even if you can’t see into your vehicle, surely there would be some evidence that a bear is inside—like a door being open. They don’t close the car door after themselves, do they? Yeah, if a door if found standing open a bear opened and got inside. > [@robby](#): > > ETA: Also, I would look into why they are repeatedly getting into your cars. Are you leaving food or something that smells like food inside? Or are the local bears habituated to cars often having food in them due to the actions of others? My wife will sometimes buy fast food and eat in her car. I eat beef jerky when on road trips in my car. We don’t leave food in the car though. Never. But the smell lingers I suppose. They see cars as a possible source of food regardless if there is any food in the car. They are quite smart. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/144 "2024-05-12T14:15:50Z")
> **[Does a Hunter’s Gunshot Attract Predators?](https://www.nrahlf.org/articles/2018/11/13/does-a-hunter-s-gunshot-attract-predators/)** > > Research shows wolves, grizzlies and even alligators learn to associate gunshots with an easy meal. I think humans are being played for a free meal! ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/145 "2024-05-12T16:45:52Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Black bears have ripped the door off of my shed twice. They also get into our cars. About 4 times now I guess. The advice is to not lock your doors because they will just rip the handle off. So nobody drives nice cars there? Or at least they don’t park them outside. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/146 "2024-05-12T16:56:02Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > So nobody drives nice cars there? Or at least they don’t park them outside. My wife and I both drive nice SUV’s. Mines a little scratched up around the left rear door handle from bear claws. We park outside. No garage which sucks. I could probably build one for… 200k. You have to make flat ground. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/147 "2024-05-20T15:24:00Z")
Another hunter vs grizzly bear incident. The bear was shot and killed, but not before mauling the hunter pretty badly. The article doesn’t have a lot of details. > **[Hunter hospitalized with ‘significant injuries’ after grizzly bear attack in...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/hunter-hospitalized-significant-injuries-grizzly-201116404.html)** > > A 36-year-old man was airlifted to a hospital after sustaining multiple injuries in a grizzly bear attack in British Columbia, Canada, authorities said. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/148 "2024-07-27T00:25:27Z")
I like the suggestion upthread about an alarm noise maker as your first line of defense. Bears are more likely to have heard human voices yelling at them, so your yelling may not be a good deterrent. And banging pots and pans? Okay, if they are handy right at that moment. A small alarm container can always be carried. Second line of defense: Bear spray. But by this point that bear is uncomfortably close to you. And wind conditions need to be right. Third: for me anyway will be my .44 magnum. Or .45ACP. But one thing not really emphasized in this thread is shot placement. It is surprisingly easy to miss your close-range target with a handgun. The shooter has to have good trigger control. Not so easy while you’re shitting your britches. From the previous quoted article about the Montana hunter who was successful, _“The bear dropped to all four legs and charged the man, who drew his handgun **and fired five shots from distance about 30 feet to 10 feet, grazing the bear with one shot and hitting and killing it with another** ,” MFWP reports._ Which means that with five shots he basically missed his target four times. An awful performance. The guy is very lucky to be alive. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/149 "2024-07-27T02:43:26Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Or .45ACP. But one thing not really emphasized in this thread is shot placement. It is surprisingly easy to miss your close-range target with a handgun. The shooter has to have good trigger control. Not so easy while you’re shitting your britches. Ahem. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > 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. But yeah, that was near the start of the thread, and everyone pretty much accepted it and moved on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/150 "2024-07-27T10:26:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I like the suggestion upthread about an alarm noise maker as your first line of defense Yeah, my wife carries a whistle and bear spray. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420/151 "2024-09-07T01:01:19Z")
The big bear in our driveway tonight marked the 26th bear encounter that my wife, my sister and/or myself have had in our North Carolina neighborhood since April. I sat on the porch and watched a bear dig out a yellow jacket nest in Montreat last Tuesday. I have never seen as many black bears as this year, sometimes quite close, and unfailingly they go away if you make noise. No spray or weapons needed. I am always in awe when I see them and I of course have a healthy respect for all bears. But I am much more in danger on Interstate 40 driving to work than I am when encountering a black bear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrying-firearms-for-defense-against-an-aggressive-bear/1000420.md?page=7)