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Thread: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    40

    Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    New hunter from ontario here. I become a bc resident Jan 1 and want to scout some areas for next year's deer season. I figure I'll bring the 12 gauge for small game. Being from ontario we only see black and brown bears the size of a big German Sheppard maybe and they spook pretty easy. Even a sow with Cubs will bolt as soon as she sees or smells you. Never seen a grizz before. Talking to hunting buddies at work it seems like everyone has a grizzly story lol. Do you guys carry bear spray or just rely on your rifle?

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    In the bush near a lake
    Posts
    7,198

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    Personally I don’t carry bear spray well hunting with a firearm/bow, camping, or fishing. I have never seen the need to.

    everyone has there own opinion

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Kamloops Country just south of Heaven
    Posts
    23,994

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    I'd go rifle up the shoot, And on safety, in areas where your allowed to carry a rifle ,to shoot at bears etc -- the bear spray I never used --

    Jel -- good luck hunter in BC with all of us together -- hunting and hiking and scouting -- jogging and walking the wilderness -- Good Luck Big Chris

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    VANCOUVER
    Posts
    6,861

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    I would never rely on bear spray to stop a charging bear.

    If using a shotgun make sure you have some good quality solid slugs along.And forget about buckshot-it simply lacks penetration.

    A big caliber rifle is best. I personally use the 45/70 Guide Gun loaded with 540 gr. bullets, a 375H&H loaded with 300 gr. bullets & sometimes a Defender loaded with 3"mag Brenneke slugs when retrieving game.
    We do have a couple cans of bear spray at camp in case a curious bear appears.
    “People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” -Otto von Bismarck
    Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.-Albert Einstein


  6. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    5,000

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    I carry bear spray. I seem to carry it around quite a bit more than I thought I would. I throw it in my pack when I’m out on my bike with the kids or when I’m fishing. I have a 20 gauge backpacker I also carry around if I’m in the bush. I would prefer to have a nice big revolver like the 500 s&w, but that’s never going to happen.
    If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Aldergrove, BC
    Posts
    4,466

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    Nope. Short pump action when scouting out of season in grizz country.

    In blacktail country I carry nothing

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Pemberton BC
    Posts
    1,521

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    My bear spray is 250 grains and flies at 2800 FPS
    Knowledgeable shooters agree- The 375 Ruger is the NEW KING of all 375 caliber cartridges. ALL HAIL THE NEW KING!

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Golden
    Posts
    652

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    I spent 20 years working in the bush and never carried bear spray. I had one or two occasion that it may have come in handy, but for the most part making noise keeps the bears away. While bow hunting and scouting on the other hand, I carry spray. One is way quieter while hunting and the chances of bumping into a bear is way more likely. My hunting partner and I ,while scouting both carry spray, one of us packs a shotgun and the other guy packs the spotting scope and tripod.
    "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children." John James Audubon

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    3,082

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    Never carry bear spray just a rifle when scouting or hunting and a handgun when I’m working.( I have a permit to carry the handgun).
    WSSBC Life Member
    WSSBC Monarch Member
    CCFR Member

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Kelowna
    Posts
    53

    Re: Do you carry bear spray when hunting?

    Bear spray in grizzly country especially when solo. On the hip as it doesn't so much good in the pack.

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