Bear Spray/Pistol Video

[Ron.C]

Not a new video, part of the Meat Eater series but a good watch. Thorough interview with a bear attack survivor. I like the training where he was trying to hit a bouncing ball. Would be a good drill to give yourself a reality check with a long gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDGM7QgxuWw

[DarekG]

Very interesting video.

I have a little defender shotgun I should really do some practice with, it always comes camping as the bear gun but doesn't see much use aside from that. I've also been meaning to pick up some of the inert training bear spray to train with that as well.

[srupp]

Hmm last bear charge..Kwatna bay..700 pound sow with 2 juvenile delinquents for offspring..3 of us..she charged from a considerable distance..due to Cubs being closer.open trail no obstructions..I too had the Winchester defender with all slugs .
Front sight was fiber optic..green..remember it was plenty bright even during the day event..
Getting ready to pull the pin..when momma stopped and pulled off..cuz 3 of us ?
Cubs were pieces of shit disturbers..
Never used spray.
Srupp

[Treed]

I always curse myself for not bringing bear spray when I am cutting an animal up. It was a great illustration of how hard it is to hit something moving 30 km an hour. A rifle would be even harder. I don’t think many of us do rapid, short range target acquisition with our scoped rifles.

[Ron.C]

Hmm last bear charge..Kwatna bay..700 pound sow with 2 juvenile delinquents for offspring..3 of us..she charged from a considerable distance..due to Cubs being closer.open trail no obstructions..I too had the Winchester defender with all slugs .
Front sight was fiber optic..green..remember it was plenty bright even during the day event..
Getting ready to pull the pin..when momma stopped and pulled off..cuz 3 of us ?
Cubs were pieces of shit disturbers..
Never used spray.
Srupp

fair enough and I think anytime you walk away from a close call with a bear, you must have done the right thing. Job #1 is preserving your life and preventing injury to you and others.

If faced with a charge where you have eyes on the bear at a considerable distance, I'd do the same and would have my gun at the ready. And that sure tips the scales more in your favour if you have eyes on and are expecting and making ready for a potential charge. Similar to what happened to the fellow that was attacked in the video, but he thought the bear had buggered off with its cubs and didn't expect it to come charging back, can't say I would of did anything different.

A couple years ago, We bumped a smallish griz just before dusk at about 15 yards that was feeding on a gut pile ( that we had no idea was there). The bear initially ran about 20 yards off the gut pile and stopped to watch us from 30-35 yards. My rifle was on the bear as my buddy grabbed my dog and got clear by about 50 more yards. Once he was clear, he came up on aim and I was able to get clear. That bear seemed happy to let us move off but if he would have charged I would have been shooting.

I think if it would have been a bigger bear we would have been telling a different story today.

I think most guys would instinctively go to their rifle/long gun before spray an can only speculate how that may or may not end. If that bear would have charged us and not do what he did, very unlikely we would of been able to respond with any sort of shots from out scoped rifles.

[Downtown]

Excellent Video for training but based on my experience on a real Grizzly charge there is less then 2 seconds before that Bear is on you.

Cheers

[Steve W]

Great reality check.

[Arctic Lake]

I think I have seen that video before . I don’t know what kept him going, probably a strong minded tough son of a gun combined with a massive amount of adrenaline . I just think packing a revolver in bear country is a smart move . We should be allowed to do the same here ! While tenting in Yoho last week we both had bear spray in the tent not sure what good it would have done in the middle of the night when I’m looking for my flashlight to look for my bear spray . When checking in the Park Ranger told us the campsite routinely has bears wandering through it ,and sows with cubs .
Arctic Lake

[Wagonmaster]

I have always had a bit higher than normal scope mounts on my rifle. It allows you to use the front and rear sights by looking under the scope. Might help to locate a target at close range. I also like the fact that I can get my thumb under the scope which makes carrying the rifle a lot easier as you can grab hold of it more firmly.

[Redthies]

That video is a perfect start off point for a 000 Buck vs slug discussion too. I am not 100% sure that I would be able to hit something with slugs in that timeframe...