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 (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...

[Codes44]

That's my biggest point of emphasis when it comes to pistol vs. bear spray. Trying to hit a fast moving target with your pistol in the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping through your veins is difficult in the best of conditions. Most guys will say I'd rather have a gun but they are likely grossly over estimating their aim and ability's to draw, aim and be accurate (kill shot) against a bear charging you. Chances are you'll need multiple well placed rounds to drop a pissed off bruin (depending on caliber of course), especially a grizzly.....I'm willing to bet the overwhelming majority would struggle achieving that.

[JHeath]

That's my biggest point of emphasis when it comes to pistol vs. bear spray. Trying to hit a fast moving target with your pistol in the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping through your veins is difficult in the best of conditions. Most guys will say I'd rather have a gun but they are likely grossly over estimating their aim and ability's to draw, aim and be accurate (kill shot) against a bear charging you. Chances are you'll need multiple well placed rounds to drop a pissed off bruin (depending on caliber of course), especially a grizzly.....I'm willing to bet the overwhelming majority would struggle achieving that.

^^^^ This. The video is useful perspective but I can't recommend the handgun training info.

I once shot a badger in the grass with a Colt Gold Cup .45 match pistol, from about 70'. The badger ran straight at me. The hunter next to me with a .300 mag bolted back to the truck. I pumped rounds at the charging badger thinking, "is this SOB gonna stop??" The slide locked back on an empty pistol at 20'. The badger had slowed to a crawl, I stood, and he died 10' in front of me.

I'd hit him 5 times out of 8 rounds, on the run. That's a 25lb animal with a top speed of 20mph, running straight and level. My shooting was good: 5 of 8 on a small moving target is not bad.

The idea of facing a 600lb bear with a fist sized brain, racing toward you at 35mph with his head bobbing, and poking at him with a 9mm pistol is no plan at all. Practicing with balloons is false confidence. You do not want to discover that, when you pump two rounds at him, with no time for a third, and he's still coming.

Dangle a spray can on your finger, like a key ring. Weighs nothing, I do it all the time. If you spray a bear, and he backs off but doesn't leave and still threatens, he'll at least be an easier target for a deer-size rifle than if he were charging.

[xlcc]

I guess it is my turn to get into this discussion.
I have quite a bit of bear experience I think.One outfitter I guided for we killed 57 bears in a month and half.I also tagged some bears when I was a kid.Killed a number of problem bears too or have been involved.This is a bit of my back ground.
My experience seeing buckshot,OO Buck,verses slugs,the slugs work much better.If you can't hit a bear with a slug the buckshot is not going to help much.You need penetration and the shot rapidly looses momentum.Sometimes found stuck in the fat under the skin.
Bear spray does work.A friend of mine out timber cruising used a can on a grizzly charge and dropped it in his tracks then the bear got up turned around and buggered off.So did my friend.
I did kill one bear charging me from about 25 yards coming at me slightly uphill.This bear was wounded with an arrow stuck high in the shoulder.We found little dark red blood,an indication of a poor shot,not a lung shot.In tracking this bear going uphill I saw the bear at about 140 yards going through some scattered poplars with the arrow waving around.A quick shot from my Ruger .45 Colt with a 320 gr. cast flat nose bullet hit the bear about 6" to the right of his spine in the rump.This round penetrated through the ham,into the guts,through the liver and part of the lung to get lodged low in the shoulder.This really pissed off the bear and turned him running downhill towards my hunter and I.Things were happening pretty fast now.I fired another shot and missed seeing a branch go flying behind the bear.I realised I was not leading him enough and fired another shot and the bear went down.I am not sure where I hit him though.
I quickly reloaded before approaching the bear.He was about 25 or 30 yards from us by this time.My hunter was watching the bear when I finally closed the loading gate and the cylinder was full, I looked up just in time to see the bear get up and run across a small gully with me in hot pursuit.
The bear ran into about a half acre of buck brush over my head and held his ground.I circled around to get on the uphill side.
My hunter caught up to me and the bushes stopped moving.With my hunter looking over my left shoulder holding his bow with no arrow nocked the bear knew exactly where we were standing.
All of a sudden the bear came out of the buck brush into the scattered poplars at a dead run right at me.Our eyes locked.He was less than 25 yards coming fast.I took my time as I knew this shot had to count.He just mowed over the small bushes and was dodging the trees.His head was moving around a lot as I was trying to choose a shot.My sights settled on his center mass heart area.He kept coming hard and fast.When the time was right and a clear shot presented itself I squeezed the shot off.
The bear dropped on the spot 10 feet from us.I never even heard or felt the recoil of the shot but instinctivly dumped another round into him as he was too close.
My hunter later asked me"Why did I take so long to shoot?"I told him I felt like I had all the time in the world as when the bear locked his eyes on me everything was like in slow motion.My hunter said it only took about 2 seconds when he charged.
Now this was like aggrivated assault not a bear charging on his volition.None the less it is easy to see that bears are extremely tough and when the adrenallin starts flowing things are fast and furious.

[Arctic Lake]

I need to practice ! I need to practice ! I need to practice !
Clicking my heals together like Dorthy and saying “ There’s no place like home “ when a bear is coming at a close full charge ain’t gonna help !
Arctic Lake

[Treed]

I’ve sprayed a number of bears with bear spray. None were very aggressive (no Cubs, no high value food, and not predatory). I found that they need to be close. Within a few meters for the spray to be really effective. If they are further away, it will bug them and they’ll move away. However, if u had an aggressive bear, I don’t think that it would work at 5 m. It really has to be a direct face shot to be fully effective, in my experience.

[Codes44]

Agreed, unfortunately trying to shoot a charging bear with a rifle isn't much easier, especially if you're looking through a scope (good like finding him in the scope if he's moving or closer than 65 yards). A shotgun would gives me the most confidence for defense against a bear for obvious reasons. That being said bear spray is proven to be pretty effective and a cheap deterrent and you don't need to be as accurate which helps. At the end of the day you can only do so much, if you seem like a threat to cubs, or you startle a bear, or come across a kill site if that bear wants to hurt you it will. But hey, I'd rather have a gun on me then not have one at all!