Has anyone ever had a bear encounter/had to deploy bear spray?
I always go hiking alone. Yesterday I saw some bear signs and got a very bad feeling. I started getting scared and thought “there is no way I can follow the instructions and try to scare the bear away” that actually terrifies me.
In my mind it might provoke the bear to make myself look big and speak to it.
I also don’t even think bear spray would do anything, especially if it’s windy.
Anyone have experience with bears or suggestions?
Airhorn may be better than spray
Id go lightweight hand gun and airhorn
Bearspray is probably the worst of both worlds
I read that bear horns can actually scare and piss them off more and that they weren’t scientifically proven
Also can only have a hunting gun here not a shotgun or anything
bear spray will work better than a handgun. If you see bear signs you need to start singing your favorite trail song. I also make a noise kind of like a full lunged whistle that goes up and down in pitch.
Sometimes in the early spring which is when they are most hungry and grumpy you can end up in the same kind of path that a bear might take, put a tree in front of your heart and be ready to deploy the spray. You can scare them with a warning shot if they smell it. Most dangerous bears are yearlings that havnt seen a human before and have no reason to be scared. Most bears when they smell gasoline diesel etc think of other times they saw logging or oil and gas workers who usually lay on the horn and scare the piss out of them, this prepares them to be afraid of humans, yearlings wont be afraid and outside of being the bigger threat you should make sure you can get to the spray before something sketchy happens.
I rushed 2 bears on my road bike a few years ago, they ran like the wind once they saw the pedals coming at them.
>suggestions
Making noise as you travel is the easiest way to avoid encounters. Clip something to your backpack that jangles as you walk. I hang my spoon and fork set on the outside of my pack, or you could buy a bell like a consoomer. Car keys are too important to risk losing, though I've seen other people hang their keys from their pack.
I’ve actually read that bears don’t register bell jingling. And that talking is a way better way to notify them of a human.
I was more so looking for advice on facing the bear
I read in your OP when you asked for suggestions that you always go hiking alone, so assumed talking wouldn't be practical.
I talk to myself, but thank you for the suggestion still.
I hike alone and will sometimes sing, which is entertaining when coming across another hiker.
Get the book "Bear Attacks" by Stephen Herrero
It's the Gold standard on all things Bears.
https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/bear-attacks-their-causes-and-avoidance-3e-edition-9781493029419-9781493034574-149302941x-149303457x.html
here's a pdf of the book
this book is basically required reading for anyone who lives near bears. best literature on the subject. far more useful advice than the shit on here.
i'm not the only anon recommending it
for good reason.
I move as silently as I can because I want to see a bear. I haven't yet. Just deer and other degenerate forest creatures.
Wow you called deer degenerate, wtf…
what else would you call something that has sex with /k/ posters?
I’m the complete opposite I must be bear whisperer or something because every time I’ve gone out in bear country I always see them despite being shit scared of them. Maybe they can smell the fear.
I live on Kodiak Island and I encounter bears Mayne 30-40 times a year. 99.999% of the time just yelling at them will make them go away. I carry a 10mm 1911, a Remington R1. Drew it once but I've never shot a bear with it. I have killed two bears, but both with brenneke slugs from a Mossy 500. One was in my chicken coop, and the other had been in mine in my neighbors trashcans for a week up and down the road. Anyway, I do not recommend bear spray. It seems to me that the most common use of it is accidental discharge in a plane, car, bag or anything. And despite what the package claims they don't work well in rain, or even a light breeze.
When do you yell at it? Is it only if it is following you right?
Kek. Anytime.
>10mm 1911 loaded extra spicy for maximum fireballs
based if true
I reload and cast. How about them apples?
Are magnum pistol primers getting any easier to find?
A little. Large pistol magnum are easier to find than small. But I don't use many smalls anyway, and I had a large stock of large before this whole thing started.
I brought a Glock 10mm to Alaska on a fishing trip, Not a fan of Glocks (ugly as hell) but am a fan of 10mm and 15 rnd mags
I fired a buddy's 10mm Glock. Has a lot of snap. I do like the 15 round mags. But the long slide of my R1 makes the recoil very manageable even with +P heavy cast rounds. Goods and bads I suppose. I do with the R1 was double stack.
>Yesterday I saw some bear signs
Where? in mid Dec? Dont bears hibernate in your area?
>I also don’t even think bear spray would do anything, especially if it’s windy.
Why do you think that? It works otherwise people wouldnt use it.
Well they should be but this winter is warmer and they do get up sometimes anyways since black bears don’t fully hibernate.
>why do you think that?
Because when it’s windy it can’t aim, and if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction to the bear you’d just end up spraying yourself
Also it may scare it away for a while but if there’s more than one bear you are screwed cause you will probably run out. Also it doesn’t guarantee they won’t come back.
You’ve never discharged a can of bear spray and it shows. Gg, thanks for playing.
>Because when it’s windy it can’t aim, and if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction to the bear you’d just end up spraying yourself
wind is a factor but studies have show it is still effective and can be used. The cans are under very high pressure.
https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.21958
People buy it because they're scared of guns. Doesn't work as advertised in my experience. People never actually observe it's use, so they just assume it works.
I buy it cause I’m afraid I won’t be approved for a gun. Also guns are expensive too and I know nothing about them, and most guns are banned here anyway.
Erm. Lmao
you sound like a whimpy man that is canadian.
>People buy it because they're scared of guns.
Bullshit. maybe they buy it because they dont have a gun or are only in bear country for a visit etc...many people carry both guns and spray. Some people would rather not kill the bear if they didnt have to.
>Doesn't work as advertised in my experience
How many bears have attacked you and the you used bear spray and it failed? It certainly HAS worked for many people.
Hey enjoy being bear shit, no skin of my back. Navy seal on 2019 that got gored used bear spray to no effect. Said it was too windy. But, I'd rather people not come to Kodiak anyway.
Carry spray AND gun. Spray is much easier to aim when nervous as long as it isn't super windy. If it is windy or otherwise non viable, deploy gun.
I run into bears all the time around truck stops. I find it's effective to turn down their propositions in a firm voice and then continue fueling like they aren't there.
What do you say to them? And what kinds of behaviour do they exhibit when you choose to do this?
Plus where does that happen?
Ok
Yeah I haven’t, but you also don’t know how windy it gets here especially in the winter.
Anon, I...
Read the book “Bear Attacks, Their Causes and Avoidance” by Stephen Herrero. The odds of getting attacked by a bear are never 0, but you can lower the odds by taking precautions and understanding bear behavior.
find a tree and climb up it
Funny, I've never come across one while hiking, but they come through my yard in the spring and summer. This big sucker usually knocks over the grill. A couple times they tore up the house siding or the back garage door. I watched one just bend a 2 inch pole holding up the neighbor's bird feeder. Bear bent it to the ground like it was nothing. Impressive for sure.
Your neighbours are fricking morons. You’re not supposed to have bird feeders out in bear country.
Yes on both. That's the last time I go to a bar with out looking up reviews.
I've had many, both black and griz. I've never carried spray, and only a few times have I been armed. Only once was I genuinely in fear. I think if you're mostly smart and a bit lucky you'll be ok. Don't go sneaking up on them.
>I also don’t even think bear spray would do anything
You say this after never having tested it.
Yeah I’m not gonna waste my precious expensive bear spray to “test it”
The cans expire after a year or 2. If you live in bear country you practice with your expired cans.
bears are generally harmless and most will even let you ride them if you offer them some snacks.
What a load of bullshit
You're in the pocket of the horse industry.
Bears will freeze when they see you, they shouldn’t be used to humans. You need to start yelling to make your presence known. Do not run, do not show weakness.
If they start approaching slowly back away and start using your defenses. At this point they’re probably hungry and smell whatever you’re carrying. Bear bangers, flares, and warning shots are all fair game. Get to higher ground, keep distance.
If the bear is still approaching that means it sees you as prey or a threat and you’re going to activate fight or flight mode, aka forgetting all the shitty advice you learned on PrepHole.
does throwing rocks work? i feel like that's our evolutionary advantage; ranged weapons, but even throwing a rock can scare off animals, does it work on bears?
If black bear, they will turn around and leave if you clap. Nobody really truly likes it when Americans clap.
Bees, especially wasps, are a far greater threat than bears ever were. Try to prove it wrong (tip: you fricking can’t).
This is complete bullshit. Wasps pose no harm to people and would never attack out of spite. They’re actually quite peaceful and not a danger at all. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Also, wasp honey is superior to bee honey. The next time you see a wasp nest you should look for some. They won’t sting you this time of year. Trust me bro.
>Wasps pose no harm to people and would never attack out of spite
>anthropomorphisizing insects
>possible B8
Neither bears nor wasps feel "spite".
There are on average 62 deaths each year in the US from bee, wasp and hornet stings- far more than death from bears.
>being this autistic
At least you admit it.
as bad as a bee or wasp sting can be, no way you die to them unless you're allergic
>no way you die to them unless you're allergic
I am sure that accounts for a lot of the deaths but you can definitely die from getting swarmed. Sounds miserable.
https://www.newsweek.com/landscaper-killed-swarm-bees-while-suspended-harness-1708872
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-killed-arizona-bee-swarm-two-others-hospitalized-after-hundreds-n1275455
>Neither bears nor wasps feel "spite".
>a desire to hurt, annoy, or offend someone.
Bears can definitely do things out of spite.
not the same thing as running into one while hiking; but we have black bears constantly transiting our property and/or raiding garbage. they're very skittish, if they see you more often than that they'll bolt. we're in western OR, and adjacent to a few thousand acres of BLM forest, so lots of other critters show up (deer and cougar especially)
Closest we've come to actually having an 'incident' with a bear was a few years ago. Wife put out a bird feeder in the back yard with suet, and a bear decided it would be a great snack. It smashed the feeder and was just chilling out in the yard maybe 30' from the house. wife goes out with pots and pans to try to scare it off, and it ignores her. So I wound up grabbing my kids BB gun and started wienering it; bear stands up on its hind legs (which at the time I incorrectly read as it was getting ready to charge, whereas in reality they do it out of curiosity) Wound up hitting him in the chest and he ran off. (i know, i know -- very anticlimactic.)
>inb4 why not use a real gun.
Another time a bear was up in my garden and took a gigantic fricking ogre shit right next to my green beans. butthole.
for the most part though if you treat them like extremely large racoons you'll be fine. (obviously grizzly bears are different, as are mother's with cubs in tow)
57 replies and not a single person who’s ever needed a gun or bear spray. LARP harder you gays.
Maybe that's because bears don't actually just run up and mug people all the time. Bear attacks are fairly rare except in areas where most PrepHoleists don't live.
>he didn't read all the replys.
Miss my girls.
elaborate
I baby sit/haze alaskan brown bears during the salmon run.
i'd be more worried about monsters personally
i wanna put my dick in the bear's mouth
ppl in this thread are more skittish and violent than any resident out here
you are the Black folk of the out/ bringing guns and shit to bear country looking for every opportunity to jump and mug innocent and civilized bears
go back in your cages where you belong you
Agree.
>gun?
>spray?
>air horn?
all three ideally. here's what one of the leading experts on bear psychology stephen herrero has to say:
>Your best weapon to minimize the risk of a bear attack is your brain. Use it as
>soon as you contemplate a trip to bear country, and continue to use it through-
>out your stay. In national parks and other areas where bears are protected from
>hunting, you will not have firearms, so your brain and bear spray will be your
>most effective bear deterrents.
>If you have bear spray or another deterrent, or are armed, you can try to
>chase away a food-seeking or curious grizzly. Use noisemakers such as non-
>injurious explosive shells (see page 139) or loud boat horns (see page 123),
>shout, rev engines, or bang pots. Keep making loud noises until the bear leaves
>or becomes aggressive. If it continues to approach or charges, keep up the noise
>but be ready with bear spray, which is the deterrent of choice in this situation, or
>an appropriate firearm (see pages 242–48).
>I decided to evaluate the effectiveness of pepper spray for myself. As part
>of my database on bear–human interactions we began collecting detailed case-
>incident records of field situations in Canada and the United States in which
>people used pepper spray as a bear deterrent. Andrew Higgins and I collected
>unbiased records of sixty-six situations that occurred between 1984 and 1994
>where people used pepper spray to try to deter the advance of an aggressive
>or curious bear.23 The results are somewhat complex—but so are bear–human
>interactions. In 94 percent (fifteen out of sixteen) of the close-range encounters
>with aggressive grizzly bears, pepper spray appeared to stop the behavior that
>the bear was displaying immediately prior to being sprayed. In six cases the bear
>continued to act aggressively; in three of these cases the bear attacked the person
>spraying. In one of these three cases the bear left after further spraying. In all
>three injurious encounters the bear received a substantial dose of spray to the
>face. In 88 percent (fourteen of sixteen) of the cases, the bear eventually left the
>area after being sprayed. While we do not know how these encounters would
>have ended in the absence of spray, the use of spray appears to have prevented
>injury in most, but not all, of these encounters. I was surprised and impressed
>with these results. I started regularly carrying pepper spray myself.
>In 100 percent (twenty of twenty) of the encounters with curious grizzlies,
>or grizzlies searching for people’s food or garbage, the spray appeared to stop the
>behavior. The bear left the area in 90 percent (eighteen of twenty) of the cases.
>In only two of these cases was it known to have returned.
>In 100 percent (four of four) of the encounters with aggressive and surprised,
>or possibly predaceous, black bears, the spray appeared to stop the behavior that
>the bear was displaying immediately before being sprayed. Still, no black bears
>left in response to being sprayed, suggesting that you might need other means to
>deter such bears—or large quantities of pepper spray. In 73 percent (nineteen of
>twenty-six) of incidents involving curious black bears, pepper spray appeared to
>stop the behavior. The bear left the area in 54 percent (fourteen of twenty-six)
>of the cases, but in six of these fourteen cases it returned. In 62 percent (eight
>of thirteen) of the incidents where the black bear received a substantial dose of
>pepper spray to the face, it either did not leave the area, or left and returned. I
>can’t explain the apparently different effects of pepper spray on black and grizzly
>bears. More research is needed.
>Still, as Dr. Stephen French, a grizzly bear researcher in the Yellowstone eco-
>system, says, “The spray isn’t brains in a can.” Carrying pepper spray is not a sub-
>stitute for the normal precautions when traveling or camping in bear country.
>As a final note of caution, Tom Smith found that pepper spray residue was
>a powerful bear attractant.24 Some bush pilots in coastal Alaska sprayed it on
>their tires to keep bears away. They came back to find bears rubbing on their
>tires, having bitten and flattened them. Pepper spray should never be used as a
>repellent, since most brands have the opposite effect. Care should be taken to
>not get any on a tent.
>Persistent approaching characterizes potentially predatory black bear behavior. It is not the bear but the person who feels threatened. I have stressed that this is a very rare situation, but clearly one in which a firearm could save your life. Bear spray may temporarily stop the approaches of a potentially predaceous bear, but you may run out of spray before the bear leaves.
>A firearm is also useful when a very aggressive bear shows up around camp and cannot be persuaded to leave. Such bears normally have a history of feeding on people’s food or garbage, and may have to be killed. Of course, if an aggressive bear actually attacks you or a companion, a firearm may be a life-saver—or it may cause a wounded bear to intensify its attack. The risk of shooting a companion who is being mauled must also be considered. Finally, a firearm might be useful if you suddenly encounter a grizzly bear, especially a female with cubs, and you are charged by the grizzly. If you have a firearm, you may choose to shoot a charging grizzly bear—but remember that a wounded grizzly is almost always highly dangerous, and may try to attack the person who has wounded it. Since black bears seldom charge at and contact people in incidents preceded by sudden surprise, the discussion that follows primarily concerns the grizzly.
>For protection against a suddenly encountered and charging grizzly, many people will be safer without any firearms, despite the legality of carrying them in most non-park and remote areas. I think that for some people, carrying a firearm tends to turn off the alertness to signs of bears and to situations in which bear danger might develop. With the perceived security of a firearm, people become bolder, which can be bad for several reasons. If you are expert with firearms under “combat” conditions, you are more likely to provoke grizzlies, and hence, to have to use your expert ability. In this case the unnecessary killing of a grizzly bear may occur.
I lived and worked in remote areas of SE Alaska. I've had a close encounter with a black bear and also have came up on a grizzly in the woods a couple times. I was running when I saw the black bear. It wasn't very big, close to my size. I just turned around and ran the other way when I saw him. Didn't feel threatened at all. First time seeing a grizzly bear up close is pretty scary, like seeing a shark in the ocean. The reality is that like sharks, bears don't really care about or want to eat us. I would break advice into two categories.
>low risk
You are in the lower 48, there are a few blackbears but your chance of running into any kind of bear is pretty low. This is how most of my outings are now that I live down south and I take no precautions.
>high risk
You are in an area with a lot of bears and the chance you see a bear is high. People from Alaska who go out in areas with a lot of bears pretty much just bring guns. If you get attacked by a 1000 pound animal with sharp teeth and claws that can outrun you are you seriously going to trust your life to a can of pepper spray and a bell?
bears have gotten pretty close to my tent
its a bit terrifying knowing this creature can rip you to shreds at any given moment