alpinewanderer
Newbie
I'll bite on subject of sprays vs. pistols. The answer is... neither really. Your best defense is your wits.
I am a FGASA certified safari guide in the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa. I have thousands of hours logged in the bush with hundreds of encounters with elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, buffalo, hyenas, and hippos. I've had buddies who've been attacked and gored and I've had friends who've unfortunately had to kill animals in charge scenarios. That beings said, here's the deal with guns for wildlife defense as I see it. I'll be describing things from an African angle but I think the ultimate conclusions still apply to potentially dangerous creatures the world over.
Firearms are the most effective means of defense but unfortunately only in extremely specific scenarios. As a guide in Africa, pistols were out of the question given the species we work around. In our case the field arm of choice is a CZ-550's in .458 WIN MAG with ghost ring sights. Situations where firearms are effective for defensive work are situations where you bump an animal and it's in front of you, or you are in an encounter where you and the animal have seen one another well before the situation escalated and it has chosen to attack. In all other scenarios, i.e. exploding from dense cover due to starling etc., or predators deliberately hunting you, you will not have a chance to shoot before it animal is upon you. It's just that simple. For this reason we're legally required to guide in pairs, both armed. That way if the lead falls victim the second might be able to get a brain shot in before a serious injury becomes a fatality (And yes we rotate lead, 1hr shifts). An in order to protect each other and our clients effectively we had to go through rigorous training and assessments including attack simulations wherein you are attacked unexpectedly by a dummy lion moving in at 11 m/s. If you don't get a brain hit and if you fire BEFORE the animal is within 10m you fail that part of the exam and must schedule for a complete reassessment. Despite extensive training nearly half of all trainees cannot pass this test.
What is the point I'm trying to make? Despite all of this elaborate firearms work, we spend 1000x more time training on the BEHAVIOR of animals, where they go and when, what they eat, how they socialize, what their body language and physical condition indicates and so on (If you seriously want to tag an elk you should be doing this for that species already anyways). That is your greatest defense. For this reason the final exam for guides in SA where I trained is to be dropped many many miles away from camp. The assessor then takes away your service rifle and tells you to walk back to camp and informs you what species have been seen in that area that day. And that's it. Better know your shit.
I'm not saying that every mountain hunter in the west should go through all that type of training but to be honest: If you live in the area and have the time and interest, create as many training challenges for yourself as you can. If you don't live in the area then still do your best to educate yourself and make trips to scout and expand your knowledge of bears and cougars then. If you want to pack a pistol fine, but you better practice with it as much or more than you do with your bow or bolt gun. And I don't mean shooting torso shaped paper, I mean recreating being attacked as best you can. If you shoot to kill at 75 yards you're not being attacked so you better have that $100 bear tag in your pocket. If you have spray, don't use it until the animal is almost on top of you. Yeah it's terrifying but that will actually give you the greatest chance of success.
Do what you can and accept that life in the wild comes with inherent risks, many of which you cannot control... animals, weather, and other hazards etc. If you cannot accept that there's at least a small chance that despite your best efforts the dice may roll against you, then you should stay home.
As for me. It'll be a can of spray, a sharp blade, and sharper mind.
Enjoy the hunt!
I am a FGASA certified safari guide in the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa. I have thousands of hours logged in the bush with hundreds of encounters with elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, buffalo, hyenas, and hippos. I've had buddies who've been attacked and gored and I've had friends who've unfortunately had to kill animals in charge scenarios. That beings said, here's the deal with guns for wildlife defense as I see it. I'll be describing things from an African angle but I think the ultimate conclusions still apply to potentially dangerous creatures the world over.
Firearms are the most effective means of defense but unfortunately only in extremely specific scenarios. As a guide in Africa, pistols were out of the question given the species we work around. In our case the field arm of choice is a CZ-550's in .458 WIN MAG with ghost ring sights. Situations where firearms are effective for defensive work are situations where you bump an animal and it's in front of you, or you are in an encounter where you and the animal have seen one another well before the situation escalated and it has chosen to attack. In all other scenarios, i.e. exploding from dense cover due to starling etc., or predators deliberately hunting you, you will not have a chance to shoot before it animal is upon you. It's just that simple. For this reason we're legally required to guide in pairs, both armed. That way if the lead falls victim the second might be able to get a brain shot in before a serious injury becomes a fatality (And yes we rotate lead, 1hr shifts). An in order to protect each other and our clients effectively we had to go through rigorous training and assessments including attack simulations wherein you are attacked unexpectedly by a dummy lion moving in at 11 m/s. If you don't get a brain hit and if you fire BEFORE the animal is within 10m you fail that part of the exam and must schedule for a complete reassessment. Despite extensive training nearly half of all trainees cannot pass this test.
What is the point I'm trying to make? Despite all of this elaborate firearms work, we spend 1000x more time training on the BEHAVIOR of animals, where they go and when, what they eat, how they socialize, what their body language and physical condition indicates and so on (If you seriously want to tag an elk you should be doing this for that species already anyways). That is your greatest defense. For this reason the final exam for guides in SA where I trained is to be dropped many many miles away from camp. The assessor then takes away your service rifle and tells you to walk back to camp and informs you what species have been seen in that area that day. And that's it. Better know your shit.
I'm not saying that every mountain hunter in the west should go through all that type of training but to be honest: If you live in the area and have the time and interest, create as many training challenges for yourself as you can. If you don't live in the area then still do your best to educate yourself and make trips to scout and expand your knowledge of bears and cougars then. If you want to pack a pistol fine, but you better practice with it as much or more than you do with your bow or bolt gun. And I don't mean shooting torso shaped paper, I mean recreating being attacked as best you can. If you shoot to kill at 75 yards you're not being attacked so you better have that $100 bear tag in your pocket. If you have spray, don't use it until the animal is almost on top of you. Yeah it's terrifying but that will actually give you the greatest chance of success.
Do what you can and accept that life in the wild comes with inherent risks, many of which you cannot control... animals, weather, and other hazards etc. If you cannot accept that there's at least a small chance that despite your best efforts the dice may roll against you, then you should stay home.
As for me. It'll be a can of spray, a sharp blade, and sharper mind.
Enjoy the hunt!
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