Sidearm or bear spray?

[dla]

Bear spray is a great 12oz tool to educate some idiot's dog on the trail that won't result in a discussion with the local sheriff. So I always carried BS when hiking/backpacking in Oregon because there was always some dipshit who couldn't control their dog.

But when hunting/hiking in Idaho, where the Sheriff isn't sympathetic towards idiots with off-leash dogs (and wolves will get them), I just carried my 31oz scandium frame security blanket made by my friends Smith & Wesson. I slept a whole lot better at night.

My security blanket, (270gr WFN@1200fps), gives me options in dealing with humans, dogs, wolves, and bears. It gives me an honest 50yd circle of power projection when I've got grandkids with me.

I'm happy with my security blanket.

 

[TheGDog]

Just curious, what kinda isht did peoples dogs do directed at you?

 

[Stefan]

I don't put much faith in bear spray. Just my .02
This happened up by Angel Rocks when I was living up there.

Alaska woman recounts terrifying ordeal with bear - Outdoor News

A 43-year-old professor says she fought off a grizzly bear that stalked her and her nieces by throwing everything she had at it including a package of macaroni and cheese.

www.outdoornews.com

 

[Laramie]

I don't put much faith in bear spray. Just my .02
This happened up by Angel Rocks when I was living up there.

Alaska woman recounts terrifying ordeal with bear - Outdoor News

A 43-year-old professor says she fought off a grizzly bear that stalked her and her nieces by throwing everything she had at it including a package of macaroni and cheese.

www.outdoornews.com

I'm a fan of a sidearm. That said, I'm betting she missed that cub with her spray.

 

[Marbles]

I'm a fan of a sidearm. That said, I'm betting she missed that cub with her spray.

That woman is my aunt-in-law's sister. She did not get a solid hit with the bear spray, but said the bear seemed leery of the can of mosquito repellent afterwards. She also bought a gun the next day, before that she refused to own one.

A miss or graze with a gun followed by dropping It might have turned out worse though as many browns just get plain pissed off once wounded. Good argument for a lanyard on whatever one plans to use.

 

[dla]

Just curious, what kinda isht did peoples dogs do directed at you?

Most common is they believe they are defending their owners so they square off with me on the trail. There is always some lady with a rottweiler who "wouldn't bite anybody". Occasionally there would be "low income campers" whose choice of dog always seemed to be pitts.
Nobody should have to learn to read a dog before taking a hike. I can read dogs, and I have zip patience for ill-trained canines unless they are kickme dogs.

 

[TheGDog]

Most common is they believe they are defending their owners so they square off with me on the trail. There is always some lady with a rottweiler who "wouldn't bite anybody". Occasionally there would be "low income campers" whose choice of dog always seemed to be pitts.
Nobody should have to learn to read a dog before taking a hike. I can read dogs, and I have zip patience for ill-trained canines unless they are kickme dogs.

I feel you on the reading dogs part. Always trips me out when I encounter people who simply can not read dogs. And it's like.. it's so simple! It's their body-language, and they can't lie!

You know like back when we were kids and you actually would WALK to school everyday (Gasp!)... there'd always be that house or two that would have a dog in the fenced-in front yard (I grew up Ghetto, so ya know, they often had fences out front as well) that would lose his damn mind barking at all the kids that would come by on the way to school? I prided myself on always eventually being able to get those dogs to calm down and come to the fence and let me pet 'em.

Always trips me out when you see grown-ass men that are fearful of a dog. Man... I'll kick the dog-shit out of dog if I had to. And with our super little "kickme dog" as you liked to describe it (less than 5Lbs), I often have had to protect her from big breeds with strong prey drive that wanna hone in on her like "Squirrel!" in their demeanor. All manner of big shit too. Huskies, Akita, All the herding breeds, pitts don't usually wanna zone in on her aggressively... usually they just have a curiousity and wanna confirm that she's a dog by smell. So I just make a presence in-between them and her. Typically just push my finger in between their shoulder blades with enough pressure to let'em know I'm watching them and shit'll get serious real quick if they act a fool. And yeah... with the hard-chargers like the big ol Huskies and such... I don't know how many I've had to pin-down by the neck to the dirt, ya know? It's like that's your baby you're protecting so I have no fear and zero-***** are given when I have to flick that mental switch over to that mode. And the dogs know that mode... and they respect it too... for the most part. So usually they respond with this sorta surprised look when they snap out of it (the fixation on her) and look up at me with sort of this "Oh! She's with you dawg? My bad player!" type of deal. hehe.

 

[j33]

I carry spray, but if you gotta ask which to take bring both. People always feel more comfortable with their side arm, which is enough of a reason to pack one as you’ll sleep better at night, but there’s a slim chance most will actually manage to get a hit when a bear is covering 30 feet per second. There’s a higher chance a droplet of spray hits the bears face. GoHunt article below summed it up best “reports show that bear encounters with firearms resulted in injury in approximately 50% of the cases while bear spray was 98% effective at preventing injury”

https://www.gohunt.com/read/skills/hunting-in-grizzly-bear-country-sidearm-vs-bear-spray#gs.xoaagb

 

[TheGDog]

I've seen elsewhere in forums specific to folks in Ak... where it was pointed out whom funded and ran those studies. "Don't believe the Hype". Bring it...use it.. but in terms of that level of faith.. don't trust in it. Have both.

Remember... we're talking about creatures that routinely rip gashes in each others faces and still continue fighting. We're talking sometimes Unreal pain tolerance. So always keep that thought in mind.

Having said that... I do think the majority of the time it should work. But it also relies on the wind not working against you in that moment. Can you imagine whippin out your canister and blasting at him running on pure adrenaline... only to realize the howling winds are making a lot of that spray come right back atcha?

I'd just say.. having experienced an Nth of it.... you should think of it as a Dual-edged sword in terms of it's deploy. And try your best to know you should be good to go before squeezing it's trigger. I can't imagine how heinous it'd be to Eff up and caused yourself to get some in your face... and THEN still get atttacked. All due to the wind you didn't notice when you were hyped up in the moment of it all.

 

[Kojote]

I'm no expert but have lived in bear country for about 20 years. Depending on what I'm doing and where I'm going, I might carry both or neither. Usually, bears don't want anything to do with you, letting you're presence known is usually more than enough for them to leave the area.

I'll carry both when I go places that bears have more contact with humans or food is kinda scarce... Like in the spring. I leave the spray in the truck when it's windy or the pistol at home when I'm trying to watch my weight.

A word of warning, spray is indiscriminate and unforgiving, keep an eye on the experation date and the safety tab, replace if either are shady... had one pop while going thru some thick bush and let's just say even two years an 7-8 washes later, the affects are lingering when I use that ruck ;-)

 

[MaraviaDave]

From a terminal ballistics point of view, handguns are pathetic, regardless of cartridge type and bullet weight. If you’re curious..,..use ballistic software and plug in the required data for the handgun cartridge you’re considering, then start making comparisons to centerfire rifle cartridges / bullet weights. Look at whatever energy calculation you prefer (ft-lbs, TKO, OGW, momentum, etc). After you find a terminal ballistic equivalent in a rifle, to put things into perspective, ask yourself if you believe that cartridge/bullet weight/energy is going to be sufficient enough to stop a Grizzly bear committed to the charge, at close range, with a head on shot angle. The only things that really matter, in this discussion are; 1) energy at target/bear, 2) bullet construction, 3) shot placement / angle. From my perspective, handguns are absolutely pathetic from a terminal ballistics perspective.

 

[Beendare]

From a terminal ballistics point of view, handguns are pathetic, regardless of cartridge type and bullet weight.

Hardcast bullets changes that^

Big bears dropped by a 9mm....Hard cast ammo is a game changer.

__

 

[Marbles]

From a terminal ballistics point of view, handguns are pathetic, regardless of cartridge type and bullet weight. If you’re curious..,..use ballistic software and plug in the required data for the handgun cartridge you’re considering, then start making comparisons to centerfire rifle cartridges / bullet weights. Look at whatever energy calculation you prefer (ft-lbs, TKO, OGW, momentum, etc). After you find a terminal ballistic equivalent in a rifle, to put things into perspective, ask yourself if you believe that cartridge/bullet weight/energy is going to be sufficient enough to stop a Grizzly bear committed to the charge, at close range, with a head on shot angle. The only things that really matter, in this discussion are; 1) energy at target/bear, 2) bullet construction, 3) shot placement / angle. From my perspective, handguns are absolutely pathetic from a terminal ballistics perspective.

Enough bears have been dropped with handguns that it is hard to argue they don't work for the job. This is like the refrain 'if you're going to get into a gun fight, bring a long gun' Well, if I'm going to get in a gun fight I'm bringing a rifle, all my friends who will also bring rifles, an armored division, and an air wing.

Of course, if the bear will be kind enough to schedule the charge before hand and let me know what direction he'll be coming from, I'll go buy an Anzio 20mm.

 

[AK Troutbum]

From a terminal ballistics point of view, handguns are pathetic, regardless of cartridge type and bullet weight. If you’re curious..,..use ballistic software and plug in the required data for the handgun cartridge you’re considering, then start making comparisons to centerfire rifle cartridges / bullet weights. Look at whatever energy calculation you prefer (ft-lbs, TKO, OGW, momentum, etc). After you find a terminal ballistic equivalent in a rifle, to put things into perspective, ask yourself if you believe that cartridge/bullet weight/energy is going to be sufficient enough to stop a Grizzly bear committed to the charge, at close range, with a head on shot angle. The only things that really matter, in this discussion are; 1) energy at target/bear, 2) bullet construction, 3) shot placement / angle. From my perspective, handguns are absolutely pathetic from a terminal ballistics perspective.

A few years back I shot a medium size brown bear, that had initiated a charge from about 30’ away. I was using a S&W .500 and 440gr. hard cast, and I didn’t hit him in the head as intended, but instead I hit him in the right chest/neck area. The bullet traveled the length of his body and exited out his right hip/base of tail bone area. Fortunately for me nobody told him that handguns were pathetic at killing bears, especially when the bullet misses the intended target (head).


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[Shootoften]

I prefer sidearm over spray. Whatever you use practice with it. Including spray.

 

[Stefan]

Handguns, depending on caliber and bullet construction are capable.
Add in, I'll take a handgun over a pocket knife or nothing at all any day.

Pocket knife saves Canadian man during grizzly bear attack

Colin Dowler ended up in a life-or-death struggle with a grizzly bear in British Columbia.

www.bbc.com

That woman is my aunt-in-law's sister. She did not get a solid hit with the bear spray, but said the bear seemed leery of the can of mosquito repellent afterwards. She also bought a gun the next day, before that she refused to own one.

A miss or graze with a gun followed by dropping It might have turned out worse though as many browns just get plain pissed off once wounded. Good argument for a lanyard on whatever one plans to use.

I had taken my parents there a couple of days if not a day before her encounter.

 

[wyodan]

Carry both. Bear spray because you're responsible, and a pistol because you're an American.

 

[journeyman713]

When out in the wilderness,
If you come across a pair of chewed up boots that smell a little, peppery...
You know what that guy carried

 

[Castle Oak]

I carry both and practice with both. I am ambidextrous so the pistol goes to my more dominant hand and the bear spray to the other. I have the spray hooked to my waist belt on the pack and I can deploy it without having to remove it from the holster. One tip I heard to help with pistol accuracy is to drop to one knee so you are shooting on the same level as the bear. Practice, practice and more practice.

 

[X-file]

I also carry both and practice with both. I know one person who’s life was saved with bear spray. I believe that bear spray can be deployed very quickly with enough practice. I also practice with my xdm 9mm a lot but carry the xdm 10mm when in the woods. The grip profile and being able to use the same holster for both helps with the transition between guns. I am fortunate enough to have never needed them


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