Bear spray vs Bullets

[MontanaRifleman]

Pretty much where I am. I simply cannot see myself betting my life on a spray can.

Why bet your life on anything? You were a Ranger right? I have a good friend who was also... a LRP kinda guy...now that chit was a lot more dangerous than bears. Bears for the most part want to be left alone. VC and and NVA were nasty kinda critters. You get it

 

[WildRose]

Why bet your life on anything? You were a Ranger right? I have a good friend who was also... a LRP kinda guy...now that chit was a lot more dangerous than bears. Bears for the most part want to be left alone. VC and and NVA were nasty kinda critters. You get it

I've dealt with the worst humanity has to offer.

I read people and situations involving people well and can usually predict what a bad guy is going to do.

I will never live long enough to develop the same kind of familiarity with bears. I'm smart enough not to run from one and I'm smart enough to be prepared just in case I happen to stumble on the one old grumpy, sick, starving bear or find myself between an angry momma and her cubs.

What I won't do is bet my life on a spray can in such a situation.

Have a plan.

Train to the plan.

Be ready to execute the plan.

Work the plan.

 

[J E Custom]

Maybe in Texas, but I guess you don't have Griz down there. You kill a Griz in Montana and you have some splaining to do... unless your sure no one was lookin over your shoulder... SSS

I didn't think there would not be consequences, But just that I will take my chances with the PWD
instead of the bare.

How much explaining does the bear do after he kills someone ? Chances are they (PWD) will Kill
the bear If they can figure out which on did the deed. and hopefully get the right one.
ether way, He is dead and I'm not.

Besides, If you have to kill a bear you have to report it and have the evidence that the bear gave you no choice. In Texas we are allowed to defend ourselves against anyone or thing that intends to do us harm as long as it is justified, But we still have to answer for what we did.

I would rather deal with a jury of 12 than 6 pallbearers.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Dick Tinsley]

I've been following this tread for awhile. Good stuff on here. I'm going on a moose hunt in Alaska in the future an will be in bear country. That being said, down here in louisana we do have black bears, not as many as others do in other states, but we do have them. I have never been face to face with one, but I would think( an this is just my opinion) that a bear, black, griz or other is bigger, faster, stronger,etc, plus on its home turf, I for one would use a firearm for protection. I just can see trusting my life an others to a can of spray that I really don't know will work or discharge at the time of need! I however have confidence in a firearm with more than one chance of working. That's just my take one it. If whoever wants to use spray, then so be it! Me, I'll chose lead! Just my two cents!

DT

 

[Pdvdh]

Why bet your life on anything?

The question is how to maximize the odds of a winning bet. We're discussing risk reduction. How to reduce the risk of injury or loss of life from an opportunistic predator? An animal also trying to survive at all costs, including ours.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I didn't think there would not be consequences, But just that I will take my chances with the PWD
instead of the bare.

How much explaining does the bear do after he kills someone ? Chances are they (PWD) will Kill
the bear If they can figure out which on did the deed. and hopefully get the right one.
ether way, He is dead and I'm not.

Besides, If you have to kill a bear you have to report it and have the evidence that the bear gave you no choice. In Texas we are allowed to defend ourselves against anyone or thing that intends to do us harm as long as it is justified, But we still have to answer for what we did.

I would rather deal with a jury of 12 than 6 pallbearers.

J E CUSTOM

JE, you're preaching to the choir. The policies up here are screwed up big time. Way too much tree hugger and animal lover influence, that mostly comes form out of state. We used to be able to hunt griz here. I've seen the griz hunt ended, I've seen the buffalo hunt ended and I have seen wolves introduced and I am not at all happy about any of it.

I am all for your right to protect yourself any way you see fit. Just saying, if you kill a griz in these parts and you are not mauled up, be prepared for some real bullchit. Hell, if you shoot a varmint woof without a tag, and they catch you, you are gonna pay a big fine and loose hunting privileges for a while. Just plain crazy!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

The question is how to maximize the odds of a winning bet. We're discussing risk reduction. How to reduce the risk of injury or loss of life from an opportunistic predator? An animal also trying to survive at all costs, including ours.

We all have our opinions on that and they have been pretty well fleshed out. No perfect answers... we do what we can do and what we think is best.

 

[bigngreen]

I think there is a place for the spray for sure, I know guys who are much better of with a can of spray and a prayer than a firearm, IMO if your a person who is not willing to pack serious firepower and practice using it in self defense situations you'd better load up on spray!!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I've been following this tread for awhile. Good stuff on here. I'm going on a moose hunt in Alaska in the future an will be in bear country. That being said, down here in louisana we do have black bears, not as many as others do in other states, but we do have them. I have never been face to face with one, but I would think( an this is just my opinion) that a bear, black, griz or other is bigger, faster, stronger,etc, plus on its home turf, I for one would use a firearm for protection. I just can see trusting my life an others to a can of spray that I really don't know will work or discharge at the time of need! I however have confidence in a firearm with more than one chance of working. That's just my take one it. If whoever wants to use spray, then so be it! Me, I'll chose lead! Just my two cents!

DT

Dick, not trying to change your mind at all, but your chances of having a can of spray not discharging are probably about the same as having hangfire, misfire or getting your action buggered up. It's going to be extremely rare.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Came across this video of a guy doing a Counter Assault demo.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...a&sigb=12rkum8hg&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Here's another interesting video. A trained bear attacks and kills a guy in a production situation. As soon as spray is deployed, the bear backs off. Unfortunately for the man killed, the spray was deployed a little late.

 

[Pdvdh]

We all have our opinions on that

You're not going to appreciate this response. You said "So I'll leave it there" more than 55 posts prior to this one.

Yes we all have opinions and we are all expressing them. Your opinion and the belief that yours is the superior one, led you to pose a question utterly without merit within this Thread's topic of discussion. "Why bet your life on anything?" The effect was to disparage the opinion and preference expressed by WildRose. But then your immediate response to my post, which exposed the irrelevant and condescending nature of your question, was "We all have our opinions on that and they have been pretty well fleshed out. No perfect answers... we do what we can do and what we think is best.." That's the healthy equivalent of "live and let live".

Which begs the question... is it live and let live only when you've decided it's time to live and let live? You could have, and really should have, adhered to that position of tolerance before asking WildRose "Why bet your life on anything?" Should have, that is, if you truly subscribe to "live and let live", respecting all members expressions of their opinions on whether bear spray or bullets are the better self defense tool.

Here's my answer to your question, "Why bet your life on anything?" Because we incur risk, and continually place incremental bets on our lives, in the pursuit of happiness. We bet our life when we drive our cars, when we walk across the street, when we venture into the bear's domain. We bet our life throughout life. What was the point of your question? To imply WildRose shouldn't place himself in the potential presence of bears, in order to avoid any bet that a bear might possibly take his life? He never said he was frozen in fear of bears. The neutral interpretation of WildRose's posts are that he'll not bet his life on what he believes to be the inferior defensive tool --> bear spray.

 

[HARPERC]

Some have mentioned not being able to "read" bears, I like Wildrose's comment about having a plan, training, and executing it.

Not much you can do in some cases such as surprise at close range, but my read of some accounts, and some video's, how much some folks let a bear get by with, and how close they allow a bear to get without ratcheting up their assessment of threat level.

If a bear is within 50 yards of me, and aware I'm there, yet doesn't respond in normal bear fashion of busting out for parts unknown, it has my undivided attention. Making more noise making sure it knows I'm there, and I'm making sure whatever I'm planning to defend myself with is accessible.

If it fails to either retreat or allow me to increase distance between us I'm cranking it up another level, I'm accessing whatever it is I'm going to defend myself with, and trying to make myself appear as formidable as I can.

The deadline will very with your choice of weapon, and conditions on the ground ,but the one constant is-bears are fast, and for the most part 20 yards is too close for me to tolerate, and I'm likely removing said bear from the gene pool.

Quite frankly the conditions on the ground here doesn't include throwing myself on the mercy of the court.

 

[Dick Tinsley]

Dick, not trying to change your mind at all, but your chances of having a can of spray not discharging are probably about the same as having hangfire, misfire or getting your action buggered up. It's going to be extremely rare.

Point takin! However, the only way that you can change my mind is if I let you. If the spray works for you,Great! Again, I've never been put in the position of a bear encounter, an hope I don't, however if the situation arises, I would feel more comfortable with a firearm! I'm to fat to run an to stupid to be scared, so my vote goes to a firearm of choice! Thanks!

DT