KY_Windage
Well-Known Member
Yup, exactly right. If that guy had not had the bear spray he would for years afterward be callng himself an "expert" and producing a video on how to stop a bear charge by peeing your pants.
Also, most maulings occur because the person walked into an unaware bear, causing it to freak out and attack. Usually it was because it was a sow who thought the person was trying to sneak up and get her cub, but there are no hard rules. Some years ago on 4th of July, a few miles from my house, two people were killed by a lone adult. The only survivor was a teenage boy who was able to climb a spruce tree. They were running x-country on a trail and surprised the bear, probably on a carcass it had found or killed. Usually even a big grizzly will flee when you surprise them, but it isn't a good idea to try it at all. Sometimes they just freak for no apparent reason. Moose do the same thing. Sometimes they just kill you for practice.
Years ago I got "treed" by a bull moose, meaning I had to jump behind a birch tree where it could not get to me. He stood there giving me the evil-eye for being a coward and hiding behind that tree. After about 20 minutes I got tired his game, but didn't want to shoot him, so I pepper-sprayed him a little bit. It was the high-capsium good stuff, at six feet. DID NOT SEEM TO PHASE HIM, but left me gagging. So I really let him have it. About 5 minutes later he finally walked away and started browsing. There is no way I am ever going to waste time trying to pepper-spray an attacking bear, unless that was my only option.
There have been experienced guides killed by grizzlies who never even got a shot off. Guys on trails have been killed before they could draw their pistol. You are highly unlikely to be able to fire more than one or at most two shots in a true attack, because it happens so fast -- they are on you and you aren't doing squat once that happens, except that sometimes they break off when they think you are done for, but come back if they see you move. If you still have a hand and arm that works, and are not blinded by blood, you might be able to draw your pistol and shoot, if the pistol didn't get lost in the scuffle.
A hungry black bear may stalk and cautiously approach, back off and repeat, trying to figure out whether you are defenseless or not. You don't want to be picking up sticks and rocks to fight with, because even a small one is about ten times as strong as the biggest, baddest human you ever saw on TV, and equipped with nasty claws. Pepper spray would probably work on one of those, but that bear needs to be taken out of circulation anyway. A black bear killed a kid running in a mountain race a few miles from my house a year or so ago. He was calling other people at the race for help on his phone while the bear circled him but there was no way for them to know exactly where he was, or to get there in time.
I would just take the .357 if that was the best I had. The odds of needing anything at all, much less something bigger, are very small. Ted at Viapan Lodge got swatted off a 4-wheeler once by a sow grizzly while driving down a trail. All he had was a .38 snub, and he was afraid shooting her with that might make things worse than they already were. With her on top of him, wondering if he was taking his last breath, he fired two shots beside her head, one on either side. He said at that she looked at him with utter disgust and walked away. All's well that ends well.
But, those low odds do go up once you open up an animal. I knew a guy who shot a deer on Raspberry Is., just north of Kodiak Is., and got pounced on while he was cutting it up to pack out. His rifle was right there, but he never got a shot off. Moe lived, though. A young military fellow who shot a deer on the east end of Uganik Is. didn't.
Packing a big wheel-gun on my hip in rough country makes it awfully sore after a few days. I like a 1911 converted to 45 Super -- about the same killing power as a 10mm, easy and comfortable to carry, and quickly brought into the fray. Staying alert and being cautious will usually keep you from needing any weapon at all, but that can be difficult to do in unfamiliar country, and when everything is greened up. If you see a cub, try to sneak away quickly and quietly before the sow sees or smells you.
With your gun out and ready!
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