My boyfriend was running in Chugach State Park outside Anchorage Alaska (on the Middle Fork trail if you know the area) where there is a lot of lush summer growth, tall grass and alder. He had his 11 year old border collie-husky mix with him but she's not real sharp anymore. Coming over a rise, he noticed some brown fur, thought it might be a baby moose, but it turned out to be a brown (or grizzly) bear cub. It took about five seconds for him to register what it was, hear rustling in the bushes and get out of there before big mama bear came back. When he told me this, I yelled at him for not carrying bear spray to stop a charging mama bear from killing/mauling him if she had been closer to her cub and surprised.
I'm curious, has anyone on this board actually used bear spray on a charging brown (grizzly) or black bear? Did it work?
I was charged by a black bear with cub five years ago on a logging trail outside Yreka. I'll admit I ran. My large dog, who was afraid of nothing, ran too. I jumped off an embankment and the bear hesitated and decided to go after my dog. He was fine, but he could also outrun and manouver a bear. I had forgotten my bear spray. Now I've somewhat forgotten how big a charging bear can look, and this was just a black bear.
I'm wondering if bear spray is just a palliative, or if it's actually good protection. I'll probably be heading back to Anchorage soon, and given how much time we'll be spending in the mountains, at some point in my life some sort of bear encounter is very likely, if not inevitable.
In addition to avoiding trails covered in fresh bear scat and with heavy veg cover, and/or near salmon streams, and being noisy/wearing bear bells, I always thought carrying bear spray was also a given in bear country. I'm also aware of the wind issue and would worry about possibly blinding/disabling my dogs or myself if the bear spray was discharged incorrectly. Brown bears weigh 350 minimum to 1500 lbs.
Thoughts?

Thanks for that explanation Aaron. Those are things they don't tell you on the package. I didn't know about the 30 seconds issue. I'll have to do some research, see if it's even worthwile to carry it. I'm wouldn't feel comfortable packing a firearm until I'd had training, and spent a lot of time at a shooting range. A wounded bear is even more dangerous than a healthy one.

Aaron, I don't know anything about guns, but if you had a big grizzly coming at you, would a revolver be powerful enough to take a bear down?
I guess that all depends on accuracy and where you shot the bear.

Personally for me, I would rather feel safe with a gun than bear spray. My thoughts are that if the bear is already charging you, it can gain some pretty fast ground on you and could easily be on you before the spray would do much.
I have also heard that it might just be an agitator to the bear, which might only set him off even more.

Personally if it were me, I would get trained in fire arms and not be afraid to use it, if I were in grizzly country.

I think I watched one too many of those Discovery channel shows about when wild animals attack. The grizzly bear attack was really horrific.

I just found this, it is an interesting read:
http://www.udap.com/safety.htm

and some testimonials for bear spray:
http://www.udap.com/testify.htm

One more article on this subject. It states that bear spray is effective:
http://www.articleslash.net/Travel-and-Leisure/Outdoors/400668__Bear-Spray-The-Best-Defense-Against-Charging-Grizzlies.html

Thanks for those links Joyce. Interesting read. It sounds like bear spray does work, if used properly. I will be buying a 'dummy' cannister or two and practicing, and two 'real' cannisters for carrying with me. Also bear bells for people and dogs. Lots of these testimonials were from Alaska, so apparently the spray works on the bears there. I think the key is to stay calm, and have easy, rehearsed access to the spray. This makes me feel a bit better. I encountered quite a few black bears in Pennsylvania last summer, but they are heavily hunted in that area, and treed quickly.
This makes me feel much more convinced that bear spray actually works.

The most important thing is that you stay safe. It makes sense that if you spray the stuff at the bear, but directly in front of you, the bear will for sure come into contact with the spray.

I never stopped to think that if you were a lousy shot with a gun that would also anger the bear as well.
The bell is a great idea, as they say as long as you don't startle them, they will go in the other direction.


I know someone that was down in New Mexico, and was on a run in the mountains and came across a cougar. He had a jacket on, and so he took the bottom of each side of the jacket, while still on and hoisted it above his head. He made loud noises and generally was trying to be as threatening sounding as he could.
He never turned away or ran, stood his ground and the cougar eventually left the area! Whew! That was a close call for him.
I was fascinated by his story.

It really pays to know what to do and how to handle yourself when you are in areas where lots of wild life exists.
I love reading and hearing stories about people who have had encounters with large wild life. I always learn something.

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

Aaron, I don't know anything about guns, but if you had a big grizzly coming at you, would a revolver be powerful enough to take a bear down?

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/08/31/man-kills-charging-bear-with-454-casull/

http://www.chuckhawks.com/firearms_defense_bears.htm

As a note, my bear gun ( I also use it for deer and elk by selecting different bullet weights ) is a Marlin 1895SBL in 45-70.
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/1895SBL.asp

And for me, bears are actually a consideration here - the largest Grizzly taken in this state was in the next county over, so for me this is real, not play.

In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear conflicts, the Montana Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, and fishermen to take extra precautions and keep alert for bears while in the field.

We advise that outdoorsmen wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren't expecting them. We also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear poop. Black bear poop is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear poop is larger and has little bells in it and smells like pepper.