This reminds me; Has anyone read the book" Into The Wild" by
John Krakauer? It was also a movie.
If you are looking for a great read, this is truly a very good book. I loved it and I loved the movie too.

haven't read the book, but enjoyed the movie a lot.

leih

The book was amazing. If you ever want a book that you can't put down, this one is like that.

If anyone is interested in what someone looks like after being sprayed with a well-made pepper spray, check out the pictures and videos near the bottm of this link.
*Nobody* was having fun that day!!
http://www.coldsteel.com/pepper-spray.html

One wonders what the company picnics are like at cold steel.

I'm a wildlife biologist who has worked throughout northern Canada and have had many bear encounters. Most of these have been with Black bears, but some with Grizzlies and Polar Bears. I will say that 99% of my encounters have ended peaceably, with the bear either continuing to graze or wander or fish or whatever they were doing before I interrupted them, or leaving the area as quickly as I am...
Grizzly and Polar bear populations are struggling in many areas and it is real thrill to see one in the wild.

Bear spray works. The book we were encouraged to read prior to our field seasons was called 'Bear Attacks' by Stephen Herraro, a well-known bear biologist (if you read this while camping in bear country, be prepared for a sleepless night!!). Fortunately, while I carry bear spray, I have not had to use it, even though I have twice been charged, once by a female with cubs (Black bear). I use bear spray as a 2nd line of defense (or third, actually, if you count general awareness of your environment as your primary line of prevention). I carry 'bear bangers', small explosive devices that sound like guns, as my first line. These can easily be loaded and fired (like flares) and you can carry them on your belt. You just need to be sure you don't fire it so it lands BEHIND the bear for obvious reasons! This will buy you some time. If the bangers don't work, you can have the spray ready. Finally, you can load rubber bullets into a gun (we usually load two rubber and one real slug). Two summers ago in northern Labrador a large bear charged our group (very unusual behaviour given the group size). I fired a banger, which did almost nothing. next we fired a blank shot from a rifle into the air, and finally, when the charge continued, we fired a rubber bullet. The bullet hit the bear at close range and it veered into the woods and left the site.
On another occasion, I was alone in northern Alberta, on an ATV, stuck in deep mud. I was in the process of winching myself out when a female bear charged me. I had seen her pass with cubs about 300m ahead of me earlier. I jumped on the quad and stood on the seat to make myself look bigger. I also yelled 'go back to your cubs' or something else equally useful ;-). She put her paws on the front frill and then veered away into the woods (to this day I remember what she smelled like). She charged two more times, and for these charges I fired bangers. In between bangers/charges I attempted to winch the quad onto solid ground and was, perhaps due to the adrenaline coursing through my veins, finally sucessful. Let's just say I didn't linger to properly coil the winch...and beat my way back to camp at which point I performed the standard debriefing procedure for such interactions: a big shot of whisky.

A note on the dogs in bear country--they can bring the bear back to you when they if they are scared!! My old, a cattledog cross and seasoned bush dog, once charged a young black bear and successfully fended him off as I was checking a trap. However, more than anything, I find the heightened sensitivity of a dogs hearing and sense of smell the best asset in bear country--by reading my dog's body language I can often tell when a bear is in the area and work to avoid an encounter.

This is getting long--but many camps in bear country (grizzly and polar, in particular) require you to take appropriate precautions with respect to keeping a clean camp, and through having a bear monitor in place (armed with a rifle, and accompanying you while you work). If you shoot a Polar bear or Grizzly bear in particular you will need to demonstrate that you took appropriate precautions and that shooting the bear was a last resort.

In short--bear spray works. I've inhaled the fumes practicing, and they are AWFUL--if you've got asthma or even otherwise, you'll be coughing for a long time--but you will be alive.

Isabelle

Thanks for that reply Isabelle. Very useful information- I was hoping there might be someone with personal experience. I'll have to look into the 'bangers'. In general, I think my dogs would be an asset, in that they'd alert me to the presence of a bear that I wasn't aware of (hackles up is the key sign, as they rarely hackle for anything but 'predator'). However, I'd imagine that even the staunchest, largest dog might occasionally run from a charging grizzly, and end up bringing the bear back.
When we encountered black bears in Pennsylvania, (and there were a lot of them) the dogs went into defensive mode and were very cautious. I felt safer with them than without them, for sure. Since we were working at night, their sense of smell, and night vision was a lot better than mine. I was surprised how many bears there were in Pennsylvania. We saw one about every other day, often sows and cubs. They always backed off and left the area or treed. I think they are heavily hunted, so tend to be less aggressive.
Again, thanks for the great info. I hope you continue to be safe out there. It sounds like you have an interesting job. I'm also a wildlife biologist and, as I said, am hoping to move to Alaska soon, but am worried about leaving my job here, as jobs seem to be scarce in the Anchorage area. I've been lucky in that many field jobs seem to be dog-friendly.

I'm glad my late-night rambling was of some use to you! I hadn't realized it, but apparently 'bear bangers'lle are much better known/accessible in Canada.

http://www.ursusinternational.org/en/bangers.html

All the best in Alaska--I think I saw a walrus job posted there recently?? There may also be field tech/research associate jobs with the University Alaska at Fairbanks. You'll be able to do tons of mushing and skijoringg....

Happy adventures,

Isabelle

 Quote: Isabelle Schmelz

I'm glad my late-night rambling was of some use to you! I hadn't realized it, but apparently 'bear bangers'lle are much better known/accessible in Canada.

Could that just be because it's so much easier to own an effective firearm in the U.S. versus Canada, so that we don't have to rely as much on non-lethal means of self-defense?

Will, an interesting point of view. A rifle is a whole lot more cumbersome to carry than a handgun, which would be illegal in Canada. On the whole though, there's not an aversion to lethal means (at least not in the North, where hunting and fishing and trapping are still a big part of life and culture). It's more of a philosophy (and in some cases a regulation) that they be used as a last resort. One could argue this promotes a precautionary approach in that if you know your first line of defence cannot be a lethal one it's an incentive to prevent encounters where possible and be super aware of your environement. Of course there will always be people who do so anyway, but for those that need a little encouragement...
I must confess to a personal bias here to non-lethal methods--as I biologists I see bears and other large mammals struggling with coping with ever-increasing threats to their habitat and recreational pressures on their ranges, which we may enjoy recreationally for only a short time of the year, but which they need to survive. Of course to save my life or that of someone I wouldn't hesitate to shoot--but if I could prevent this situation through knowledge of my surroundings/wildlife and non-lethal means, I will, and have, happily done so.

There, now I need to go put away my birkenstocks and brew some herbal tea...

Isabelle