Each to his or her own. I am more familiar with and comfortable handling firearms than pepper spray. I walked out on the deck one night to get firewood and interrupted two honeymooners making cubs. They both stood up and faced me. A shot under the chin may likely have been sufficient. But my guess is that was an entirely defensive movement which would not be made by a hunting or charging bear. I was so startled, I ran back into the cabin, and watched them walk back up the hill into the woods looking back a few times with their tapeta lu´cidum reflecting. I am happy that the 500 lb. bear that pushed through the window and walked over our bed to get into our cabin multiple times was caught and euthanized, and I am very happy that we weren't there when he did it. Many other bears cross our property and our deck and never cause problems, although again I wouldn't want to startle one. But once they get a taste of chocolate ice cream from a freezer, they embark upon a lifetime of burglary.
The Country Trapper who was chased on horseback by the 500 lb. bear here, was not saved by firearms or pepper spray. Rather, by a fast horse. Post #13:
MOD NOTE: This thread was started from posts in the Funnies thread, in order to pull the discussion into a single more appropriate place. And this one is nicely entertaining... I'm not really sure of the measurement of the length of a bike (2 bike lengths = 6 feet???), but it still made me...
www.pugski.com
This fits here. It was a private message to me on another forum by a law enforcement firearms instructor. I have trimmed his photo but have not changed his message:
"I am dealing with a black bear now with my trash cans. I have a lot of experience with them. I like my 357sig or 10mm when doing bear patrol because I have lots of quick follow up shots. I will use one of my 300blk tactical rifles if it escalates. If it gets ugly when they pop their jaws or bluff charges, I will take them out.
I do hunt bear with a handgun with mainly 44mag. I hunted them for a few decades with one bear charging me with my 308 bolt and shooting him at full charge at 10 feet. He actually pushed me over as he rolled up thrashing on the ground. He covered 40 yards directly at me in 3 seconds. Like a black missile coming straight at me. It was as close as it gets and certainly a experience that I would never wish on anyone. A cool head and tactical instinct shooting at the hip is what got the job done with my bolt rifle but it would have been tragic with a young kid on a 30-30. I had a full body mount done and the story made the news. Turns out the bear was tagged twice as a nuisance and aggressive bear and was trapped and relocated 45 miles away. He was returning home when I had my run in on top of a mountain while bear hunting.
I tell you this because a charging bear even with a powerful 308 rifle was extremely dangerous and I would much rather have a AR in a 30 cal as it felt more like a gun battle than hunting. I have taken a bear with my S&W 629 6” with my 240xtp handloads. They are not hard to kill with the right angle and providing they are not charging you at 45mph. . .
My charging Black Bear full body mount."
This forum has viewers all over the world. Our environment, circumstances and the risks which we each face are all different. After evaluating the particular risks which we face, we have the freedom to accept or to outsource the responsibility for our protection and, should we accept it, how to do it.