bear encounters
 

hi all.. im gonna be backpacking for a few months; however, ive been thinking of taking my shotgun along in case of bears(brown bears where im going), however, it would be too heavy and probably illegal for me to carry that thing around through towns and all that....i was wondering if mace or pepper spray really works against bears


about a year ago..there was this really mean pitbull at my neighbors house that would come charging and growling at me whenever he saw me; so i decided to get pepper spray because. I was thinking that since mailmans use the stuff on dogs, then why shouldnt I....he ran right up to the fence and i unloaded the whole thing right in his face and he was soaking in it...he stopped barking for 5 seconds, licked it off his face looking abit strange, then started barking and growling like crazy again. The stuff didnt seem to work;

I wanted to know what would happen if i used it agaisnt a bear? would he also eat it and say "thank you for the hot sauce while i eat you for dinner"? or does it work differently against bears


I then came back to that stupid dog with a 1 million volt stun baton and stuck it in his mouth when he was barking....he took a big bite of it then i turned it on and he went crying away with his tail between his legs in less than half a second...would this too work on a bear?

That's just WAY closer than I want to be to a brown bear to use either

They make bear spray. Which is much hotter then the stuff you can buy. The stuff I carry on my LE belt is not even hot enough

they say bear pepper spray works better than a sidearm, definitely pick up a bottle of that stuff.

maybe consider having a pistol as well though...

im in california
 

getting a pistol in california is tougher than trying to pick up a girl in a gay bar

by the way
 

by the way, where can i buy bear pepper spray or bear mace or whatever its called?

i got walmart and big 5 and kmart around me. but no real hunting stores

Here's a link to the US fish and wildlife service's fact sheet about bullets vs. pepper spray.

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/...ar%20spray.pdf

Just google bear deterent spray and you'll find people who sell it.

I am not buying it. I would have to see the data myself to accept that pepper spray is more effective than a firearm. I sure wouldn't trust the word of a government agency about it.

I think you can get bear deterrent at Cabelas. I carry 2 cans of the stuff when I am in black bear country checking baits and also while I am bow hunting for deer. I am glad I haven't had to test it out.