Posted on 11/16/2016 8:42:42 AM PST by marktwain
Dave Smith, a well known author and expert on bear attacks, sent me a heads up on a proposed Grizzly hunting regulation. In the Wyoming Grizzly Bear Management Plan(pdf), on page 47, (page 55 on some pdf versions), dated 5/11/2016, is a regulation requiring that grizzly hunters carry bear spray.
“All grizzly bear hunters must carry bear spray while engaged in the act of grizzly bear hunting (WGFC Regulation Chapter 16, pending)”
When you are hunting bears, you would normally be carrying a rifle. You would have to drop the rifle, then access and deploy the bear spray. That does not work. Nearly all bear spray successes have been during use by unarmed people. One of the foremost proponents of bear spray has said that it would be crazy to attempt to use bear spray against a charging grizzly when you were carrying a rifle. From hcn.org:
Here’s the problem, according to Brigham Young University professor Tom Smith. In an interview with Sports Afield, he said, “If I’m actually out hunting and I have a gun in my hands, and suddenly a bear comes at me, do you think I’m going to lay the gun down and pick up bear spray? Are you out of your mind?”
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Having had a buck jump up twenty feet away while my drawers were around my ankles and my rifle leaning against a stump a few feet away, I’m not so sure this is a bad idea.
You’re supposed to drop your gun and spray them? What an idiot.
Obviously, I don’t hunt Grizlies. But I do think a Desert Eagle in .50 AE is a better answer than bear spray.
Not a fan of wheel guns but that one does have some appeal!
If I shot one of those, my wrist would snap in two. I’m old and skinny!
“Forcing hunters to carry bear spray while they are attempting to kill bears is not well thought out.”
yes it is ... it creates fewer hunters
Bear Spray is an excellent repellant for violent never Trumpers.
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10842462
#2 <-(ha, get it #2) If a bear had killed you while you were in that ah... position then the ranger would think you were reenacting the movie scene of Leo DiCaprio where he was raped by a bear.... : )
Bear spray = spraying lead at the bear!
Are you my cousin Dave? Same thing happened to him.
If I'm hiking or picking huckleberries, I would agree. If I'm hunting grizzly bears, I'm already carrying a .300 or .338 mag rifle. A pistol or bear spray is unnecessary. The rifle would be the weapon of choice until either I or the bear goes down.
Reminds me of the Bear country warning sign about bear poop smelling like pepper spray and having bells in it.
Sounds like the Pentagons rules for engagement.
I actually think this makes sense and it’s because of Murphy’s Law. There will be someone out there who drops or loses their gun. This gives them something to fall back on rather than becoming dinner.
http://www.tetonhikingtrails.com/grand-teton-national-park-bears.htm
No, but I will say, my buddy and I had quite a time. All three of us (the buck, too) were freaking out, running in circles. We both emptied our rifles. It didn’t end well for the buck!
I recommend:
Bear attacks
The Deadly Truth
by James Gary Shelton
https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-James-Gary-Shelton/dp/0969809913
Stephen Herrero has been pushing bear spray, with some less than well done analysis.
I don’t know the rationale for the regulation but I would imagine that it may be intended to save the lives of bears that the hunter encounters but did not intend on harvesting (i.e. juveniles, sows with cubs, or black bears). I can’t say that I would TRY bear spray before a gun if I really felt threatened, but the spray could drive away an unwanted intrusive bear before it becomes a threat.
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