Posted on 09/14/2017 4:22:05 PM PDT by marktwain
Another case of bear spray failure occurred in Montana on September 4th at about 8 a.m. A grizzly bear charged through bear spray to get at Tom Sommers.
Sommers and his partner Dan were bow hunting for elk when they saw the bear about 30 feet away. Dan put out a cloud of spray, but the bear charged through it.
Sommers was unable to get the safety off his spray can and dropped it as the bear closed with him. He then accessed a pistol, but was unable to shoot before the bear swatted his hand down. As the bear attacked him, it stood on his hand/gun, so he could not shoot.
(Tom Sommers) And partner Dan both pulled out pepper spray. Dan sprayed but Toms spray didn't work so bear came after Tom. Tom ran behind a tree, bear kept coming. apparently bear chased Tom around tree twice, Tom got his pistol out turned to shoot, bear knocked his hand down. Tom hit ground. bear bit through thigh then put toms head in his mouth. while head in mouth tom tried to shoot bear in neck but bear stepped on hand /gun. Tom said he could hear his skull cracking. thought that was it. Dan shot bear at 2 feet with pepper spray. that's all it took. bear ran off and tom shot at it but said he couldn't see anything from all the blood and pepper spray in his face. 4 hours later after several hours on back of mule he is alive and in hospital. great spirits. was laughing. hope I did his story justice.
Some interesting things to note about this failure of bear spray to prevent the attack. Tom would have had time
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
.44 Mag bear spray? S&W .500 bear spray?
Bear spray is such a joke. It reminds me of sanctions on North Korea.
He shot bear with pepper spray at 2 ft and it ran off??
That’s why I bought my taurus. Never had to use it. Shoots great tho.
Real bear spray or that little stuff you get at Walmart?
So the spray DID work. On his first spray the bear was too far away. I think there are pros and cons for both gun and spray. But it sounds like if he had “stuck to his guns” - he would have had time to shoot when the bear was still a bit aways - and still had time for some follow-up shots. Of course with a bear charging at you those pistol shots might be a bit shaky too. (Pros and cons)
Around 1982 I used some government issued pepper spray against a doberman which was about to eat me alive. It was one tenth of one percent. That used for bears today is around 100 times stronger than that old stuff.
It stopped him like he was poleaxed. I have no doubt that pepper spray would be effective just about every time.
That is assuming that you actually hit him in the nose/eyes. Of course with a 500 S&W you also have to hit him.
I went to school with a kid named Tom Sommers.
If you are ten yards away from a grizzly and you don’t already have the sights on him, I’m not sure there’s much you can do.
They are around up here and you NEVER know for sure just how they are gonna react if you come up on one by surprise.....or if they come up on you by surprise!
I had to use some Kimber spray on a vicious black lab last month or so, right in the face. Same result, he stopped in his tracks.
A cop told me their noses are so sensitive, it’s like hitting them hard with a pole. Of course, a dog ain’t a bear.
The nice thing about the Kimber is it doesn’t go `flat’ because the propellant is two small pyrotechnic charges: two shots IOW.
That guy almost had his head split open. Can’t tell from the pic if the skull was punctured.
Bear spray is usually quite effective if the bear has not yet committed to an attack profile. Once it has, it will run right through a cloud of the stuff to reach the target. If it’s stalking, following, or only curious, hose it down, or if it isn’t in range, hose down the ground it has to cross. If it’s decided to charge, go big or get eaten.
While technically correct (and I recognize you are quoting someone else - it's not your statement), I suspect many people have been deceived by this statement. Bear spray requires less training, not no training - less skill, not no skill.
When my daughters moved out, I bought each of them defensive pepper spray. They each used the same spray multiple times, going through a full Sabre before leaving home and another full one over the course of the next year (and not using the one they actually carried). That's a whole lot less training that the well over 1,000 rounds each of my kids had with a firearm, but it's also a whole lot more training than most people with pepper spray or with bear spray ever get.
Bear spray is expensive, but I'd rather buy two than have to read (or even think about) the instructions before using it in an emergency. I have come very close to using it twice. Each time, I was relieved when the situation resolved to realize that I knew what to do. Each time (probably not coincidence), I was downwind of the bear so I would have been spraying into the wind. I suspect the mamma and cub brown bears would have run away if they had smelled me; the Grizzly I don't know about, but he moved off slowly just before getting too close. Also, when traveling with bear spray, if I don't have a close friend to give it to, I use it before flying home - training.
A little putty and he’ll be fine...
If you are ten yards away from a grizzly and you don’t already have the sights on him, I’m not sure there’s much you can do.
Here is one that was stopped with pistols from 10 feet.
“The bear stood up and growled, like something you would see in a movie,” an eyewitness later told investigators.
From less than 10 feet away, the guide and camp worker drew their .44 and .357 magnum revolvers and together fired four times, ending the 17-year-old bear’s life.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/wy-bear-attack-stopped-with-pistols.html
Tueller Drill nightmare, even with the three yard handicap.
Cracks, fractures, splits, fissures, rrrrrrusted out? No problem with Body Filler.
If there are Grizz about then it’s best to rely on 50BMG..... twin 50Bmg.
Ma Deuce. Accept no substitute.
“A warning shot went off.”
My guess is that they were ready for the bear.
Killing a grizzly is a big deal and killing one gets a close look.
You’d better be able to say it surprised you.
Anyways, taking one down with pistols is close work no matter what. Four shots out of twelve makes them braver men than me.
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