[marktwain]

Bears that threaten humans are rare. If they were all shot, it would not significantly impact bear populations.

Pistols have been shown to be an effective when used to defend against bear attacks.

[marktwain]

“an effective” should be

effective

[Lurkinanloomin]

I saw a momma bear and two cubs last week in WV.

She looked right at me and went on her way.

I had a gun, just in case.

[max americana]

can I just bring a PETA employee and just feed him/her to the bear?

[Red Badger]

She should just be glad it wasn’t a moose..............

[EnquiringMind]

bitten

[WashingtonFire]

I respect the beauty of bears. I’ve come across many and on the two occasions I fired into the air and scared them away.

[Innovative]

“The case illustrates how effective a pistol could be at stopping bear attacks,”

Exactly right.

[DannyTN]

If she didn’t have a handgun because of some park or government regulation she should sue the park or government.

It’s negligent to force people to go without protection and then not provide protection.

[Innovative]

The gun is the best possible defense.

A comment at the original article said that the poster would have used pepper spray.

IMO that is stupid, it would just irritate the bear and it would have the hiker for lunch.

The gun and good shooting is the only certain defense. Dead bears don’t hurt anyone.

[MileHi]

We have a bear that must be 350 lbs orbiting around here. I assume it is a boar because he is so big and has no cubs. He is jet black, shiny coat and looks well fed for a spring bear.

We also saw a female with three cubs a ways off from here. They all looked well fed. Really don’t know what they eat around here, stuff is just starting to grow (10k ft and winter just stayed late)

I don’t go unarmed anywhere around here.

[Pravious]

Last week I took the dog out in the morning, turned around to come back in and came face to face with a bear standing in front of my door.

I thought: “OH, SHIT! A BEAR!,” then did exactly what you’re not supposed to do, turned my back to the thing and dragged the dog through the woods across the street to the neighbor’s porch, where I stood there stammering: “OH, SHIT! A BEAR!”.

A few minutes later I gingerly made my way back into my house. Somewhere in-between the bear wandered off. My neighbor said they’re looking to raid garbage cans, not get into conflict with people - but I don’t want to test that out EVER again.

[dangerdoc]

Pretty rare. Most black bears just want to get away when they see you. A 10mm on the hip is reasonable for the rest.

[umgud]

I’ve hunted bears with handguns for years. I understand there is a difference between hunting and defense, but they’ve worked well for me.

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[leaning conservative]

Any idea how well spray bear repellant works?

[Jack Hammer]

S&W model 29, .44 magnum. A big and heavy fave.