Best bear defense setup??

[Packin'12]

Hi fwwiends,

This is my first post and not sure if this is the right category to post in but...

I'm scared sh**less of bears when biking or hiking and decided to put the 'hammer' down...

Excursions in the front/back country will now include a 14" 12g Fabarm slung to the rear and staggered with 00 and slugs, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I see LOTS of veteran hunters here, does anybody have any additional suggestions??

p.s. dragon skin body armor is a little restrictive...

[WayneChristie]

I find a shrike missile in my backpack is pretty good defense. if it fails to ignite I have a 25 pound double bit axe in my back pocket so I can take the bears front paws off and slow it down while Im loading my gattling gun to finish it off. Just in case the machine gun jams I also have a 5 foot broadsword in my front pocket for backup. Dont forget to sharpen both edges of the blade if you choose to go this route.

[Packin'12]

Thanks Wayne! The shrike missile and broadsword back up is not a bad idea but I do have a rail gun on back order which may make your system redundant. Thanks anyway!

[steve]

Don't trust buckshot...

[Packin'12]

Originally Posted by steve

Don't trust buckshot...

Hm, really?? I suppose if defending against any ursus is my purpose than why waste magazine space with buckshot.

Great suggestion Steve, 3" slugs it is!

[CanuckWR]

Put a bell on your backpack. lol

[bb356]

Originally Posted by Packin'12

Hi fwwiends,

This is my first post and not sure if this is the right category to post in but...

I'm scared sh**less of bears when biking or hiking and decided to put the 'hammer' down...

Excursions in the front/back country will now include a 14" 12g Fabarm slung to the rear and staggered with 00 and slugs, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I see LOTS of veteran hunters here, does anybody have any additional suggestions??

p.s. dragon skin body armor is a little restrictive...

ask the guys at the sportsman gallery forum !!!

[steve]

Originally Posted by Packin'12

Hm, really?? I suppose if defending against any ursus is my purpose than why waste magazine space with buckshot.

Great suggestion Steve, 3" slugs it is!

Yes, stick with the slugs.

[Marlin xl7]

Originally Posted by bb356

ask the guys at the sportsman gallery forum !!!

HA!!

[uglyelk]

[mad mountain mike]

If you are that affraid of bears the best bet is to stay out of bear country for a while. Do some research and learn a little bit about them and there behavior, learn to read their actions and habits and you will increase your odds of avoiding a close encounter with a grizz alltogether. The more you learn about them the more at ease you will be going into their home, dont get me wrong, you must aways be alert and aware of your surroundings. I keep a 450 Marlin close at hand as a camp gun in the event an aggresive bear decides I look like an easy meal, but out fishing or preseason spotting i carry and feel comfortable with bear spray. If a bear decides to take an actual run at you, by the time you reallize what is happening you will not have time to level, aim and fire a weapon effective enough to stone cold kill that mass of bone crushing terror in its tracks. Your best bet is to have bear spray handy and to use it, and pray that its intent was to scare you off and not a meal. That is just my opinion.

[Phil]

This link will take you to the SRD website and much useful info on the bearsmart program, using bearspray, etc. Watch the videos.

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/Recreation...t/Default.aspx

The St Albert Fish & Game had Nathan Webb the Provincial Carnivore Specialist in these videos come out to speak at our last meeting and he had some excellent information to share.

Nate is a hunter and speaks from experience.

The best defense is a good knowledge of bear behavior and a can of bear spray on your belt where it is easily accessible.

Phil

[Pines]

Originally Posted by Phil

This link will take you to the SRD website and much useful info on the bearsmart program, using bearspray, etc. Watch the videos.

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/Recreation...t/Default.aspx

The St Albert Fish & Game had Nathan Webb the Provincial Carnivore Specialist in these videos come out to speak at our last meeting and he had some excellent information to share.

Nate is a hunter and speaks from experience.

The best defense is a good knowledge of bear behavior and a can of bear spray on your belt where it is easily accessible.

Phil

excellent post Phil ... and I agree

[Packin'12]

Originally Posted by Phil

This link will take you to the SRD website and much useful info on the bearsmart program, using bearspray, etc. Watch the videos.

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/Recreation...t/Default.aspx

The St Albert Fish & Game had Nathan Webb the Provincial Carnivore Specialist in these videos come out to speak at our last meeting and he had some excellent information to share.

Nate is a hunter and speaks from experience.

The best defense is a good knowledge of bear behavior and a can of bear spray on your belt where it is easily accessible.

Phil

Thanks for the link Phil! I've reviewed the srd site ad nauseum and agree with you and Mike that understanding black/brown behavior is essential to avoiding or managing an altercation effectively. Still, I'm not leaving my fate and/or the fate of those close to me in the 'hands' of a Godless marauding animal. I've got pepper spray, bear bangers (redundant now) bells, 120db whistle, but the slug loaded shotgun is a my non-negotiable insurance policy.

As for quick access I'm acquiring a quick release scabbard that should make the shotty easy to retrieve. I've viewed several bear charge videos on YT and the time between a bear detecting your presence and laying the smackdown I'm estimating to be 3-6 seconds... that's my practice goal.

Thanks for all the help y'all!

[jim-bo]

Knowledge goes a long way, and proper uses of bear spray is all that most people will ever need.

Bears scare the **** outta you, good use that, but that isn't a reason to kill bear.

More bears will see you and yours, than you will see bears. Most animals choose to flee than to engage. Your in their territory and if a bear does charge it will be for a number of reasons, a charge to assert dominance (bluff charge), or to scare you away from a cub or kill site.

Bears charge for many reasons (dominance, protection, and as a deterent), but attack for a few (protection, food, problem behaviour), and only one is unpreventable (the bear wants to eat your ass). And believe me if 600 lbs of hurt wants to hurt you, chances are that it will, slugs or no slugs. But these instances are rare, and can usually be counted per year on one hand, and usually revolve around a flaw in being bear smart, like keeping food in your tent, or not properly sealing food, etc...

Being diligent in food storage, observing of your surroundings for sign of bears and kill sites, and being diligent about how you conduct your self is crucial. More so than having a gun.

Unfortunately there was a hunter killed last year by a bear, they had a rifle and it made no difference.

Not putting yourself into a situation where you will encounter a bear is the only way to prevent bear attacks, not having a tool to deal with charging bears. So being diligent in all aspects of being bear smart plays a huge role, more so than having a gun.

Do I carry a shotgun for self protection when I am hunting? Yes, when i am bow hunting where I know there are high populations of bears. Most of the other time I use a can of bear spray and a knife.

IMO, for the average outdoorsmen who is out enjoying the outdoors through hiking, biking, and camping you will be better served with bear bells, a horn, can of bear spray and a knife than with a 12g. Bears should SCARE you, you should have reverence for them, but this isn't a reason to kill one.

Where to you usually go to enjoy the outdoors, are you allowed to have a firearm in those areas?

just a question, is that 14" shotgun considered a long gun, last time i checked it needed a 18" barrel or to have an overall length of 26"?

00 buckshot is a great idea, despite what alot people say. You have 9, .308 lead balls flying down range, instead of one 1oz. hot piece of lead. And if you are shooting at a charging bear, chances are that the bear is going to close, and your going to be shaking. Those even if 4 of 9 pellets hit thats more than completely missing with one slug.

[Packin'12]

Originally Posted by jim-bo

Knowledge goes a long way, and proper uses of bear spray is all that most people will ever need.

Bears scare the **** outta you, good use that, but that isn't a reason to kill bear.

your in their territory, and it may be a charge to assert dominance (bluff charge), or to scare you away from a cub or kill site.

Bears charge for many reasons (dominance, protection, and as a deterent), but attack for a few (protection, food, problem behaviour), and only one is unpreventable (the bear wants to eat your ass).

Being diligent in food storage, observing of your surroundings for sign of bears and kill sites, and being diligent about how you conduct your self is crucial. More so than having a gun.

Do I carry a shotgun for self protection when I am hunting? Yes, when i am bow hunting where I know there are high populations of bears. Most of the other time I use a can of bear spray and a knife.

IMO, for the average outdoorsmen who is out enjoying the outdoors through hiking, biking, and camping you will be better served with bear bells, a horn, can of bear spray and a knife than with a 12g. Bears should SCARE you, you should have reverence for them, but this isn't a reason to kill one.

Where to you usually go to enjoy the outdoors, are you allowed to have a firearm in those areas?

just a question, is that 14" shotgun considered a long gun, last time i checked it needed a 18" barrel or to have an overall length of 26"?

00 buckshot is a great idea, despite what alot people say. You have 9, .308 lead balls flying down range, instead of one 1oz. hot piece of lead. And if you are shooting at a charging bear, chances are that the bear is going to close, and your going to be shaking. Those even if 4 of 9 pellets hit thats more than completely missing with one slug.

Yo Jimbo,

Good points. The wooded areas I tend to recreate in do allow for firearms. I was told by the dealer that the 26" long gun is measured from tip of barrel to end of stock, but I'll confirm that right now but I doubt the owner of the Shooting Edge wouldn't know. They sell a Benelli and Fabarm 14" version, but due to import restrictions south of the border they lack any Mossy 14". Not sure what I'll do now re staggering the rounds but every documented bear charge I've seen was completely and precipitously reversed merely by muzzel blast. I don't want to kill the damn thing but if the first round doesn't change it's mind the next round will destroy it.

Checking the long gun legislation now...

[jim-bo]

Originally Posted by Packin'12

but every documented bear charge I've seen was completely and precipitously reversed merely by muzzel blast

If 600lbs of hurt wants to hurt you, IT WILL

There are exponentially more bear charges than those documented. And as I mentioned before there are different types of charges.

In a bluff charge the bear does not intend at least initially to attack the person, it is to assert dominance or to scare off intruders (which we are). If you jump (startle) a bear, this may be the result, or the bear my flee. By use of loud noise products such as horns, whistles, bangers or a gun shot the bear is startled or scared off.

The only way to see if a bluff charge is indeed a bluff charge is if the bear stops (usually within 30').

A burst of bear spray is recommended, and directed at the bears face. This stuff is pretty potent, so make sure the wind is not blowing in your direction.

If a bear is aggressively charging you, it will not stop until one of you is dead, and unless you have hit that bear in the head of CNS, you will be severely wounded if not killed. Even a good shot to the vitals can take up to 4 seconds if not more to kill an animal, this is not considering a charging aggressive animal.

You are GREATLY overestimating your ability, and underestimating the bears.

Hundreds if not thousands of people enter the Alberta back country every year and do not have any experiences with bears, let alone an aggressive encounter.

I think you should further research bear behaviour, because it is pretty obvious through some of your posts that you think that bears are out to eat your babies, this is not the case. More bears will see you than you the bears, they will probably saunter off and not be any issue for you or your family. If you are diligent in practising bear safety, then the risk is further reduced, not negelable, but small.

[mudbug]

Bring someone with you that can't run as fast as you and put the food in their pack

Just have slugs in your 12 gauge, I wouldn't use buckshot. You best defence as mentioned in other posts is to make yourself aware of bears and learn as much as you can about them and their surroundings.

[Zippbuster]

We get in cars and accept that seatbelts, airbags, laws and the general mental state and driving abilities of those fellow drivers will reduce the risk to our lives.....we go for a night on the town and accept that the good will of fellow patrons, bartenders, bouncers and police will reduce the risk to our person from drunk as heck fellow patrons who may enjoy a fight or two....we fly on planes and....what I'm getting at is if you go for a walk in the bush there are no guarantees you won't run into a bear that wants to scare, swat, chase, eat you or defend its self or family and I doubt you'd be able to draw a can of bear spray faster than a 12 ga, .45-70, etc.........in all scenarios we abhore any harm that happens to humans and if bears could carry guns i bet they would so just shoot it or spray it or analyze it. You're not a bad person for not wanting to get hurt or maimed or killed.

[jim-bo]

Originally Posted by Zippbuster

We get in cars and accept that seatbelts, airbags, laws and the general mental state and driving abilities of those fellow drivers will reduce the risk to our lives.....we go for a night on the town and accept that the good will of fellow patrons, bartenders, bouncers and police will reduce the risk to our person from drunk as heck fellow patrons who may enjoy a fight or two....we fly on planes and....what I'm getting at is if you go for a walk in the bush there are no guarantees you won't run into a bear that wants to scare, swat, chase, eat you or defend its self or family and I doubt you'd be able to draw a can of bear spray faster than a 12 ga, .45-70, etc.........in all scenarios we abhore any harm that happens to humans and if bears could carry guns i bet they would so just shoot it or spray it or analyze it. You're not a bad person for not wanting to get hurt or maimed or killed.

Good point, but a weapon is not a substitution for not adhering to a being "bear smart", taking a knife into a biker bar is not an assurance that if you did get into a fight that you would stand a higher likely hood of winning or not dying, simply that if you did get into a fight you had a weapon. Maybe by sitting at the back of the bar you would avoid a brawl, however the only way of preventing a bar fight is to avoid going to the bar, right? Even if a brawler knew you had a knife, maybe it would not deter them.

What my point was that a firearm is not a substitution for practicing proper etiquette outdoors in regard to bears or simply being bear smart. I do carry a firearm when I am bow hunting in areas where I know there are high bear populations. but most of the time I rely on bear spray and using my noodle, and here I am, walked through the valley of death and seen the shadows.

All I am trying to get across is for the OP to do some research beyond what he has already done, beyond the internet and speculation. Talk to some of the experts and gain some insight into how bears actually behave and react. And many hunters who have tangled with charging bears will tell you just how tough they can be, and how hard it is to hit 600 lbs of hurt at 40 kmph.

Having a legal weapon JIC is a good idea, but it does not replace the emphasis on being bear smart. When I see a bear I don't load a live round, I look for a cub, food sources, direction of travel, origin and destination, and how I can move without attracting the attention of the bear. If I hear popping (clear sign of eminent attack), Iam ready to rock and roll, ready to but the bead on the hurt.

How many people knew that popping was a sign of a charge? or knows what is sounds like?

So many people are jumping on the mentality of its me or him, and rightfully so, sometimes its all about self preservation. However many people do not fully understand bear behaviour, and in many instances are not being bear smart because they think if i come across a bear, it will come across my 12g and a bear that may be spooked, startled, or curious to your presence is now in the crosshairs because of self preservation?

Maybe I am just being naive, how many bears have charged you?

[Zippbuster]

Originally Posted by jim-bo

Good point, but a weapon is not a substitution for not adhering to a being "bear smart", taking a knife into a biker bar is not an assurance that if you did get into a fight that you would stand a higher likely hood of winning or not dying, simply that if you did get into a fight you had a weapon. Maybe by sitting at the back of the bar you would avoid a brawl, however the only way of preventing a bar fight is to avoid going to the bar, right? Even if a brawler knew you had a knife, maybe it would not deter them.

What my point was that a firearm is not a substitution for practicing proper etiquette outdoors in regard to bears or simply being bear smart. I do carry a firearm when I am bow hunting in areas where I know there are high bear populations. but most of the time I rely on bear spray and using my noodle, and here I am, walked through the valley of death and seen the shadows.

All I am trying to get across is for the OP to do some research beyond what he has already done, beyond the internet and speculation. Talk to some of the experts and gain some insight into how bears actually behave and react. And many hunters who have tangled with charging bears will tell you just how tough they can be, and how hard it is to hit 600 lbs of hurt at 40 kmph.

Having a legal weapon JIC is a good idea, but it does not replace the emphasis on being bear smart. When I see a bear I don't load a live round, I look for a cub, food sources, direction of travel, origin and destination, and how I can move without attracting the attention of the bear. If I hear popping (clear sign of eminent attack), Iam ready to rock and roll, ready to but the bead on the hurt.

How many people knew that popping was a sign of a charge? or knows what is sounds like?

So many people are jumping on the mentality of its me or him, and rightfully so, sometimes its all about self preservation. However many people do not fully understand bear behaviour, and in many instances are not being bear smart because they think if i come across a bear, it will come across my 12g and a bear that may be spooked, startled, or curious to your presence is now in the crosshairs because of self preservation?

Maybe I am just being naive, how many bears have charged you?

Jeez the drama....we can't prevent anything like car accidents, muggings or plane crashes so i doubt even knowing as much about bears as you do won't guarantee you won't get charged and have the opportunity to apply all your skills in preventing both harm to it and to yourself.....That popping sound would be his teeth smacking together, but could be confused with the sound in the fireswamp before the flame ups (watch out for the rous's). I have surprised and been surprised by a # of bears over the years....still kickin though.

back to the thread topic packin12....I think your short shotgun would be a good choice for ease of carrying and the punch from one would likely work if you got the chance to use it, if you had to.

[pickrel pat]

despite what.... i forget who posted it says...buckshot sucks.... they have done tests, and the penetration unless at point blank range, sucks. the energy is to spread out to penetrate,( like i said, unless its point blank range.) slugs are the answer. if you have so many ft lbs spread over a 6 inch area, not gonna get in to deep to smash and wreack havoc that a slug would over its 1 inch surface area.

[jim-bo]

Once you hear the popping the hair on the back of your neck stands up, because it could be mistaken for the first couple of pops, but it doesn't stop at couple. Thats when you know something is wrong.

What my point is, that if you practice bear safety and are "bear smart", the likely hood of encountering a bear, let alone an aggressive encounter is greatly reduced.

Its not that carrying a weapon dedicated to JIC bear encounters is wrong, I do carry such a weapon.

Just that having a weapon is not an excuse for a lapse in being bear smart.

[jim-bo]

Originally Posted by pickrel pat

despite what.... i forget who posted it says...buckshot sucks.... they have done tests, and the penetration unless at point blank range, sucks. the energy is to spread out to penetrate,( like i said, unless its point blank range.) slugs are the answer. if you have so many ft lbs spread over a 6 inch area, not gonna get in to deep to smash and wreack havoc that a slug would over its 1 inch surface area.

Do yourself a favour, head out to your favourite range, set up a target at lets say 25-30 yards. Load up some slugs... shoot as fast as you can, like your life depends on it. How many times did you hit that target? How accurate were you? Which was your most accurate shot? The first one. The recoil played havoc. But at 30 yards how badly can you miss? I have seen my buddies do this, and completely miss the vitals on the target on the second shot. This is at the range and not a moving target, imagine if this was the real deal.

keep your target up, load up some 00, and repeat. how many little 30 cal holes in the target? 9 pellets/shell, 5 shells, max of 45 holes right. bigger spray, more rounds on target, they may not have the penetration of a slug but they do penetrate and cause tissue damage (further than you may think, especially at close ranges) 9 holes of tissue damage.

If you wanted to stagger your rounds you get the best of both worlds, or load up 00 topped off with slug you could.

Also it depends on your weapon of choice, some go with full stocks, others pistol grips. Ever shot a slug through a shotgun with a pistol grip? Not to fun, and buckshot aint no cake walk either. If I am lining up with the intent to take one shot at game, then a slug is chambered hands down.

I do use slugs, and I do have a mossberg 500 slugster that I use and mossberg 590A mariner with a pistol grip as my JIC, but do the test, see how you do.

[Pines]

somewhere on here I read that a 270 win works great and gives the owner a sense of security its all thats needed ..now I could of mis-read

[Zippbuster]

Agreed....personnally I've perfected my judo kick in order to better protect myself in the event of a bear attack...if some smart ass bear wants a piece of me he's gonna get it.

Story...spent the better part of my misspent youth working as a fishing hunting guy at a couple lodges around the country. At one of these lodges i had the dubious job of burning the trash every evening. It was a science getting all the garbage to burn up each time in the 45 gallon drum used at that lodge, but i made sure through effort and attention there was no garbage left after the burn to reward any bears. Problem was there was a bear that liked to tip the barrell off it stand and toss it around. This was a pain. Everyday having to set the stand up and bend the fire door back into shape and the cover and the stand.... He obviously had experience getting some reward in the past because he had a trail beat to the area.

So...one night after the barrel had cooled a bit, I put a can of bear spray coated with bacon grease in there and drove back to the lodge in the pick up. I sat up on the deck with a good bottle of 12 year old and a stogey to listen for any sign of his appearance. The barrel was situated through the dense bush at the end of a narrow trail about 300m uphill from the lodge. You could back right up there with the garbage on the back of the truck for convenience.

Long about the second glass and halfway done the stogey there was a great roar and commotion and then a kind of creepy silence....no way I was going up there again that night.

The next evening after loading the garbage in the pickup, and placing my .44, 12 guage and hand grenade on the seat i backed on up. Everything looked about normal, barrel shoved over and all bent up, but, there were chunks of moss hanging from the trees where he spun his way out of there. And i never had the barrel messed with again...however, the water line is another story....the end

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by jim-bo

Do yourself a favour, head out to your favourite range, set up a target at lets say 25-30 yards. Load up some slugs... shoot as fast as you can, like your life depends on it. How many times did you hit that target? How accurate were you? Which was your most accurate shot? The first one. The recoil played havoc. But at 30 yards how badly can you miss? I have seen my buddies do this, and completely miss the vitals on the target on the second shot. This is at the range and not a moving target, imagine if this was the real deal.

keep your target up, load up some 00, and repeat. how many little 30 cal holes in the target? 9 pellets/shell, 5 shells, max of 45 holes right. bigger spray, more rounds on target, they may not have the penetration of a slug but they do penetrate and cause tissue damage (further than you may think, especially at close ranges) 9 holes of tissue damage.

If you wanted to stagger your rounds you get the best of both worlds, or load up 00 topped off with slug you could.

Also it depends on your weapon of choice, some go with full stocks, others pistol grips. Ever shot a slug through a shotgun with a pistol grip? Not to fun, and buckshot aint no cake walk either. If I am lining up with the intent to take one shot at game, then a slug is chambered hands down.

I do use slugs, and I do have a mossberg 500 slugster that I use and mossberg 590A mariner with a pistol grip as my JIC, but do the test, see how you do.

wrong! buckshot sucks. charging bear, make your first one count, you prolly wont have time for a second shot, let alone a third. tissue damage? lol. who cares about... lol.... tissue damage! like i said, you want to smash that bear! not create.... tissue damage!

[Packin'12]

Originally Posted by jim-bo

Good point, but a weapon is not a substitution for not adhering to a being "bear smart", taking a knife into a biker bar is not an assurance that if you did get into a fight that you would stand a higher likely hood of winning or not dying, simply that if you did get into a fight you had a weapon. Maybe by sitting at the back of the bar you would avoid a brawl, however the only way of preventing a bar fight is to avoid going to the bar, right? Even if a brawler knew you had a knife, maybe it would not deter them.

What my point was that a firearm is not a substitution for practicing proper etiquette outdoors in regard to bears or simply being bear smart. I do carry a firearm when I am bow hunting in areas where I know there are high bear populations. but most of the time I rely on bear spray and using my noodle, and here I am, walked through the valley of death and seen the shadows.

All I am trying to get across is for the OP to do some research beyond what he has already done, beyond the internet and speculation. Talk to some of the experts and gain some insight into how bears actually behave and react. And many hunters who have tangled with charging bears will tell you just how tough they can be, and how hard it is to hit 600 lbs of hurt at 40 kmph.

Having a legal weapon JIC is a good idea, but it does not replace the emphasis on being bear smart. When I see a bear I don't load a live round, I look for a cub, food sources, direction of travel, origin and destination, and how I can move without attracting the attention of the bear. If I hear popping (clear sign of eminent attack), Iam ready to rock and roll, ready to but the bead on the hurt.

How many people knew that popping was a sign of a charge? or knows what is sounds like?

So many people are jumping on the mentality of its me or him, and rightfully so, sometimes its all about self preservation. However many people do not fully understand bear behaviour, and in many instances are not being bear smart because they think if i come across a bear, it will come across my 12g and a bear that may be spooked, startled, or curious to your presence is now in the crosshairs because of self preservation?

Maybe I am just being naive, how many bears have charged you?

This is just what I needed, to vet other (very valid) opinions by cross-checking them with my own.

Jim bo is right, that is, understanding bear ethology is fundamental to avoiding/managing bear attacks altogether. It's interesting that you perceive me as hyper-anxious about a bear attack (re: eating my babies lol) but I truly have done my research. I've a biology degree from U of C and often listened to lectures by Dr. Steve Herrero, the leading bear expert in Alberta at that time, on the natural behavior and population dynamics of Alberta's bears. I've made the effort to read and critique the studies he's conducted in Alberta.

I've also watched countless YT videos produced by US and Canadian wildlife rangers, viewed almost all bow/rifle bear hunting in Alberta/Saskatchewan/Yukon/Alaska/Colorado, and have researched wikipedias historical account of recorded bear attacks. I even watched the Grizzly Man...

Regarding the car analogy; although I do accept the risk of driving I'll still reduce every possible risk where possible. Same for bears, not having a firearm is the most obvious risk I can take, to not is tantamount to tempting fate, notwithstanding the 90% prevention rate of bear spray. I agree Jim bo, the number of actual attacks is greatly underreported!

If I have a 99% chance of not being attacked, but can still do more to prevent the 1% from becoming reality, IMO I have a moral obligation to do so and no second chances.

SO.... leaving the gun unchambered leaves me with only 4 rounds in the pipe. My decision to date: first (warning) round is 00, the remaining 3 are slugs!

Great discussion, big help.

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by Packin'12

Hi fwwiends,

This is my first post and not sure if this is the right category to post in but...

I'm scared sh**less of bears when biking or hiking and decided to put the 'hammer' down...

Excursions in the front/back country will now include a 14" 12g Fabarm slung to the rear and staggered with 00 and slugs, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I see LOTS of veteran hunters here, does anybody have any additional suggestions??

p.s. dragon skin body armor is a little restrictive...

Yeah. Get yourself a Cabella's Dangerous Game Adventures 2011 for the WII, Xbox or Playstation. You'll be juuuuustttt fine.

[Arn?Narn.]

I have spent a lot of time in bear country...

a lot of the time hiking the mountains where where rifles are not permitted.

Bear Bells, Bear Spray and Bear education is 99.99% of what you ould need/
and on the off time,... .01% luck

Bikes are terribly bad in my oppinion, unless you take the proper precautions. Whizzing down a trail, quietly can easily startle a bear.

a gun attatched to a bike is useless...

a head on your shoulders will serve you far better...