Hi, greetings from South Africa. When visiting Montana in a few months time I would like to buy some bear pepper spray. I guess there are many different makes available, what would you people recommend most?


http://www.kapstadt.de/schindlers-africa

Some thing like this is fine, you can get it at some walmarts and even gas stations, and it works on humans to. We have manadatory bear training every winter, the forest service guy who puts it on swears none of the sprays work on black bear, just grizzlys. But keep in mind, you stand a greater risk of getting struck by lighting.

http://www.cabelas.com/product...BSearch-All+Products

I found the best start with .357 and goes up from there.

you will be able to find B.S. just about anywhere in Mt.
But you can't take it home/airplane

I recommend bear spray when asked. It's easy to carry on yur belt and from what I've heard it works (I've never tried it).
Myself, if I don't expect bear trouble I carry a .44 in a shoulder holster, if I expect bear trouble I carry a .458.
No sense taking chances.

Here is my two cents. I have spent big parts of the last 13 summers on Kodiak Island in the backcountry either fishing, guiding, or photographing bears. I started out only carrying pepper spray. Then after several scary encounters I started carrying a gun and pepper spray. Then after I had to empty a full can of spray in a bears face. Now I only carry a gun.

If your options in a face to face encounter is pepper spray or your finger nails take the spray.

If your option in a face to face encounter is pepper spray or throwing rocks, my experience has been if you have a decent aim and enough rocks they work just as well or better.

If your option in a face to face encounter is pepper spray or a gun take the gun every time.

As a mild deterrent the spray works ok but as a last resort save your life measure don't believe the hype.

odor de obama - keeps everything away

I don't think you can just choose one type of spray. After all, some bears don't like a lot of spice on their meals and some may just prefer a different flavor when they season it. I'd say you should pack 3-4 different kinds to give the bears a choice of seasoning!



disclaimer - the preceding was written in jest. please take it in that manner

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
you will be able to find B.S. just about anywhere in Mt.

Hell, I've even seen some on this board!

How you doin' ravenr?

Minimum 250 grain Nosler Partition pushed at 2800 Feet Per second.

Most Bears I know prefer lemon pepper.They say it takes the rank taste out of Human meat.

I have only read about its effectiveness so you can take this for what it's worth.
If the bear is in a passive or neutral mood, just going about his business, the pepper spray can divert him. He will try to avoid it.
If the bear is pissed and in a for real charge, you need to look for something a little more substantcial. In the above case, it helps to grease the can of pepper stray.

My two favorite bear sprays are made by Remington and Smith and Wesson and the former is more effective.

$bob$

I don't hunt and don't live in bear country so don't expect to encounter too many bears unless I'm takin' the grandkids to the zoo.

That being said, on humans at least OC (oleoresin capsaicum i.e. "pepper") spray is only effective about 80% of the time. One person in 5 will shrug it off and keep coming. That's why, when I was working security a few years back, I always carried the OC on the right side of my rig (I am a southpaw) and my sidearm on my left. That way if I sprayed 'em down (I used a spray that turned into foam so it would still block their vision) and they kept coming I could drop the OC can and bring my sidearm up to my waiting support hand.

You guys who go out hunting bear got serious huevos. M' hat's off to you. You guys who hike in bear country got pretty serious huevos, too. Again, m'hat's off to you.

Just my two cents:

" IF " your determined to carry Pepper Spray, or not allowed by law to carry a firearms, as an option ? ( State/National Park Restrictions )

Best...HMMM.

My opinion.. Carry the highest concentrated pepper spray (18% +), with capabilities of spraying multi-burst (1 lbs Container), without running out.

1. Be sure you or your companion(s) are not allergic to pepper spray ?

2. Spray downwind, if possible ?

3. Spray in short burst, directly into the face , eyes & nose, to be most effective; i.e: Spray , move (side step / back-up)& spray again.
http://www.resistattack.com/Pe...emaster-Pepper-Spray

PAPI

Something that starts with .458

quote:

Originally posted by B Mullins:
I don't hunt and don't live in bear country so don't expect to encounter too many bears unless I'm takin' the grandkids to the zoo.

That being said, on humans at least OC (oleoresin capsaicum i.e. "pepper") spray is only effective about 80% of the time. One person in 5 will shrug it off and keep coming. That's why, when I was working security a few years back, I always carried the OC on the right side of my rig (I am a southpaw) and my sidearm on my left. That way if I sprayed 'em down (I used a spray that turned into foam so it would still block their vision) and they kept coming I could drop the OC can and bring my sidearm up to my waiting support hand.

You guys who go out hunting bear got serious huevos. M' hat's off to you. You guys who hike in bear country got pretty serious huevos, too. Again, m'hat's off to you.

It really doesn't take huevos of any size or kind. Common sense and a little education mostly alleviate dangerous bear encounters.

By my count there are three moose racks and around twelve moose legs in addition to other parts like necks and ribs in this picture.


If we're retrieving around 500#'s of bone in meat per moose we could assume theres about 1500#'s of bear bait in this camp? This picture was taken in Bristol Bay on a salmon spawning stream you can see behind the meat rack and therefore in brown bear country. This camp this year and every year previous and up until this date has usually had the same bait scenario and NO BROWN BEAR ISSUES! Why? How? Luck in large part, but we also practice some anti-bear-in- camp procedures. Dogs. Stinky dogs, noisy dogs, poop and pee around camp dogs. Stinky, noisy poop and pee around camp hunters. Camp fires, big stinky, hot, bright campfires. Stinky noisy loud outboard jet motors. Our camps inviting, appetizing smells and sights so far have been far outweighed by the un inviting smells, sights and noises.

None of the guys I hunt with have big huevos or extrordinarily large any other body part. We like to hunt and fish and know how to get along outdoors without any unusual effort or equipment either natural or man made.

My advise to the OP would be to buy whatever pepper spray is available in the local store you'll be vacationing near, enjoy Montana, Make some sensible camping/ fishing/ hiking decisions while there and then give away the pepper spray when you leave Montana for home.

I've not read about a large number or percentage of tourists in africa being mauled or eaten by the local fauna and you should expect the same here in America.

Counter Assault. It is supposed to be what the Parkk Rangers in Wyoming use for bears.

I figured it wouldn't take long for this thread to degenerate into "bear spray doesn't work you can only use a firearm against bears."

Keeping your wits about you is the most important thing in bear country. I've done tons of back packing without anything at all and I'm still here to say so. Scott's post is right on the money.

A pessimist and an optimist are both falling off a very tall building. The pessimist is having a horrible time all the way down. Every floor he goes by, he says "Oh my God, only 99 floors to live," or something like that. But every floor the optimist goes by, he says "Well, so far so good."

Good morning there Sunshine
(Has a nice ring to it, don't it?)
After a full page of B.S..........buy the Counter Assault. It's available at all sporting goods stores. It is good stuff and was developed by a fellow who tangled with a grizzly in a place called Eldridge Creek on the upper Gallatin River. It is very effective and yes, I do know that.

Guys love to fantasize that there are man eating grizzlies all over the place so they feel good about tromping around the high country with a big f.... gun (secretly hoping for a showdown). Truth be known, if perchance a grizzly wants to take you on it will be at handshaking distances and you will have one shot to stop the bear fight before he's whacking you around with left and right hooks.

You may very well run into grizzlies in either Yellowstone or Glacier Park or adjacent areas. I've seen more in the past ten years than in the previous thirty years. God alone knows how many of walked past and the bear never made himself known.

My best recommendation besides Counter Assault is to keep it handy for quick access. Those cute little stretch nylon holsters that they come with (to be attached to your belt) are worthless. Under stress just try and jerk a can of spray quickly out of those damn things. Throw the holster away and attached the can to a quick release buckle or catch on the fron shoulder strap of your daypack.

See? Now you have room to carry you 4 pound S&W .500 revolver on your belt. Save the last (meaning second round) bullet for yourself or your hiking partner's knee cap.

I have been told that a more effective non-lethal spray than the capsicums is wasp/hornet spray. It has a relatively longer range, tight control of its spray stream, toxic/irritating to a huge variety of animals - including essentially any insect or arachnid, and unpleasant people - and inexpensive.

I have not verified the spray works on grizzlies. So far I have seen only two, plus one I did not see that was shot about two miles from the house.

Hope this helps.

My favorite bear spray is 00 buck. If this is not available to you, may I suggest along with the bear spray, or wasp spray, you carry a sling shot and some large lead or steel balls or bearings.

One to the chest is usually enough to deter a curious bear.

Regards,

Carpediem

As someone who knows a thing or two about Pepper Spray, OC and CS gas let me add a few pointers.

I would avoid anything sold in a gas station or wal-mart. Typically, they are very weak and you won't know how out of date they could be.

You might try ordering from any company that caters to Law Enforcemnet supplies.
http://www.galls.com/home
is a good one.

Make sure you check find out how many Scoville Heat Units the product has.
http://www.uncommondescent.com...dangerous-questions/

I wouldn't use anything under 2,000,000 for a grown man. For a Bear I would recommend 5,000,000.
The stuff you buy at gas stations, wal-mart etc are typcially less than 200,000 SHU's. Which might work on a drunk frat boy but I wouldn't use it.

Keep in mind that even with the hottest products on the market, there is sometimes a "delay" from the time you are hit with it until it really heats up.
So, if you shot a bear with it, there could still be a problem. 20 min later the bear will be in agony but for the first 30 seconds, when it's most critical, you may
be in trouble.

I used to train with this stuff all the time and have been hit in the face with it numerous times and the "delay" factor can be an issue. It also gives some
people the false sense that "it doesn't work".

So, not all pepper spray is created equal but I would rather have it than not. If you do order it, order a can big enough to have a "pistol grip" on it and make sure you do NOT spray it into
the wind.

I don't even want to think about what a pissed off bear can do to someone in 30 seconds...

I'll trust to my rifle thank you... LOL