With all the debate lately over whether visitors should be allowed to carry weapons in national parks, much has been said about the need for protection against wild animals, bears in particular. Well, studies show bear spray is a much more effective deterrent than a speeding bullet.
Evidence of human-bear encounters even suggests that shooting a bear can escalate the seriousness of an attack, while encounters where firearms are not used are less likely to result in injury or death of the human or the bear. While firearms can kill a bear, can a bullet kill quickly enough -- and can the shooter be accurate enough -- to prevent a dangerous, even fatal, attack?
The question is not one of marksmanship or clear thinking in the face of a growling bear, for even a skilled
marksman with steady nerves may have a slim chance of deterring a bear attack with a gun. Law
enforcement agents for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have experience that supports this reality --
based on their investigations of human-bear encounters since 1992, persons encountering grizzlies and
defending themselves with firearms suffer injury about 50% of the time. During the same period, persons
defending themselves with pepper spray escaped injury most of the time, and those that were injured
experienced shorter duration attacks and less severe injuries.
That snippet was taken from a report prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You can find the entire document attached below.
Comments
So here's a few questions to throw out for everyone to chew on...if this proposal passes should something be done to change current laws to deter careless citizens from discharging their firearms whenever they feel threatend by wildlife within the park? Or are current laws that deal with poaching etc, enough to punish those idiots who take it upon themselves to fire first and then look around to see what they could have done differently to aviod the situation. OR do you think citizens will be able to handle the extra responsibility a loaded gun now puts on them? OR will citizens even BE punished if they shoot wildlife claiming "self defense"? Sorry Mr Repansheck, I know this forum is about bear spray but I figured some of these questions are related to this topic.
I can tell [that this woman] only hikes in small parks in CA only. What an idiot! You only have 6 seconds..ok..so can you get that damn clip off your "PEPPER ME FOR TASTE" can before the bear gets to you in 6 seconds. The shot of a bullet has always scared off every animal i have ever encountered. And when i bear hunt the first shot will drop him almost every time within minutes of him trying to RUN AWAY!! Pepper spray....the mear smell of the pepper in the spray can make a bear come around!! And if the bear spray is old it will be innafective on the bear! AND lets say you make your spraying sweeping motion with your "hair SPRAY pepper" and its really windy or rainy and it goes the wrong way..or if you were a hunter you would know a bear or any animal will turn and go with the wind to double back around....so that means as the bear is charging you...and the bear is going 25 mph with a 15 mph wind your SPRAY will be in your FACE!! And let the MAULING BEGIN!! yeah i want to trust my life to something a mear strong wind will make it be gone or in my own face, i cant trust something like that!! Carry a gun! This lady has no idea of what to do. [Ed. This comment was edited to remove a concluding personal remark of an extremely offensive nature.]
I think there is a selection problem in the study. Most people are only going to fire a gun if they really feel threatened. I'm not as sure about the pepper spray (see the last paragraph). So the gun defense cases are going to be serious ones while the peper spray defense cases may not be, which could explain the different results as well as the differences in effectiveness.
I'm not arguing against pepper spray but anytime the government makes a decision for you, watch out. A gun is also more useful in many situations: two legged predators, mountain lions, dogs, put down a deer hit by a car, etc. Also, one reason police carry guns is that pepper spray just doesn't work on some people or in some situations. Bears are probably the same way.
In my few encounters with bears, we both moved in opposite directions when seeing the other. I still wish I had had something with me for comfort. I've looked a bear spray but haven't bought. The bear spray I saw at REI a few years ago was pricey and weighed more than my 357. Did they say what type worked and what didn't? That link looked like only a summary.
Montanan, thanks for your imput, I have to admit that I never thought about the affects of wind, and would sure hate to get the spray on me!!! I have heard that bear spray does work, but under what conditions, I don't know. I myself would like to carry both. I am a gun owner, and I do know that your chances of hitting a charging bear with either the spray or handgun isn't in your favor.
"For some bears, like those protecting a nearby carcass, the (bear) spray may not do much good. But it's unlikely to hurt anything either.
"In no case did use of the spray appear to be responsible for increasing the extent of injury," ....researchers found.
....But one thing is clear: Guns kill a lot of bears. And they don't always work either. Grizzlies with bullets in them have gone on to maim a lot of hunters before they died.............
......He emptied his .357 Magnum pistol at point blank range but told investigators he didn't know if he hit the bear or not. He fired the first shot as she (the grizzly) chewed on his backpack.......and started firing again as she sank her teeth in his thigh and began shaking him violently, which makes marksmanship difficult, even at close range. The bear backed up a few feet, then ran away. Investigators found no trace of her, her cubs, or a carcass.
"It's clear that a gun is not the best close-range defense," (said the victim of the bear attack later). "For close range, the fastest, most effective, humane way to stop a charging bear is bear pepper spray."
Dave Moody, a bear manager for the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.... (is) sold on pepper spray. "No doubt about it in my mind," he says. "It's more effective than a gun.""...........From "Mark of the Grizzly" by Scott McMillion copyright 1998.
This is my biggest fear about loaded weapons in National Parks. I worry about the animals. I really don't care about a couple of guys shooting each other over a camp sight. Think it's unlikely. But this..... How many curious bears, surprised on the trail, who stand up to get a better look, or bluff charge, or jump up from a day bed, who normally would have simply run off, are now going to be shot by some inexperienced city slicker packing heat, creating an extremely dangerous situation for both bear and hiker? Or other hikers, possibly families with young children, that a wounded, running, bear might run into further up the trail?
I wouldn't be so opposed to the whole concealed weapons in National Parks thing if the law was clear: You could use your gun to defend yourself against HUMAN attackers, but NOT against animals under any circumstances. To do so would be a federal offense prosecutable to the full extent of the law. I say this for several reasons. 1) Guns tend to give individuals (especially those inexperienced in a wilderness situation...which is an awful lot of people in National Parks) a FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, causing them to do things that they would not otherwise do. 2) No matter all the talk about "good, law abiding citizens" there are always going to be a few who are going to shoot an animal for reasons of their own and claim "self defense". 3) Bear spray has been proven more effective against actual animal attacks, regardless the species; and no permanent harm is done if it was used in a "bluff charge" situation. 4) Most bear charges are bluff charges. 5) The danger from bears is overestimated by the average park visitor (once again, especially by those who have little or no wilderness experience), as long as park rules are being followed: 100 yards etc. Indeed, three times more people are injured by bison in Yellowstone (for example) than by bears; yet the average park visitor does not perceive bison to be a threat. There is only an average of one bear related injury in Yellowstone every year, despite hundreds of close encounters between visitors and bears; and the last bear related human death was over twenty years ago. And 6) Animal attacks, and especially animal attacks that result in serious injury or death are EXTREMELY rare in National Parks. When they do occur it is nearly always because a visitor was in violation of park rules OR the rules of common sense (Tim Treadwell, Jim Cole, Bill Tesinsky (Google him)).
It's absolutely amazing how Kurt can post an article on one topic and from the git-go have the discussion on the merits of the study mentioned within the context of the article twisted into something so foreign as to not remotely resemble the origianl printed text. I'm just curious how many of the sub-authors are as expert in their usage of bear spray as they are with firearms and with pushing an agenda so laced with propaganda as to be almost incredible, that is, lacking in credibility. Something tells me that few people carry both firearms and spray cans. And by the way, you don't have to be NEARLY as accurate discharging spray to effectively combat a bear as is required with firearms.
No one other than rangers needs guns in our National Parks. We don't have enough rangers or enough visitors with common sense NOW !! Can you imagine those idiots who "posed" with a bison and had their 12-year old son tossed having a gun......dead bison because of their stupidity !
If you respect the wildlife and let them know you are around, you are fairly safe in our wild places. If you don't, you shouldn't be there in the first place. Carry bear spray and make noise, do not panic when a bear simply stands on its hind legs to take a better look. Give them respect and room in roam. Remember, it is THEIR homes you are visiting !!!
From 1980-2002, over 62 million people visited Yellowstone National Park (YNP). During the same period, 32 people were injured by bears. The chance of being injured by a bear while in the park is approximately 1 in 1.9 million. Kerry A. Gunther
Bear Management Office
Yellowstone National Park
During every minute of every day, roughly 1,800 thunderstorms are creating lightning somewhere on Earth. Though the chances of being struck by lightning are estimated at 1 in 700,000, these huge electrical sparks are one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the USA each year with an average of 73 people killed; about 300 people usually are injured by lightning......USA Today
If you are worried about bears enough to feel that any reasonable person would want to carry a gun for protection (from bears) in Yellowstone, then it only makes sense that any reasonable person would take the precaution of staying indoors as a protection against lightening, since your chance of being struck by lightening are two and a half times greater than your chance of being injured by a bear while visiting Yellowstone. Kind of puts it into perspective.
Your chance of being the victim of a violent crime while visiting a National Park have also been demonstrated to be less than your chance of being struck by lightening. So I guess my question would be: What the heck are you doing outdoors?!
Betty, I shudder to think what might have happened if Dad or some well meaning bystander had put a couple of slugs into that 2000 lb. behemoth that tossed the twelve year old boy! How many people would have been injured or killed as it thrashed around in fury at that busy trail head before it died!? If it even DID die, rather than running off into the woods (endangering even more park visitors) to be hunted down by Park rangers faced with a dangerous animal that had to be put out of its misery. Even IF a well placed bullet managed somehow to bring it down instantly, what lesson will we have taught other youngsters (or even older visitors) who may have been present? That it's OK to violate rules (read that LAWS) that are put into place for everyone's safety, because someone will pull out a gun and save the day?