A man hiking in bear country in Glacier National Park was able to drive off an attacking grizzly bear with a burst of bear spray/NPS file photo, Tim Rains.
Though some still debate whether a handgun is better than bear spray when traveling in grizzly country, a hiker at Glacier National Park in Montana was able to drive off an attacking grizzly with a burst of spray to the bruin's face.
While the 65-year-old man sustained puncture wounds to his lower leg and injuries to a hand, the outcome could have been much worse. According to park officials, the Wisconsin man was hiking alone off-trail near Mt. Henkel in the Many Glacier Valley last Tuesday evening when he surprised a sow grizzly with two sub-adult cubs.
"The hiker was grabbed and shaken by the bear during the encounter. The man successfully deployed his bear spray, causing the bear to release him and leave the area," a park release said. "The man hiked back to his vehicle in Many Glacier and drove himself to the emergency room at the Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cutbank, Montana. He was treated and released later the evening of September 29, and continued on with his travel itinerary."
According to park rangers, the bear’s response to the hiker was defensive in nature and consistent with a surprise encounter with a hiker.
Visitors to Glacier are reminded that the park is home to black and grizzly bears. Bears spend a lot of time eating, so you're asked to avoid hiking in obvious feeding areas, such as berry patches, cow parsnip thickets, or fields of glacier lilies. You also are better off hiking in groups and making noise as you travel, and have bear spray accessible and know how to use it.
At this time of year, bears are entering a phase called hyperphagia. It is a period of concentrated feeding to prepare for hibernation. There has been a shortage of berries in many areas of Glacier this year, leading to the potential for increased bear activity in visitor use areas.
Due to that increased activity, it is especially important that visitors keep campgrounds and developed areas clean and free of food and trash. Park regulations require that all edibles, food containers, and cookware be stored in a hard-sided vehicle or food locker when not in use, day or night. Place all trash in bear-proof containers. Do not burn waste in fire rings or leave litter around your camp. Fire rings should be free of trash before vacating a campsite.
Comments
Short burst due not always work if it is a preditory or combative charge you may need to spray much longer. If the bear returnes or recharges you may have to spray a second or third time. DURATION & DISTANCE COUNT
If at first it doesn't succeed...
The use of pepper spray can have a potentially negative impact on bear/human encounters. Obviously, a bear that charges a person is a prime candidate for spraying at close quarters. However, automatically spraying a bear that you happen to encounter on a trail and which shows no aggressive behavior may do more harm than good. This is especially true where bears congragate to feed on spawning fish, vegetation or other prime food sources. The bears have little or no choice in having to be in critical feeding areas. An unprovoked spraying may condition the target bear to view all humans as aggressive competators for critical habitat. Rather than fleeing the bear may choose to fight.
The incident discussed here is one reason bogus "research" shows bear spray is more effective than a firearm. If the hiker had a gun, this would be a firearms failure. During 27% percent of the incidents in Efficacy of Firearms For Bear Deterrence in Alaska, people were injured before they could shoot. There was a different standard for bear spray in Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska. No time to spray before being injured was a human error, not a bear spray failure. So the fact that the Wisconsin hiker was injured before he could spray was not a bear spray failure. The hiker was able to spray away the bear after he was injured, so this is a bear spray success. It's absurd for people to compare the results of these two studies and declare bear spray the winner. It's unprofessional for wildlife biologists to con the media and the public this way.
Just back from a week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. In YELL, I happened upon a ranger demonstration of using an inert bear spray. He explained exactly when and how to use it and gave any interested visitors a chance to try it for themselves.
He stressed over and over that spray needs to be reserved for a bear that is coming for you. NOT for one browsing berries beside the trail who is more interested in the berries than your fanny. He demonstrated how to first spray at the ground in front of the bear, and then sweep the spray upwards. This creates a wall of pepper in front of the bear that it must pass throught to get to you. The initial burst of spray aimed toward the ground puts a barrier down low because a bear runs with its head down. The bear will hit that spray first, and if it lifts its head in trying to get away from that, it will encounter still more higher up.
He stressed that the most frequent reason for bear spray failure was due to people carrying it in a pack pocket or in a position on their belt where easy drawing of the canister was blocked by a strap or something else. It has to be a fast draw!
I bought a canister and carried it on my belt as I hiked. It really was comforting to have something more effective than bare hands if I ever was unfortunate enough to need it.
Throughout my law enforcement training and experience, I always qualified as expert marksman with several types of weapons including handgun. But that was when I was in a relaxed situation, all set up and ready to shoot. Even the pressure of reloading an old fashioned revolver dropped my score only slightly.
But it was an entirely different matter when I (and everyone else I knew, too, who were similarly qualified) was placed in a "surprise" situation when I had to recognize a threat and react properly to it. Behind or in front of the target was usually the safest place for anyone to be.
Based upon my own experience, I really feel a whole lot more comfortable with spray than a tool that makes a big noise but is very likely to miss what I'm trying to hit. Those "surprise" staged situations were nowhere near as adrenaline producing as I'm sure meeting an unfriendly bruin would be.
Pretty darned hard to hit even a big target when your hands are shaking.
I was hiking to iceberg lake in September and encountered this same bear. The Rangers had to set off flashbacks to chase her off because she was doing false changes on hikers. I'm glad they aren't going to punish her for being a good mother. Way way to many 60 year old plus hikers in the back country. If you need a break every 100 yards maybe you shouldn't hike 10 miles in the mountains. Go to yellowstone or the grand canyon with the rest of the senior crowd.