Glacier NP, Texan, Bear spray and gunshot

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[Justin Baker]

Sounds like a legit response to a charging grizzly.

[Kerry Wilson]

+1

[Michael L]

I was there a week ago, but I didn't shoot any bears. Just want to get that out there!

[HkNewman]

Call me a skeptic but something a little fishy about the story. Bear spray has been shown to repel a Grizz off of a food source, so not sure of it "not working". It could be the attempt to spray was out of range and likely the first time the hiker tried it, he probably fired it off premature. Every story of a bear charge has the hiker barely getting the spray or the firearm off … or not, and getting mauled while smelling the breathe of Mr. Griz.

Being able to discharge both spray and a handgun? What was this? "Crouching tiger, Hidden dragon – Glacier edition"? Where a charging bear is moving in slow motion headlong into a ninja quick 57-yr old Texan?

Hate to be a Debbie Downer at the OK Corral saloon but I think that there was far more distance in this encounter if both spray and a handgun were fired off.

Of course maybe David Currusco could start CSI: Glacier NP

[Michael L]

He could have drawn one weapon with each hand….fired the spray….then followed up with a shot to old Smokey up close and personal like!

[Justin Baker]

Could it be possible that the bear, partially blinded and distracted by the pepper spray in it's eyes, was still attempting to attack/swipe at the man?

[HkNewman]

@Justin – the spray has been tested against bears, some requiring 2 sprays from the canister (iirc – black bear), with anecdotal evidence against charging bison plus other Rockies critters. However the cone is only 30ft max according to the literature and my own target practice … I'll usually take 2-3 good practice shots on a breezy day when I replace a canister every few years … and one can provides about 2 good cones

At 30 ft., these canisters are kind of meant as a last resort to a charging against a charging animal.

http://counterassault.com/bearspray.htm

I'm thinking the dude probably deployed it a bit too early due to that 30 ft cone limitation (i.e dropping the canister and unholstering a sidearm),and even the black bears appear to get bigger the further north one travels, … but we'll have to wait for investigation for a play by play.

Then again, some Montanans may be feeding the bears Mexican food scraps…

[Ian]

The article is barely (or should I say bearly) a paragraph but since we're speculating (read talking out our arses):

Pepper spray is ineffective on some people. It works on me but I've seen some people who were unfazed including one guy who took a full blast (face fully saturated is the understatement of the century) to the face by a riot-sized canister and never reacted. Maybe some bears shake it off better than others.

Pepper spray takes time to fully incapacitate people. Both times I was sprayed, I was fully functional for a few minutes, enough to box some and execute a felonly arrest, before my eyes slammed shut. Could be if given a few more moments, the bear would have become too miserable from the spray and would have lost interest in the hiker.

PSA and an aside from all this, when dealing with people, it's recommended not to hold the spray and pistol at the same time. Some people, when under stress, will execute a sympathetic response with the firearm trigger when they squeeze the pepper spray. I've never witnessed this but take it fwiw.

Anyways, not a lot of information but superficially sounds like a good shoot here.

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