Bear spray advice for southerners headed to Tetons

I spend a fair amount of time in Yellowstone.  I would recommend that every person have their own container of bear spray, and very importantly, HAVE IT ACCESSIBLE AT ALL TIMES!  WEAR IT in some kind of holster or attached to a pack shoulder strap.  The odds are excellent that you won’t even see a griz, but you don’t want to have to dig the spray out of your pack if you meet mama and cub on the trail.

This is another one of those things, like 10 essentials kits and maps and compasses, that you may well never use but there is no substitute if you need it.  Have fun!

Bear spray is not a shareable asset. Everyone carries, everyone practices the quick draw.

Hmmmmm……..I’m not sure I like the idea of a 12 year old having bear spray on them.  I guess that it depends on the personality and maturity of the 12 year old. I’d be worried about a 12 year old being a typical 12 year old “horsing around” and having fun  in the woods (especially a boy)  could end up accidentally spraying themselves or others if their bear spray is on their belt (wrestling or rolling around etc………I’m not referring to a child “playing” with the bear spray which even most 12 year olds could be convinced not to do).

Where I carry Bear Spray in groups and in areas where I thought this was necessary “kids” (you determine the age) don’t carry bear spray, but they don’t go anywhere, especially in camp,  without an older person with bear spray.   This is because I often see these heavily used group campsites as the more likely sites for encountering bears b/c of the constant traffic of groups and the tendency of groups to make more smells and leave more.

Your right. I haven’t heard of any group of 3 or more seeing a bear.

Jennifer has some very good advice.

It depends on your kids. I’ve led several scouts, neigbhors, and grandkids along that trail. I’m actually more fearful of kids with bearspray. The adults had the bear spray and we kept the kids between us. And several times we have picked up free bear spray at the ranger station. Previous hikers leave it because they can’t fly home with it.

My favorite spot along that trail is Hurricane Pass. We plop down our packs and relax.

The Tetons were made for Tevas :)

-Barry

I hike everyday with coastal brown bears and around here many people recommend two types of deterrent.   I’d recommend pepper spray for the adults and perhaps oldest child, but equally important I’d arm each younger kid with the 3.5 oz version of one of these.  Very effective.

https://www.k3brands.com/collections/uscg-rated-premium-air-horn

Tod T. is keerect, bear spray should NOT be considered “shareable”.

Once, when on a Yosemite backpack from White Wolf to Tuolemene Meadows with a group a girl from CA was up ahead of me and (knowing I had bear spray in a holster) screamed my name. I came trotting up and there was a big black bear boar about 20 yards in front of her, up on its hind legs.

I got out the spray on the run but the bear beat a fast retreat up an impossibly steep ravine. She was shaken and I felt it was a teachable moment so I told her she needed to buy bear spray for her next trip in bear country, which is a lot of California.

This was also the same girl who, during a rainstorm, needed to use my Contrail tent vestibule to store her pack B/C the entrance hoop pole for her minimalist solo tent had broken and she had no shelter for the pack. Shoulda charged for my services.

Everyone carries.

Related to the questioning of a 12 year old carrying spray… while all youngsters are different, if a 12year old is not able to handle spray their parenting has been compromised somewhere and shouldn’t be on a backpack trip anyway.

Our policy is kids carry on backpacking trips. I drill it in that it’s not a toy. I would take  riit Onaway careless kid(and make him stay closer to me as soon result).  On our river trips been putting bear spray with the T.P roll. If you go off in the woods you take the spray. Keeping the group close is good policy but realistically you get spread out occasionally. Lot’s of bear spray makes that less of a big deal.

On another note first aid for bear spray in the face is soapy water. The guys I know who teach bear safety here keep soap with their water bottle. If there is an accident they soap up the water and deal with it.

Have fun. That’s a great area.

In order of effectiveness:

1) Stay in a group

2) Situational awareness

3) Bear Spray

4) Firearm

By “Situational awareness” I mean noting when you have poor sight lines, you’re around berries or a salmon stream, there are ravens overhead or any dead-animal smells, and when there’s lots of wind or water background noise.  In those cases, stay closer together, make more noise, keep eyes on the trail ahead and peer around corners and over rises.  My wife is much better at all that than I am and numerous times, she’s started yakking, “Hey Bear!  Hi Bear!  We don’t want to surprise you Bear!” and as we turn the corner or clear the rise, a Grizzly is already running away (one rarely sees our black bears because they’re too tasty and they know it).

Thanks BPLers for your helpful insight and shared wisdom. Seems like the collective wisdom is “ALL CARRY.” Although I appreciate the counter argument about whether 12-year olds have the maturity and discernment to carry bear spray. I agree with Brad above – if we couldn’t trust our kids here with bear spray we probably wouldn’t be doing this trip. Love the idea, Luke, of stashing a can in the TP bag. May consider picking up an air horn too, Chuck. Not for bears – to help wake kids up in the morning. 😁

Bring at least one camera with a zoom lens. If you see a bear it might be 300 yards away. Getting a picture of your first grizzly sightingis always a treat.

uh oh, Luke, that’s what I say about black bears in Oregon, have camera ready in holster practice quick draw…

some day there will probably be a headline, overconfident man killed by black bear in Oregon : )

why do you say air horn is effective Chuck?

I’ve thought about that and it seems like it might work

they also have electronic devices like

it seems like that might work.

It probably lasts much longer than bear spray.  Less toxic to the humans, although it might cause hearing loss

I will second Luke’s comment about soap. If your group is carrying bear spray, there is a strong possibility that someone will be exposed to it if a can is discharged. Blowback is common, even when there seems to be little wind. The active ingredient in bear spray is oil-based, and flushing with water alone will not get it off as quickly as you want. Baby shampoo will let you wash it out of your eyes without causing additional pain, although a grease-cutting dishwashing detergent like Dawn may work better. Another alternative is the Sudecon Decontamination Wipe, which is an individually-wrapped towelette that is designed to relieve the symptoms of pepper spray in the field; it is commonly carried by police and paramedics. You can buy them on Amazon and eBay, and each weighs 16 grams. I carry two in a pocket of my pack so that I can locate them easily even if I can’t open my eyes.

Each person ought to carry two different types of deterrent… that’s the recommendation I hear most around here.

Firearms, handheld marine flares, air horns, pepper spray, etc..   Air horns <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>can</span> be very effective and have other uses too.  I personally carry pepper spray + a handheld marine flare… no fire danger here but may not be appropriate in the Tetons.    The air horn gives you a chance to scare off a bear at at distance.  If it paid no attention to that, I’d have a gun or have pepper spray ready.

Speaking only for myself I worry about a 2 year old grizzly…. a teenager that is inquisitive.

In a true attack, victims hardly have a chance to do anything.  Even hunters carrying a gun in hand can be knocked down before they can react.  If you need to fire a pistol at a charging bear, you ought to be proficient and have practiced regularly at a range for just such an event.

Pepper spray works, don’t need to be an accurate shot but wind can screw up your spray range and pattern.

A kid with an air horn can do the trick and you’ll be able to judge the bears intent.

A lot of locals up here carry an air horn as one method to haze off a bear.   The caveat being our bears are hunted, the people population is low so most bears are not habituated to people.

You guys will have a great trip!!

http://www.bearsmart.com/play/bear-deterrents/

We had 3 guys in our 60’s and my 23 year-old son, climbing in from the Idaho side.  Although he carried the mighty bear bell (LOL) on his pack, my son hiked so much faster than the rest of us and he’d get way ahead of us, on those blind curves.  In retrospect, that was dangerous.  Tell your rambunctious kids, not to move forward alone.

Please do everyone a favor and leave the bear bells at home :)

I’d agree that bear bells are an annoyance on a heavily used trail.  On a seldom traveled trails, though, a little warning that another party is approaching lets me put my dog on a leash (although I’ve since trained her to return to me long before another party is close) or pull up my pants if I was watering a fireweed or devil’s club plant alongside the trail.

We never wore the bear bells, ourselves.  We’d put them on the dog because she bounces around more and travels ahead of us.  It also reduced anxiety in other parties as a black furry thing appeared in their midst.  The dog loves it when we put the bear bells on her because it means we’re going to hike in a fun place.

I normally hear voices of hikers long before the bear bells. A Bear Guard instructor told me he thought the human voice was way stranger to a bear than bells.

Be smart but don’t sweat it to much.

Resurrecting this thread because of the incident that happened near Old Faithful last Thursday, where a 10-yr old boy was attacked by a sow with a cub.  The parents had bear spray and were able to spray the bear and get her to retreat.  Article here:  https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/18038.htm

On the same day, in a different part of the Park (Artist Point area), my daughter and a client were hiking.  They knew there was a bear in the area, as rangers had been hazing it earlier, so my daughter and the other hiker were on high alert, making noise, bear spray at hand, etc.  As they rounded a blind corner on the trail, they surprised a bear headed their direction  on the path.  Rather than run or veer off the trail, the bear approached them and actually picked up its speed.  My daughter said things happened so fast they barely had time to get the bear spray out of holsters.  Fortunately, the bear went on by but passed within about 10 ft.  They were shook up but otherwise unharmed.

Who knows whether this bear was the same one that was being hazed, or just another bruin trying to fatten up for winter, but for my daughter the takeaway was that you can do everything right and STILL have stuff happen.  In the future, she will probably wear her spray on a chest harness that doesn’t require pulling the canister out to deploy BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BUY HER ONE!

I trust the OP had a great time in the Tetons.  Just posting this to emphasize that bear encounters are low probability but high risk, as bears (particularly grizzlies) are so unpredictable.  I hope to make it into the Park this fall, and I will be carrying 2 cans of bear spray.

OP here, we had a fantastic time on this beautiful trail. All kids carried on their shoulder strap. Thankfully and as expected, no need for bear spray, but it made me feel better as a dad that my kids had it on them just in case. We only saw a young black bear up close on this trip and it was on our last day as we were nearing our exit at String Lake. It was not very interested in us at all (or the 100+ day hikers that we must have passed in the last 2-3 miles that last day). Great trip, great trail, and perfect weather.

Our last picture at String Lake, about 200 yards from the car.

Hey, Jeff Moore, thanks for the update.  Looks like a great trip – how could it not be!  Glad things went so well.