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Tips for Using Bear Spray and Venturing into Bear Country
Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee lists tips and reminders for staying safe outdoors
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee has put together a nice list of reminders and recommendations for anyone venturing outdoors, especially this time of year when bears are preparing for winter. Everyone should use caution in areas that have evidence of bear activity or areas with scavenging birds such as magpies, ravens or crows.
Here are a few tips from the experts:
— Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
— Hunt with a partner, leave detailed plans with someone and check-in periodically.
— Pay attention to fresh bear sign. Look for bear tracks, scat, and concentrations of natural foods.
— Anyone who observe a grizzly bear or suspect that any bear is nearby should leave the area.
— If you do encounter a bear, stay calm, don't run, and assess the situation by trying to determine if the bear is actually aware of you. Is it, for instance, threatening or fleeing? Always keep the bear in sight as you back away and leave the area.
Here are a few guidelines for using bear spray:
— Bear spray should be used as a deterrent only in an aggressive or attacking confrontation with a bear.
— If a bear is moving toward you from a distance of 30 to 60 feet aim the spray downward toward the front of the bear with a slight side to side motion so that the bear spray billows up and creates a wide cloud that acts as a barrier between you and the bear.
— If the bear is within 30 feet spray continuously at the front of the bear until it breaks off its charge.
— Spray additional bursts if the bear continues toward you. Sometimes just the noise of the spray and the appearance of the spray cloud is enough to deter a bear from continuing its charge.
— No deterrent is 100 percent effective, but compared to all others, including firearms, bear spray has demonstrated success in a variety of situations in fending off threatening and attacking bears and preventing injury to the person and animal involved.
For more information visit online.
Here are a few tips from the experts:
— Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
— Hunt with a partner, leave detailed plans with someone and check-in periodically.
— Pay attention to fresh bear sign. Look for bear tracks, scat, and concentrations of natural foods.
— Anyone who observe a grizzly bear or suspect that any bear is nearby should leave the area.
— If you do encounter a bear, stay calm, don't run, and assess the situation by trying to determine if the bear is actually aware of you. Is it, for instance, threatening or fleeing? Always keep the bear in sight as you back away and leave the area.
Here are a few guidelines for using bear spray:
— Bear spray should be used as a deterrent only in an aggressive or attacking confrontation with a bear.
— If a bear is moving toward you from a distance of 30 to 60 feet aim the spray downward toward the front of the bear with a slight side to side motion so that the bear spray billows up and creates a wide cloud that acts as a barrier between you and the bear.
— If the bear is within 30 feet spray continuously at the front of the bear until it breaks off its charge.
— Spray additional bursts if the bear continues toward you. Sometimes just the noise of the spray and the appearance of the spray cloud is enough to deter a bear from continuing its charge.
— No deterrent is 100 percent effective, but compared to all others, including firearms, bear spray has demonstrated success in a variety of situations in fending off threatening and attacking bears and preventing injury to the person and animal involved.
For more information visit online.
Bear spray might prove useful to hunters in some situations, but in the current issue of Sports Afield, BYU professor Tom Smith said, “If I’m actually out hunting and I have a gun in my hands and suddenly a bear comes at me—do you think I’m…
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