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Less than lethal methods of dealing with a bear.
DarkPrimus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
A rather random question that is purely in the realm of hypothesis. I am not actually trapped in a small, isolated cabin with a ravenous bear outside, patiently waiting for me to open the door and serve myself to him.
How effective would a taser be against a bear? Preferably the kind of taser that fires a dart connected to wire, rather than the one you have to be right next to the bear for, although if those carry higher voltages then maybe they would be more effective?
I don't even know if there's studies on the usage of tasers on non-humans, but I figure someone out there has to know.
How effective would a taser be against a bear? Preferably the kind of taser that fires a dart connected to wire, rather than the one you have to be right next to the bear for, although if those carry higher voltages then maybe they would be more effective?
I don't even know if there's studies on the usage of tasers on non-humans, but I figure someone out there has to know.
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http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=450&issue_id=84
It appears that bears are deterred by tasers if they aren't outright stunned by them.
Honestly though, I'd say hope you have bear strength pepper spray. If there's one thing an animal hates, it's persistent following pain. If you could get somewhere where it would have trouble getting you, say lure it near an open window too small for it to get you through, you might have good luck giving it a face full of pepper.
1: Know how to avoid them
2: Know what to do if you meet one
Ask someone at your nearest state/national park to take you through bear etiquette.
Bear spray can work well against bears. I wouldn't trust my life to a taser that was meant for a human, as bear protection. If there are special bear tasers, then sure use those. I know a guy who used a road flare against a grizzly bear, and just the fire from the flare scared it off, before it could even get close enough to be touched with it. Downside to that though is if the bear is not afraid of the fire, and knocks you down onto your own flare, then you're dealing with horrible burning and being mauled by a bear.
Also there will never be a time there is a ravenous bear waiting outside your cabin for you to open your door. But there may be a time when there is a ravenous bear, busting into your cabin. Bears really don't give a shit if you've closed the doors and windows or not.
I'd say a .45 to the head is slightly lethal.
The OP is looking to not actually kill the figurative bear. :P
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Brown Bears/Black Bears/Grizzly's are more likely to maul your face off if you give them a challenge like that. If the bear isn't hungry, you're better off curling in to a ball and taking a few hits. If it is hungry... god help you.
black bears are giant pussies and will run off for the smallest reason....
....unless they're a mom with cubs or a male with food nearby (like garbage), then don't mess with em at all.
in general, if a bear is attacking you defensively (to protect food or young), you're supposed to play dead.
if a bear is attacking you to eat you, yell scream punch kick and struggle. aim for the eyes and nose like a shark.
if it wants your cheeseburger, give it the damn cheeseburger.
Polar bears are rather friendly for being the largest killing machines in North America.
Playing dead makes you easier to kill.
Best defence is a swan kick to the jaw as they charge.
For realistic protection I'd say a Mossberg shotgun or a Taurus Judge but I'm not sure on the effectiveness of shot shell ammo vs a bear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell
There was a quote on a gun forum once of a hiker asking if a .45 was adequate bear defense. Someone suggested filing off the front site before you went on your way, that way when the bear takes the gun away and shoves it up your ass it won't hurt as much.
Really though, bear spray is your perfect solution.
If you come across signs of bear activity, you can identify the bear type by its droppings. Black bear droppings will be dark and well-formed. Grizzly bear droppings have bells and smell like pepper.
When I was really big into backpacking I solo'd deep into grizzly territory many, many, times, as well as slept out in the open rather than a tent. Tents make bears curious.
I always carried bear bells, bear spray, and a .357 mag minimum with me. The best defense against a bear is to not surprise one. Make noise constantly, and let the bears know you're coming. More often than not you'll never see the bear, because it will choose to let you by with out incident.
Last year my cousin was elk hunting, and had to give up his elk to a grizzly. He hunts with a .308, which can kill a grizzly. But decided that leaving the elk to the bear, and him leaving unharmed was a better choice than not killing the grizzly instantly and instead facing off against an enraged bear.
Some parks use 12ga shotguns loaded with bean-bag or rubber slugs and shoot them at bears delivering quite a sting whenever they get too close to "human" areas, such as parking lots and picnic grounds.
Less than lethal shotgun rounds are hard to find, but have the potential of working.j
Of course if you come between a bear and it's cubs, nothing you do is going to stop it, until one of the two of you is dead. Which is why people always say to play dead.
I've come across many black bears in my adventures and have had an incident yet. That' doesn't mean when I see a black bear, I should assume there will be no incident.
It's also very important to be able to identify what type of bear you're coming across.
Take the online test here, it only takes a couple of minutes.
http://fwp.mt.gov/education/hunter/bearID/default.html
The best way to deal with moose is to climb a tree. I've been charged and treed by moose plenty of times. Bulls in rutt, or cows with calves are unpredictable and dangerous.
I was charged by a bull moose in some swampy ground with no trees around to climb once when I was out hiking, I just stood there and watched, assuming that I was going to die, because there was no other option for me. He stopped about 10ft away from me, turned and walked off. It was probably the most exciting thing I've been through.
If you're wandering around in the wilderness without a real weapon, it's your own damn fault for being killed. The bear wouldn't hesitate to kill you for one second if you threatened it. Why should you?
You seem to know a lot about bears.
too bad we can't be dogs then :-(
also, cracker shells
PS4:MrZoompants
Street Fighter-style showdown. Watch out for that bear roundhouse kick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUePVgajXs0
Sagat is overpowered.
Yeah, as far as bears were concerned, my father was kind of a dick.
But short of starving, a black bear probably isn't going to bother you. Yell at it, throw stones at it, smack it with a stick, chase it. It'll run off. They really are cowards. So if you just live near black bears, you don't really have to worry about it unless bears in the area are acclimatized to humans (like trash raiders.) I dunno what the policy is in the US, but in Canada there aren't a lot of bears that wander into town --the first time a bear does, it's tagged and returned to the wild, and the second time it does, it's shot. At least that's policy in my province.
So for black bears, at most I'd carry around a shampoo bottle filled with ammonia or some bear spray.
If you're around grizzlies, they're worth a bit of worry, as they can be real dangerous. But I'd be a lot more focused about knowing what body language to present to them than about having a gun or bear spray on hand to deal with them. Stand up straight, do not run away (grizzlies are creepily fast in a way that you can't really imagine until you see it,) but definitely don't be aggressive. Face and watch the grizzly continually, and hold your ground. A grizzly will usually leave, or bluff a few charges at you (do not retreat when they do, or it's not going to be a bluff anymore) and then turn around and leave. And you probably should too. For whatever reason, bears find bipeds a bit confounding. Actually, deer do too. Moose don't seem to care: in rut or as a sow with calves, moose are a lot more dangerous than grizzlies.
A big exception is if you're unlucky enough to come across some carrion before you smell it. Bears, even black bears, react badly to people stumbling across their carrion. If you ever see carrion in the mountains, just turn around and leave. Immediately. Always. A cougar isn't going to fight you over carrion, but a bear sure will. So just back off and go home.
I was always taught that the best way to deal with a charging (not just bluffing) grizzly was to shoot it in the face with shot, then dodge to the right (because apparently most grizzlies are left handed, and will veer to the right when blinded) and then finish them off with a proper gun. I've never had occasion to test this, thankfully. My grandfather was the last person in my family who ever had to kill a grizzly.
If you had to kill a grizzly with a pistol, a .44 magnum would probably be your best choice.