black bear repellent
while clearing trails and shooting lanes in thick brush known to be infested with black bear. I have decided to carry a 12 ga.pump with buck-shot. ? what do you think would be best. #4 buck [41 .24cal ] pellets for max wound area. or 00 buck [ 15 .33 cal pellets ] for max penetration. if i do encounter a bear it will most likely be at close range 3-12 yards.
it is better to die on your feet then to live on your knees.[:)]
it is better to die on your feet then to live on your knees.[:)]
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Go with OO or rifled slugs or a slug followed by OO! Are you able to take a dog with you as a "early detection device" or an AM radio strapped to your belt playing noise. 0 -
Have to agree with raskil. Being three to 12 yards from a bear before your first shot you will most definetly want a slug for penatration and pure shock effect. You only wound him and you will really piss him off. Also have to agree that the best fight with a bear is the one you can avoid, radio is a good idea.
There is one more way, you can take that annoying nieghbor along, as long as you can out run him. Most people don't realize that you do not have to outrun the bear, just the people you are with.[:I]
"I don't know how to shoot well, but I do know how to shoot often" T. Roosevelt0 -
The chances are slim but there is a chance that we could meet up with a black bear.We have got pictures of it at the deer feeder. I always carry a gun but wife does not like to. Most of the time I will be a long distance from each other.Does the spray "bear repellant" work on a black bear or will she have to get use to having a gun close by.I am not paranoid but I did see a cub during hunting season but luckily did not meet the mama.
uncle milo,12 feet from any kind of bear is too close for me.
"It was like that when I got here,I think"0 -
When checking out my home defense shotgun I fired several different loads at 25 yards. This is much further than any defense shooting I would have to do in my home, but the results were interesting. 00 buck would put on average one pellet in a mans chest sized target at 25 yds. Number 4 buck would put several (6-10) pellets in a man sized target. I would suggest you do this test before you go. 0 -
Considering how fast a bear can move, 3 to 12 yards will give you very little time to defend yourself. The best thing to do is give it time to get out of your way by not coming on it unexpectedly.
It was either American Rifleman or G&A who had an article a couple year ago on a pepperspray designed for bears. It was tested and effective on even the big Alaskan grizzlies. When testing, most bears only needed one shot to convince them to back off. Only one bear took two shoots before giving up.
The can was large enough for multiple shots and had a long range. I believe it was about 25 dollars a can.
The one bad thing about pepper spray is you have to hit the eyes and mouth for it to be effective.0 -
Make a friend of a PETA member and take them with you[:D]
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.0 -
thanks for the help guys. the reason for the close range is due to the very thick brush [over grown x-mas tree farm.] due to the noise i will be makeing while working any bear i might happen to encounter will surely know that i am there and such an encounter will surely indicate the bear is up to no good. my neighbors have warned me that the local bears have very little fear of people and come right up on their decks in broad daylight to raid bird-feeders and that fireing a shot in the air does not scare the at all. i have had no problems so far and most likely never will but the boy scout in me is telling me it is best to be prepared. I will be carrying my 357 mag ruger blackhawk on my person and and will have the 12 ga in the tool cart should be enough firepower if i can get it into play.
it is better to die on your feet then to live on your knees.0 -
Uncle, I spent close to three years working in the woods as a surveyor and encountered many black bears on their own turf, usually in similar thick cover. I would smell them LONG before I saw them and I didn't see but 2 or 3 - butts moving fast in the other direction. Unless you encounter one fresh from hibernation and / or with cubs, the likelihood of an unfortunate encounter is virtually nil and highly unlikely even in those circumstances. Black bears are intrinsically shy of us unless a particular animal has been fed handouts or otherwise become acclimated to humans; they are not aggressive like a grizzly. We have a healthy resident population here in NH and I cannot recall a single incident where anyone has been attacked in my lifetime (50 plus years). You can wear a bell or other small noise-making device which won't interfere with your work and be assured you won't see one. If the bears in this area have been fed by humans or whatever, then carrying a firearm might be a reasonable precaution, but I'd carry a large caliber handgun such as a .44 . . . if you're going to be working, you can't carry the shotgun except by a sling and that would be mighty awkward to bring into action in thick cover, plus it will continually get in your way, weigh enough so you notice it, etc. Just my $0.02 0 -
A bell attached to your belt is good too and doesn't need batteries. In most places, shooting any bear out of season for any reason will require you to explain yourself and prove the bear was about to eat you and/or yours. 0 -
I'd agree with Iconoclast on the caliber issue. 357 isn't the best bear medicine. Friend of mine bounced a 357 off a bear skull trying to put it down. Bear had taken two hits off a 30.06 and was still alive so he shot it in the head with the 357. Bullet put a divot in the front of the bears head but it took another hit off the 30.06 to kill it. Bears are tough and built to survive. 0
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