From: "Bob Carter" <revkayak_at_mtaonline.net> > I place the boat about 20 > yards from my tent and keep my bear spray and a .357 handy. A magnum rifle will work against a bear, but the handgun doesn't have the stopping power - this according to Herrero - unless you're at very close range and can handle the firearm under that level of stress. You'd likely just wound him and that would make things worse. Using it as a noisemaker might be better than attempting to hit him. If I had to choose between the bear spray and a handgun, I'd take the spray. However, you have to contend with both black and grizzly bears, whereas there are only black bears here in the east. At the time Herrero published his book, sprays had not been tested adequately against grizzlies. Canadian national park rangers do carry spray against grizzlies though. The best defence against a bear is to avoid contact - clean campsites are the way to go. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu May 30 2002 - 12:08:44 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:52 PDT