Bear Spray/Dog Spray

[Fishnfiend]

Has anyone ever actually had to use either of these products on a bear (or dog)?

I bought a small can of dog spray to let my dad carry when we camp this weekend/next week northwest of Sudbury. I will have a 12 guage in the truck, but that is as a last resort.

What I am wondering is if this dog spray would have any effect at all on a bear or just make it salivate...

The bear spray is 0.87 % kapsacin and the dog spray is 0.5 %.

I figured it would at least slow a bear down, giving dad/us a chance to get in the truck or boat.

[ch312]

the only thing with pepper spray is you need to wait until the animal is fairly close in order for it to be effective. the shotgun would be a better idea as long as its legal to carry with you in that area. as long as you contact the mne asap after the attack, there wouldnt be any legal issues with killing the bear in self defence.

 

as a side note, ive been pepper sprayed by the cops before and it REALLY hurts...

[troutologist]

Honestly its not a great deterrent, for the most part if youre not really paying attention to the wind you have a better than not chance or getting it on you or someone youre with. Ive seen video and talked to guys that have sprayed it on bears in a fairly controlled situation where the bear wasnt aggressive and it had little effect. Im not 100% sure but I believe the pepper spray used by law enforcement is around 10% active ingredient.

 

I wouldnt worry too much about bears, just keep a clean site food as sealed up as possible and inaccesible. Ive found they wont come around much if theres a fire. If youre really worried leave a radio playing while youre sleeping. An air horn I believe will work just as well. Have fun and dont worry about bears youre more likely to get bit by a fish or blackflys this weekend.

[Headhunter]

Can't help with the spray question, but you may want to consider "Bear Bells" as a deterrent as well!

HH

[tonyb]

as a side note, ive been pepper sprayed by the cops before and it REALLY hurts...

Nevermind the bears, lets hear the story behind this!

 

Tony

Edited May 23, 2007 by tonyb

[Fishnfiend]

I am not overly concerned about the bears, just want to look after the old man. After all, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have my current addiction for outdoor hobbies.

I go remote camping a couple times every year in Ontario and have yet to even see a bear while camping.

The last bear sighting while camping was a grizzly out west (20 something years ago).

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, like Tony said, let's hear the story behind being pepper sprayed by the cops.

Edited May 23, 2007 by Fishnfiend

[John]

IMHO, if the bear likes the look of you and gets close enough to be effected by the spray, then you might as well roll over and grit your teeth!......

 

As was mentioned before, keep your site clean and food sealed and off the ground.

[specktacklure]

If you have to get that close to the bear to spray him your probably going to get your answer .at leats your wife will get a good settlement !!! I would definitely go with the shotgun !!

[misfish]

Oh leave them bears alone,what did they ever do to you

Now as far as those deer go,they can be dangerous,thats why we take care of them with the ol 30-06.

 

as a side note, ive been pepper sprayed by the cops before and it REALLY hurts...

 

Still waiting for this one.

Edited May 23, 2007 by misfish

[BryonG]

The only time I'll be hittin' a bear with pepper is just before he goes into the slow cooker

[tjsa]

Nevermind the bears, lets hear the story behind this!

 

Tony

 

Yeah, inquiring minds want to know,

 

OK, NOW ONTO THE LEGAL ISSUES HERE. And don't take my answer as the be all and end all, CALL THE MNR, AND ASK TO SPEAK TO A CO ABOUT THIS !!!!!!!!!

 

Was just talking to my CO bud, (trying to remember all he told me) and while there is no law against transporting a firearm along with you, as long as it is securely locked up(and, obviously not loaded in a vehicle, etc. and there is no open season for any game where you are) you are deemed to be not hunting. If it is not locked up, you could come under some scrutiny from the CO's.

 

I WILL SAY THIS AGAIN, CALL THE MNR, AND ASK TO SPEAK TO A CO ABOUT THIS !!!!!!!!

 

You can only use a firearm against said bear if it is threatening your person. Not your personal possessions. When camping on crown land, you are in its territory, not the other way around. If it is destroying your coolers, tents, whatever, but not threatening you personally, you cannot legally shoot it.

If it was on YOUR private property(deeded land), and destroying YOUR personal possessions, threatening YOUR livestock, etc. you should try to scare it off, but barring that, you can protect your private property.

 

My bud has had bears on his property many times, and has just scared them off by banging pots together, and such, but they have destroyed some of his trees and stuff. Not enough value though for the loss of life for the animal. He has not had to dispose of one yet in all the years he has been living there, and only had to try to trap one last year that was causing problems around his and others property. But, it moved on elsewhere.

 

Personally, every bear I have ever ran into in the bush has hightailed it the other direction very fast when it heard me, never saw me, just heard me, and I could hear them crashing through the bush for almost 30 seconds in the opposite direction.

Store your food properly, high off the ground on a rope over a tree limb. It will eventually lose interest. The pots, pans, grills that have food residue on them also.

[outdoorguy61]

Counter Assault is a compressed spray that shoots out an estimated 18-25 ft, with a 10 ft. radius. Most act as a bronchial constrictant, with items such as cayenne pepper as a fairly common base.

 

I have been in bear country many thousands of times and have yet to use it. Close once, with some grizzley scat by Spray Lakes in Alberta ......steaming......safety off.... but that was it. If you know your bear sign and use some common sense, it is unlikley you will have a problem.

 

I feel far more comfortable around bears, rather than the thieving druggy freaks near Vancouver....lol. They have my vote of confidence and are far more predictable (bears).

 

outdoorguy61

[fliptheslop]

Ya they tell you pepper spray and to wear bells so they hear you coming! Now with that said they have a way in the west to be able to tell the difference between Black bears and grizzly bears just by their poop, a black bears poop is full of berries and fur, a grizzly bears poop is full of bells and smells like pepper.

[Jen]

We have owned our property just south of Wiarton for just over 9 years. There are always bears seen on the concession about 800 yards from where our trailer is and we have yet to see one wander in when we are there. The noise, fire and smell of us seems to keep them at bay. Unless your dad wanders upon one with cubs he shouldn't have a problem at all. From what I have read pepper spray won't do much in that case anyways. Best to just be attentive of your surroundings. Sounds like you have it all covered though.

 

Have a great time with your dad!

 

Cheers,

 

jen

[BLACKFISH88]

if your attacked by a bear play dead thats what I believe is the thing that is told to people. A shotgun will probably just make a bear mad and if it's close enough for pepper spray your not going to be thinking about pepper spray your going to be smelling poop and it won't be the bears!

[Northhunter]

Most encounters don't result in anything, but it seems there's a couple every year that turn into hell for those involved.

It's almost always a boar in a remote area. Predatory bears. The sow defending cubs is more of a grizzly thing.

 

I personally don't know about the spray, but don't play dead with a black bear. A higher percentage of black bear maulings result in death than grizzly encounters. If a black comes after you, fight to the death. Go for the nose/eyes. 90% of them high-tail it in the opposite direction once they figure out what you are. The ones that don't that aren't habituated to humans probably want to eat you, but they're more likely to back off if they think they'll get hurt in the process.

 

Don't play dead!

[Fishnfiend]

Most encounters don't result in anything, but it seems there's a couple every year that turn into hell for those involved.

It's almost always a boar in a remote area. Predatory bears. The sow defending cubs is more of a grizzly thing.

 

I personally don't know about the spray, but don't play dead with a black bear. A higher percentage of black bear maulings result in death than grizzly encounters. If a black comes after you, fight to the death. Go for the nose/eyes. 90% of them high-tail it in the opposite direction once they figure out what you are. The ones that don't that aren't habituated to humans probably want to eat you, but they're more likely to back off if they think they'll get hurt in the process.

 

Don't play dead!

 

Thanks for all of the tips, but I am quite familiar with how to avoid bears. I camp in bear country several times per year and am an avid hunter. I have yet to see a bear while camping (knock on wood).

I also know that I must fight a black bear if it comes down to it.

Basically, I still want to know if anyone has used pepper spray before...?

 

 

Oh, and the story about being sprayed by the police, too.

 

 

As for the legality of carrying a gun, the WMU I am going to has cottontail rabbits in season until June 15th.

[lunkerbasshunter]

your shotgun locked up not loaded in your truck will not help you. by the time you get her loaded up you will be done.

i heard of a high pitched bear whistle or it may be a radio single? that keeps bears away. they use them to keep polar bears away from the milatary guys up in north pole. i will ask my father in law about it this weekend. he was stationed up in alert for a year or so and got to see lots of polar bears.

 

probally to expensive to sell but apparently it works great.

[Entropy]

A side-arm would be best. It's hard to get a carying permit for this though.

 

CH123, story?

[Tacklebuster]

I've tried it on a racoon in our backyard, and I was not impressed. The racoon showed no reaction and didn't even leave. It just sat on the fence and didn't move no matter how many times I sprayed it, so I gave up, and it eventually left. I would leave the shotgun at home, CO's see you with that, your just asking for problems.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Tackle Buster

[ch312]

lol i guess il spill the beans...

 

my boss and i went to a work related christmas party this past christmas and towards the end of the night a couple chicks started getting rowdy with each other and then their boyfriends got involved. me and another guy "escorted" buddy out of the building by hiw ponytail and when we went back in all hell broke loose. i was drunk but i figure 40 people or so were pushing each other around and around 10 tables got tipped over breaking alot of bottles, glasses, plates, etc.

 

the cops got called but in the mean time i was wrestling people off each other. i started to break up two chicks (dresses got removed, no undergarments :clapping: ) and when i stodd up i got a face full of pepper spray. apparently the cop thought i was attacking the girl i had ahold of trying to pull off the other one.

 

i wont go into the rest of it cuz i covered what you guys wanted to know but to sum it up...

 

a few people got sprayed and cuffed for fighting with cops

host of the party had a very large bill

got to see hot naked chicks

brutal headache the next day

 

i was drunk but ill never forget that pain. think of it like pouring boiling water in your eyes and face. definatly not a pleasant thing. im not sure how much capacin is in police issued spray but its alot more than the stuff you can buy at any store in canada.

 

you can buy the strongest stuff in the states from alot of stores but its not allowed in canada...

[Northhunter]

Thanks for all of the tips, but I am quite familiar with how to avoid bears. I camp in bear country several times per year and am an avid hunter. I have yet to see a bear while camping (knock on wood).

I also know that I must fight a black bear if it comes down to it.

Basically, I still want to know if anyone has used pepper spray before...?

Oh, and the story about being sprayed by the police, too.

As for the legality of carrying a gun, the WMU I am going to has cottontail rabbits in season until June 15th.

 

I figured as much, Fishnfiend. But a lot of people don't know this stuff and are misinformed when it comes to black bears.

 

From what I've read it doesn't appear this stuff is too effective. Troy Hurtubise (the bear suit guy) said he learned the hard way no bear spray will stop a bear if it's only 1%. Take it for what it's worth I guess. It could stop an attack (even if just temporarily), but I don't carry the stuff. I prefer to have something I can deliver blows with (a paddle would probably break bone), but I'm quite a bit younger than your dad.

[Greencoachdog]

as a side note, ive been pepper sprayed by the cops before and it REALLY hurts...

 

 

LMAO!!!! That'll teach ya!!!!... BEHAVE!!!

[Greencoachdog]

I was watching the Discovery channel about this and the best bear deterrent is a combination pepper sray/air horn device. It sprays the pepper and makes the loud air horn sound like the one used at sporting events... although I've not seen them on sale anywhere.

 

The air horn by itself will also work.

[ch312]

LMAO!!!! That'll teach ya!!!!... BEHAVE!!!

 

ummm....did u even read my post and why i got sprayed?