Posted by on 5/2/2022 to
You’re walking through the wilderness, armed with your rifle of choice, and you see a bear. What do you do? Do you shoot it, shoot in the air, not shoot at all? What if you have Bear Spray and a gun, which should you use?
There is a lot of great information from the U.S. National Park Service on how to handle bears here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm# You should definitely check it out, but I’ll go over many of the points as well.
If the bear has seen you already then you should identify yourself as a human, not a prey animal, by talking in a low pitched voice. It’s not like they can actually understand what you’re saying, but they can recognize you as being a human and then hopefully make the connection that they don’t eat humans. Screaming or high-pitched sounds may startle them or cause them to think of you as a prey animal. Stay calm, continue to talk to the bear in low tones and never try to imitate bear noises or high-pitched squeals. You should not stare them down or try to intimidate them except by holding your hands over your head to appear bigger. It’s definitely better to be in a group. If there are small kids in your group be sure to pick them up and try to keep them quiet, as you want to protect them.
It is a good idea to make loud noises like banging pans, horns, alarms, yelling, and I suspect Dubstep will do the trick as well. You should be doing this when the bear is far away from you so it has room to maneuver away from you and the cacophony you are making. What is surprising is that warning shots from a gun are not recommended and can actually be a bad thing if it is too close, since it might attack you while you are trying to reload. If you do shoot a bear it is important that it is an accurate shot, preferably in the head or the chest. This should be carefully considered since a wounded bear can be far more dangerous than a non wounded bear, which in turn can be far more dangerous than a dead bear. That said, if you do kill a bear it is advised that you call the U.S. Parks as soon as possible while avoiding the bear and its carcass.
By now you’ve hopefully confused or, better yet, made the bear bored. Now it’s time to sidestep out of there like you’re on a stage going offstage. During all of this you should not run, this might be the hardest part of the whole thing. When fight or flight is telling you to fly, well sometimes you’ve got to find a third option. This is because, like dogs, bears will chase anything, or at least you should assume they will. Also don’t climb a tree as both grizzlies and black bears can climb them as well.
If you are going to be in bear country try to stay in groups, the larger the better. Keep your food sealed and put away. It’s best if the bears do not know you have food, and you should never intentionally feed them. Avoidance is the best way to be with bears. Stay as far away from them as you can so you can keep your interactions with them to a minimum.