My girlfriend and I were hoping for a solution that didn't involve waiting for a bear to finish attacking us.?

Question

There was a story on discovery channel about a father and daughter who survived a grizzly bear attack in Glacier National Park by playing dead and the bear stopped mauling them after only fifteen minutes. Other than one loosing his scalp and back of skull and the other having her face ripped open, the two were fine. But for my girlfriend and I this doesn't sound like our idea of how we would like to survive a bear attack. National parks don't allow gun use, so what do they expect people to do in the unlikely event that they encounter a predatory bear. I know most bears aren't normally predatory towards humans, but black bears occationally are. If you read about it you will discover that if a black bear really wants to eat you, it will unless you defeat it, so how do two small people in a national park do this without a gun? And I'm sorry but I don't buy it that throwing rocks is guaranteed protection. What WILL stop a predatory bear?

Answer 1

i'd think that pepper spray, or something like that would work.

i do understand you were hoping that the bear wouldn't get close enough for that, but for black bears, unless you get between mother and cub, it probably will be that close before you notice  --  in the middle of the night.

Answer 2

I know a lady in Alaska that carries a flare gun.

Answer 3

Next time you go out in the woods in bear country, bring a .45. Something small like a .22 or a 9mm won't even stop a 200lb man. I would suggest you bring something the size of a .45, .44 mag or a large hunting rifle (.30-06 or bigger). If you go the handgun route, you can always sneak it in. If you want to trust it (I wouldn't) you could try and find some bear mace. A nice, well placed hatchet could also do the trick, but you'd need to be like some medieval warfare geek before you got that good.

Best way to protect yourself from bears- Don't go in the woods.

Answer 4

I lived in the National forest in southern Oregon for over 3 years, hiked through the woods at least 3 times a week, and always had a small dog with me.

We had a black bear that would raid the camp ground most nights and my wife met him on the trails several times.

Black bears are not naturally aggressive, in over three years we never met an aggressive black bear, even a sow that had cubs would rather avoid us than confront us.When or if you meet a black bear stop, stand still, and then back away, more often that not the bear will go the other way first.

But just for your information, bears cannot run as fast as a person down hill.

Also an bear that shows any aggression is relocated by the forest service to a remote location.

Answer 5

The point of a national park is to have a place where nature can survive. It is simple really, if you don't want to get attacked, stay out of the woods. The best way to survive an attack is to understand the native wildlife in the area you plan to visit, if you stay out of their territory you'll be fine. To me this question is like asking how do I go into someones house without them attacking me, it's the same principal, you have to understand their home so you can enter without being detected.

I spent a good amount of time in the woods when I was young and we never had any problems with any of the wild life because we understood what was out there and that we were entering their domain. We gave all creatures a great respect and understood that any attack was a defensive action, so we learned how not to act like predators.

Answer 6

I always pack a gun in the woods and no need to tell anyone either. If you half to, shoot the bear and walk away. The wilderness belongs to you too, ya know! or stay home and watcht.v.

Answer 7

Nothing.

Make sure you can outrun your girlfriend.

(Sorry, old joke)

Answer 8

you should bring a gun. It's better to be fined than to lose your face!

Answer 9

I lived in Alaska for several years.  Generally speaking, the Grizzleys were more aggressive than the Black bears.  Fishermen would fish in the rivers and Blacks may come steal their fish but Grizzleys were the ones you needed to be more aware of.  That aside, you could find "bear spray" in the sporting goods stores and even Wal-Mart.  It's good to have in an emergency and I have heard stories of people stopping an attack with it but I don't know that I would neccessarily feel completely protected with just bear spray.