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This video while long does a great job teaching you how to act in active bear territory.
The TLDW is: -
- In active bear territory carry bear spray and be ready to use it
- You can't out run a bear don't try
- bear bells don't work
- playing dead makes it easier for the bear to maul you
- when hiking with a group and encounter an aggressive bear stand shoulder to shoulder and prepare your bear spray
- let the bear decide how they want to leave the encounter (if they are not attacking you)
- outside of a momma bear, most "attacks" are bluffs but can be scary as shit.
- guns work but you better be a good and quick shot cuz bears run fast and are very intimidating doing so
- a gun shot can help scare away most bears
My chance at pedantry! Also, some black bears are brown, and some grizzlies are black. If you live in overlapping territory, it may be easier to know them by shape... but if you're close enough to discern shape, you're already in a bad spot.
I've heard the best way to tell the difference is to check your pants. If you crapped your pants it's probably a grizzly.
Ooh bear facts! My favorite bear fact is that there is no grizzly bear species. Sure, there's regional genetic variation, but they are all genetically brown bears.
What they are named for is the grey hairs on their pelt, which are caused by the stress of malnutrition. This is why they are so much more aggressive than the other bears: they are literally starving because there is not enough calories in their environment to keep so many land sharks happy and healthy.
Great video!
https://youtu.be/1KWSJ3piSfM?t=2003
We tried (bear spray) on polar bear and they run like crazy.... They are scaredy cats, if I had to be stuck with any bear it would be a polar bear.
Part of me wonders if the gunshot helps whether it would be worth the trouble to carry an air horn.
Maybe, but really when you are in bear territory, and close to areas where bear congregate (rivers being one), just a few loud claps and a couple of loud "HEYS" is good enough to flush most bears.