re: Grizzly bear kills husband, wife and their dog at national park in Alberta, Canada

Bear spray is good and all but the article even quotes people who live around there who say they go out there armed, particularly this time of year.

Grizzly bear. Damn. He is him.

Friend,

I rely on bear spray and prayer when camping out west. Grizzlies are the only mammals for which I do not give thanks. I had a terrible encounter with one in Montana doing all the right things, and spray and God’s hand were the only things that saved me.

The people I have camped with before who use guns say a 357 is too small. They carry 44 magnums.

A tragedy to hear these monsters have murdered more humans. Write to your Congress members telling them to stop the NPS from their forced grizzly reintroduction
plans throughout the West.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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Does that even work on a grizzly? I’ve read that’s is not super useful and to have the right gun instead.

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I believe bear spray has a better success rate than firearms, but in a perfect world you should have both. Obviously, being Canada, you’re not going to be able to carry a handgun with you, so that’s out.

I did some research before going to Glacier. Our B&B had extra bear spray that we borrowed but I brought a my 10mm loaded with 220gr hard cast bullets as well. I’m much more proficient with that than I am with bear spray, so I wanted to have options just in case.

10mm is by no means a great bear gun, but with the right bullets I felt it was a safe choice. The 44 mag was just too heavy to worry about lugging around, in an area where the risk of a bear attack is low. Also, I’d rather have 15 rounds instead of 6.

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357 Mag is the only answer for camping in that neck of the woods IMO.

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It’s an answer, but not the best one.

There’s a guide that killed one with a 9mm that was about to attack his client, so it is possible, but ideally, you want to have at least a .44 magnum in a handgun.

Whatever you have, I’d want to have the heaviest hard cast bullets I could find.

We were just up in Banff, Golden and Glacier NP for 2 weeks hiking every day. Dogs were not allowed on most of the trails. We didn’t see any bears (or moose or elk) the entire time.
I don’t want to even think about protecting ourselves with bear spray against a charging grizzly. You might have a few seconds to get your spray and use it and hope the wind is blowing in the right direction.
That’s a scary situation.

LINK

There's another bear story on the linked in page. About a bear that visits crab apple and other fruit trees in Banff. And what to do? what to do?
Force the people to cut down the fruit trees in their yards?

The bear has even been given a name.

You come across a grizzly bear this time of year, you better believe that baw is hungry.

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I believe bear spray has a better success rate than firearms, but in a perfect world you should have both.

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An air horn does a good job of keeping them far enough away that you don’t need the spray. I’m sure their dog knew about the bear before they did but sounds like they still didn’t have much time to avoid an attack. Scary just thinking about it.