Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: norm_2 on October 01, 2006, 04:16:43 PM
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Sounds like there are more bears out there. Where is a good place to buy some bear spray? How big are the the cans? Do they come in different sizes and if yes, what size is appropriate? What is the cost?
What info should one know? Shelf life? Any special advice on use? Do you have to take any precautions packing it around? ????
For those who have one, which river do you carry it to? Who has used it?
Thanks.
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Sounds like there are more bears out there.
There are no more Bears now than there have ever been but we see more/less of them depending on the food supply.
Where is a good place to buy some bear spray?
http://www.3vets.com
How big are the the cans? Do they come in different sizes
Roughly the size of a shaving cream can but a little taller/thinner.
and if yes, what size is appropriate? What is the cost?
The bigger the better.I paid $30 some years ago.
What info should one know?
You need ID and must be of legal age to buy the Good Stuff.
Shelf life?
Don't worry
Any special advice on use?
Wait until you can see the Bear's beady little yes and then hope the wind is blowing toward him not you.
Do you have to take any precautions packing it around? ?
No horseplay/goofing around it's powerful stuff.
For those who have one, which river do you carry it to?
Bought some for a trip to the Skeena country-never used it.
Thanks
You're quite Welcome.
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as a hunter and someone who spends a great deal of time in the back country, and from talking to many conservation officers, contrary to sam's comments, black bear populations across many areas of B.C. are on the rise. Our changing weather/climate from seasonally wet springs to the drying trends we have seen in the past 4 years have led to an increase in the recruitment of young bears. Often a sow will give birth to 2 or more cubs and with weather patterns in the spring being favorable, there has been an increase in forage for young bears to survive on, thus allowing more cubs to reach maturity. While this is not true in all areas of the province, it is definately true in our coastal forests.
Cans of bearspray are widely availlable at most outdoor shops, look for the kind that has a range of 40 feet and the highest level of capsicum (spelling) that you can find. I use "bear guard" brand and it has detered all but one that i have doused. I have a general rule with blackbears, never trust them to run away in fear, the decline of folks hunting bears has led them to become less afraid of humans. While hunting i allow a bear a 50 yard "safe distance", if it comes within that 50 yard zone, it gets a warning shot, maybe 2, after that....... I'll spare you the details. On the plus side, I am not a bear hunter and thankfully through 12 or so close encounters I have had to spray 5 bears and have only shot and killed one.
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One's I've seen and I've been looking lately...are much bigger then your's Freak...I think they are 10% and around 34$$$....sorry, not jumping on the yours seems much smaller then ours again bandwagon... :D..but I think your can is a little on the small side.. ;)
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Mountain equipment co-op carries them and yes you do have to sign a waiver form to purchase them.
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One's I've seen and I've been looking lately...are much bigger then your's Freak...I think they are 10% and around 34$$$....sorry, not jumping on the yours seems much smaller then ours again bandwagon... :D..but I think your can is a little on the small side.. ;)
10%?!!! I think the strongest you can get north of the boarder is 1%
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you should do a little research on brands, not all are created equal. Some spray short, not enough pepper and the pepper can settle out of the propellent and become nothing more than a face wash for the bear. Cheapest is not always best when personal saftey is involoved. Look for a brand called "Counter Assualt". It ranks up there in all the testing that has been done on these products.
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Counter assualt is %1 and is around $40. Avalible at Riverside Fly & Tackle.
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i carry counter assault everywhere i go fishing.
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I too now carry bear spray each time I am in the bush....never have before, and hope to never need it...however, this summer I had a very unnerving encounter with a bear that kept advancing on a group of us (6 people) despite all our efforts to scare it off. We were unable to use the trail out and ended up bushwacking to get out....needless to say, I now carry $40 worth of spray, and pray I'll never again be close enough to use it.
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Prevention is still the best strategy. Make lots of noise when walking through the bush. It helps to let bears know you're coming and will help you and the bear avoid each other. I know a VPD seargeant for the ERT. When he was delivering my training on use of force, including use of OC spray (oleo capiscum or pepper spray) he pointed out that people can overcome immense amounts of pain when in total rage and that often, pain further fuels the rage. People have been known to be sprayed in the face, hit with a stun gun, shot with a conventional gun and still keep coming. While bear spray is better than nothing, I don't know that it's ever been tested on bears charging you, and intent on making you into tomorrow's news headlines. A peaceful bear coming towards you might be put off by the spray, or it could also totally enrage it causing the above mentioned to happen. Don't rely on it unless you have a big boom stick to back it up.
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Bear spray is not always the answer. If you spray it too soon it just will not work. And when a bear is coming charging at you that bear will keep coming. My best advice carry a whistle. I have run into alot of bears here in Maple Ridge and noise has always worked. If you give them the space that they need you will be fine. As long as you do not get between a mom and her cub black bears will leave you alone. Bears eye sight is not the greatest and they rely on their sence of smell. For the most part the bears that you run into in the bush are as much afraid of you as you are of them unless you surprise them in the dark. It is the ones that come into the populated areas that you should worry about as they are there for one reason only and that is for food. So my advice carry a whistle or bear bangers and make noise with them if you go into the bush and always be careful with bear spray because if not carried properly it can go off. You make think that the safty is in but accidents can happen and the last thing you want is for your bear spray to go off and you spend your first couple hours of fishing cleaning your self off.
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Not sure how many of you folks are hunters but it seems many guys here with advice about black bears are not fully understanding the nature of these beasts. A mature adult , healthy, well fed black bear will steer clear of you in most cases providing you don't surprise it, however, 2 to 3 year old male bears are extremely unpredictable for many reasons and will become predatious towards humans. Never assume ANY bear will run away because it is afraid of humans. In the past, hunting has taught bears to fear humans and each momma bear will pass this on to thier young, however, with hunting bears becoming "socially taboo" many hunters have stopped bear hunting, thus the fear of humans is not instilled upon the young bears. In areas where human/bear contact is very low, you will be viewed as prey by a bear and it is your behavior that will tell the bear you are not food. There are several books about bear encounters that teach us that. I am no expert in bear behavior but I have encountered enough to tell you this, I have met a few bears that i was convinced thought i was food, and they took thier time assessing and sizing me up. If a bear sees you at a distance and stealthily makes it's way to you, which they will do by circling into the wind, they are seeing you as possible prey. Close encounters where bears and humans "happen" upon each other in sudden circumstances cause the bear to suddenly have the "fight or flight" behavior. This is where quality bear spray is the most effective. I have been charged by a 2 year old male bear and when he got to about 30 feet i emptied the can of spray on him. He had been feeding on a gut pile left from a hunter and was not going to have his dinner taken or interupted by anything or anyone. You just never know what circumstances you will find yourself in when encountering bears. Take the precautions, it may save you from a desperate situation. It is FOOLISH to assume that you are only in real danger if you encounter a momma and her cubs, the times when i thought i was in REAL danger have been from adolescent male bears.
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I watched a show recently on black bears, they attack humans much more the grizzlies..If you lay down and play dead it WON'T work with black bears!!! They showed that they can and do stake humans..and they are doing it so they can eat you...It was a fascinating show, when the bears ears are back and head low and shoulders up, they are getting ready to charge...the only thing that stopped them was standing your ground and making lots of noise...AND if you have to use bear spray...you have to hit them dead in the face and mouth...the cloud in front of you does nothing to deter them.....
Posted this at the same time as above..the adolescent bears...and older bears that are hurt are the problem ones too....
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Bob's Sporting in Burnaby currently has them on sale $36.98 for 290 grams and $29.98 for 230 grams.
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Remember check for the expiry date before you buy it.
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I just picked up a can and carrying case for $26 at Valhalla Pure on West Broadway near MEC.
Trail Guard Brand by Treksta Canada contains 0.857% Capsaicin
Hopefully never have to use it and if i do use it hopefully i dont spray myself!
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(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/troutbreath/P9260306.jpg)
I took this shot last week on the lower Vedder canal near the bears resting spot right beside the river. Bear probably weighed a good 400 lbs. Spray away if you like, I prefer to make noise and be aware that the beasts are around. I did use some sray on a raging biting dog, and it took a few seconds, after I soaked his face to get the message. I wouldn't have wanted to see what a bear would do to me as the dog only let go of me after I soaked him. I hear the stuff is good on trout though.
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Anybody fishing the upper section of the Vedder be extra vigilant. I heard that 3 bears were observed in the vicinity of the Limit Hole the past few days.
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anyone ever try using an airhorn. you can pick one up at crappy tire. it'll make any blacky sh*t itself...at least not the hungry ones ;D
the only problem is if any old timers are fishing near by, you might cause him to have a coronary.
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Great time for a bear discussion! When the rivers fill up with fish they will come after the fish just as we will. We will probably all be bumping into a few of them over the next few months.
I have lived, played and worked in the wilderness for years (BC, Alaska, Washington and the Yukon). I have survived lots of bear encounters with only 1 close call. I would like to offer a few comments on bear aware issues.
1) Make noise: as others have said surprising bears is a bad thing. If you are with buddies a good heated conversation should do if you are alone sing a song or if you are like me and don't sing well just yell "hey bear". The amount of noise I make depends on how far I can see: if I am on a trail through a dense riparian area and can't see far I will make noise almost constantly. If i am on a gravel bar or in an open forest with decent view scapes I will make noise less often.
2) Look for signs: do a google image search for bear scat if you don't know what it looks like. Always look for scat and poke it with a stick to see how fresh it is. If you are in an area with a tonne of scat make more noise and be extra carefull. Other bear signs to look for are dug up ground ripped up logs, prints and scratches on the trunks of trees. I was on a trib of the Skeena last year coho fishing and saw grizzly scratches that were 12 feet up a tree and the ground was absolutely covered in fresh scat needless to say we were loud and had the spray ready!
3) Dawn, Dusk and Dark: bears will travel and forage heavily during these times also your visibility will be limited be extra carefull and make lots of noise at these times
4) Grizzly vs Black: Learn to tell the difference check out ID characteristics. Grizzlies will usually only attack out of aggression to prove their dominance if they feel threatened this type of attack is when you should play dead. Blackies will attack with predatory intent never play dead with a balcky make yourself look big and if that doesn't work fight for your life!
5) Carry spray: I carry a bottle on my wading belt if I am going to an area where I feel I will need it. When in Skeena country, Alaska or the Yukon I will often be strapped with a canister on each hip. I have never sprayed a bear and have only talked to one person who ever has and he said it worked well.
Alwaysfishin: I would be very interested to hear stories about the times you have had to spray bears especially the time it didn't work! It would be very cool if you could share those experiences IMO.
6) If you see a bear and it sees you: back away keep your eye on it but don't look it directly in the eye make noise so it can ID you as a human not a wounded deer or something
7) If you see a bear and it hasn't seen you move away from it quietly
8) Climb a tree? blackies can climb trees well so can small grizzlies I do not think I would climb a tree (it would be hard to judge a small from a large grizzly as you are trying to find a tree to climb). not sure why the cool guy smilie poped up instead of an 8
9) Find more info there are some great bear awareness videos out there maybe try looking at the ministry of environmet website to see if they can be ordered
10) Stay calm: this is the best thing you can do during any bear encounter although the ability to stay calm can only come through experience.
11) Danger situations: Surprising a bear (make noise), mothers with cubs (give them alot of space and extra caution), young bears (curious and inexperienced as previously posted by alwaysfishin), protecting a kill (if you see a dead animal on the ground get away from it there could be a rightfull owner near by ready to protect dinner)
Hope that helps, good luck this fall and hopefully we all see some bears but from a safe distance.
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A lot of good advice Pat.
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I remember about 6 or 7 years ago when searun was fishing the upper veddar and he saw a bear across river. About 30 min later it had crossed the river up stream and came aroung the corner where he was fishing. I guess the bear could smell all the roe. He just back away along with the other fishermen and the bear turned around and left. Then about 4 years ago he and I where fishing the same spot and we could here a bear following us in the bush. We proceded to make noise and we thought the bear was gone. We where sitting along the bank waiting to fish and we could here the bear on the other side of the bank. The bear was close enough that we could smell a musty smell in the air. We once again proceded to make alot more noise and the bear left.
Just thought that I would share a few stories. Have more stories about bears and my encounters but not from fishing just from my mountain biking days as well from the cabin. Only had one close call and no amount of bear spray would of helped. A bear tried to get into my cabin in the middle of the night threw the front door. Sadly the only solution was to shot it as to protect the family. The sad thing was we could not find the bear the next day when we tracked it for miles. Hopfully it did not suffer to long. I have never had to shot an animal before and have never shot one since. No longer even own a gun.
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last year my brother and i were fishing just below the gun barrel. from the corner of my eyes i saw an object (no more than 50 yds)pass my right shoulder and into the water. :o turned out to be a full grown blacky, wanting to cross the river. talk about stealth. that buggar must have weighed around 300 lbs., came out of the thick forage and not one twig or branch cracked.