Bear defence question

[patriot1]

I'm hoping somebody can give me a clear answer on what would happen in this scenario. Hopefully it never comes to that but I don't want to find out the hard way.

I'm out (legally) fishing somewhere. There are no postings or notices not to enter the area I'm in due to bear activity. Not in a national park. I get attacked by a bear (black or Grizzly doesn't matter, for the sake of the question) but I have a sufficient and legal non restricted firearm with me not exceeding hunting regs. magazine capacity but obviously no bear tag and it's not bear season. I somehow manage to humanely shoot the bear purely in self defence.

There happens to be witnesses that the bear was on top of me, they saw me fire a warning shot first which did nothing and I have bite/claw marks/injuries from the attack.

Do I get charged with poaching? Illegally discharging a firearm? Anything?

Any possible different outcome with or without witnesses or injuries?

[58thecat]

After you drag your body up off the ground, empty your shorts call the cops, your good to go trust me no one is going to throw you in the cruiser stinking like that.

[Bushmaster]

Who cares ?? You're still ALIVE !!.

[elkdump]

There is no grizzly bears in an imaginary scenario supposedly improbably ,

But if you did get bitten by an imaginary grizzly , it hurts

So shoot the imaginary grizzly before it is on top of you, your more likely to live, hypothetically , possibly

Don't worry about a gun that holds a lot of bullets, because you'll be lucky if you can even get if one shot, if the imaginary grizzly jumps you

If somehow you do manage to survive a grizzly attack and kill the beast ?

The COs will investigate in great detail and determine who of you is worth more dead or alive ? You or the Grizzly,,

In most cases the Grizzly is worth much more than any human,

So your azz is grazz,,, if you survive !

[CF8889]

Better to be judged by 12, then carried by 6.

Also, advice I received from some seasoned vets:

Sit down, keep calm, and only give them one answer "it charged, I shot, it died". Over and over. They will try to trick you into admitting crimes you didnt even commit. "It charged, I shot, it died."

[trophybook]

Never shoot and tell

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by CF8889

Better to be judged by 12, then carried by 6.

It don't take 6 peepel < , to carry a fresh bear turd

[Bushmaster]

Read the book "Bear Attacks" by Stephen Herrero....and you'll likely never go into bear country again ! In the end, he basically says you're better off to be attacked by a grizz because he's just pizzed at you and wants to be left alone. Whereas if a black bear attacks you, he plans on eating you .

[coastalhunter]

Bears get shot all the time in self defense, the people are just smart enough to not talk about it....

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by coastalhunter

Bears get shot all the time in self defense, the people are just smart enough to not talk about it....

Ya but he says he has a witness who saw the so called bear attack unless the witness ends up with the bear

[Phshrmn]

The answer is to carry bear spray and to practice using it. It works, it's proven and you won't be dead or in court. There is no downside to carrying bear spray, and the life you save might be yours.

The chances of getting a firearm aimed and shot effectively stopping a charging bear are minimal.

Theoretically, carrying a firearm when you could carry bear spray is a bad decision.

Theoretically, the officers who decide to charge you will be careful to collect all the evidence but in real life, you will still pay for your own defence.

My guess is that shooting a bear is going to result in charges more often than not. And if it was a grizzly, that's worse.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

[^v^Tinda wolf^v^]

shoot the bear regardless of species if your life is in danger or use bear spray, the choice is yours. Capacity of a legal gun used holds no bearing😁 In this situation with or with out witnesses then Report it as soon as you can. You are legally responsible to report it at this point. I'm sure no one except for twisted minds just shoots bears for giggles and by reporting it you show you were acting in a responsible manor. For those who wish to say your lucky to get one shot off that's fine but once again just one scenario. You choose your safe distance when a bear charges or won't back off and use what ever you wish to stop the threat

[morinj]

I've been told by f&w that if this is to happen, you should report it to them, I believe that you can even put in a request to harvest the bear, but I've never been put in this situation, so don't quote me on it! This however is the reason I got into firearms!

[LKILR]

Originally Posted by Phshrmn

The answer is to carry bear spray and to practice using it. It works, it's proven and you won't be dead or in court. There is no downside to carrying bear spray, and the life you save might be yours.

The chances of getting a firearm aimed and shot effectively stopping a charging bear are minimal.

Theoretically, carrying a firearm when you could carry bear spray is a bad decision.

Theoretically, the officers who decide to charge you will be careful to collect all the evidence but in real life, you will still pay for your own defence.

My guess is that shooting a bear is going to result in charges more often than not. And if it was a grizzly, that's worse.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

Explain how well bear spray works in the wind? Example if bear is down wind bear smell person 9 times out of 10 bear runs away no need for spray. If bear up wind then person may startle bear cause bear to charge person try to spray bear but bear upwind so person end up spraying self and not bear. I choose to arm myself with shotgun with short barrel no plug and five rounds of buck shot thank god I've never had to use it.

[bessiedog]

Man oh man.

I'd luv to comment on it ........ cause.... ahh.

Suffice to say

You are on your own in all aspects of this scenario. And that is the best advice I can give you.

And you will be attacked more than once whilst the ordeal unravels.

It's no fun being attacked.

[3blade]

If your are injured, you won't be charged. If an officer was dumb enough to charge you, document your injuries and request your hospital records, the judge will toss the charges in the first minute.

The problem start when you defend yourself successfully without being injured (what a screwed up country we live in). The government and legal industry are gonna break into your bank account through your exit hole. If they find out. There's an answer in there somewhere.

[DisplacedCaper]

Grizz encounters and 'what if' situations are hot topics and lots of fun for my group to chat about around the camp fire and card table at camp. We've discussed 'what to do' in many scenarios.
A few things I keep in mind:

whatever situation you dream up about what it'll be like when it happens,its most likely not going to go down like that. (I've walked slowly backward from 2 separate grizz and they've meandered off. Until those Ive always expected a charging angry grunting type of deal, and I'm aware that that happens as well for the record)

If the situation awards you enough time to raise your firearm and aim, you probably have enough time to raise your bear spray and give that a go, or at least have a think about what's happening rather than just opening fire from the hip because your scared.

Lastly and MOST IMPORTANT, it's your life and if you think it's in danger from a bear encounter... you do what you need to do to walk or crawl away. The bear or the CO's aren't going to care about what you read on AO and what they said you can legally do on some Internet forum. That's not a dig or meant to offend. Good on you for asking, leads me to believe you are trying to get an idea of how to handle the situation. Where as a 'poacher' I believe wouldn't care enough to ask...they already know what they want to do if given the chance.
Read as much info as you can on the subject, set your own boundaries on where you are comfortable drawing the line in a situation. Enjoy the time outdoors, keep your head on a swivel, and when an encounter happens keep your cool and act accordingly. Just because you see a grizz doesn't mean it's going to attack, but there is no way to be certain it won't either. Every situation is different.
Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Red Bullets]

Firstly, If you should make it through a bear attack and shoot the bear then go over and shoot the witness in the foot for not doing anything or getting it on video.

Seriously.....Adding to the attack scenario mentioned by the OP something to ponder...

Strange tragic things can happen when you try to shoot bears at real close range. This is one accounting from Alberta's past written in one of the local history books. The fellow that was charged by a grizzly lived to tell his story.

He was with a close friend out hunting together back in the very early 1900's in the southern foothills and in a willowy area a big grizzly charged him. By the time he was able to raise his gun the bear was right in front of him. His hunting partner was coming to his aid from a few yards away to his side. When the bear opened his mouth the fellow shot it in the mouth. The bear dropped at his feet. Unfortunately when the bullet exited the bears head it struck his hunting partner and killed him also. He was not charged with anything back then.

I guess the wisdom in this story is if you are going to shoot an attacking bear at least wait until he's on you. Just to be safety minded.
---

I was bluff charged by a big black and that bear covered 30 yards in 2 seconds. I had enough time to blink my eyes before I froze. I was damn lucky the bear was just kidding when it got to 4 or 5 yards full tilt. I think it stopped because I hadn't moved. It turned around and left as I stood there, unarmed, wondering which way to go. That was my one close bear encounter in 40 years of tromping through the bush. The moral in my story is if you want to carry a firearm for bear protection you had best be walking with it loaded at your shoulder at all times and be in full combat mode. Because a bear is faster than you think. I still go into bear country unarmed fishing and hiking. I carry bear spray in my hand when walking. If death by bear is my demise then so be it. If you want to be part of nature, you become part of it.

I've been told by oldtimers ...If a bear wants to wrestle one thing you can try is hug the bear close as possible and hold on tight. If you can hold the bear close it can't make any swinging blows and can't bite your torso. ...Then again...I was never was told when to let go...

[tenda]

Originally Posted by coastalhunter

Bears get shot all the time in self defense, the people are just smart enough to not talk about it....

Lol...exactly

[270person]

Do what we did on the farm. Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up. Worked like a charm for neighbours cattle chasing dogs.

[fishead]

Originally Posted by Bushmaster

Read the book "Bear Attacks" by Stephen Herrero....and you'll likely never go into bear country again ! In the end, he basically says you're better off to be attacked by a grizz because he's just pizzed at you and wants to be left alone. Whereas if a black bear attacks you, he plans on eating you .

Great book, have had several close encounters with no issues over the years.
Bears do scare the crap out me. unpredictable .

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Phshrmn

The answer is to carry bear spray and to practice using it. It works, it's proven and you won't be dead or in court. There is no downside to carrying bear spray, and the life you save might be yours.

The chances of getting a firearm aimed and shot effectively stopping a charging bear are minimal.

Theoretically, carrying a firearm when you could carry bear spray is a bad decision.

Theoretically, the officers who decide to charge you will be careful to collect all the evidence but in real life, you will still pay for your own defence.

My guess is that shooting a bear is going to result in charges more often than not. And if it was a grizzly, that's worse.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

Carrying a firearm when you could be carrying bear spray a bad decision...then why not both? Seems logical, practical...a few sprays if the bugger takes off or retreats then returns well the shotty comes into play...hopefully as in all quick encounters when your not in the know of the bear good luck getting anything ready to defend yourself.

[Mountain Guy]

some people worry too much...
don't worry about bullet count ( unless your bird hunting )
What other option would you have other than to shoot the stupid thing? ... and its pretty hard to keep it secret if your lucky enough to be layed out in the hospital getting yer azz sewn up.

So I'm not sure why this scenario would even be discussed.....

[Phshrmn]

Originally Posted by coastalhunter

Bears get shot all the time in self defense, the people are just smart enough to not talk about it....

I wonder how this information gets out and how people know this to be true if people are smart enough not to talk about it. It's amazing how it happens all the time.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

[Auger]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

I've been told by oldtimers ...If a bear wants to wrestle one thing you can try is hug the bear close as possible and hold on tight. If you can hold the bear close it can't make any swinging blows and can't bite your torso. ...Then again...I was never was told when to let go...

I think this is my favourite reply so far.

In all seriousness though I don't think there is a fool proof method for dealing with bear encounters. Of my three encounters with black bears, they were all different and were over as soon as they started basically. No time to react much beyond start reaching for a deterrent or gun, but no time to actually use them. However in the op's scenario, assuming it happened exactly that way, you would have no issues even without a witness. The one thing you would be questioned on is why didn't you try a deterrent instead of a gun because obviously you had time. Although I do consider a warning shot to be a deterrent.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by Bushmaster

Read the book "Bear Attacks" by Stephen Herrero....and you'll likely never go into bear country again ! In the end, he basically says you're better off to be attacked by a grizz because he's just pizzed at you and wants to be left alone. Whereas if a black bear attacks you, he plans on eating you .

BS ! Share your opinion with Timothy Treadwell's and Amy Huguanard's families about Grizzlies just jostling and biting and being done with a victim !

That ONE grizzly ATE the both of them , and little was left but a human leg bone and part of spinal column, and some sneakers,

Grizzly is the TOP of the good chain, they eat everything else they choose to eat

black bears being common Grizzly snacks( Bearrittos) ) as well as the occasional tree planter seismic worker and armed hunters and fishing enthusiasts ,,,

You the human are pretty much the near the bottom of the food chain

[raab]

Originally Posted by elkdump

BS ! Share your opinion with Timothy Treadwell's and Amy Huguanard's families about Grizzlies just jostling and biting and being done with a victim !

That ONE grizzly ATE the both of them , and little was left but a human leg bone and part of spinal column, and some sneakers,

Grizzly is the TOP of the good chain, they eat everything else they choose to eat

black bears being common Grizzly snacks( Bearrittos) ) as well as the occasional tree planter seismic worker and armed hunters and fishing enthusiasts ,,,

You the human are pretty much the near the bottom of the food chain

If you look at all the deaths from bears over the last 100 years. The majority of Grizzly attacks were provoked. Compare that to the black bear attacks where they sneak into your tent in the middle of the night and kill you.

In saying that it's very unlikely you're attacked by either. Over 100 years there has been like 112 deaths due to bears. Most bears are pansies and run at the first sight or smell of a human.


As for the OP you do what you need to do. One thing to remember is to have a story as to why you had your shotgun with you. Like you were going to shoot skeets, hunting(depends on time of year), etc... I talked to a few people who have had to use bear spray and they swear by it. I'd also carry a good sized knife to give yourself one last attempt if the bear was attacking you and had you pinned. Best thing you can do is make lots of noise and alert a bear to your presence. A blue tooth speaker and ipod playing music would most likely keep you safer then a shot gun while fishing.

[Nester]

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by raab

If you look at all the deaths from bears over the last 100 years. The majority of Grizzly attacks were provoked. Compare that to the black bear attacks where they sneak into your tent in the middle of the night and kill you.

In saying that it's very unlikely you're attacked by either. Over 100 years there has been like 112 deaths due to bears. Most bears are pansies and run at the first sight or smell of a human.


As for the OP you do what you need to do. One thing to remember is to have a story as to why you had your shotgun with you. Like you were going to shoot skeets, hunting(depends on time of year), etc... I talked to a few people who have had to use bear spray and they swear by it. I'd also carry a good sized knife to give yourself one last attempt if the bear was attacking you and had you pinned. Best thing you can do is make lots of noise and alert a bear to your presence. A blue tooth speaker and ipod playing music would most likely keep you safer then a shot gun while fishing.

Even more scary, on a yearly basis , more people are stomped to death in Alaska by angry MOOSE , than persons killed by Grizzly and Black bears COMBINED!

Considering Alaska probably has more bears per square mile than anywhere else in North America , and the highest ratio bears to people,,,

It says a lot for packin moose protection, Elmer Fudd Syndrome

[rugatika]

A concentrated kung-fu punch to the solar plexus will leave the bear dazed and confused long enough to make your escape. (probably)