It seems to be a common opinion these days that you must carry in the bush, however, very few of the working, professional bushmen I have known in my life ever carried any type of gun except when actually hunting. I was born and raised and began outdoor work in some of the most densely populated Grizzly country on Earth; I happened to come from a pioneer background and knew oldtimers, as a lad, who were among the first permanent "white" settlers in south-eastern BC, such as my grandfather, 1893, as an 18yr old.
We NEVER carried when working in the BCFS, in fact, it was against regs. to have either a gun or a dog in our vehicles. That has changed, or so I am told, but, we would work, even alone, in the most remote parts of BC, without a gun.
BC has roughly about 20 times the number of Grizzlies, as does Alberta and I have bushworked in both provinces. BC is far wilder and less "developed" for various reasons and I have NEVER carried, even as a severely afflicted "gunaholic" except a few times when running various private industry forestry projects in the '80s.
Gary Shelton is highly regarded here, again by working pros such as guides, prospectors and others with serious experience and was teaching bear safety to BCFS members, until he chose to retire. I used to supervise large forestry crews and taught basic bear safety to them, I find his book to be the best advice for this that I know of.
With about 60 Grizzly encounters in my 50+ years in the bush and having stood within 10 yds. of a Grizzly three times, both armed and un-armed (that is a very moving experience), I am NOT convinced that MOST people ARE better off carrying a gun. I have, at present, three purpose-built special Grizzly defence rifles and I am always concerned about my level of practice as NO gun will protect you if you are not extremely skilled with it.
Me, I have learned how to avoid Grizzly encounters and this is far more effective than packing a heavy gun on every trip. I am all in favour of anyone packing any gun they wish to, but, using the techniques outlined in Gary's book will keep you safer than anything else I know of.
Someone mentioned Steven Herrero, I knew him as he has a small property close to my hometown; he is a nice guy and I respect his scientific work with bears. However, when I first read his book, I had to chuckle as a lot of what he published was nonsense. In the second edition, he changed some of that and it is a better source for advice, but, while I am more in his "camp" in conservation terms, Gary Shelton gives better advice on keeping out of trouble with bears.
I also HIGHLY respect Charlie Russell, son of Andy, whom I also knew slightly. Charlie kinda hates hunters, but, he knows a HUGE amount about bears and his knowledge came from living in the bush for months alone to study them. His books are also very much worth reading to gain some perspective on how others think about this issue.
Anyway, these are some options, IMHO.
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