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Glad the guy got out in one piece and was able to get medical help. Showed it to my wife....probably a poor choice on my part.

The lingering mist, or whatever you call it, in the air was enough to cause you to cough, eyes water, and nose run.

A full blast in the face could only cause severe discomfort to say the least. In the event I had to use it, I would discharge the entire canister.

As for draw and fire, you'd better be an excellent marksman when a fight or flight situation comes up, otherwise you can empty a magazine without even knowing you did it.

Lucky dude to still be alive.

Now I wonder if FWP will consider this aggressive, predatory behavior?

My son has used bear spray on a large charging grizzly and had it work as planned. A friend of mine shot a charging female grizzly in the chest with his elk hunting rifle, then proceeded to get his leg and back chewed up pretty badly. He was getting dragged off by the already shot bear, when his friend shot it twice more to finally kill it. Without his friend, he would have been dinner. I also know someone who got charged when they had a rifle in their hand, and the guy admitted that he just froze, and didn't do anything, luckily it was just a bluff charge. I don't feel comfortable with just the bear spray either, but better than I do without it.

I'm surprised he didn't get the gun out as soon as he spotted the bear, and definitely after the initial attack!

Of course every scenario is different and like Mike Tyson says "everybody has a plan...............until they get hit in the face!" ;-)

I've never had any experience with Grizzly's, but have had some close encounters with black bears here in PA. Had one come in on me while I was bowhunting on the ground. Once it got closer than 30y the pistol came out. The thing bluff charged me a couple times and stopped just out of arms reach popping it's jaw and raking a sapling with it's claws the last time. I was able to back out of there, but had the pistol aimed at him the entire time. If he had come 1 more foot I would have shot. After that exprerience, the pistol comes out EVERY time as soon as I see a bear. Even when I am up in my treestand.

That was a good one and also true! lol

The guy was lucky the bear didn't go full on 'Revenant' otherwise we'd be reading his obit. not seeing his 'there I was, getting mauled by a bear...' video

Walk softly....and carry adequate bear protection

Shotguns or pepper spray would be first defense then pistol at close range.

I still go back to Nick M. video of him hunting over bait and watching those two gizzs come in. They look like Ray Lewis on crack.

Either way, the best defense is taking a buddy who is a little slower than you.

Glad I've never been charged. With my shooting skills I'm certainly safer using a can of spray than I am a gun. But I'd rather not find out with either.

What do you think is the time from when you see the changing bear till they are on you?? My guess is less than 5 seconds. 5 seconds being long. I have over the years watched a few u tube videos of bear charges. I think most, the bear where only 30 yard from the guys from when they saw them for the first time. Most bear charges come from thick cover my guess is.

Ed

Yep, nothing is foolproof. And who knows what each of us is capable of until we are in that situation. But my preference is to bet on the gun rather than a can of spray.

BTW, I shoot a lot with my pistol and feel very confident with it. Several years ago I got one of those lazer sights that automatically goes on when the finger goes in the trigger guard. Very simple to use(no buttons to push) and tightens up the groups surprisingly!

That said, I pray I never have to test it on a bear(especially a griz! ;-)

I wonder if the second attack wasn't one of the other bears. He said the second was worse. A mother and sub adults can approximate size. Not the case if obviously smaller.

I'm not an expert on bear behavior, but why the bear would purposely hunt him back down after leaving him during the first attack. That's crazy...

After reading the story, we all have the "why didn't he", or "I would have". But unless you're in that situation, no telling what moves you're going to make. This guy managed to make it out alive and somewhat intact. That's pretty impressive. And why the spray wasn't affective, that's the real mystery. A lot of us put our faith in that stuff working.

one near Gardiner where the guy had a pistol but it was never used....

and the other in Cabin creek where the guys sprayed the bear but got mauled anyway.

The local article in Dillon paper I read said they were still trying to sort out the situations as they had just happened.

All I can say is, Wow! Glad you were able to defend yourself and here to tell us about it.

I'm a bad enough shot with a pistol at 15' on a stationary target, would be much worst on a moving target with the equivalent heart rate of jogging for 1/2 a mile...

Thorton, please come to WY and kill grizz (in self-defense of course). We need sure-shots like you to help with the numbers problem. If you kill a grizz in self defense, I'll pay for your elk/deer tag.

Now of course a guy that shoots his pistol twice a year at a range is going to be sorely undertrained for a charging grizz.

How many guys practice with their chosen line of defense? Pistol or Spray?

I don't think there is a perfect solution...but I darn well know practicing for a lethal encounter to the point where its fast and intuitive is going to increase your chances of survival.

So he opted for the bear spray on the first attack; fine, a lot of people are conditioned to believe that would work best... BUT, after that attack was over, I darn sure would have been walking down the trail back to my truck with my pistol IN HAND after that.

Im talking pistol here not long gun,Long gun you may have problems with a pistol you can still shoot even if the bears on you,try that with bear spray and itll be all over you as well thats all im say n ...and like other hope i never have to go there..

Bsafe

I am not a fan of these hissing gas canisters which don't exactly feel like whoop-ass when a grizzly is headed at you. I've been there and done it.

I realize we only have black bears here, but still, options would be nice to have. Your best deterrent if you hunt in NJ is to have a hunting partner you can outrun :)

The best deterrent is a bear season

-Sound wisdom.

Be glad you're not in Jersey. We can't carry more that 3/4 oz of pepper spray and if you get caught even saying the word handgun here, you are on death row.

ARE YOU SERIOUS??????!!!!!!!! LESS than one ounce of bear spray is the legal limit in NJ???!!!!!

So, yeah, a guy could react in enough time, but you wouldn't get many shots off so make them count.

Most bear sprays discharge like a fire extinguisher, makes sense to use it as such in sweeping side to side to increase the contact area.

MikeC

Because I'm sure that a bluff charge is a lot easier to stop.

Just sayin'.

Everybody grows up day-dreaming abut being the hero and single-handedly stopping whatever threat they're contemplating at the time, but I think my preference in Griz country is probably a partner - not one I can out-run, but one who won't run in the first place. Ideal situation, one guy has time to lay out a wall o' mist and the second one has time to be prepared with a hand-cannon for anything that makes it through the spray.

And I'll bet that those who were most effective with the bear spray are those who don't surprise the bear at close range by sneaking up from down-wind.

Yes, 3/4 oz is the max you are legally allowed to carry. Basically, it's one of those little personal protection canisters you attach to your keychain.

I suppose most plans get altered or tossed altogether when 400+ pounds of grizzly is coming low and fast, but this is what I would be planning:

Wait until any bear is nearing the 30' mark. At that point trigger the spray and keep spraying directly at the bear until impact or diverted. Don't even think about running.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS??????!!!!!!!! LESS than one ounce of bear spray is the legal limit in NJ???!!!!! " Yes, 3/4 oz is the max you are legally allowed to carry. Basically, it's one of those little personal protection canisters you attach to your keychain.

WOW! Might as well just spit on it then............... :(

https://www.facebook.com/todd.orr/po...10413769369912

https://www.facebook.com/todd.orr/po...10413732648994

Grizzly 10/1/16

Hello everyone. Thought I should share yesterday morning's Grizzly incident.

I took an early morning hike in the Madison valley to scout for elk. Knowing that bears are common throughout southwest Montana, I hollered out "hey bear" about every 30 seconds so as to not surprise any bears along the trail.

About three miles in, I stepped out into an open meadow and hollered again. A few more steps and I spotted a sow Grizzly bear with cubs on the trail at the upper end of the meadow. The sow saw me right away and they ran a short distance up the trail. But suddenly she turned and charged straight my way. I yelled a number of times so she knew I was human and would hopefully turn back. No such luck. Within a couple seconds, she was nearly on me. I gave her a full charge of bear spray at about 25 feet. Her momentum carried her right through the orange mist and on me.

I went to my face in the dirt and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck for protection. She was on top of me biting my arms, shoulders and backpack. The force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth. She would stop for a few seconds and then bite again. Over and over. After a couple minutes, but what seemed an eternity, she disappeared.

Stunned, I carefully picked myself up. I was alive and able to walk so I headed back down the trail towards the truck 3 miles below. As I half hiked and jogged down the trail, I glanced at my injuries. I had numerous bleeding puncture wounds on my arms and shoulder but I knew I would survive and thanked god for getting me through this. I hoped the bleeding wasn't too significant. I really didn't want to stop to dress the wounds. I wanted to keep moving and put distance between us.

About five or ten minutes down the trail, I heard a sound and turned to find the Griz bearing down at 30 feet. She either followed me back down the trail or cut through the trees and randomly came out on the trail right behind me. Whatever the case, she was instantly on me again. I couldn't believe this was happening a second time! Why me? I was so lucky the first attack, but now I questioned if I would survive the second.

Again I protected the back of my neck with my arms, and kept tight against the ground to protect my face and eyes. She slammed down on top of me and bit my shoulder and arms again. One bite on my forearm went through to the bone and I heard a crunch. My hand instantly went numb and wrist and fingers were limp and unusable. The sudden pain made me flinch and gasp for breath. The sound triggered a frenzy of bites to my shoulder and upper back. I knew I couldn't move or make a sound again so I huddled motionless. Another couple bites to my head and a gash opened above my ear, nearly scalping me. The blood gushed over my face and into my eyes. I didn't move. I thought this was the end. She would eventually hit an artery in my neck and I would bleed out in the trail... But I knew that moving would trigger more bites so a laid motionless hoping it would end.

She suddenly stopped and just stood on top of me. I will never forgot that brief moment. Dead silence except for the sound of her heavy breathing and sniffing. I could feel and her breath on the back of my neck, just inches away. I could feel her front claws digging into my lower back below my backpack where she stood. I could smell the terrible pungent odor she emitted. For thirty seconds she stood there crushing me. My chest was smashed into the ground and forehead in the dirt. When would the next onslaught of biting began. I didn't move. And then she was gone.

I tried to peek out without moving but my eyes were full of blood and I couldn't see. I thought that if she came back a third time I would be dead, so I had to do something. Staying in position on the ground, I slowly reached under my chest to grab at the pistol I was unable to get to earlier. I felt I needed something to save my life. The pistol wasn't there. I groped around again but nothing. I wiped the blood from one eye and looked around. No bear.

The pistol and holster were lying five feet to my left. The bear's ferocious bites and pulling had ripped the straps from the pack and the holster attached to it. Now trashed, that backpack may have helped prevent many more serious bites on my back and spine. I picked everything up and moved down the trail again. I couldn't believe I had survived two attacks. Double lucky! Blood was still dripping off my head and both elbows and my shirt was soaked to the waist and into my pants. But a quick assessment told me I could make it another 45 minutes to the truck without losing too much blood. I continued the jog just wanting to put more distance between that sow and I.

At the trailhead was one other vehicle. I really hoped that person didn't run into the same bear. I snapped a couple quick photos and a video of my wounds, laid some jackets over the truck seat and headed for town. I stopped a rancher along the way and asked him to make a call to the hospital. When I got into cell service, I made a quick call to my girlfriend to ask how her morning was going, before freaking her out and asking her to bring me a change of clean clothes to the hospital. Another call to 911 and I gave the operator a quick run down of my injuries and asked her to call the hospital and give them a heads up that I was ten minutes out. Moments later I was met at the front door by the doctor, nurse and an officer. I had to ask the officer to open the door, put my truck in park, and unbuckle my seat belt. My left arm was useless. He was impressed I had taken the effort to buckle. Once inside, the x-rays revealed only a chip out of the ulna bone in my forearm. Following was eight hours of stitching to put me back together. Most were arm and shoulder punctures and tears. A 5" gash along the side of my head will leave a nasty scar, but I'm hoping my balding doesn't come on too quickly and leave that one exposed. And finally, this morning, numerous deep bruises and scrapes are showing up from the bites that didn't quite break the skin. Dark bruising in the shape of claws, line across my lower back and butt where the bear stood on me. Also a few more chest bruises and facial abrasions from being smashed and slammed into the ground.

Not my best day, but I'm alive. So thankful I'm here to share with all of you. In a couple weeks I will have to clean out the truck a little better. My girlfriend says it looks like I had gutted an elk in the drivers seat.

Todd Orr

Sure would have had the pistol in my hand after the first attack.

Moving down the road at 20 mph helps my cause, so the attack doesn't seem to come so fast. I can't imagine getting a full on charge from something that weighs 400 pounds more than a big dog with a whole lot more attitude.

On one of the dogs, I had a few seconds to prepare, the other one came up on my blind side and I literally jerked the spray from my pocket and got lucky. Real lucky. It takes lots of practice on getting the spray in your hand correctly. And the stuff I use it much less potent than the bear spray stuff.

Crazy story that guy's got. He's really lucky. It goes to show that the attacks really are survivable so long as the attack is not predaceous. It also illustrates how even with the best precautions, sometimes you just don't have the time to deploy your defense and we're all really relying on luck and live by these bear's graces. This guy had spray and a pistol and got mauled twice.

AKbow, not that your bear looks small, but compared to the coastal bears we saw it looks small. Out of curiosity, is that an inland grizzly? Glad you had a shot gun instead of a revolver.

I think it will be hard to compare it to 'defense by firearm' cases as my guess is that a huge portion of these that worked and the guy survived are never reported...

And how many guys shoot deer on the run at 200 yards with a handgun?

Cans of bear spray need to be turned over about once a month to keep them mixed and prevent settling. Also they have an expiration date. I am not sure if they go bad after that date but why take chances?