View topic - Bear Spray in Ontario

With all the bear activity in Ontario this past year; is anyone strongly concidering bringing bear spray on trips, into the interior?

Doug


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"Some people hear the song in the quiet mist of a cold morning..... But for other people the song is loudest in the evening when they are sitting in front of a tent, basking in the camp fire's warmth. This is when I hear it loudest ...."

Nope. I bet I'm still more likely to win the lottery or get hit by lightning.

Our group always has a couple.

Two years ago we had a bear near our cottage, someone shot it during the hunting season. I saw/heard no bears last year. This year there have been warnings, bears roam fields where kids play, people spot them and their signs on popular trails. I don't know, seems like there's too many for my comfort level. We don't let the kids play where they played last year.

Kaliber

Yup! and deoderant too!

B

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It's all about forward progression!


"Preservation of our waterways comes from those with little voices, big paddles, strong backs, weak minds and thick hides with which to ignore the bug bites." Organizer of "The Wabakimi Project"

These critters do smell, and I am glad someone is doing something about it!

Make that unscented. Bears love that "fresh spring" scent.

No bear spray for me. I am uncoordinated enough to disable myself and the bear will be unaffected. Plus they really need to be close and there is no time to rummage in the pack. My bear encounters have mostly been surprises.

My brother spends a lot of time in the B. C. interior on horseback. A real "mountain man", one tough dude.
He saw a grizzly coming, got out his bear spray, the bear charged....and he was so intimidated by the speed and shear terrifying ferocity of the attack that he froze...didn't even push the button. Turned out to be a bluff charge, or he'd no longer be with us.

Now Barry, who might that deodorant be for?

Dave and I both promise to bathe, not together of course, . We've had too many people cancel on us before and we just figured it was because we smelled bad ! Couldn't think of any other reasons.

J

Okay, Okay no deodorant! But I will not bath with you guys. That's the reason the others up and left. Heck, they wouldn't allow us in Manitoba for the very same reason I wonder if Vikings have odor?

I think Brian may need extra shampoo since he has more fleece then some so staying clean and order free might be tough


Erhard, we'll clean up those critters no problem for ya!

B

_________________
It's all about forward progression!


"Preservation of our waterways comes from those with little voices, big paddles, strong backs, weak minds and thick hides with which to ignore the bug bites." Organizer of "The Wabakimi Project"

I don't worry too much about bears. It's the fish I worry about. The one in my avatar is almost as long as my leg. Think of the damage that thing could do to you when you are bathing. I think I'm scared to swim, so maybe deodorant is a good idea. I'm sure the bear spray would sting on the underarms, and smell too spicey. Hell the bear would think I was a walking talking enchallada.

J

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Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
"Albert Einstein"

A good bear on a spit roasting over the fire with a dinner bell alerting us when it's done sounds good to me.

I have had bear steaks before and they are quite good!

As for Jerrys leg of fish............I'll pass. I hear he needs deodorant. Or was that the other guy! Never take chances.

B

_________________
It's all about forward progression!


"Preservation of our waterways comes from those with little voices, big paddles, strong backs, weak minds and thick hides with which to ignore the bug bites." Organizer of "The Wabakimi Project"

I think I am going to start carrying it. I've ran across a couple of pretty bold bears in the last couple years, including one this spring. I hope to never need it. I've been going into more and more remote areas, and it seems 99% of the bears run scared and 1% are curious/not afraid. That 1% scares me. I've never had a big problem with the habituated bears in more commonly traveled areas, just hang your food, clean up, and they'll move on to easier pickin's in my experience. You'll never need it, but if you do and you don't have it.......

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"...man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.”
Ronald Reagan

I attended a wilderness medicine confrence with my wife (an ER doc). And, a photo of a man without a face is still stuck in my mind. One swipe is apparently all it took to remove everything -and I do mean everything from what had once been his face. I don't know where the encounter occured or what kind of bear it was.

David

I think I read this on this site somewhere but I will attempt to regurgitate for the benefit of others

You know how to tell the difference between Black Bear scat and
Grizzly Scat?

You can alwasy tell the Grizzly scat becasue of the bells and pepper

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Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.