Dangerous animal defense and avoidance

Discussion in 'Survival and Wilderness Skills' started by Strigidae, Feb 12, 2019.

  1. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    What are some good defense strategies? Lets discuss what folks are using to fill that need. Lets be fair about this as folks tolerances to risk are all different though.

    What spray banger etc is your favorite?

    What is your favorite handgun?

    What is your favorite rifle?

    Anyone have good strategies for dealing with large cats, bears, hippopotami etc. Lets get it all in one thread for folks to use for their trips to dangerous game territory.
     
  2. Kevo

    Kevo Member

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    I don't generally run around near dangerous game all that much, but I have yelled at a couple of black bears rooting through a dumpster once before.

    For me, a G43 or G19 is more than enough to take care of anything I may come across in local woods.
     
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  3. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    Well, I can tell you from first hand experience a 9mm does not work on a large black bear. I'll leave it at that.
     
  4. Kevo

    Kevo Member

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    Oh definitely! The bear incident was up in Minnesota during a vacation. We carry bear spray for those occasions. Down here in IL we only really need to worry about 2 legged predators.
     
  5. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    That awesome! Being prepared for what you may encounter is super smart. Do you have a favorite bear spray?
     
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  6. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    No one seems to agree on whats best for the must shoot situation. Even the bears dont agree.
     
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  7. junglebum

    junglebum Member

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    I carry a g26 with a 17 mag loaded with buffalo bore outdoorsman loads 9 isn’t the best choice but it’s what I got. But there was a guy who smoke a grizzly in Montana with 5 rounds of that stuff so for smallish east coast black bears I trust it enough
     
  8. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Do you carry spray etc?
     
  9. junglebum

    junglebum Member

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  10. junglebum

    junglebum Member

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    Lead spray only
     
  11. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Bear spray (magnum can), bear bangers, Estwing double bit tomahawk. Often a big hiking stick

    the big cats here tend to follow hikers, mountain bikers and trail runners, rather than approach head on. So a tactic here is frequent "check your six" often (i check every 5th pace) , more so in the dawn and dusk hours, but all hours it is prudent.

    Attacks are rare up here, (like 3 or 4 in the last 60 years) the majority of the attacks are from smaller cougars who are hungry, not skilled in hunting wild prey. Runners and bikers and SMALL DOGS tend to trigger the attack response in them.

    its not uncommon to see cougars , but they vanish quickly. Cougar scratch trees and rubbed off fur on the bark are found all over the place (i have counted 59 so far in the Deeks Lake area)

    bears.....we have lots of black and the odd brown bear on the north shore, grizz are rare but the odd one wanders the area, moreso in the haynes valley drainage . Move up the hwy to the squamish/whistler and beyond, grizz are easily spotted, as are black/brown bears. Incidents are often due to poor trash management, and food left in vehicles and camps. In these areas, the bears have become used to people and incidents spike as a result, often with the bears being killed by CO's or Police.

    The further you get into the woods here, and away from people the more the bears (all kind) scatter in a hurry when they hear humans talking/making noise. I am more on my guard on the North Shore trail systems (on and off trail) than I am in remote areas like Cheakamus and Pemberton. The one grizz encounter i had was at the lil cabin I sometimes maintain - and it was due to cooking food inside the cabin.

    favorite bear spray: Frontiersman Magnum can

    favorite bear bangers: Tru Flare

    other: Fox40 rechargeable (bike pump) air horn. Its LOUD. But its a pain to carry due to the large airhorn that sticks out, so i use more in camp. The smaller pocket horns are easier to carry but don't have the blast that the big one does.

    other tips: see above for being aware of whats behind you constantly. Make noise, talk, yell out, clap your hands, make your presence known. Dont sleep in the clothes you cooked food in, caught fish/or dressed game in. No cooking inside tents or snacks.

    the down side to alerting the wildlife to your presence is you dont get to see them. I put myself into animal encounter mode a LOT, due to hiking silently, often at dusk and at night.


    DISCLAIMER: I know this area quite well, what works up here may not work another region. I cannot speak for any other region other South, Central, Interior regions of BC.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2019
  12. Kevo

    Kevo Member

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    No current favorite spray for me. Thankfully I've never had to test it. Usually I just get a fresh can of whatever the local outfitters recommend to me.
     
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  13. shaneadams90

    shaneadams90 ESEE Knives Marketing Director Staff Member

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    Awesome post @Strigidae ...


    I will second what Jeff says..... we will just say that I have this friend.....and this friend has shot quite a bit...trained quite a bit...even competed quite a bit.....This friend was confident in his shooting ability under stress and had practiced under stress.....quiet a bit......the friend felt like good shot placement with a 124g +p self defense round would deter a bear and possible even kill it..........this friend was wrong......and this friend no longer has the confidence in 9mm as a bear deterrent....

    This has sent my friend down a rabbit hole of 44mag and soon...10mm......12g and at some point probably 45/70 at some point.
     
  14. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    What do you do for the big cats? They are sneaky. Spray them?
     
  15. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Do big cats run from human voices like bears do?
     
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  16. BigJake

    BigJake Member

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    If you’re in a multiple tent camp setup in bear country, put a jar of bacon grease next to the tent of the folks you like the least and preferably furthest from your tent. Works pretty good for a bear early warning system.
     
  17. BigJake

    BigJake Member

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    When I first started going to the Rockies to elk hunt I was discussing sidearms with my veteran elk hunting buddy. I told him I was going to bring a 4” S&W .357 Magnum. His suggestion was that I file the front sight off so that when the bear took it away from me and stuck it in .........an orifice it wouldn’t hurt as bad.

    Same buddy that gave me the bacon grease idea above. :D
     
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  18. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Never had a chance to spray a cat yet. But boy after Pipsqueaks marking - they got it coming!

    to be honest if i had an advancing big cat, yes i would face it and spray it with bear spray. As well as make myself bigger and a threat. everyone who has been attacked in BC , was walking away from or running from them.

    I did have an late night encounter on a trail in pemberton with a cat, turned a blind corner and was face to face with it for about .05 seconds before it spun and bolted. I yelled as i suddenly faced it head on. It scared the hell out of the cat.

    seems the cats up here are hit and miss on being afraid of human voices. Deeks Lake trail i spotted a junior cougar sunning & cleaning itself on a bluff about 150 feet up the trail. It heard me talking, looked right at me and just kept on cleaning.
     
  19. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Ive heard they can stalk us. Not something that makes me happy to be in the woods.
     
  20. DYSPHORIC JOY

    DYSPHORIC JOY Administrator Staff Member

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    Because of the cool factor: 2FB0803B-DF89-4E04-89D9-6FA309F084A6.jpeg

     

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