Dear editor:
Bear wise Jackson Hole says, “Each year hunters are mauled by bears, this usually occurs when hunters surprise a bear . . . Carry bear spray and know how to use it.”
It’s time to show hunters how to use bear spray – with each of the six field carries for rifles – when Wyoming Game & Fish does bear spray demonstrations in August and September in Cody, Jackson, Lander, and Pinedale.
Depending on where a hunter places his bear spray holster, and which hand holds his rifle, some field carries for rifles would require a right-handed hunter to deploy bear spray with just his left hand.
Further complicating matters, agencies and conservation organizations now teach people to use two hands when spraying. Bear wise Jackson Hole says, “Watch this video of Kerry Gunther, a Yellowstone National Park Bear Management Biologist, demonstrating how to use bear spray.”
Gunther uses two hands when spraying. The Grand Teton National Park Foundation says, “Use two hands to steady bear spray when deploying.”
A hunter using the trail carry, shoulder carry, elbow carry, or cradle carry would need three arms and hands to deploy bear spray two-handed.
A hunter using the two-hand ready carry would need to lay down his rifle and then attempt to deploy bear spray.
A hunter using the sling carry (properly done with one hand on the sling for control) would have to let go of the sling to use bear spray.
In a 2009 Yellowstone [Grizzly Bear] Conflicts and Mortality Report, Mark Bruscino with WYGF pointed out another problem for hunters attempting to use bear spray.
“Develop a better carrying system for hunters. Chest or firearm mount is better than on the hip.”
At the start of the day, a hunter can tuck his jacket inside a hip-holster for bear spray, but it won’t be long before the jacket comes loose and covers the bear spray. Not good when you need to grab bear spray in a hurry.
If Wyoming Game & Fish can’t show hunters how to use bear spray against a charging grizzly, then it’s time to stop pretending that merely telling hunters to carry bear spray and know how to use it will keep them safe.
It’s time for WYGF to start teaching hunters how to use their rifle quickly and effectively for self-defense against a grizzly that charges after a surprise encounter.
During the 4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop in 2012, Stephen Herrero said, “As I see it a person hunting with a long rifle in brown [grizzly] bear habitat and facing a charging brown bear probably needs to have rehearsed in advance whether they will go for their spray or rifle.”
(Note to editors at Cowboy State Daily. Bear spray advocates are going to say, “but research shows bear spray is more effective than a firearm.” I’d be happy to address this indefensible claim in another letter to the editor.)
Sincerely,
David Smith,
Ridgway, Colorado
