It’s Springtime and That Means the Bears Are Out

Last Resort Protection from Bears – Will a Handgun Save You?

​Across the wooded parts of the United States and Canada, there are bears. Here in New England we have Black Bears; lots of Black Bears. Black Bears prefer large forested areas with a combination of evergreen and deciduous trees with a mix of wetlands, thick vegetation and a wide variety of food to include berries, beechnuts and acorns. Since Black Bears are omnivores, in addition to nuts and berries they also eat carrion, small animals and insects. They like to stay in areas that are relatively undisturbed by humans and are without high traffic roads. Their dens range from hollowed out or fallen trees, rocky ledges, small caves and brush piles. Most Black Bears camouflage the entrance to their den with wood, leaves and brush to make it hard to find them during the winter. 

​The Black Bear is the largest meat-eating mammal in New England with males weighing from 130 to 600 pounds and females weighing from 100 to 400 pounds. Based on the latest estimates Maine has ~30,000 Black Bears, New Hampshire has ~5,700, Vermont has ~5,150 and Massachusetts has ~4,500 - and their population is growing. 

So if you are out in the woods hiking or camping this Spring, you will certainly see signs of bear activity – and you might even run into one of them. Because of the potential danger bears pose most of us know that if you encounter a Black Bear you should make your presence known by making loud noises and waving your arms. If you surprise a Black Bear, walk away slowly, while facing the bear. Do not turn your back and run, which may trigger them to give chase. Never look a bear straight in the eye. The bear may perceive this as a threat and charge. Sometimes a Black Bear will bluff charge you to within a few feet. If this happens, try to stay calm and slowly retreat, waving and shouting as loudly as possible.
 
Even though most of us know about the danger that Bears present twenty-five fatal Black Bear attacks have occurred in North America during the past 20 years (1997 - 2017). If you want the details on these fatal attacks you can find them in this great article from Wide Open Spaces:
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https://www.wideopenspaces.com/list-fatal-black-bear-attacks-north-america-last-20-years/

So what if you take all of the precautions and actions listed above and none of it works? What then? Well if you’re really in Bear Country then you should probably have a firearm with you. If you’re hunting that firearm is probably a rifle – and that will certainly dispatch a Black Bear if used properly (e.g. you shoot the bear before it gets close to you). But, if you are just hiking or camping, chances are that it’s not a rifle – it’s probably a handgun. So the age old question is “Will a handgun save you from a bear attack”? Well now there’s an answer to that question thanks to Dean Weingarten’s recent detailed analysis of 63 bear attacks where a handgun was used to fend off the bear. Contrary to many myths, Dean’s analysis found that handguns were 95% effective in defending against a bear attack.

• Five cases involved a .22 rimfire pistol. Four were successful against black bears. One failed against a polar bear.
• One case involved a .380 pistol. It was successful.
• Five cases involved 9 mm pistols. All were successful.
• One case involved a 9.3 x 18 Makarov pistol (in Russia). It was successful.
• Two cases involved a .38 revolver. One was a success, one was a failure,
• Three cases involved.357 revolvers. Two were successful, one was a failure.
• Three cases involved .40 caliber pistols. All were successful.
• Two cases involved a 10 mm pistol. Both were successful.
• Two cases involved .41 magnum revolvers. Both were successful.
• Nineteen cases involved .44 magnum revolvers. All were successful.
• One case involved a .45 Super pistol. It was successful.
• Two cases involved .454 Casull revolvers. Both were successful.
• One case involved a .460 Smith & Wesson magnum. It was successful.
• Eight cases involved handguns that were not identified. All were successful.

 
Dean’s bottomline is that of the 63 pistol defense cases, 60 were successful and three were failures.  The three pistol defense cases that were categorized as failures were:

• The use of a .22 handgun against a polar bear in 1995, in Svalbard, Norway.
• The use of a .357 against an Alaskan grizzly bear by a geologist in 2010 (it is likely the bear was not hit in that incident).
• The use of a .38 revolver in a September 2015 New Mexico incident with a black bear sow and cubs, where the defender climbed a tree. An official reported the defender said he shot in the air and at the bear. The bear backed off twice, but did not immediately leave.

 
Based on Dean’s detailed analysis of these 63 bear attacks it’s clear that using a pistol to defend against bear attacks is a very viable option. You can read the complete Ammoland article here:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/03/pistols-or-handguns-used-to-defend-against-bear-attack-95-effective-63-cases/#axzz5iiR7Ednt