bear pepper spray?

[tejashunter]

have not had time to post much... to busy trying to do research for the Wyoming mule deer hunt! knowing that within 60 days I will be working at figuring it out in the field instead of doing "homework" has me very anxious.
I have acquired all goods (survival, med kit, hunting equipment) that are recommended by the majority of hunters but one item that has come up just a few times is bear pepper spray. Obviously being the novice I am I figured it would be wise to open the discussion to those who have hunted and continue to hunt areas in the south east quadrant of Wyoming. I have no experience with pepper spray, regular nor bear, but I am curious if it is necessary or effective. The other concern/question is that I have been told winds are strong and steady across the state and I sure dont want it coming back in my face. After all if it can actually knock down a bear I could only imagine what a little bit in a humans eyes would do.

Tejas Hunter.

[Loafer]

I thought the differance between bear and regular pepper spray was quantity of spray and not percentage of oc in the spray, it will have the oc percentage on the label. I can tell you that it is a horrible experience to be sprayed with pepper spray. It not only blinds you its makes your face, mouth and throat burn and makes it difficult to breathe. Also, if you are in the general area of the pepper spray being used you can be affected by the over spray so watch what the wind is doing, you don't piss in the wind i highly reccommend the same with pepper spray. Maybe check youtube and see if anyone has footage of spraying a bear with pepper spray.

[NotEnufTags]

I haven't seen footage of it used on a bear but a while back there was a yellowstone documentary that had footage of a park ranger using bear spray on a full grown charging bison. The bison was coming right for the ranger. The ranger shot him in the face from about twenty feet back. It stopped the bison dead in his tracks. The bison started shaking his head violently and then turned and staggered off. I've got to believe it would work on pretty much any animal it's tried on.

[ABert]

There's a thread from a year or two ago somewhere on here talking about carrying spray vs side arm. Lots of opinions and I believe some research that was pulled up a time or two.

Anyways, I've been sprayed on more that a few occassions, and although it isn't the funnest thing to have happen, you can still do what you need to do. It does not blind you but makes it so you never want to open your eyes again. Kind of feels like your face is peeling off of your skull from an intense amount of heat, but only worse

Naw, it's not that bad, really. If you've never had it sprayed in your face, it will take your breath away and you just want to fall to the ground and curl up in the fetal position. I'm just a bit leery on using it to save me against a charging bear when I know I can continue on after being sprayed.

And before anyone gets any bright ideas about why I've been sprayed so many times, I had to requal on the stuff once a year in order to carry it. Yep, I was on the right side of law in all cases.

[tejashunter]

Anyways, I've been sprayed on more that a few occassions,

. This had me a little concerned at first. was not sure if mule deer hunting required a few brushes with the law prior to going out in the woods. Reading the post in its entirety is a good idea.
I guess the better question may be what are the odds of running into a bear in the southeast part of Wyoming.

[IDHunter]

I hunt near the Tetons in Idaho and I always carry bear spray. I've never used it and hope to never have to use it. That being said, I would rather take my chances that it will stop a bear than to just curl up in a ball, wet myself, and let a bear chew on my back until he thinks I'm dead. It seems to me that a good chance of stopping a bear is better than no chance at all.