Overheard Conversation

Nederland is tourist central this week. One of the locals was in the visitor's center and overheard this conversation. The tourist was very agitated when he walked in.

Tourist: Where can I get bear spray?
VC Vol: The hardware store carries it. Are you going into the back country?
Tourist: No, I am just in town for the day and I want to be prepared.
VC Vol: Prepared? For bears? In town?
Tourist: Yes!

As the tourist walks toward the door he looks back at the volunteer and asked "Why don't you keep bear spray next to the door!?!".



Some people should just stay home.

Years ago when I opened my shop I tried to convince people that bear spray was a waste of money. Then I stopped being stupid and started stocking it. Sold the hell outta bear spray. Give the people what they want. That's how capitalism works.

It never ceas to surprise me how many people are afraid of Black Bears. You can almost always scare them off with little effort. Most all bear attacks in CO have been to people sleeping (in tents ~ intense!).

Now, mountain lions... They scare the hell out off me so I always go into the woods armed & try to have total situational awareness because they are sneaky as hell and can be on top of you in an instant.

Gotta love the tourists who think this is Yosemite or Alaska or such with big mean grizzlies.

I love this sign!!!
http://imageplay.net/img/tya22275652..._sign_500x.jpg

Unless they're flying home that can of unused bear spray will be an awesome memento of their trip to the rockies.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

Years ago when I opened my shop I tried to convince people that bear spray was a waste of money. Then I stopped being stupid and started stocking it. Sold the hell outta bear spray. Give the people what they want. That's how capitalism works.

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I love when a capitalist' plan comes together.

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Originally Posted by DSB OUTDOORS

I love this sign!!!
http://imageplay.net/img/tya22275652..._sign_500x.jpg

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That's awesome[ROFL1] I always carry chipmunk spray, in the wild.

Yeah Grizzlies love spicy food!

[ROFL1]

Aerosol bear spray, and a Bic lighter.

1 can of chilli , a few pickled eggs , a few beers, let it perk a few hours nothing i mean nothin will get with in a mile of ya

I'd bet there is a decent mark-up on bear spray.

The only time I'm "worried" about bears is moms and cubs and before hibernation. Mt Lions are far more of a danger. Coyotes would be #2 because they will pack up and attack the dogs.

None of the above three critters are known to prowl the local streets.

Now, I could make a fortune on dead beat/derelict/transient/stank ass begone spray. Hmmmm [Stooge]

http://cdn5.thefirearmsblog.com/blog...al-posters.jpg

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Originally Posted by theGinsue

Now, mountain lions... They scare the hell out off me so I always go into the woods armed & try to have total situational awareness because they are sneaky as hell and can be on top of you in an instant.

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Can attest to this, went 4 wheeling/camping several years back. Went on a nature hike, at the time just me and two buddies not my wife and kids. Spotted and watched a M. Lion shadow us for almost the entire hike until I pulled out my .45 and shot a round off a couple feet away from him and he ran off.

Lady at work recently took her family camping in a tent - somewhere near Montrose. Had a HUGE black bear in their camp for a while, they packed up and spent the weekend in Montrose hotels.

At lunch today overheard a guy saying he wasn't going to re-up in the military if Obama got re-elected. After all he has the same name as that dictator we took down in the middle east and all...

Up north they are finding the bear spray works better on the browns then the blacks. Apparently the black bear salivates so much it can get over the pepper much quicker.

Does salivating help clean pepper spray out of the eyes?

Ah Pook, that made me LOL.
Tourists......gotta....laugh at them.

In the last 3 weeks, I have 2 different neighbors that had their garages broke into, went right through the windows. Then another neighbor that the bear broke out 4.....yes 4 different windows in 4 different cars. His daughter said the heck with that, she has been leaving her windows down. And yes, there were bear tracks on her seats.

Someone said they got pictures of this one, said it was a BIG one. Haven't seen the pics yet.

Edit;
I talked to him today, and he is up to 10 broken car/truck windows. DOW brought a bear trap, left it for 3 days, didn't catch anything. Gave him some rubber bullets.

PS,
I am laughing at him being/staying in town. Most of the time bears just walk away. If they don't, given the choice of nothing or spray, I'll try the spray.

No MMJ card. I'm surprised.

We actually had a young man come into the Firing Line today and ask for "bear mace".

I suppose the bear spray works wonders against people right? Not a total waste.

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Originally Posted by sneakerd

We actually had a young man come into the Firing Line today and ask for "bear mace".

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Did you hand him a .44 mag revolver or 45-70 lever and say this is "bear mace" works on 2 legged creatures too? [Tooth]

I remember when sending someone out for bear spray was a joke. Ooohhhh well.

I don't get the problem with people getting bear spray. If you can sure carry a pistol. If you can sure carry a 12 gauge. But if you are visiting from out of town, especially from a place that doesn't allow guns or makes it difficult to get them, isn't some preparedness better than none? It may be unlikely and may not protect you super well but in the middle of the night or on a trail alone I'd rather have spray than nothing. Heck, if nothing else than for the moose in the national park. I did a three day backpacking trip on the west side of the park a few years back and stumbled on several females with calfs. It may be rare but shit happens, you'd feel like more of an idiot to get ripped up by a beat or moose because you didn't buy a $7 bottle of spray versus if you spent the $7 and isn't need it. I'd think if anyone would understand being a bit over prepared it would be this board.

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Originally Posted by tmckay2

I don't get the problem with people getting bear spray. If you can sure carry a pistol. If you can sure carry a 12 gauge. But if you are visiting from out of town, especially from a place that doesn't allow guns or makes it difficult to get them, isn't some preparedness better than none? It may be unlikely and may not protect you super well but in the middle of the night or on a trail alone I'd rather have spray than nothing. Heck, if nothing else than for the moose in the national park. I did a three day backpacking trip on the west side of the park a few years back and stumbled on several females with calfs. It may be rare but shit happens, you'd feel like more of an idiot to get ripped up by a beat or moose because you didn't buy a $7 bottle of spray versus if you spent the $7 and isn't need it. I'd think if anyone would understand being a bit over prepared it would be this board.

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Nothing against being prepared I guess out of Towner's not bring a sidearm a last resort, but does it work? Never used it, granddad was an old wilderness man from Washington state and my cousin spent several years as a forest ranger living in steamboat, both said the same thing at two different times. " If a bear is charging you why do you want to make him madder?"

In fact grandpa mention using bear spray to disorientate so you can get a cleaner shot but don't rely on it to drive the bear away.

To each his own right? Or something like that... This just reminds me of watching Man, Woman, Wild this weekend and the hot British wife of the former SF guy who hosted that One Man Army show kept saying "bear bear bear" everywhere they went so that bears knew they were there. Pretty funny, but alerting a bear to your presence is a good idea so you don't come up and surprise them. I'd rather carry a big gun than a can of spray that may or may not work. [Coffee]

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Originally Posted by tmckay2

I don't get the problem with people getting bear spray. If you can sure carry a pistol. If you can sure carry a 12 gauge. But if you are visiting from out of town, especially from a place that doesn't allow guns or makes it difficult to get them, isn't some preparedness better than none? It may be unlikely and may not protect you super well but in the middle of the night or on a trail alone I'd rather have spray than nothing. Heck, if nothing else than for the moose in the national park. I did a three day backpacking trip on the west side of the park a few years back and stumbled on several females with calfs. It may be rare but shit happens, you'd feel like more of an idiot to get ripped up by a beat or moose because you didn't buy a $7 bottle of spray versus if you spent the $7 and isn't need it. I'd think if anyone would understand being a bit over prepared it would be this board.

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the funny part was in the OP where the tourist was not leaving town, he wanted the bear spray just to walk around in a mountain town, not on a trail or even in the woods

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Originally Posted by DSB OUTDOORS

I love this sign!!!
http://imageplay.net/img/tya22275652..._sign_500x.jpg

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I Love This![ROFL1][ROFL2]

When I know I'm going in to bear territory, I don't go alone. Safety in numbers is key. If you see a bear, make some noise (not enough to spook it, just let it know that you are there) and when it sees you, if it comes toward you, get as big as you can (lift your backpack over your head, etc) and make LOTS of noise. This has worked 2/2 times for me with [brown] black bears. Once the bear was about 30 yds away and still walking toward me so I threw my 20lb backpack at it (it only went about 5 yds [LOL]) and drew my pistol while shouting as loud as I could. When the pack hit the ground, it kicked up a cloud of dust and the bear just turned and walked away.... I guess he decided we weren't worth it.

The plan after that was to aim very very very carefully at his face and unload all 15 rds into his face... Who knows if it would have worked or not.

Size is key when encountering mountain lions as well. If you have a group of people, spread out a little and open up your jackets, get big and look like the toughest targets on the mountain.

The most important thing in either case is to show primal dominance over the animal you face. i.e.: Act animalistic like a caveman. DO NOT ACT SUBMISSIVE. Wild animals are very good at reading body language (just like your dog) and they know if you will submit to be their dinner, or if you will put up a fight. Don't be their dinner.

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Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

don't go alone

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Best advice ever... that should be rule #1, not just animals but anytime away from civilization you should never go alone (see Aaron Ralston). I saw one of those episodes of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" and this young man was attacked by a grizzly and all alone dragged his open, gushing head wound self out of the woods to the nearest town- one of the game wardens said that NEVER happens and that is probably 1 in 1,000,000.

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Originally Posted by Rucker61

Aerosol bear spray, and a Bic lighter.

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KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

I'm not a big bear spray advocate but if it's concentrated enough to temporarily blind you as well as burn your nose and throat badly I dont think it matters how mad he is. It's hard to attack when blinded. I would risk it with a grizzly but with something like a black bear or moose I bet I would work decently. Like I said, carrying is ideal and I always do but bear spray is a reasonable alternative for others. I realize the op was staying that the guy wasn't even leaving town but everyone else seems to be laughing at the spray itself

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Originally Posted by Skully

Nothing against being prepared I guess out of Towner's not bring a sidearm a last resort, but does it work? Never used it, granddad was an old wilderness man from Washington state and my cousin spent several years as a forest ranger living in steamboat, both said the same thing at two different times. " If a bear is charging you why do you want to make him madder?"

In fact grandpa mention using bear spray to disorientate so you can get a cleaner shot but don't rely on it to drive the bear away.

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Does bear spray work on hippies? It might be useful in Ned in the summer if that is the case...

Wasp spray will work on (I mean for ) tourists and burglars, if you don't or can't carry.
It has good range and is nasty.

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Originally Posted by TFOGGER

Does bear spray work on hippies? It might be useful in Ned in the summer if that is the case...

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TF, I'm trying to keep a straight face, but if it works even marginally for a freaking bear then it would probably incapacitate a hippy for about 2-3 days! [ROFL1]

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Originally Posted by Ronin13

TF, I'm trying to keep a straight face, but if it works even marginally for a freaking bear then it would probably incapacitate a hippy for about 2-3 days! [ROFL1]

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Use a bug spray, and kill two birds with one stone.

I was issued bear spray when I worked for the NPS years ago. After multiple run-ins with black bears (one at arms length), every ounce of spray is still in that can to this day. I don't have a single bear bite scar for story tellin' either...

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Originally Posted by tmckay2

I'm not a big bear spray advocate but if it's concentrated enough to temporarily blind you as well as burn your nose and throat badly I dont think it matters how mad he is. It's hard to attack when blinded. I would risk it with a grizzly but with something like a black bear or moose I bet I would work decently. Like I said, carrying is ideal and I always do but bear spray is a reasonable alternative for others. I realize the op was staying that the guy wasn't even leaving town but everyone else seems to be laughing at the spray itself

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I am not an expert on bear spray but I definitely would have a different strategy if that is all i had.

A 300+ lb bear at full charge and you fumble for the bear spray and tag them at 8 or less feet and he is madder now. High chance your

up BEAR ATTACKS or CHARGING. Pretty scary if you think about it...........

[Coffee]

I have seen Bears get brave and come in to town, although in Nederland against the hippies it would have no effect. Their smell is far more toxic and they are use to it so any pepper/bear spray would not affect them. Carry body wash or hair clippers, just brandish them and they will run. You can also throw some CHeetos bait in the opposite direction and the they will run for them....................

So are you guys hiking around in the woods with concrete shoes? If a 300lb bear is charging at you, move to the side.

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Originally Posted by Irving

So are you guys hiking around in the woods with concrete shoes? If a 300lb bear is charging at you, move to the side.

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As Gabe Suarez would wisely say... "Get off the X!"