Better to be safe (armed) than sorry in bear country

[Model 52]

This is the PBS "expert" advice on how to deal with a Grizzly encounter:

If you encounter a grizzly, do not run.
Avoid direct eye contact.
Walk away slowly, if the bear is not approaching.
If the bear charges, stand your ground (you cannot outrun it).
Don’t scream or yell. Speak in a soft monotone voice and wave your arms to let the animal know you are human. If you have pepper spray, prepare to use it.
If the grizzly charges to within 25 feet of where you’re standing, use the spray.
If the animal makes contact, curl up into a ball on your side, or lie flat on your stomach.
Try not to panic; remain as quiet as possible until the attack ends.
While in bear country, be aware that you may encounter a bear at any time.
Be sure the bear has left the area before getting up to seek help.

Of course the typical anti-gun liberal bureaucrat whose total outdoor experience is sneaking out to the small yard behind his office complex for a smoke under the sole oak tree there would know better than we do about how to survive a bear encounter.

**I must have missed the part about what to do when a predatory bear (not surprised by the human or defending its territory or young but one that is intentionally hunting humans for food) starts EATING you. These false aficionados need to pull their heads out of their backsides and quit giving advice that leads to a sense of false security where a painful mauling death is the endgame.

It's not that you missed the part about what to do in a predation motivated attack - it just wasn't mentioned. That's not surprising given that is it's not PC for PBS to be talking about bears actually wanting to eat people when it's so much more cute and cuddly to state bears are just startled, defending cubs, etc, so it's no real surprise they didn't get into actual predation driven attacks. Given support they get from donations, I can see where they don't want to tick off the tree huggers to much.

One of the things that impressed me with the NPR interview is that this was a grizzly just out of hibernation and quite obviously looking for food on the hoof, or boot in this case. It was not a defensive attack where the bear will go away when you play dead, but rather a feeding. Obviously in that case it's not an attack that's going to stop until you've been largely eaten or until the bear has been shot. It's also pretty evident the bear was stalking the victim.

Knowing whether it's probably a defensive attack or whether you're being stalked as prey will obviously change how you choose to respond.

But I'm still going to carry a gun rather than rely on pepper spray.

[pricedo]

If the same bear is seen to be stalking me (multiple close-in sightings) I won't be trying to read its mind.
There will be a series of loud bangs and the bear will be gaining 430 grains at each one until it is flat out dead on the ground.
The predatory bear will try and sneak up on you undetected and KO you with that powerful paw across the back of the skull ..........then it's dinner time.
It's the encounter you don't see that will be your demise........those big animals can move very quietly when stalking. If it gets within 25 yards and you think you can cock the hammer & shoot before it crushes your skull.........better think again........that's why we always had Eskimo dogs around camp in polar bear country. A polar bear looks on any critter smaller than it as food. Some black bears and some Grizzlies are predatory on humans but ALL Polar bears are predatory on humans.......each & every one.
If I see the same bear taking an interest in me too often I'm taking it out.
Old or injured/wounded/sick bears soon learn that human beings are easy to kill.
I'm not somebody who has read a bunch of magazines and a Farley Mowat novel or two.........I've bin there & dun that.

[Model 52]

If you see a bear stalking you, you've already read it's mind and if you don't go on the offensive you're a bit of an idiot.

I think the reasons bears of any species start looking at people as food comes from 1) being the apex predator in the area, 2) habituating to humans and no longer being afraid of them - or - being in very remote areas with almost no human contact and not having a fear of them in the first place. and 3) being less able to access ample food sources, due to age, disease, injury, drought, or just plain scarcity of other food sources, thus leading to being very opportunistic feeders (pelagic sharks do the same thing - anything is fair game in mid ocean). All three apply to Polar bears by default.

The same things apply to most large predators. For example, when mountain lions were reintroduced in the black hills, things were pretty quiet until the population increased, then people started seeing them taking deer in their back yards (the deer being drawn there by the nice green laws) and showing basically little or no fear of people. A hunting season helped that immensely.

[pricedo]

I'm still a live idiot and none of the crews I was responsible for ever got injured or killed by a bear over the course of several years and several wilderness based mineral exploration jobs in northern Canada so I think I got most of it right.

[Sosoomi]

Speaking of Canada...they are most helpful when identifying bears and how to handle the situation: