More on Bear Safety

Consider for a moment that a bear has charged and you’ve killed it. Now you’ve a real dilemma because in Alaska this is termed a Defense of Life or Property (DLOP) incident and you, as the shooter, are obligated to skin the bear and turn the hide, claws and skull into the nearest Fish and Game agent. There will be paperwork to fill out, explanations, and this all takes time. Have you ever skinned a bear? I doubt most of you have. It is a nasty, difficult job. What if this happened miles from the nearest road? You’re going to have to decide whether or not you can pack the hide, skull and claws out or not and justify that response to Fish and Game. What about the carcass? You’ve now created a kill site and other bears can be expected to be drawn to it. If it is along a major trail that carcass must be moved or other persons may find themselves in the same circumstance you were just in and may be injured, or worse. An average Alaskan bear will weigh hundreds of pounds... how do you move that? What if you shot at the bear but didn’t kill it or are unsure? Now someone is going to have to go after that bear and finish the job or verify that it was indeed killed. Trailing a wounded bear is very, very dangerous and has resulted in a number of serious injuries and deaths over the years here in Alaska. My point is that firearms carry with them some hefty responsibilities and when successfully used (about half the time) they result in other consequences that you may well want to not get involved in. I would seriously think about this before opting to carry a gun rather than bear pepper spray next time you hike. Even if you are a hunter who has a firearm on your person, I would highly recommend that bear pepper spray be a part of your gear because unless you are bear hunting, killing a bear will impact your hunt in a negative way, not to mention the impact of the ecosystem losing a bear for no good reason.

Courtesy of Dr. Tom Smith, Ph.D., of the US Geological Survey