I recommend checking regulations for your hunt area for legality of carrying a gun during bow season. Wyoming does or did have regulations against carrying a firearm during bow season. I just tried to find in current regulations for reference and was unable to find it. A check of the regulations would be a good idea. I carry bear spray while in the mountains but always feel better when I have a gun along also!
Bow hunting personal protection firearm.
- Thread starter henkesean
- Start date
jenbickel
Veteran member
They just barely changed the regulations for carrying a handgun while bowhunting in Wyoming.. i think it was like a year ago that they changed it to where you are allowed to.
Jon Boy
Active Member
Washington just did the same thing. Ive read though if you fight it in a state that has a law against it you can win, Federal law (2nd amendment) always over rides state law. Not sure if its true but it does make sense.
kiddwinner
Active Member
Don K
Very Active Member
Retterath
Veteran member
Fink
Veteran member
How do you like that Glock 20? I've been thinking hard about buying one. I currently run a Kimber 1911, and bear spray. My plan is to spray the bear with the bear spray, and then finish him off with the .45
trkytrack2
Active Member
Bear spray only. I honestly believe that few hunters could effectively draw, aim and shoot quickly and accurately enough to stop a charging bear. A blast of bear spray, even from two feet away, will cause any bear to change it's mind real quick.
kiddwinner
Active Member
trkytrack2 youre right, if you look at some stats its surprisingly much more effective than a gun
tim
Veteran member
bear spray for bears, and .40 s&w for everything else. more worried about the 2 legged ones, than the 4 legged ones.
Againstthewind
Very Active Member
I am on the bear spray team, too. I am not an expert, but the national park rangers and game wardens and everyone I have heard talk about it say to go with the bear spray. 307 has a good caution, though. One time I thought I should test out the bear spray. I made sure I was upwind of the spray, but wasn't watching my kid so close. He got a little bit of blowback. Just enough to make his eyes water a little, but he always seems to tell that story.
OregonJim
Very Active Member
.40 Baretta 8040 Cougar.
I've thought about getting a .410/.45 Judge.
I'm not on the bear spray bandwagon. If I hunted in Grizzly/Brown Bear country I might be.
I have seen how long a human can keep hurting you after sprayed and how they usually curl up after 5-10 seconds after a good spray. That is with a spray that is designed to incapacitate rather than irritate.
There is lot of misinformation out there but it sure seems that bear spray is less hot than human spray. (concentration OC)
Obviously you get a heck of a lot more range and volume with a canister of bear spray.
I am a big believer in muscle memory and drawing a sidearm comes a lot more naturally to me than pulling a spray can from my belt.
I guess if I were hunting in Grizz country I'd carry both but in a true charge I'm burning powder with the first one in the ground if there is time.
Anyone actually sprayed a bear or have good knowledge ???
I've thought about getting a .410/.45 Judge.
I'm not on the bear spray bandwagon. If I hunted in Grizzly/Brown Bear country I might be.
I have seen how long a human can keep hurting you after sprayed and how they usually curl up after 5-10 seconds after a good spray. That is with a spray that is designed to incapacitate rather than irritate.
There is lot of misinformation out there but it sure seems that bear spray is less hot than human spray. (concentration OC)
Obviously you get a heck of a lot more range and volume with a canister of bear spray.
I am a big believer in muscle memory and drawing a sidearm comes a lot more naturally to me than pulling a spray can from my belt.
I guess if I were hunting in Grizz country I'd carry both but in a true charge I'm burning powder with the first one in the ground if there is time.
Anyone actually sprayed a bear or have good knowledge ???
OregonJim
Very Active Member
HA.... I emptied a human defense canister of OC spray down the bathroom sink once because it said not to throw it in the trash.
I had a mask and goggles and the window open
. Should have told the Mother-in-Law who decided to wash her face later that evening....
Againstthewind
Very Active Member
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/bear spray.pdf
This is pretty much what I have been told in the bear aware things I have gone to. Kiddwinner from Cody has a lot of local knowledge I would say.
http://www.examiner.com/article/bear-spray-vs-guns-argument-is-ridiculous-says-bear-safety-expert
There are two sides to everything as usual. For me personally the choice is pretty simple because I am terrible with a handgun. My dad was an instructor at the police academy, but I haven't shot for so long I am not sure I could hit the broad side of a barn. So I am in the category of not being skilled enough to count of them.
This is pretty much what I have been told in the bear aware things I have gone to. Kiddwinner from Cody has a lot of local knowledge I would say.
http://www.examiner.com/article/bear-spray-vs-guns-argument-is-ridiculous-says-bear-safety-expert
There are two sides to everything as usual. For me personally the choice is pretty simple because I am terrible with a handgun. My dad was an instructor at the police academy, but I haven't shot for so long I am not sure I could hit the broad side of a barn. So I am in the category of not being skilled enough to count of them.
Elkhunter96
Active Member
I would carry both in Grizz country. That being said, bear spray sucks when it's windy at all. A guide I know in Alaska simply says it adds some flavor to the food before the bear eats ya...
mntnguide
Very Active Member
I carry a .44 mag super red hawk with a 4" barrel at all times when guiding in NW wyoming wilderness. . I always carry bear spray to give to my guests on summer trips; and we wrap our hunting camp in 3 strand electric fence that pushes 11,000 volts when turned on..I have had a good friend empty a full can of spray on a charging Griz three times before he had to shoot her with his .45-.70 3 more separate charges and she died 10 feet from his feet. . Spray doesn't deter a hungry Griz, just adds taste to the air. I wouldn't leave camp without my Pistol in Griz country. Ive seen them run through the stuff like its no big deal. Just my personal thoughts from my own close encounters each year.
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
When I hunted in your part of Wyoming , I carried both. I'm very proficient with a handgun (I'm a NRA Pistol instructor) and am confident I can hit what I am shooting at very well. Our outfitter required all hunters to have bear spray, he said it was a FS requirement in a wilderness area with grizzlies (not sure how true that was!) . I do know we had several encounters with them and my guide carried a .44 mag and I had a S&W .50 and spray. Luckily we did not need to use them. Our camp was surrounded with electric fence and there were 3 or 4 camp dogs. One night the dogs really started raising a fuss and at breakfast they said we had been visited by a bear .