1) Bear Sense 2) Good Woodscraft 3) Spray 4) Firearm
Keeping yourself safe from bears is mostly a matter of knowing about them. Where they are, what they are doing at various times of day and seasons of year and adjusting your behavior accordingly. Maintain good woodscraft skills, keep a clean camp, if you find a bear kill or really good berry patch, don't camp nearby, common sense stuff like that.
Across the northern tier (Alaska, Canada, most of the northern U.S.) the injury rate among users of pepper spray (and now the newer UDAP) is much lower than those using firearms. Check out this article:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2193/2006-452/abstract
While the authors of this article are considered by some to be apologists for spray, the facts remain that spray is largely effective, easy to aim and cheap to own (everyone in your party can have a can).
Then there are the legal considerations. In Alaska, if you shoot a bear in defense of life or property (DLP) you are responsible for preserving the carcass, hide and skull, which you then have to turn over to the State. You go through all that work and you don't even get to keep the cape! If you only wound the bear and chase it off, you have left an angry, injured animal who is a danger to other people in the area and probably suffering badly. And you have to notify the authorities. You have just ruined a nice hike (at best). If you spray a bear, you may or may not have to report the encounter (depending on legal jurisdiction) and have taught the animal that people are not a convenient source of food and best avoided (a good thing).
Then there is the requirement that you be accurate and fast. Here's a drill for you.
Find a backstop made of a hill with crest about 40 yards away. Mark a spot about 10 yards away. Set up a soccer ball just short of the crest propped up with a block of wood. Shoot the block of wood with your first shot (or have a buddy do it with a 22).
When the soccer ball passes the 10 yard mark (the point at which you can tell the difference between a real threat and a bluff charge), see how many times you can put holes in it before it reaches you. Bears can run, over broken ground, more than 30 mph. You have 1.5 seconds to deliver as many aimed shots as you can.
For extra points, count only the holes you put in the black spots and deduct one point for holes in the white spots (just kidding about the deduction).
I do know of a couple of people who swear by 12 gauge with Brenneke slugs (hard enough not to deform on its way through the bear). One guy has the round in the chamber with buckshot with follow-up shots the hard slugs. The buckshot to the face is to make the bear turn sideways. A shoulder/spine shot is generally sufficient after that. A spine shot will immediatly stop any creature. A shoulder shot that breaks bone will at least slow the bear down so you can keep your distance and take a humane kill shot safely.
The current consensus is that a bullet with a wide meplate with minimal deformation and 100% weight retention is best. I like to say, "Energy shreds flesh, but momentum breaks bone."
There is no plinking ammunition good enough for bear.
Here are thoughts and experiences from others on the subject:
Read this thread, especially post #18 It doesn't get much dicier than surprizing a Grizzly Bear Sow with a cub.
http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=54852
or if the link does not work, paste this into your web browser
forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=54852
Then read this newspaper story from 4/18/08, Anchorage Daily News,
http://www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/147318.html
or if the link does not work, paste this into your web browser
adn.com/bearattacks/story/147318.html
"Bear spray stops charging sow .. SAVED: Couple hiking Peters Creek Trail used Counter Assault."
This was not an advertisement. Craig Medred is an outdoor writer on staff and the Anchorage Daily News.
A followup story ran on 4/20/08
http://www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/381252.html
or
adn.com/bearattacks/story/381252.html
On the other hand, there is this story. Spray may not have helped. The bear was starving and desperate. He did OK with a firearm, but then he was also a professional outdoorsman, fishing guide.
http://www.adn.com/2009/08/13/897940/twig-snap-alerts-dog-walker-to.html
and this fellow, a rancher in Montana who has had several encounters with bears.
See the post by windwalker, about 2/3 of the way down the page
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=51538&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60
Oops. The link appears to be dead, but here is the quoted passage
Here's another testimonial for bear spray. The last paragraph, however is most telling. The author is not known to me, except through the internet
windwalker from Eureka said:
First a few pointer about bear spray. Make sure you use bear spray not mace or some other product, I like counter assault . I use the 8 oz cans, they are good for about 5 one second bursts. Maximum range is 30 feet, 20 feet is way better. Always carry it in a holster on your strong side. If it's in your pack, it might just as well be at home.
I have sprayed three grizz and one black bear over the course of 14 years. I also spend a lot of time in country with lots of bears. (just north of Glacier Park, Montana).
Grizzly number one stole a goat hide out of my tack room, I followed the salt trail into the woods about 40 yards and surprized a two or three year old bear at about 50 feet. He (bluff?) charged and I sprayed him in the face at about 25 feet, he turned 90 degrees and ran off. end of story.
JGrizz number chased me and the dog up on top of my trailer loaded with hay I sprayed him in the face about 6 feet below me. He ran head first into the trailer two or three times then ran off.
Grizz number three was in the garbage at camp at night. I thought it was a black bear saw i walked to within about 15 feet a yelled, not a good idea.He stood up took one step tward me a I sprayed him. He flipped over backward and rolled around on the ground for what seened like a lont time then left. This was a big bear, maybe 8 1/5 feet and 700 pounds.
The black bear sow with one cub stepped out in front of my horse and caused me to be bucked off. I landed on my bear spray and punched a small hole that started to hssssssss...which further annoyed my horse. I pulled the can out and threw it at the bear and hit baby bear, mama picked up the can and bit into it setting off the rest of the spray. They both ran off with mama almost running over the top of me. NOw this is very important...never ever have a **** with bear spray on your fingers.
It has always worked for me but I still take the shotgun if I have to go after a wounded bear.
Dave
Lost Sheep