1. Know how to use it: Test the spray ahead of time with a real can or with a training canister. Make sure to practice how to quickly and efficiently remove the safety tab. Understand the spray’s duration, distance, and dispersal pattern.
2. Be willing and able to use it: in an extreme encounter, hesitation can be disastrous. Remember, all encounters are different. Be prepared for any situation, including more than one bear.
3. Have it readily accessible: Always carry it in an outside holster where you can grab it in a second, and in any potentially dangerous situation, carry it in your hand with the safety off. Don’t carry it inside your pack. In a bear encounter you don’t have time to get anything out of your pack.
4. Spray a warning blast when an aggressive bear is 40 or 50 feet away. Ideally, an approaching bear enters the cloud of spray 25 or 30 feet away. This distance will give the bear adequate time to inhale the spray before it reaches you.
5. If the bear continues through the warning blast, keep spraying, directing the spray at the bear’s face or a little below it, as the spray tends to billow upwards. The spray must make contact with the bear’s nose, eyes, and mouth. You may have to adjust the spray direction to compensate for winding blowing the spray.
6. Spray until the bear runs away or until you can safely retreat. Every situation is different. Short bursts of spray may work, as in Chapter 14, or sustained spraying may be needed, as in Chapter 13. Distance from the bear, the bear’s reaction, and environmental factors such as wind and brush will determine spraying tactics.
*Excerpted with permission from Hiking With Grizzlies: Lessons Learned by Tim Rubbert (Riverbend Publishing, $10.95, ISBN 978-1-931832-69-4)
This information and much more can be found in Hiking With Grizzlies: Lessons Learned, available now at www.riverbendpublishing.com
Posted by Christopher Cauble 
