Cover your head and neck with your hands and arms. Lay flat on your stomach, and spread your legs apart. Keep your pack on, it will help protect you during an attack. Stay still and don't make any noise—you're trying to convince the bear that you aren't a threat to it or its cubs.
To scare the bear away, make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn. Make yourself look as big as possible by waving your arms. If you are with someone else, stand close together with your arms raised above your head.
Myth: Bears can't run downhill.
If you're being chased by a bear, don't run downhill! Bears can run as fast as a horse (35 mph), and they can do it uphill, downhill, and everything in between. A bear can outrun you no matter what, so if you see one in the wild do not try to run away from it.
Brown/Grizzly Bears: If you are attacked by a brown/grizzly bear, leave your pack on and PLAY DEAD. Lay flat on your stomach with your hands clasped behind your neck. Spread your legs to make it harder for the bear to turn you over. Remain still until the bear leaves the area.
One study on bear attacks writes that “the bear may swat at or bite the victim, but the if victim can retain the presence of mind to lay still, it is likely that he or she will survive the attack.” A look at the bear attacks in Yellowstone National Park between 1931 and 1984 found that 80 percent of the hikers that ...
Start backing up slowly while keeping your eyes on the bear. They don't see very well, so talking helps them identify you are human. If you start yelling and blowing whistles it might take it as a threat they need to fight instead of running away.
Never approach bears, always remain at least 100 yards (300 feet) away, or about the length of a football field.
In studies of close human-bear encounters conducted by the University of Calgary's grizzly bear expert Stephen Herrero, bear pepper spray was found to be 94% effective in deterring aggressive grizzly bears.
Air horns are an effective bear repellent. They are certainly loud enough to alert bears to your presence. Some campers like to fire off the air horn before they leave their tent in the morning to scare away any bears which might be at the campsite. If you see a bear, you can also use an air horn to scare a bear away.
Grizzly bears are more likely to act aggressively, and they're not as easy to scare off. Do not provoke a grizzly bear by trying to scare it away.
Here's what the experts say:
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.
A black bear's first line of defence is retreat, but grizzlies, especially sows with cubs, can be very aggressive towards other bears and people they perceive as threats. Grizzlies are not good tree climbers, though it's important to note that they can climb trees.
Sorry, humans are just not capable of withstanding a battle with a grizzly bear, much less overpowering one. The colossal difference in size, raw power, crushing jaws, sharp claws etc would be too much even for a large number of humans.
Don't scream or yell at the bear. This may come across as threatening. Wave your arms, making yourself appear as large as possible. Move to higher ground if possible.
Neither wasp spray nor Tasers are considered proven bear deterrents. (A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.
Intimidate the black bear by making yourself look bigger and making noise (wave arms, shout, clap, bang stick). Prepare to fight or use bear spray.
Bears also dislike the strong scent of pine-based cleaners, but avoid using anything with a fresh, lemony or fruity smell. And never mix bleach and ammonia; the combination produces fumes that can be deadly to both people and bears.
Once you've determined the bear is one you want to harvest, let the bear settle down at the bait site. Regardless of your choice of weapon--bow, rifle, handgun or muzzleloader--the most effective shot will be into the heart/lung area. Consider the bullet or arrow's angle of entry.
The most effective noisemaker in bear country is you. Talking or singing loudly can help prevent surprise encounters with wildlife. With enough warning of your approach, wildlife typically remove themselves and their young from the area.
Contact through touching or rubbing eyes may result in substantial but temporary eye injury. Strongly irritating to nose and skin. Avoid contact with skin or clothing.” An EPA spokesperson said the agency isn't aware of any human deaths from bear repellents and has only two bear-spray incidents in its database.
The animal is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act and federal law allows people to kill grizzlies only in certain situations. Those situations are when the bear is threatening you. "It is legal under the law to defend yourself from a grizzly bear," says Joan Jewett.
Yes, you are allowed to defend yourself from a bear by shooting it. In fact, you can also kill a bear if the animal is attacking your property. However, you should prove to the court that the bear is in the process of attacking when you shoot the animal.
Most brown bear attacks are a defensive response. Play dead in defensive situations: Hit the ground and lie still if a brown bear you have surprised or any female bear protecting cubs makes contact. Lie flat on your stomach, legs spread apart for stability, with your hands protecting the back of your neck.
Most types of bears can smell up to 20 miles away. The polar bear has the best sense of smell, reaching up to 40 miles. The bear's sense of smell means that when you're in bear country, they can smell your camp if they are in a 20-mile radius of where you bed down for the night. Bears attacks are infrequent.