Everyone should do a good deed every now and again. I hope John Schandelmeier will resolve to stop questioning the effectiveness of bear spray. His Oct. 22 column claimed — once again — that bear spray doesn’t work. At all, apparently.
I myself resolved to wait until I had a recent example of how guns are often less effective than bear spray. I only had to wait two days. Outdoor Life, and many other news outlets, reported on Oct. 24 that a Wyoming elk hunter shot himself in the leg with his 10mm handgun while he was kicking at an attacking grizzly. Without the assistance of his son, a horse, a personal locator beacon and a helicopter rescue, he might have bled to death.
To further counter Schandelmeier’s specious argument, I decided to look for a recent example of bear spray’s efficacy. That Google search took about 30 seconds. In late August, a 91-year-old woman sprayed an attacking black bear near Canmore, Alberta. The bear ran into the woods and, needless to say, no one was shot in the leg.
But these two examples are just anecdotal, you say? Well, anecdotes are exactly what Schandelmeier relies on. And he’s like the superstitious uncle who keeps insisting that we must throw a pinch of salt over our left shoulder to forestall bad luck. There is scientific evidence that bear spray is more effective than a firearm in most encounters with aggressive bears. I reviewed this evidence in a Daily News opinion piece in 2018, the last time I was compelled to ask Mr. Schandelmeier to cease and desist with his potentially deadly advice.
— Rick Sinnott
Chugiak
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