Bear Not Deterred by Pepper Spray or Rifle Slugs

Vic Workman loves grizzlies. An avid hunter and member of Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, he thinks that grizzlies are just about ready to be removed from the Endangered Species Act protection list.

Last November Workman was enjoying a trek in the forest when he came upon a grizzly with a fresh kill. The bear burst out of the brush, charging at full speed, lips flopping.

Workman started yelling and then reached for his rifle, which held .300 short-mag rounds. He fired from the hip. The bear reared and then veered off. Workman assumed the slug had hit the bear.

A day later, when he returned to the scene with Tim Manley, a state bear management officer, and others, they could find no evidence that the bear was wounded. The recent kill had been moved to the other side of the river and eaten right down to the bone, something no wounded bear would be likely to do.

Workman said, “The fact remains that, if I hadn’t had my rifle ready at my hip, I would’ve been lunch.”

“These people who think that they’re safe with bear spray, I’m hear to tell them it’s a false sense of security,” he said. “It’s too fast. Way too fast. The key was having the trigger right there in hand. Whether it’s a rifle or pepper spray, there’s no way I could have gotten off a shot if I hadn’t had the trigger at the ready.”