A black bear killed this poor woman in northern Saskatchewan recently. One thing I wanted to point out is the husband saying that "the bear spray made the bear madder." Ive never used or carried the stuff and this is not the first time Ive heard that it didnt work, and actually made the situation worse. Yet almost all government officials tout it as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Ive written articles on how dangerous this stuff can be so wont go into it here...suffice it to say, my advice is to carry a firearm, at all times when you are in bear country. I do.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7295951/woman-fatal-bear-saskatchewan-identified/

Sorry to hear about that. I share the same opinion. Suffice to say, if something wants to kill me, I want to kill it. Not deter it to try again later.

It happened in July in Alaska too. Near Hope AK. They found a empty can of bear spray at the site. I guess they set up trail cams and shot two blacks and a brown /grizzly they suspect got him.

Been alot of brown bears in the village here this summer, One was shot right in front of my neighbor's house,one messed with my bee hives, and a few others were shot around town.

We had poor salmon runs and few berries this year is the probable reason I suspect.

I carry a rifle or shotgun, and I always wear my 44 magnum just in case I'm working with both hands and have to set the long gun down, such as when I'm chainsawing and toting logs to the boat. I believe bear spray is a joke. My brother sprayed me with mace one time as a joke, I beat him with a shark rod I was working on till it broke, it just enraged me.

Sad but heard it said bear like pepper on their food.

Sent with prayer.

sad those kids lost their mom , a shame

I kinda figure bear spray is warden insurance.

so that you can say I shouted at the bear it came closer , I sprayed the bear and it didn't run off , then I had to shoot it , empty can as evidence I tried the recommended Government way first.

if it happens to work great less paper work

sad that a person needs to fear what the Gov will do and not just trust that the person used their best judgment and the Gov wasn't present at the event .

I'm a member of the region 4 Citizens Advisory Council to our Fish and Game Department and at one of our meetings they showed us the proper way of deploying the pepper spray and it was a typical windy bugger here.

The presenter asked us what our preference was to carry in bear country my response was a large caliber firearm as did a couple other folks .

I totally agree with you KenaiKid if something is trying to kill me put it down don't deter it so it can try again later.

I also feel that down here in the western states we need a grizzly bear season to put some fear of humans back into the bear population the recovery numbers have been reached and surpassed in many area's as have the bear / human conflicts.

I agree it's a sad thing that she lost her life and the kids loose their mom may she rest in peace.
Allan

12 ga with alternating slug/buckshot rounds would be my choice but we don't have any bears here so...............

The whole deal is bad except the kids where inside. Crazy to be on a SAT phone with her dad when the attack happened.

A friend of mine was elk hunting in MT near Missoula. He had a guide who said gunshots were like ringing the dinner bell to bears in the area. So, they needed to get a shot animal away from the kill site asap.

The hunter asked if you were allowed to shoot the a bear if threatened? The outfitter told him, if you do shoot a grizzly, you'd better have some serious claw or bite marks on your body.

I hate to think or even say this but with archery season fast approaching there will be a lot more bear hunter conflict .
I feel a hunting season for grizzly bears would help a great deal in slowing down the number of problems between the people and both black and grizzly bears .

The outfitter was correct you better have some puncture wounds and claw marks before you pull the trigger.
Allan

2nd black bear fatality in recorded history of Saskatchewan? Not sure that warrants being armed at all times in the wilds of Sask. but I suppose it's a comforting feeling.

Bear Spray varies greatly

But is much less likely to work on Black bears

What 330 said.

When I go camping, my bear spray contains lead.

I've had lots of encounters with black bears but never a bad one. So far, I haven't had a bad one with a grizzly myself, but I think the chances of a bad one are pretty good. We seem to have as many grizzlies as black bears anymore. I get game camera pictures on my place of grizzlies all the time. Rarely a black bear. I'm in the woods all the time but I don't like carrying a shotgun everywhere, so I carry spray on my hip and a 10MM with bear loads, that rides on an awesome chest holster. Very light weight comfortable rig. If you're holding spray or a handgun and get hit by a bear, good luck holding onto it. If I'm down and can get my handgun out, I believe I have a good chance to terminate an attack. I've been advised not to get the handgun out until you are down, so you don't lose it when you're hit. That sounds like good advice, so I'm hoping the spray can keep me from getting hit, but have my handgun to bail me out. My bowhunting partner got mauled by a grizzly sow and he didn't have time to get spray, or presumably a handgun, out before she hit him. We hike a lot and when we're hiking or picking berries, we clip a small speaker to a pack and listen to audio books downloaded to our phone, with ample volume, so we don't surprise a bear. That may be the best bear defense. Bowhunting, of coarse, is a different story..... If I have to go back to pack meat out, it's a 12 gauge. If I had to deal with those big Alaskans, I think it would be the 12 gauge and my 10.

Sounds like this one came in on purpose. Just in front of the cabin, people talking on the phone, talking to her son. All that smell of humans around. This was no chance encounter in the woods where you get between a sow and cubs.
They are doing a necropsy on it would not surprise me to find out it was injured.

Agree with you Crit-R-Dun not common at all.

Was always told you get attacked by a black bear you better "fight like your the third monkey on noahs ark and brother its raining".

Reminds me of something Paul Harvey said on the radio a long time ago.

There were a lot of Grizzlies in Glacier National Park. Park Rangers were recommending hikers tie small bells to their clothing in the park so when they walked the bells would be ringing constantly alerting the bears to the hikers presence. Hikers should also be on the lookout for fresh bear scat.

One hiker asked, "How can you tell if it's bear scat?"

To which one Ranger replied, "If there are little bells in it, it's bear scat."

The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.