Your question was "protection against black bears". But so many posters got side tracked and commented about protection against people. I will stick to your bear question. Around here black bears do go over 600 lbs. I have been hiking for more then 5 decades...alone. I have seen bear, bobcat and coyotes. I have never carried a gun while out in the woods, and never felt threatened by them. Sure, you're going to say, what about the rabid animal. Those chances are very slim. What about the bear with cubs. I have seen them and mama chased the cubs up a tree while she stood guard. I changed my course and all was fine. Animals are more afraid of you then you are of them. Well maybe some people, but not all.
Blackie usually clears out if given space and not cornered , yes.
Conflicts by me have been caused by bear becoming conditioned to associate humans with easy food.
Everyone likes the idea of bears , until bears climb on their porch.
One walked down the road in daylight and people were freaking out.
Meanwhile that same year , of the fifteen estimated bear in the riverine drainage area some young boys were feeding one pizza by hand.
Another home kept doughnuts on their deck thinking it was fun to watch bears. Until the bears wanted in to get doughnuts (probably).
Then they called authorities to fix the problem they had created themselves.
A child was killed farther North many years ago. Scavenging bear and child with food. So , logic says quit teaching bear that some humans equal food.
I've been looked over at a quite close range while holding a rifle on a bear that ran up to me. It's approach was not as if it winded me and was coming to hug , but rather chance. No aggressive behavior , more curiosity with that one.
If licensed for bear (licensing has changed here to control their numbers better by drawing for tags) it would have been a fine bear to bring home.
Coyotes now , are another creature with increasing numbers and associating humans with food..
I could have used your help after dark one evening when a small pack wanted to share a couple deer I was field dressing.
I don't mind them waiting , but those were crowding within about arms reach at times.
I did not mind having a pistol. But having another human there while I attended my business would have sped things up.
Yes , I brought them in with fresh blood. Not the first , and probably won't be the last time.
If you care to look, bear "steal"hunters deer. Just being bear of course but there is conflict regardless.
Here's a PA. case where a bear was likely conditioned to humans =food.
As usual , aggressive bear lose.
[Melinda LeBarron, 51, has broken bones, cuts and bruises and multiple bites after the attack outside her home in rural in Muncy Creek Township, about 16 miles east of Williamsport, on Wednesday evening, her son said. She remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday.
Her dog — a Chihuahua-mix fittingly named Bear — was also bitten several times when he tried to intervene and has a broken sternum and separated ribs.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission set two live traps near the home, and on Friday morning, a team of tracking dogs set out on the bear’s trail.
“While there still are some questions about what led to this attack, it can be said with certainty that these types of encounters are extremely rare,” Game Commission black-bear biologist Mark Ternent said in a news release. “While bear attacks seldom occur, there’s always potential for the unfortunate exception to the rule.”]
The thing is , the odds of getting mauled are not great by anyone person in a low bear population where they are hunted.
But for the lucky winner who encounters the wrong bear ; what are their defense options with a bear committed to treating them like another bear?
And those who study bear do not promote them as being all the same in temperament , and certainly do not describe them as predictable.
I enjoy seeing them.
But I also know that if I spend enough time around them to watch fifty or a hundred , that one of those bear may have a time when it does not care that I am human.
Because they are bear/animals.
What if the next bear is the one?
Am I less threatened by having a firearm?
I carry in the field/forest ect. to insure that if attacked by a set of teeth stronger than mine , I balance that effort somehow.
As to bear I've watched folks try to wrestle an older adult blackie. It is no contest......Feeble humans.
If you are timid about firearms ,leave them alone till you undertake formal training.
No need to associate all owners with the idiots you have associated with. Few owners that were introduced and raised with firearms safety would tolerate such behavior.
Not only among humans , but bears too.
