[pct-l] To carry or not to carry

[Randy Godfrey]

I'd be a little surprised if this information hasn't been posted in this discussion yet. My apology if it's redundant.

The latest Backpacker Magazine issue (March 2013) has some excellent articles on Bears and their behavior titled "The Truth About Bears". It was very much worth the read for me. There are some particularly interesting statistics included by bear biologist Tom Smith on page 64, from a paper he published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.

"Out of 133 encounters involving bear spray, only 3 people suffered injuries, which were all minor. But I found 269 incidences of gun defenses-with 17 dead people and hundreds of dead bears."

This expert is obviously an advocate for using bear spray over carrying a firearm. He said in the article that you should always carry bear spray in bear country. 


Randy

  



________________________________
 From: C <chrisfoley81 at gmail.com>
To: Douglas Tow <douglastow at gmail.com> 
Cc: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] To carry or not to carry
 
...Applauding...I love the ripping off tea bags...Jesus I'm so screwed haha...

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 6, 2013, at 2:02 PM, Douglas Tow <douglastow at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good afternoon!
> 
> Bullets vs. bears:  Bears only want your food, and properly managed, they
> won't get it.  Poorly managed, a bear will try for it, but is no danger
> unless the food is in your tent.  It is immoral and illegal to shoot a bear
> just for stealing your food, and if you keep food in your tent, you don't
> belong on the trail, with or without a gun.
> 
> Bullets vs. people:  The PCT is one of the safest places in the country to
> be in terms of potential violence.  If you carry a gun in public places,
> and you are still worried about violence on the trail, nothing but legal
> restrictions (national parks and the like) will probably deter you, in the
> beginning, but
> 
> Bullets vs. trail reality:  By the time you are 40 miles up the trail, you
> will be looking at any way to reduce weight, down to tearing labels off of
> teabags.  The gun and ammunition will probably be in the first box back
> home.
> 
> Can we go yet?
> 
> Doug
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