Carries firearms and bear spray

Regarding the bear spray brouhaha involving Mr. Workman of the Montana Fish and Game Commission, I have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Bill Pounds, the developer of Counter Assault bear spray in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service Research Lab at Fort Missoula.

I believe I also had the privilege of interviewing a Forest Service employee who was the first person to successfully employ Counter Assault against a bear. (It was a black bear near Spotted Bear.) Consequently, I have carried Counter Assault ever since it was available commercially.

There is a problem that everyone to date has failed to mention regarding hunters employing this useful product. Hunters move into or across the wind to elude their prey. When a hunter jumps a bear, it is usually coming at him/her from upwind, or at least cross-wind. If a hunter deploys the bear spray in such a situation, it will render the hunter defenseless to the predator, as the wind will swirl it around and into his/her face. At that point, you are bear bait.

Even when discharging the product on a "calm" day, you have to back away, keeping your body sideways to the direction of the spray, or you will be compromised. Immediately after using the spray, you should remove your upper body covering, be it a jacket or a shirt, put it into a plastic bag along with the discharged bear spray can, and then wash your hands, face, hair and any exposed skin such as your arms.

I have had more than my share of bear encounters but have yet to have one charge me. Usually they run away or hiss, scream and pop their jaws while you or they or both of you back off. This can be unnerving when the brush is so thick or it is too steep to see them.

If suddenly and unexpectantly a bear where to charge me, I would be forced to employ either my hunting rifle or a 12 gauge defensive (18-inch barrel) shotgun with slugs (which I carry while hiking). Of course, I would hold my fire to the last second to determine if the charge were merely a bluff charge or the real thing.

If I see the bear before it sees me, and this happens a lot, I can back out of the situation. In choke areas where the visibility is limited, I'll carry the firearm in the ready position.

I always carry a sidearm (10 mm Glock) in addition to the bear spray for when I am gutting out a critter. (With a sidearm, the rule is to always save the last round for you.) The sidearm or the bear spray is used until you can get the rifle in your hands. However, I always keep my rifle next to me within easy reach, propped up by its bi-pod.

We have an over abundance of grizzly and black bears here on the reservation. This may be because they typically are not hunted for cultural reasons, protected as in the case of the grizzly, or simply because they are poor eating.

I am sure that one of these days my luck is going to run out, especially while hiking. At that point, it will be either me or the bear that will be seriously wounded or dead.

I guess that is what makes life in Montana interesting — you are never at the top of the food chain.

Norm Johnson is a resident of Polson.