Bears came out of hibernation early this winter on the west coast due to abnormal dry winter and drought. Because of these same weather conditions, black bears may come down closer and closer to where people are looking for food. Do you have your bear spray handy and/or a plan ready for a black bear encounter? To learn more about the black bears coming out of hibernation early, you can read this article published by CBS news!
Read more here…
Please, help me out here, I am hiking up a jagged trail on the mountain side, enjoying the hike and the beauty of the great outdoors. I come up behind you rocking out to music or in all honesty, you may be listening to book while you are out hiking in nature. You are hiking along with headphones muffling all noise except that which is being pumped directly into your ears.
The problem, you don’t hear me come up behind you which means that if there is a bear or wild animal on the trail, you’re not going to hear them either. You are not fully aware of your surroundings. Wisdom is better than strength, be prepared! We all want to stay safe out there, so no headphones or at the very least, just wear one ear bud so that you can hear the sounds around you, like a charging bear!
Do you enjoy hiking in Montana? Where is your favorite spot? A few great spots to hike in Montana include:
Mystic Lake is a 7 mile out and back trail located near Fishtail, Montana. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is accessible from May until October.
The Beaten Path (Backpacking) is a 26 mile point-to-point trail located near Roscoe, Montana and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is accessible from June until November.
Beartooth Highway: Silver Gate to Red Lodge is a 70 mile point-to-point scenic drive near Red Lodge, Montana. The trail is primarily used for birding, mountain biking and scenic driving and is accessible from June until October.
And while you’re out hiking in Montana this spring, protect your backside! UDAP offers the first revolutionary change in bear spray delivery in 20-years! The Back Attack Pack™, be prepared for your hike as well as any wild animals that may come charging along the trail.
Fishing season is just around the corner and one of my favorite places in Montana to fish is the scenic Gallatin Valley near Bozeman, Montana. They are truly blessed with hundreds of miles of blue ribbon trout water. Those waters include, but are not limited to, the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Bighorn, Jefferson, Stillwater, Boulder and Missouri rivers. Let’s don’t forget the world renowned spring creeks in Paradise Valley, as well as some lesser known but equally amazing spring creeks and lakes in that area. Fly Cast Fishing at its best.
UDAP chest holster is a great product and works well for Fly Cast Fishermen or anyone fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. UDAP Pepper Power holsters are designed for an individual to have instant and silent access to the canister. Every UDAP holster is designer for bear spray to shoot right from the holster if time does not allow you to draw it.
Before you head out the door, make sure that you are doing more than just carrying your Bear Spray! Make sure that you know how to use it. Practice using it. It took practice to learn how to catch those blue ribbon trout and the same is true for using Bear Spray properly. Practice, practice, practice! Now go enjoy that great Montana Flyfishing!
Even though the Chicago Bears didn’t get in the Super Bowl XLVIII, the game between, bear spray vs bullets, has already been played and won. The winner is bear spray hands down! The firearm team played a good game and they believe that a person needs a hand gun or rifle to stop an angry bear. But the pro bear spray team has been adamant that bear spray works.
And the bear spray team won this super bowl, but we don’t want you to take our word for it, in a recent study done by Tom S. Smith, Stephen Herrero, Terry D. Debruyn and James M. Wilder bear spray lead its team to victory.
The Results of Bear Spray vs a Firearm
Bear incidents involving 175 persons resulted in 3 injuries, all minor (less than 2% injury rate). Firearms incidents involving 478 persons resulted in 17 fatalities (15%), 25 severe injuries (22%), 42 suffered moderate injury (37%), 29 suffered slight injuries (26%), for a total 113 injuries (24% injury rate). With firearm use, it can be hard to use protective gear like a level 4 body armor or even gloves out in the wild – this may be the mandate for tactical training, but under wilderness circumstances, many situations are out of our control. Hence firearm users experienced 12 times the injury rate of those using bear spray!
Of the 71 cases where persons sprayed bears to defend themselves, 14% (10 to 71) of users reported the spray having had negative side effects upon themselves, ranging from minor irritation (11%, 8 of 71) to near incapacitation (3%, 2 of 71).
Firearm failures were identified in 100 firearm cases, where users reported mechanical or physical issues with the use of a firearm, including lack of time (32%), unable to use firearm due to situation, such as having your partner in your line of fire (21%), mechanical issues (11%), safety/holster issues (95), insufficient caliber/no bullets left (9%), distance to bear (8%), missed bear (6%), or tripped and fell (4%).
No bears were injured in conflicts involving bear spray, however, 23 bears were wounded and 176 killed in incidents involving firearms.
Why bear spray is the winner…
Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray works better in a bear attack situation because of its ease of use. Aiming is not a big factor like it is with a firearm and you are not relying on a bullet to stop the bear by hitting it in a vital spot. Even when this is the case, sometimes the bear can advance and attack if it does not expire right away. This can actually work against the gun user as now you have a wounded bear and this may intensify the attack. With bear spray you’re not stopping the bear with pain necessarily. You might think this as it really is painful to be sprayed. However, what you’re really doing is taking away the bears senses. The bear’s sight is impaired, but more importantly its breathing and sense of smell are blasted away by the spray. Anyone that has ever been hit with a fog pattern pepper spray can tell you how difficult it is to breathe when sprayed. It actually can be like a shot to the head, since the bear navigates primarily with its nose. For a bear, this is certainly the case. The bear will have no idea what is happening and this changes the behavior the bear was displaying prior to being sprayed.
When you use bear pepper spray you’ve truly have the home field advantage! GO UDAP BEAR PEPPER SPRAY!
You are taking a nice hike through the woods and all of a sudden you find yourself face-to-face with a bear.
What do you do?
Be sure to prepare yourself the next time you hit the trail in bear country, carry UDAP Bear Spray! Bear pepper spray deterrent is proven your best defense in stopping a bear attack. Remember to carry your bear pepper spray where it is accessible and you know how to use it. You will be relying on your reflexes to help you get your spray deployed into the face of a charging bear. Practice several times going for your spray. This simple step can save your life!
The American black bear is the smallest of the three bears types that can be located in North America, and are it should be noted that they are only found in North America. Black bears have the ability to climb trees because of their short non-retractable claws.
Black bears are very easy going and have a variety of habitat types, they are mostly found in forested areas with thick ground vegetation and an abundance of fruits, nuts, and vegetation. In the northern areas, they can be found in the tundra, and they will sometimes forage in fields or meadows.
Black bears are inclined to be solitary animals, with the exclusion of mamma black bears and her cubs. Typically, these bears will forage alone, but will endure each other and forage in groups if there is a wealth of food in one location.
Most black bears hibernate subject to local weather trends and the availability of food throughout the winter months. In areas where there is a reliable food supply and warmer weather all winter long, bears may not hibernate at all or do so for short period of time. Female black bears will give birth and stay denned throughout the winter, but you should know that both males and females who do not have young may leave their dens from time to time during winter months.
Brown bears can be found in forests and woodlands, sub alpine mountain areas, scrub, shrub and brushlands, lakes, ponds, rivers & streams to name a few. and across the tundra region. They can be found in Rocky Mountains, Southwest, Northwest, Western Canada, and Alaska.
In some areas their appearance and color depends on their habitat, diet and season. And did you know that the Grizzly Bear that lives in the contiguous U.S. is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as threatened in the lower 48 states, although its current range extends only into Idaho, Montana, Washington (rarely), and Wyoming. (It has not been recorded in Colorado in many years.) It is said that
50,000 Grizzlies roamed the western U.S. in 1800 from the Canadian border to Mexico, as far east as the middle of the Great Plains. However, the settlement and development of the West meant changes to and destruction of the Grizzly’s habitat, competition with humans for game such as White-tailed Deer, and clashes between bears and humans.
For many, grizzlies have always been seen as a threat to humans and livestock, and were hunted, trapped, and poisoned extensively, both for food and fur and to eliminate them from areas where humans lived. In 1975, when the Grizzly Bear came under the protection of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, only about 1,000 remained in the lower 48 states.
Warning All North American bears can be dangerous in the following situations:
If you are camping, you must firmly seal up food and place it out of reach. Bears will break into unattended vehicles if they smell food. The Grizzly is the most dangerous of all bears. Do not feed, approach, surprise at close range, or get between a Grizzly Bear and its food or cubs. While Grizzlies normally avoid humans, they will attack and have been known to seriously injure and even kill humans. Grizzlies can outrun
humans, and can climb trees. If charged by a Grizzly, stand your ground; if attacked, lie flat on your stomach and play dead.
To get your UDAP Bear Spray, please visit us online today!
One of the first signs you will see at the bear park in any zoo is “Don’t feed the bears”. This is so true in a bear’s natural habitat too. There is an old familiar saying “A FED BEAR IS A DEAD BEAR”. According the National Park Service, allowing a bear to obtain human food, even once, can result in aggressive, bear behavior. Aggressive bears are a threat to human safety and must be removed or destroyed. Help keep bears wild and safe. Do not feed the bears for any reason!
Protecting your food from bears, protects bears. Therefore, UDAP Industries Inc. a company in Bozeman, MT has come out with a new and exciting item. After more than 16 years of providing products to help people coexist with bears, UDAP Industries now has a bear proof food canister the “NO-FED-BEAR™” available for back country travelers. This new item is an answer to the problem of bears obtaining human food. It is useful for everyone traveling in the backcountry.
For More Information visit: http://www.udap.com/nofedbear.htm