Hi,

I work part-time for a non-profit organisation that gives wolves ad wolf-dogs that people have tried to own as pets, a safe place to live out their lives, and to creat awareness about wolves in the wild versus in captivity. The facility is in a fairly remote part of Southern Colorado, and is regularly visited by people who want to learn more about wolves. We also have alot of people come and volunteer their time, knowledge, and money to keep the place going. I am one of these people.

Within the last few nights we have had visits from what we believe is a fairly large black bear, in search of food. We haven't got a good look at the animal yet but we've managed to chase it of every time it has appeared. It definately seems scared of people at the momment, but we are worried that might change. We try and keep our trash protected as well as the meat we keep for feeding the wolves, but we are increasingly concerned about the safety of the staff and volunteers, many of whom sleep in tents around the facility.

With this in mind we'd like to get some non-lethal ammo to scare off this bear with more than just flash-lightsand loud noises. I was wondering if there was anyone who could recommend any particular type or brand. The director would like to get bean bag ammo but I believe the 12Ga shotgun he intends to use has some sort of a choke, and I don't know how much that will effect the bean bags working. I've been searching online with google but can't seem to find much information to help me.

I know that if this bear becomes dangerous we will have to kill it, and we'd all prefer to resolve the issue before that becomes neccessary. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Mathias

Wrong board to post this at -we kill things here!! :)

There are a number of manufacturers who market shotgun shells loaded with rubber or plastic balls. I have used them for chasing black bears from the deck of my home when they did not otherwise want to leave. Try this link:
http://www.hi-vel.com/Catalog__18/Specialized_Shotshell_Ammuniti/specialized_shotshell_ammuniti.html

Look for the 12 ga. Stinger shells, or the 12 ga. Slugger, or the 12 ga. Bean Bag.
Pete

Welcome to the forum Mathias. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

I spent five years stationed in Alaska in the Army and we had troops that often were in the field for weeks at a time. Bears up there both black and Grizzly could be a serious problem coming into camp.

One of the the things you might try is hanging bags of moth balls around the prariter of your compound, about every 20 feet apart. The bears really don't like the Naphtha that's the active ingredient of the moth balls. This won't keep an extremly hungry bear out, but does discourage most of them.

It sounds like your doing everything you can about food and garbage control. If the bear becomes persistant you may want to call you local Game department and see if they can live trap it and move it to a different area before you consider destroying it.

Bear control is one of my duties here. We have a 'bear' fence around the camp, but we keep a shotgun (12 ga 870) close with 'cracker' rounds and 1 1/8 oz Brenneke slugs ready. The 'geenies' will not let us use the other hazing rounds (bean bags and rubber stingers) because we might 'hurt' the bears:rolleyes:.
Black bears are more aggressive when it comes to food. They are more prone to predatory attacks than browns. Browns are more prone to the aggressive/defencive attacts. Thus the advise is fight a 'black' but be passive if a 'brown' attacks.
Many people here in AK use 'bird shot' to 'pepper' a pesky bear, but I would be very reluctant to do that. A wounded bear is not what you want hanging around your place.:eek:

Get a pepperball gun, great pain compliance and around the head and chest area really nice cloud of powdered pepper spray same stuff as used in bear spray. Has a decent range as well have seen them used out to 50yds and still put dents in metal filing cabinets. With anything else you are relying simply on pain compliance and when a mad bear will charge someone after being shot for real I would not bet my butt on a beanbag. Your best bet is the pain compliance + the pepper powder. We use them at work and next to the taser they are one of the best less lethal tools we have. Just remember, keep a good strong handgun at minimum available when using less lethal because it is not fail safe

Guns are for killing, when and if it comes to that. Noise is a great bear deterrent but a gunshot is not as effective as an airhorn. However a determined bear that comes back a few times figures out these things and gets more dangerous with each lesson.

Follwo the advice to get any persistent bear trapped and relocated.....or shot and killed.

F the greenies.

Jeff

Thanks for all the advice. I will need to talk it over with the director, but I appreciate everyone's input.

Mathias

Another tactic:

A specialty load that was discussed as a non-lethal alternative while I was fishing in Alaska is the 12ga "Dragon's Breath" load.

Fired at a charging bear it will flash-blind the critter and singe its nose, making it more likely to run off than to sniff you out after being otherwise stung/wounded/irritated by some other type of non-lethal load.

It seems like a reasonable hypothesis, but I would sure back it up with some heavy Dixie Slugs in case it didn't work...

NON-LETHAL AMMO. Where did that come from? Reminds me of when semi-automatic firearms became "assault rifles"(sans selective-fire ability).

An "air-soft" gun might qualify?

Cheezywan

NON-LETHAL AMMO. Where did that come from? Reminds me of when semi-automatic firearms became "assault rifles"(sans selective-fire ability).

An "air-soft" gun might qualify?

Cheezywan
nless you are drenched in Petrol, a Dragon's Breath is decidedly "non-lethal".

Will make a mess of your optic nerve if you happen to be wearing NVG though...