Wilderness guide Anna Powers followed bear spray and bear encounter guidelines to the letter — and that’s why she’s in a hospital recovering from a bear attack on Aug. 19 near Sitka.
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee says, “Spray tucked away in your pack or tent is useless. Carry spray within reach of your dominant hand at all times, ready in a holster or chest strap.”
Powers, a guide for UnCruise Adventures, was carrying bear spray in a holster clipped to her pack as she lead a group of visitors along the Sitkoh Creek Trail on Chicagof Island, about 30 miles north of Sitka. They came around corner and saw a brown bear with a cub. The sow was just 6 to 15 feet away.
Denali National Park’s webpage on “Wildlife Safety” says, “If you encounter a bear” you should “Back away slowly if the bear is aware of you. Speak in a low, calm voice while waving your arms slowly above your head.”
Powers said, “Whoa,” stretched her arms out to the side, and told her group, “Back.”
“Within seconds,” the Juneau Empire reported, “the bear stood up and groaned.”
“Pepper spray,” says Denali National Park, “should be used as a last resort if all of the proper responses to a bears behavior do not work (i.e., shouting, waving arms, backing away slowly, etc.).”
The bear charged and knocked down Powers before she could use her bear spray. Of course it’s difficult to spray a bear when you’re waving your hands around like a loony with bear spray still in it’s holster. There have been so many incidents when people carrying bear spray “properly” did not have time to use it during a surprise encounter with a bear that agencies should have started telling people to carry bear spray in hand at least a decade ago. If you encounter a nearby bear, thumb off the bear spray’s safety, hold the can in two hands, and extend your arms to spray. Now consider your options. If a bear is close enough to spray, spray it!
A 2008 study on the Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska showed that 3 of 9 people who sprayed charging brown bears suffered injuries. There was no data on people who did not have time to use their bear spray. Yet the authors concluded, “Persons working and recreating in bear habitat should feel confident they are safe if carrying bear spray.”
In 2014, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen told Slate, “I’d rate the effectiveness of bear spray at a 10 out of 10.”
Thanks to wildlife professionals behaving like TV pitchmen, people relying on bear spray go afield brimming with overconfidence. Bear spray first came on the market in 1986, yet 30 years later wildlife professionals working for state and federal agencies fail to provide the public with essential information on how to carry bear spray, when to spray or how to spray.
• Dave Smith is the author of “Don’t Get Eaten,” and “Backcountry Bear Basics: The Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters.” He lived in Alaska for 16 years and still owns a home in Anchorage but currently resides in Green Valley, Arizona.
