July 8, 1999 Missoulian article: Packing a sidearm in bear country is no picnic by Greg Tollefson  a Missoula Freelance writer. His column appears each week in Outdoors.

"If you go down in the woods today, you'd better not go alone. It's lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home."

I don't know anything about Jimmy Kennedy, the writer of "The Teddy Bears' Picnic," but I do know that his little song captures a bit of the feeling that some folks have about the Montana back country this time of year.

Friends coming from other parts of the nation or world to visit our state and get in a little wilderness experience invariably ask about the chances for trouble with bears.

"Will we run into grizzly bears there?"

"Is there some place we can go where we will be safe from bears?" "Have you ever been chased by a bear?"

CAG Comment

  1. YES THERE IS! It is called the Bitterroot Selway Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness .  This is the largest wilderness area in the United States and is not infested with grizzly bears -- YET.
  2. There is a movement afoot by groups of people in the United States, with the blessing of  "One World Government" enthusiasts, such as the Clinton Administration and Vice President Al Gore, to release 250 to 500 bears in this wilderness, study them for 10 years and then make a decision as to whether they have done the right thing or not.  This is in keeping with Al Gore's philosophy. 
  3. CAG can save them a lot of trouble.  Of course we have been trying to do that over the past years; nevertheless we will try one more time:
  4. Lewis & Clark had no trouble with grizzly bears on going through the Selway Bitterroot Ecosystem [SBE] either on their initial trip or their return trip during grizzly bear breeding season when pairs of bears are highly aggressive and in places where they can be easily observed. BITTERROOT SELWAY FRANK CHURCH WILDERNESS IS NOT THEIR TRADITIONAL HOME!
  5. Dr. Larry Irwin, and others, pointed out that the food source  is questionable for grizzly bears. Dr. Irwin also warned Governor Racicot about the short comings of conservation strategies based upon remotely sensed maps -- to no avail.
  6. Whitebark pine, salmon and steelhead have disappeared from the wilderness and are no longer a viable food source.
  7. January 12, 1999, a respected member of the Craighead Institute commented that a viable population of grizzly bears must be between 1,000 and 3,000 animals to maintain a healthy gene pool.
  8. Grizzly bears are being exploited to put in place the dream of Y2Y.
  9. This is not about environmentalism; this is about power, people control and elitism.

And so on.

I have overheard many a response to such a query over the years. Quite often, the response comes from a Montanan who has never had a single experience in the wild with a bear. Even so, they often convincingly overstate the potential dangers.

Those who have had an experience or two can also find it difficult to avoid hyperbole. If you have a bear this is the time to tell it. As a result, may of those potential visitors come to our state and hear the stories before setting off reluctantly into the woods, only to remain uneasy during their entire 'stay.

Fear of bears and other wild things seems to have become part of the whole Montana experience. And I must sadly observe that the fear part is not limited to visitors to this fair hunk of country. Many among us appear as if they can only venture into the wilderness if they are armed to the teeth.

It is not at all uncommon to come upon a hiker burdened with a sidearm of one sort or another. I have often marveled at how uncomfortable it must be to walk miles of trail with a hunk of metal the size of a small dog strapped to your hip or chest. I assume that the inconvenience and extra weight are offset by peace of mind.

But we also know that the likelihood that such a weapon would ever be needed for defense against an attacking bear or other varmint is extremely slim. In fact, outside of the national parks where such firearms are illegal anyway, the chances of a life-threatening encounter with a bear are probably similar to your chances of having Ed McMahon stop in with a sweepstakes check.

Further, the outcome of any encounter in which one of the participants is wielding a loaded .357 Magnum is not likely to be good for the participant that does not have one. To my knowledge, most wild creatures are not conditioned to respond to commands such as, "stop or I'll shoot"

Merely waving the gun around isn't going to do much good in such a situation either. The only way it can really be effective is if it is used to kill something.

And perhaps, that is just what you have in mind. If you subscribe to the "only good bear is a dead bear" theory, then a bullet between the eyes is probably just the ticket.

On the other hand, if you believe the continued existence of a species such as the grizzly bear is of some importance to all of us, perhaps some other alternative should be looked into.

And that's why, for my money, the recommendation issued recently by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee makes good sense. That would be the suggestion that folks who are venturing off into bear country should equip themselves with a can of bear pepper spray.

It is important to note that pepper sprays are not just some kind of fad. Years of research have gone into determining what makes an effective spray, and how and when to use it.

I have never felt the need to carry a sidearm into the hills on my various forays into bear country. But I have spent hours listening to the irritating tinkling of bear bells and the off-key singing of verse after verse of "The Happy Wanderer" and other appropriate hiking songs, all intended to warn away wandering beasts of the ursine persuasion.

Nowadays, in addition to defiling nature with the sound of my own singing, I carry a canister of bear spray attached to the shoulder strap of my pack by an easy-opening carabiner. It seemed kind of odd at first, but now it's just part of the kit. I don't give it a thought.

And my song of choice? You guessed it. "If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise. If you go down in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise. For every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because ..."

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