In this video, I am guiding a group that is watching a sow with spring cubs from a safe distance, From behind us walking up the creek bed, heading our direction comes this sub-adult bear. We let the bear know we are there from the get-go, and the bear chooses to approach us curiously. At this point, I remember I loaned my bear spray to our apprentice guide who has it in his coat pocket.

In a situation like this, there is no time to be scrambling to get bear spray out of a bag or to hand it off to someone else. It is in hand or it's out of play. We did not have bear spray out and available. I made do with the two best bear deterrents available to me: my voice, and my body. It is important to recognize this bear's behavior for what it is: a very curious approach to a previously unencountered stimulus. I say unencountered because of the incredibly remote location where this occurred, and the fact this is a young bear perhaps on its first or second summer away from its mother. Likely we are the first people it has ever encountered on its own, thus leading to a confrontation that because of proximity could have turned deadly for the bear and us in a split second.

So, while I would have loved to have had bear spray in my hand when this bear approached, I did not, and even if I had, I still would have had my gun out and in my hand in case the bear charges and goes through the cloud of spray, which is an unlikely scenario but still possible, and thus still something you should be prepared for. Had I had bear spray in my hand I would have been well within my rights to spray the bear on that first bluff charge 0:38​ and that could possibly form a negative association with humans as a result, which for a young curious bear like this one might have been a good thing.

However, because of my experience with bears like this in the past, and over a decade of guiding experience, I knew based on the body language of this bear that the first charge was likely a bluff. I still would have liked to have bear spray, but again you can't be prepared for everything and everyone makes mistakes. In these split seconds, I am thinking about all of these things and more, including what happens in a worst-case scenario and I have to make the best with what I have which is my voice, my body, my group, and my pistol.

At 0:50​ you hear me tell everyone to, "get behind me and put your arms in the air" this is pretty standard procedure for this situation and the only move left to discourage a real charge, short of firing my .44SW. The reason I placed the group behind me is that if that bear charges I am the only person with any hope of stopping it, meaning I need to be in front, facing that risk head-on with nothing and no one impeding my movements. If a bear charges with intent to kill, you only get one shot to stop it before it grabs someone at this distance.

The reason I didn't fire my .44SW is twofold. First I honestly didn't and still don't KNOW how this bear would have reacted. It could have run off or the gunshot could have also CAUSED a real charge, and secondly because if the bear grabs ahold of me I want every bullet. In this video, I am carrying an S&W Model 29, 44 mag, with 305 Gr HSM Bear loads producing 1075 foot pounds energy.

My job as a guide is to keep my group safe and to avoid encounters like this. However, sometimes life and wild animals happen and in those situations, things aren't going to be perfect and you have to be able to work with what you have. I have never had to shoot a bear, and in ten years of guiding bears, I have only had to use bear spray once in the field. The goal of a guide is to avoid situations where such tools become necessary and know what to do when they do.