Fireball, Dragon's Breath...

[Dark&Good]

Hi,
I'm Eastern European, spent half of my life in the woods of Transylvania, where brown bears are very common. I was taught by pa' that bears fear fire - and it always worked, not for me only, but for EVERYBODY I know. Then I read around on specialty ammo for shotguns, and ppl saying that the FB and DB ammo are just gimmicks... did ANYBODY actually try these in bear defense?

 

[Gunfighter123]

The FireBreath 12ga. that I tried were junk. The report was not much louder then a .22rf and the "fire" was less then a foot long out the barrel. I would not even think about them for ANY kind of defence.

 

[proud2deviate]

did ANYBODY actually try these in bear defense?

If they did, we'll never hear about it.

"Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the B C Fish and
Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, and any persons
that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to
take extra precautions while in the field.

We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as
to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t
take them by surprise.

We also advise anyone using the out-of doors to carry “Pepper Spray”
with him in case of an encounter with a bear.

Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and
be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear
feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and
squirel fur. Grizzly Bear feces has bells¹ in it and smells like pepper."


¹-Dragon's breath shells are less commonly included, but still possible.

Slugs for bears. Big, fat, heavy, fast flying, deep penetrating slugs. Slugs or stay home. If you must use Dragon's breath or any other gimmick shells, I'd suggest rolling them in bacon grease in hopes that the bear will stop to lick them off.

 

[Gordon]

Brenneke 12 gauge slugs are available and work well!

 

[Dark&Good]

Up to this point, noone seems to have gotten it. If I pick up a handful of dry grass and light it with a lighter, the bear - sow with cubs, starving ol' male, plush toy, doesn't matter - starts cutting a straight line AWAY through the bushes. I've done it, my little brother did it.
Wasn't talking about killing a bear.
Wasn't talking about what others SAID about bear defense either.

 

[Dark&Good]

Gunfighter123 - tried it on bear?

proud2deviate - any personal experience with bears and fire?

Gordon - I've got Brenneke BMs, but I didn't ask about them... I would like to know if there's anybody out there who:
1. Saw Bruin personally in the wild at less than 50 yards
2. Lit ANY type of flame to communicate with Bruin in above situation
3. Lived to tell the story

No offense meant. Just looking for facts regarding fire being or not a bear deterrent, and, in case it is one, how can the above "special ammo" be called a gimmick.
That's all.

 

[KD5NRH]

Hmmm...one guy eaten by a bear vs a potentially disastrous wildfire started by some guy trying to scare off a bear...nope, sounds to me like you just need to either leave the bears alone or make peace with your deity.

 

[xx7grant7x]

awful harsh on the guy who's actually used fire against a bear.....

 

[Dark&Good]

Interesting... In my whole life never saw anybody starting an unwanted fire; saw a few bears running from a small flame, however.
Guess I should just quit waiting for real experience. Thanks for making yourselves heard.

 

[Virginian]

Indeed. I believe the guy who's done it first hand ought to get some credit. I do believe next trip to Canada I might just find room for a Bic and some lighter fluid.

 

[Gunfighter123]

Hi Dark&Good,
I think you will grow a beard longer then mine waiting to hear from someone that has REALLY USED the DB against a bear !!!!
Do a Net search about the DB shells and see what you can find. I really don't think that these shells would be capeable of starting a fire unless you shot at very dry grass at less then 10 FEET in front of you.
I am sorry I don't have any kind of information about DB and bear defense ---- just telling you about MY experience useing the Dragons Breath 12.ga shells.
Like you , I also think that fire would be a deterent to any wild animial --- I was just stateing that the DB that I tried were Junk.
Hope you find the info you are looking for and if you do , please post it here as I would be interested in reading it.
Take care -- GF123

 

[Dark&Good]

Gunfighter123,
I have just found something: http://www.troop111.org/bear.html
If you want the relevant part only, go to the "What to do if Challenged by a Bear" part and read the end of it.

And here's a study (for those who didn't understand my original question: a scientific study is based on observation - experience) about deterrents: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1049&context=vpc14

 

[mgregg85]

I think this dragon's breath shell would probably scare a bear away.



People use these 'bear bangers' to scare bears away and they are nothing more than a big bottle rocket. If you could find effective dragon's breath rounds like the one pictured above I believe they would do just fine.

That being said, I will stick with 3" 12 gauge slugs if I ever have to stop a bear w/a shotgun.

 

[Dark&Good]

Haha, I think so, too
...and it's accompanied by a sudden boom that in itself might be a deterrent, too.

 

[Dark&Good]

This thread was meant to collect and share FACTS about the usefulness or uselessness of the FB and DB ammo. I came to realize/learn a few things:
- people who used them in bear defense are hard to find (maybe non-existent)
- there still are some honest/interested people who would show interest rather than trying to be interesting
- the "clever people / facts" ratio is disastrous
- the usefulness of the above ammo in bear defense, under SOME conditions, is probably higher than generally thought