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August 2011, My wife and I were walking along a trail in the Swiftcurrent area of Glacier N.P, I had an of a can of bear spray and my Ruger SP101 with 180 grain .357 loads. We were hiking along and intentionally making a lot of noise. the wind was blowing in our faces at 15-20 MPH. We rounded a bend in the trail and about 20 yards away a "small" Grizzly (I guestimate about 400 lbs.) was waiting behind a tree and upon seeing us turned and ran away.
As soon as I saw the bear (my wife saw him first) I reached for my spray and gun at the same time. He was gone before either were removed from their respective holsters.
My observation was that if he had charged (and a hiker was mauled in the park the previous day) I would not have gotten either out before the bear was on me, he was very fast.
The spray would have done me more harm than good as I'm sure it would have blown back and done at least as much harm to me as it would have done to the bear.
My holster (an Uncle Mike's "Sidekick" nylon holster with a retainer strap with a snap on it) would have taken too long to draw my gun.
My gun was what I had but was too small!
Montana state law says that anyone without a felony arrest can loaded open carry, that includes inside Glacier N.P.
We were there for 4 days. I hiked 2 trails that went in more than 3 miles, plus a several shorter hikes. I saw probably 100 other hikers on the trails I saw 1 hiker with a medium caliber semi auto (looked like a Browning HP) and 1 hiker with a large revolver (.44 mag, 3 inch barrel)
In both Yellowstone and Glacier I saw several people with some sort of bag or fanny pack noticeably close to their right hand.
Most hiking parties had one or more people carrying bear spray. As I said before, with a strong headwind the spray would have been next to worthless. there were some groups, usually family groups that had no visible means of defense. (how would you feel watching your wife or your kids being killed and you have no means of stopping it? )
When I go back I will have a quality fitted leather holster for my .44 mag revolver. There will be no retainer strap. I checked out a S&W 629 today, I think a 4" barrel model will do just fine.
As soon as I saw the bear (my wife saw him first) I reached for my spray and gun at the same time. He was gone before either were removed from their respective holsters.
My observation was that if he had charged (and a hiker was mauled in the park the previous day) I would not have gotten either out before the bear was on me, he was very fast.
The spray would have done me more harm than good as I'm sure it would have blown back and done at least as much harm to me as it would have done to the bear.
My holster (an Uncle Mike's "Sidekick" nylon holster with a retainer strap with a snap on it) would have taken too long to draw my gun.
My gun was what I had but was too small!
Montana state law says that anyone without a felony arrest can loaded open carry, that includes inside Glacier N.P.
We were there for 4 days. I hiked 2 trails that went in more than 3 miles, plus a several shorter hikes. I saw probably 100 other hikers on the trails I saw 1 hiker with a medium caliber semi auto (looked like a Browning HP) and 1 hiker with a large revolver (.44 mag, 3 inch barrel)
In both Yellowstone and Glacier I saw several people with some sort of bag or fanny pack noticeably close to their right hand.
Most hiking parties had one or more people carrying bear spray. As I said before, with a strong headwind the spray would have been next to worthless. there were some groups, usually family groups that had no visible means of defense. (how would you feel watching your wife or your kids being killed and you have no means of stopping it? )
When I go back I will have a quality fitted leather holster for my .44 mag revolver. There will be no retainer strap. I checked out a S&W 629 today, I think a 4" barrel model will do just fine.
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