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Comment by jmnicolas | Hacker News Reader

> A black bear charged at one of them in Washington state.

I'm a 43 yo French guy. In all my life, I only know one man that had problems with wildlife in France: he was charged by an angry wild boar and had to jump in a river to evade it. So I'm not worried at all about my safety when hiking in France.

However if I was hiking in the US I'd probably carry a 44 Magnum at all times (the ultra lightweight one from S&W). I don't know how you guys decide to go in the woods with just some pepper spray and think it's enough! I'd worry that it makes the bear angrier! :D

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I spent 5 days alone in the wilderness in Denali National Park with only bear spray and another week with a partner in Wrangell-St. Elias. Being in the wilderness in Denali was really unlike anything I had ever done before; hard to explain but I had never been that alone before.

Despite having spent lots of time in wild lands in the lower 48, the only time I felt like I wanted a firearm was during my first 24 hours in Denali.

At the time firearms were not allowed in the national parks but I wouldn’t have brought one anyway. It was good to experience that vulnerability and learn how to just get on with it.

> It was good to experience that vulnerability and learn how to just get on with it.

Nothing bad happened to you; you might think different if you were missing a couple limbs due to a bear attack (yes I know it's probably not survivable).

I spent two weeks out there and had the same experience with vulnerability. I was a very experienced backpacker by then, but that was a a different experience in terms of wilderness.

Where did you go in the park?

The only time I've seen a black bear in the US was in my backyard and it got scared of me. It ran away and jumped over a 4.5ft fence. I have seen hundreds of deers on my hikes though...

If a bear charges you, chances are the gun won’t be much help.

At least I would have a chance. I have a hard time believing pepper spray is anything more than a fell good amulet!

Shooting a charging bear is harder than it sounds. If you don't kill it, chances are you'll just really piss it off.

It seems destiny is reading us: this morning in the news a 70 yo French hunter was charged by a bear and shot it 2 times. The man is gravely wounded (femoral artery) and the bear is dead (she had 2 cubs).

I completely forgot that they reintroduced bears in the mountains south of France (Pyrenees) a few years ago.

Unless you mess with them or their cubs black bears are like big tree climbing pigs.

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