During a visit to my Father-in-Laws recently we were inundated with Bears. Probably averaged around 3 per day with 5 being the most over a space of 30 minutes one morning.

So after walking onto the porch one evening to find to one of the big hairy bastards nibbling on my wife's t-shirt off the washing line, and only being about 5 feet from them both before i saw them, i've decided to treat him to a Christmas pressie.

At the moment he chases them away by either throwing pots and pans at their heads or shooting them with his pump action pellet gun.

I'd like to treat him to some form of paintball type gun that fires paintballs, or beanbags, or balls filled with pepper spray. Something easy to carry so he can have it with him when he's gardening etc.

For you gun nuts out there, were would the best option in and around Vancouver, or mail order, to buy from. And also, what the hell would i be looking and asking for?

Ta

I believe its called A "Smith and Wesson 45"

Haha, yep something like that has been mentioned many times but it's not possible, especially as he sticks to the rules and he doesn't fancy having the headache of disposing of a brutish 400lbs body

The pellet gun isn't much of a deterrent even when you shoot on in the face.

Surely all thats doing is pissing it off? Not sure of the wisdom of that

It makes them run like hell most of the time. Sometimes they run a little before turning to watch, probably deciding whether to keep going or teach you a lesson. The second shot on the end of their nose makes up their mind for them

To be honest, we/he's had some close calls this year and it's quite unnerving on occasion. The issue with his pellet gun now is the slowness of reloading and limiting impact if he's in a sticky situation. Hence a paintball gun with balls fill with pepper spray stuff or something with a larger impact and easy access to a few more shots if needed.

Some of these bears are pretty scary, especially when they sit in front of your car at night, not moving while you honk your horn and flash your lights.

eeek

When we were kayaking the Inside Passage and camping on uninhabited islands our guides had bear spray, but I did wonder how close you have to get to a bear before you can spray it? Well, here is the answer-
Bear Repellent Spray

Price: $44.99
Manufacturer: Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited

Non-lethal deterrent spray causes temporary eye-tearing and respiratory distress, but leaves no permanent damage. Fires for approximately 8 seconds. Range is roughly 8 m (25 ). Active ingredient is 1% capsaicin that will not cause permanent eye damage.

.375 Holland and Holland

Cheers for that. We'd rather stay away from the spray element with this one though. He's a clumsy old bugger and the cost of fuel driving to and from the hospital to clear his airwaves and eyes would soon rack up.

I doubt what you want exists...
"bear repellent pellets" brings up this thread on page one of google!

You can buy empty paintball shells for about a buck each, but I wouldnt want to be part of the experimental team working out what to fill them with as an effective bear repellent!


According to the ever infallible internet, bears dont like ammonia, so maybe they should leave a bunch of ammonia filled jars or rags around the property to discourage them in the first place. Either that or move.

http://www.backpacker.com/community/ask_buck/163

He's tried most things to discourage the buggers to no effect. He tried ammonia and bleach among others but they're persistent little things

I've watched an episode of Dog the Bounty Humper and in that they had paintball type guns with pepper stuff in the ammo (balls). Maybe it's a US thing.

I'll keeping digging around anyhoo.

Edited to add: Something like this, but easily accessible in Vancouver area or mail order in Canada. And legal - http://www.pepperammo.com/

I know you didn't mean to suggest this, but I am concerned someone may misunderstand your post.PLEASE DON'T FILL THE PELLETS WITH AMMONIA! It is very caustic and can cause permanent blindness, extreme burns and intense pain. As well as being terribly cruel, I am not sure that anyone needs to be faced with a blinded bear maddened with pain.
Anything that has the power to repel a hungry and persistent bear is not going to be without its drawbacks, el-richo. Your father-in-law could wear a face mask when using the spray?

http://www.pepperball.com/

I love the way this describes their products as,
" less-lethal solutions"
How can anything be less lethal!
It either is lethal, or it isn't.
The guy on this advert also doesn't look like he is using these for bears that are eating his washing I wouldn't want him for a neighbour!

Percentages isnt it.

The Taser is "non lethal", unless you are one of the unlucky buggers that it kills.

"Less lethal" makes sense to me. Pretty high muzzle velocities on those for a paintball gun though

Sorry, I know this isn't helpful but when I initially saw this thread I thought it said:

"Beer Repellent"