Tell statistics to the 1 in 500,000,000,000 person who got attacked and killed by a cougar or other wild animal... they will laugh at you if they could.

The point of this discussion I think is to talk about preparing for an attack and or preventing an attack that is about to occur.

The stats could be 1:10 or 1:500,000,000,000 it doesn't matter, it can still happen and it could happen to you!

- Do not travel alone if you are worried.
- Do not travel at daybreak / early morning or sunset / evening.
- Carry pepper spray.
- Carry a small c02 horn.
- Do not run away like a prey animal.

And if you are someone who likes firearms then by all means carry one as well... just know how to use it

I might agree with you if we were talking about be attacked by a possum, but expecting a .45acp to be effective against a bear is foolish IMHO. I'd want at least a .45-70 rifle. And ten more friends with identical rifles firing at the same time.

As far as an animal attack, I've just never really worried about it. If that rare rare event ever happens to me, well, I guess I'm just dead then. It was my time. At least the buggers that killed me would be able to eat well for several weeks. Human predators scare me much more. Lightning scares me much more.

Statistics are often misused/abused though.
I think what they were referring to here was the use of numbers that are not really related trying support a point the person using them wants to make.

The problem some of the posters are pointing to is that without accounting for the situation there is no way to relate the number of people killed in cars by people driving cars with the number of people killed in cars by bears driving cars.

Statistics are only of consequence to the extent that they confirm our fears, or support our hopes. ;-)

Like any area of expertise that is used by non-experts. An educated statistician can ascertain what is non-sense and what is not.

You are right though, I have seen laughable and absolutely non-credible probability and statistical arguments to prove creationism for example.

yep.
and that about sums it up.

Have you ever been bear hunting?
I haven't, but I have friends who have been and they will use a dog or two and chase the bear up a tree, and then shoot it. Even normal house dogs chase bears up trees, bears are afraid of most people and dogs and will FLEE! Even bears in campgrounds are known to do this... but they are also known to stick around and ignore people all the while ripping your car to shreds to get a candy bar left on the front seat

*normal* bears are not some crazy human killing animal that will hunt you down and kill you. Some may be, and those are the ones you need to prepare for... but talking about needing 10 guys and a minimum of a .45-70 is pretty ridiculous unless you are out hunting polar bears or a known man killing grizzly.

IMHO firearm caliber is dependent upon the bear species one is either HUNTING or preparing to defend against. So this may be another topic entirely

Personally... for around my house I carry a .357 mag revolver w/buffalo bore hard cast led. I want to get an ultra-light .44mag for hiking trips eventually but for now I`m happy with my 357. Around here we have black bear, and I've scared them off by yelling at them.

Well, we can verify easily that a .454 Casull revolver will in fact kill a charging bear with 2-3 accurately-placed shots.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/08/31/man-kills-charging-bear-with-454-casull/

I don't doubt that the .454 generates a lot more stopping power. But, I'd guess that firing 21 rounds of .45 would likely do some serious damage also.

But first off, we don't get a lot of bears where I live in Alabama. Second, I doubt I'd get to pick the time of a possible bear attack, so having ten friends with rifles around probably wouldn't be likely. And third, I'd have a hard time carrying a rifle around with me everywhere I go. But I do have a .45acp on me at all times.

So, I'll have to go with the .45 I actually have handy, versus the magical rifle I could produce from thin air.

Plus, I don't carry a .45 specifically to fend off attacking bears, I carry it to fend off attacking humans, dogs, whatever needs fending off.

Funny thing about bears and dogs. When I lived in Panama City, Fl, we had a smallish black bear, maybe 200-250lbs, or about my size, get into town. It led the authorities on a merry chase through several neighborhoods. When passing through a yard with a chained German Shepard in it, the dog apparently took offense at the bear. The bear took the dog. It just carried it off, snapping the chain.

Bears are fairly strong. I'm pretty sure I can take out a German Shepard, but not without some serious consequences. This little bear, about my weight, took it in passing.

Now, that's just a little story I remembered. Not really trying to refute a point or anything, as most bears are pretty shy.

That was an exaggeration for emphasis. But not that much of an exaggeration.

Check this article out if you think a .45acp is a good way stop a bear. My DOG outweights the bear in this article by 20lbs!

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_12926506