Yukon man touts value of bear spray after close call with aggressive grizzly

If you've ever wondered whether it's worth carrying bear spray with you out in the bush, just talk to Paul Burbidge.

The Whitehorse man recently had a close and terrifying encounter with a grizzly bear, and says it was a can of bear spray and not the riflehe was carrying that saved him from a more serious outcome. Burbidge survived the encounter unscathed, but definitely shaken.

It happened on Monday when Burbidge took his dog out for a walk on a small trail, bringing his gun along to maybe do a bit of grouse hunting along the way. As they were walking along, Burbidge said he heard "a kind of huff."

"I looked over and I saw a grizzly bear kind of stand up in thick bush, about 10 meters away from me," he recalled.

"And I thought, well, you know, itsees me, it's going to take off. But it didn't."

Instead, he says, the bear came "straight at me."

Burbidge says the animal stopped a few feet away, pounding the ground and making clear that itwasn't happy to see Burbidge.

"It actuallycame closer to me, and I pushed it away with my gun. And then it seemed like it was escalating further and I actually shot it," Burbidge said.

Burbidgesaid his .22 rifle was "not an effective bear gun." However, the rifle shotdid seem to give the animal pause, and that bought Burbidge enough time to look away and unholster hisbear spray. Up to then, he'd been afraid to take his eyes off the aggressive bear.

"I turned and it was coming at me again, not like a full charge, but like closing the distance. And then it hung up again and I was able to spray it and it took off, like that," he said.

"Once I had the bear spray out, I was like, pretty confident this is going to end it. So yeah, that's what happened, thank God."

Confidence with bear spray made 'big difference'

Burbidgesays he's experienced in the bush and has had plenty of "good" bear encounters over the years. But he figures it was only a matter of time before he had a more frightening experience like the one earlierthis week.

That's why he's grateful for the time he's spent ensuring he was prepared. He's done bear-safety training, and practiced using bear spray.

"So I felt very confident when it was time to use it [bear spray] both that I would use it well, and that it would be effective. And that made a big difference," he said.

Jim Welsh, Yukon's hunter education officer, says there's no question: bear spray is the best tool to stay safe in bear country.

"It's non-lethal to the bear, extremely effectiveand commonly, stats in the U.S. say it's more effective than a firearm. And I mean, that's exactly what [Burbidge]encountered," Welsh said.

"Very few people are competent and confident enough to make that shot [with a firearm]. Especially close range shots are really hard. You're never carrying your firearm loaded when you're in the bush, so a firearm isn't the ideal tool."

Welsh also stresses that it's not enough to just carry bear spray, you also have to know how to use it properly. Bear encounters can be suddenand escalate quickly, so it's essential to be prepared, he says.

"I run a bear safety program and I teach, you know, well over 1,000 people every year," Welsh said.

"And a lot of people don't do it [use bear spray] properly. It's like, there's never been a safety product that I've seen, that people are givenwith no training."

He recommendspeople practice using bear spray, and to also think ahead about how they might react and respond in an encounter.

"I never want people to be afraid to go in the bush. We live here to be connected with the environment, and to want to be outside. And I think the message is, don't be afraid to go out just be prepared."

Yukon Morning10:02A Yukoner just had a very close encounter with a grizzly while out grouse hunting

Hear Jim Welsh, hunter education coordinator with the Yukon Government, and Paul Burbidge, who recently survived a charge by a grizzly bear.