Travels to and Within Alaska: Watch out bears, here I come!

One of the requirements of working for 3PPI is going through a gun safety class - qualifying to carry a gun in the field is optional. Why carry a weapon out in the field? Bears! While not all bears are aggressive, there is a chance that one of them could become aggressive and it's up to us to decide how we want to handle the situation. We are required to carry bear spray but carrying a weapon is optional. I figured I might as well qualify but I've pretty much decided that using the gun is going to be my last resort. If a bear is charging at me, I will probably reach for the pepper spray first, but if my partner is being attacked, I would reach for the gun because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I could have done something to prevent it and I didn't. I really don't care if I die from a bear attacking me, I mean, I'd rather not die, but if it's my time to go and the bear is really that hungry, well then dig in.

This was our angry bear target - we positioned the bear at 5 yards, 7 yards, and 10 yards. If a bear were to charge at us, we're supposed to wait until the 5-7 yard range before we shoot. A bear can run up to 35mph; 5-7 yards doesn't buy a whole lot of time if you need to aim to kill and fire accurately.

Ready, aim, FIRE!