Photographer Pulls Out The Bear Spray In Scary Close Encounter

It’s good to know that bear spray actually does the trick.

It worked like a charm for this photographer who was out in the wilderness and suddenly came face to face with a burly bruin. If you have any plans to visit bear country anytime soon, I’d make sure to pack a thing of bear repellant, because as you’ll see in this clip, the stuff really works.

Your best bet to not be mauled by a bear is to not get close to them in the first place. However, not every outdoorsman (and outdoorswoman) has that luxury. Sometimes, as much as you can try to avoid bears, the big furry creatures end up finding you. The bear in this clip looks like it was intrigued by the photographer’s setup and wanted to get a closer look.

If a bear ever gets close, experts advise that you make yourself as large as possible (standing tall with your arms over your head) while speaking in a very low, deep voice. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Hey Bear!” mentioned as a go-to saying in desperate times. This photographer basically did the opposite of what you are advised to do.

Not only did he stay quiet, he also crouched down and made himself appear smaller. This could have spelled disaster for the man, but we quickly come to find out that he was bending down to grab his bear spray – while the bruin moved closer and closer (and ironically looked as though it was posing for a picture).

Without hesitation, and knowing that the act could very well save his life, the photographer sprayed the bear spray right at the wild animal. It worked like a charm, and the bear let out a fierce growl as it turned away and retreated in the opposite direction.

Take a look:

Hopefully that guy was wearing dark colored pants – if you know what I’m saying.

That’s about as scary as an encounter can get. The bear didn’t charge or anything, but it was certainly locked in on the human out in its habitat, and it’s a good thing the photographer had bear spray on his person. Who knows how this could have ended if he didn’t…

Viewers of the video were stunned by the encounter, and applauded both the spray’s effectiveness and the photographer’s calmness throughout it all:

“If you ever needed an advertisement for that repellent, this was it.”

“Grumbled in disappointment when he realized the guy was just another skunk.”

“I think the bear was just curious, but you never know how things can escalate. The timing of the spraying was perfect.”

“Let this serve as a friendly reminder to never go into the deep woods without your cameraman to protect you.”

“That was the calmest ‘f**k off’ ever.”