The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and their counterpart State agencies ( Fish and Game, Fish and Wildlife, Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, whatever name a particular State designates ) in the Western states all recommend Bear Spray over firearms for dealing with bears, black and grizzly, in the Western States.

Statistically, in something like 92% of human / bear encounters where bear spray is used, no one gets injured.

In something close to 50% of human / bear encounters where a firearm is used, the human ends up injured.

Also, the "muzzle velocity" of bear spray, as I recall, is over 70 mph. You can fire it effectively into a pretty good headwind.

Blowback from bear spray fired upwind is really nasty. I was testing a can a few years ago pointing downwind. Just as I fired off a one second blast, there was a wind shift - right into my face. Nasty for sure, but I really don't think it would blind a person, just be very irritating for a short time.

Follow the link for a write up about the National Park Service position -

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...inst-grizzlies

Just above the "Comments" section of the above article, there is a link to a USF&W article on the subject.

Here's another true story to consider - from Montana within the past year. A couple guys from out of state were bear hunting up in the Cabinet Mountains. One of them shot what he thought was a black bear. They waited about fifteen minutes before following it into some cover. Bad idea. It was a wounded grizzly that wasn't very happy. One guy was killed before the other succeeded in shooting the bear dead with multiple rounds. Turns out the dead guy died not from being mauled but from a through and through rifle shot. Live with that if you want to.

John