About 30yrs ago I met Larry Kelly @ a handgun hunt in AL. It was a 3day hunt and during the course of time I asked him about the story of a bear trying to break into a cabin in which his guide and he were riding out a storm. Anyway he said the guide(using a 375 rifle) and he using a 44mag fired numerous shots into the determined bear. This was about the time bear spray was getting more commonly used. I asked if he thought spray would have made a difference. His reply was " I wished we had it and I think it would have been a better result, but I don't know." Max, you make my point for me when you say you don't want to be in the tent with bear spray. Guess what? Neither does the bear.
That was also the incident that made Larry realize that 240 grain JHPs weren?t getting it done and switched his focus on heavier bullets for the .44 that would penetrate. Had his revolver been stoked with more effective loads, that bear would have died in the cabin.
Trust me when I say that you don?t want to be in a confined space the size of a closet and touch that off.
