Does playing dead really stop a bear from attacking?

I think you only get one attempt to experiment with the concept.

“If a grizzly or polar bear makes a non-predatory attack: Play dead. If the bear (other than a black bear) is attacking you in self-defense, you can put it at ease (and possibly save yourself) by playing dead by lying completely flat on the ground. Do so only after the bear makes contact with you or tries to do so.”

“If any bear makes a predatory attack or you receive any attack from a black bear: Fight back. Fight a black bear attack or any predatory attack. If the bear is a black bear, or if you have determined that the bear sees you as food (this is actually quite rare, and more common with black bears and, some say, polar bears than with grizzlies), your only chance of escape is to fight it or scare it away.”

Source

@noelleptc In general, bears do not consider humans to be prey. If you read the article I linked to, it recommends making yourself seem larger in earlier stages of bear encounters.

Most bears are actually scared of people more than people are scared of bears. The sometimes attack because of this fear to protect their cubs or themselves. They also get violent when defended their kills. I heard that sometimes the play dead plan works but I also heard stories where playing dead did not stop the bear and that the bear kept ferociously attacking the victem until the literally tore his/her face off. Wild animals are very unpredictable and there is no 100% effective plan when dealing with them.

I am not going to play dead.I have just seen black bear where I am from.They can run very fast too,so outrunning them is not an option either unless you’re wearing rocket-shoes. ;)
There was a man in my state that was killed and eaten by a mother bear and her cubs in CA while camping,They killed the mother bear and put the cubs on display in a zoo.
Not good.

How could you “play dead” with a grizzly bear ripping your skin off? I’d have to at LEAST wimper a little.
I agree, Lucy . It doesn’t sound good to me either.

With a grizzly you sometimes have a choice between dying and being grossly disfigured. When you play dead you lay face down on the ground and place you hands across the back of your neck to protect your neck. Most often the grizzly doesn’t want to kill you it just wants to hurt you.

THE BEST PLAN IS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. Educate yourself on bear signs. Contact your local forestry region and ask if there have been any bear sightings in the area your planning on heading to. If you see a bunch of bear signs turn around and go back the way you’ve come. Respect their space and they’ll respect you.

Also remember that you can have a bear sighting and they just look at you and keep moseying in the direction they are going. This is what happens in the vast majority of bear sightings.

The closest I’ve ever been to a grizzly is having one nose around my freaking tent. The only thing that separated me from it was a nylon tent. It sniffed and sniffed and sniffed all around my tent and then kept going. It was looking for food. I’m a smart camper though and all my food was well up a tree and not in my tent. I was told the next morning that the grizzly was an adolescent one and they can often be the most unpredictable.

I’ve been a healthy distance away from black bears and mama black bears with their cubs. I’ve never been rushed but I’ve been smart about giving the bears lots and lots of space.

I would certainly not have the presence of mind or the balls to play dead. No, i’d just compliment the creature on it’s wonderful bone structure. Charm the bugger into submission. Kind of like how donkey wooed the dragon in Shrek XD

A friend of mine was jogging while camping, and mistakenly got between a bear and her cub. She mauled him pretty good. He survived by curling up in a ball. I don’t argue with experience like that.

black Bear are the reason I carry a handgun when alone in the woods on our property in the Southern Tier of Western NY. The neighbors usually know if there are bear roaming around on the property and warn each each other.
If I ever encounter one unexpectedly, the first shot will be loud and should scare it away. If it keeps advancing, it will not hear shots #2, 3, 4….

@worriedguy, the bear will be plenty pissed after shots #2, 3, and 4 bounce off its skull. Even if you shoot it in the knees, the bone is too strong.

@worriedguy filmfann is right. Some hanguns are simply not powerful enough to stop a charging bear. You will most likely piss it off to the point wear it will tear you pieces

I recently (and accidentally) got between a black bear sow and her cub. She came tearing down the mountain and popped out on the trail about 10 yards behind me (her cub was downhill, below the trail). I turned around and looked at her, she stopped and looked at me, and then we both turned away and took off! (I wouldn’t have run if she hadn’t run first.) Had she attacked, there’s no way I would’ve been able to play dead – way too much adrenaline. Thankfully, she was terrified of me, and so I didn’t have to decide how to deal with her.

Yes, it’s very difficult for a bear playing dead to attack.

Play dead, my ass. I adhere to the run-like-a-bitch school of thought.

I’ve heard that it’s helpful to tie bells to your shoes when hiking in bear country; as mentioned elsewhere, bears don’t much like meeting people, and so stay out of your way.
Failing that…

I wonder if you could climb trees wearing golf spikes?? I know bears can climb but how far? lol
If they don’t climb all that far we should maybe only hike wearing golf shoes. Think of all the lives that could be saved with hikers in Montana and Wyoming wearing golf shoes and car drivers/passengers wearing motorcycle helmets. which I think would be very wise.

I’ve watch a black bear climb a very tall tree in 5 seconds or maybe less but I’ve never seen a grizzly do the same.

If hiking talk very loudly (the bells just aren’t loud enough). Sing loudly too. The bears really don’t want to have any thing to do with you. If you let them know you are there they will leave and you probably won’t even know they were there.