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Bear Mauling and other Bear Stories

DanoT

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Normally these attacks are in the fall

Bears can be very hungry when coming out of their dens in spring and the shed horns that the teenager was looking for might also be a food source for the bear. The article didn't say if he found any horns...looks like the bear didn't want to let him find any though.
 

Sibhusky

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We're considerably north of there, so I think they got more snow. Our winter was short but intense. Significantly less snow, but super cold for more than twice as many weeks as usual. I'm guessing a lot of people just hadn't heard the bears were on the move.
 

noncrazycanuck

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Skied Nakiska with my 2 young granddaughters late February.

Later Calgary news reported a group of skiers had woken a grizzly by skiing over it's den in general area.
The story was it popped out of the snow about a meter behind one of them, then took off in opposite direction.

According to Parks Canada spokesperson male grizzlies sleep lighter than black bears and this is not uncommon.
They hoped it could go back to hibernation if it could find a new den. There is not much to eat in the Rockies in winter.

I'd never heard of that before, encountering a grizzly mid winter while skiing isn't something i would ever expect.

And not planning on packing my bear spray based on the odds.
 

SShore

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We had a VERY cold February and a lot of snow in February and March, but spring came very fast in April. The drainage where he was attached was in the same area where they guy was attacked twice in the same day by the same bear. The Madison's east of 287 and the Gravelly's west of 287 between Ennis and West Yellowstone are crawling with Grizz. It is simply not safe to be in those mountains by yourself.
 

Sibhusky

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Yellowstone is having more than its share of griz activity this year.

 

scott43

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I was grinding up the hill down the road here and saw a bunch of bear scat on the shoulder. Which always leads me to the can I outrun the bear on my bike narrative in my head...
 

François Pugh

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My friend had some visitors the other day and posted this on facebook. She was in a good mood, so she didn't maul any bears.

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geepers

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Tim Hodgson

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I hate bears.
In fact, I don't like anything that can eat me or others at will.
Generally, animals respect other animals' territory. But the over-population of bears in my area has resulted in some bears, not all, but some bears terribly disrespecting my territory, even though they know not to.
So, I stole this from the x-h2o jet ski forum because it dissipated any thought that I had that I could out-climb a bear, which validated my decision to start carrying a .44 S&W Magnum in a hip flap holster while in the woods:

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DanoT

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I hate bears.
In fact, I don't like anything that can eat me or others at will.
Generally, animals respect other animals' territory. But the over-population of bears in my area has resulted in some bears, not all, but some bears terribly disrespecting my territory, even though they know not to.
So, I stole this from the x-h2o jet ski forum because it dissipated any thought that I had that I could out-climb a bear, which validated my decision to start carrying a .44 S&W Magnum in a hip flap holster while in the woods:

View attachment 107832
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Yeah, even grizzlies can climb trees.

Every bear expert will tell you that the best defense against an attacking bear is not a firearm but bear spray. With bear spray you don't actually have to hit the target. ;)
 

Tim Hodgson

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Each to his or her own. I am more familiar with and comfortable handling firearms than pepper spray. I walked out on the deck one night to get firewood and interrupted two honeymooners making cubs. They both stood up and faced me. A shot under the chin may likely have been sufficient. But my guess is that was an entirely defensive movement which would not be made by a hunting or charging bear. I was so startled, I ran back into the cabin, and watched them walk back up the hill into the woods looking back a few times with their tapeta lu´cidum reflecting. I am happy that the 500 lb. bear that pushed through the window and walked over our bed to get into our cabin multiple times was caught and euthanized, and I am very happy that we weren't there when he did it. Many other bears cross our property and our deck and never cause problems, although again I wouldn't want to startle one. But once they get a taste of chocolate ice cream from a freezer, they embark upon a lifetime of burglary.

The Country Trapper who was chased on horseback by the 500 lb. bear here, was not saved by firearms or pepper spray. Rather, by a fast horse. Post #13:


This fits here. It was a private message to me on another forum by a law enforcement firearms instructor. I have trimmed his photo but have not changed his message:

"I am dealing with a black bear now with my trash cans. I have a lot of experience with them. I like my 357sig or 10mm when doing bear patrol because I have lots of quick follow up shots. I will use one of my 300blk tactical rifles if it escalates. If it gets ugly when they pop their jaws or bluff charges, I will take them out.
I do hunt bear with a handgun with mainly 44mag. I hunted them for a few decades with one bear charging me with my 308 bolt and shooting him at full charge at 10 feet. He actually pushed me over as he rolled up thrashing on the ground. He covered 40 yards directly at me in 3 seconds. Like a black missile coming straight at me. It was as close as it gets and certainly a experience that I would never wish on anyone. A cool head and tactical instinct shooting at the hip is what got the job done with my bolt rifle but it would have been tragic with a young kid on a 30-30. I had a full body mount done and the story made the news. Turns out the bear was tagged twice as a nuisance and aggressive bear and was trapped and relocated 45 miles away. He was returning home when I had my run in on top of a mountain while bear hunting.

I tell you this because a charging bear even with a powerful 308 rifle was extremely dangerous and I would much rather have a AR in a 30 cal as it felt more like a gun battle than hunting. I have taken a bear with my S&W 629 6” with my 240xtp handloads. They are not hard to kill with the right angle and providing they are not charging you at 45mph. . .

My charging Black Bear full body mount."

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This forum has viewers all over the world. Our environment, circumstances and the risks which we each face are all different. After evaluating the particular risks which we face, we have the freedom to accept or to outsource the responsibility for our protection and, should we accept it, how to do it.
 
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mikes781

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You know, everyone thinks they will see the bear before it's there. I'm telling you you may not. You're going to want something that doesn't require aiming and won't kill your companions, but will get the bear to leave. That is bear spray.

A few years ago we were camping with three other families. All 11 adults and kids were at our site while we were getting ready to cook breakfast. I came out of my tent and asked whether they all really didn’t see the black bear that was about 20 yards from our picnic table eyeing up the cooler that was just brought out. That got everyone’s attention quickly. He was a smaller younger bear that decided to move on once we were alert to his presence.

His MUCH larger dad came into our site later that afternoon while me and the two other dads were sitting around the fire. All I heard was a stick crack and my buddy’s eyes get wide before I turned around to see him waltzing in.
 
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Thread Starter
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Tricia

Tricia

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You know, everyone thinks they will see the bear before it's there. I'm telling you you may not. You're going to want something that doesn't require aiming and won't kill your companions, but will get the bear to leave. That is bear spray.
I agree.
Even when @Freeride and his hunting buddy had their guns with them during a bear attack, they used bear spray.
You just don't know when a bear is going to come out of nowhere.
For those of you who are not familair with this incident, you can read about it here.
#27
 

Tim Hodgson

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Thank you Tricia, Sibhusky, Dano T, et al. I just tried to order this on Amazon but it won't ship to California.

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So, I need to find out what obstacles California is putting in front of me to protect myself.

That video was frightening. Thank God that the only Grizzley bear we have in California is on our State Flag. Let's keep it that way.
 

KingGrump

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Thank you Tricia, Sibhusky, Dano T, et al. I just tried to order this on Amazon but it won't ship to California.

View attachment 107878

So, I need to find out what obstacles California is putting in front of me to protect myself.

That video was frightening. Thank God that the only Grizzley bear we have in California is on our State Flag. Let's keep it that way.

We have had recurring sighting of bears on our deck in VT.
We have the same issue with regard to shipping to NYS addresses.
Here is an article on the NYS ban rationale.

We shipped it directly to our VT address. No issues.
 

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