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Willy

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Philpug

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I did. It has gome viral...ironically more than any of his videos LOL. Amazing that he came out as well as he did.
 

Philpug

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For those trying to put the pieces together. Bob has been mentioned here many times. He was Dan O'Callahan's stunt double in Hot Dog: The Movie.

Here he is photobombing @Tricia and Lynn "Banana Pants" Wieland at the Hot Dog reunion.

fullsizeoutput_6285.jpeg
 

Tricia

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I found a T-shirt I want to send him, along with a package of gummy bears
56098770549__C6B22C83-920D-40D1-A4E4-B530D5E53510.JPG.jpeg

Some pics he posted on Facebook.
44109269_10215216640863539_4208478564602871808_n.jpg

43879618_10215216640783537_4617560996817403904_n.jpg
 

Carolinacub

Yes thats a Cubs hat I'm wearing
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I'm not going to turn this into a gun vs spray answer because that has been done to death here already.
Near the end of the second article that was in the original post he says that from here on out he's going to reposition his spray so he can get at it with both hands.
First of all that is one of the smarter bear spray comments I've heard yet. Here in NC we don't have near the issues with aggressive bears as they do out west and we of course have a different sub-species of bear. When I'm in the woods here I do carry spray and keep it handy but the best defense seems to be making noise as you go. Eastern black bears are somewhat skittish and want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them.
Second of all if I was hunting in Grizzly territory I think I would probably keep the spray in hand until I was in my actual position to take a shot at my prey. Just about every incident I hear about has some element of either surprising the bear or the bear surprising you. It would seem like common sense to try to take "surprise" out of the equation.
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
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We've been walking with the cans in our hands ever since my husband's encounter. The holster turns out to not be quite as stable as you'd like when it's dangling on your belt under the edge of a jacket.

Interestingly, Bob, my husband, and the girl who got nailed earlier this year all managed to spray themselves while they were at it. I don't know if it's something to do with getting the guard off or what. But it shows you that once you are in the middle of an attack (all three were close encounters) all kinds of shit can happen. We don't know to this day if he got sprayed because the bear swatted him or he was looking at the nozzle. Everything just happened way too fast. My husband thinks maybe tasting like pepper was how he was able to get back up again to unload the can at the bear. I think that having four bodies to keep an eye on made her lose focus on him momentarily.

Tuesday was the two year anniversary of the attack. We did not walk the dogs.
 
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Willy

Willy

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From what I understand, Greg got back-blasted because of the wind blowing in his face. Bob got it due to proximity to the bear when Greg blasted the first time. Both were blinded by the spray plus Bob had blood in his eyes so didn't orient the can the right way. It all happened so fast, it's hard to really guess all that contributed to the spray in the face but it took them ten minutes to get to where they could see again. All the while, they were worried about the bear returning but by the time they could see, she and her progeny were gone.

Making noise is the best deterrent for grizzlies but, if you're hunting and trying to sneak on some elk, noise isn't your friend. Add to it that this was in thick brush and snowing hard so visibility was very limited and they just ran into each other. The bears were probably hunting the same group of elk as Bob so were also sneaking. Just unfortunate timing but, in grizzly country like where they were, it's certainly something to account for. He's just damn lucky Greg was right there. This could have ended much worse.
 

Andy Mink

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When I carried OC (Oleoresin capsicum) at work I practiced at unholstering and "feeling" the way the can was oriented. Always returning the can to the same orientation in the holster makes it easier. Stress makes it harder. A bear would make it really hard! Only pulled it once, never used it. And that was because of an idiot, not a bear. Like any other thing in life, practice is your friend.
 

cantunamunch

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. Eastern black bears are somewhat skittish and want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them..

Very true - with a few important exceptions including "there's a forest fire nearby".

Back in '05? - one of the drought years - we were stuck for more than an hour among some rock slabs; mama bear simply couldn't figure out how to get away from us and the smoke both.
 
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Sibhusky

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dbostedo

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Wow... 20 calls, and 10 were bear related. And a couple of the other calls were kind of funny.
 

Andy Mink

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After the initial Facebook post by Bob, there was an onslaught of comments from a large number of vegans. Oddly, probably 80%+ were based in the UK. This article regarding the viral post is about this online attack. Interesting read.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/oct/25/after-montana-grizzly-mauling-hayden-man-attacked-/
I see this every time a hunter is injured or killed by a bear, lion, deer, whatever. I get that many people don't hunt and don't agree with hunting but to wish a HUMAN BEING to die is just sick. You don't see hunters wishing a vegan would choke to death on a chunk of tofu.
 

Sibhusky

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Ironically, the reason my husband refused to speak to the newspapers or allow his name to be released, was because the result of his attack was to close the large hunting "block" where it happened, right before opening day. It was a quiet fall near our house.
 

Tricia

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@Willy I had no idea that he'd been subjected to such hate, though I'm not surprised considering the crazy groups that exist in this world.
:nono:
Bob is really a great guy. Sad he's been attacked in such a way.
 

NZRob

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@Willy I had no idea that he'd been subjected to such hate, though I'm not surprised considering the crazy groups that exist in this world.
:nono:
Bob is really a great guy. Sad he's been attacked in such a way.

It's a tragic sign of our times, the kind of anonymised hateful vitriol that greets everything vaguely controversial. I agree with your :nono: emoji
 

Philpug

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“Karma. Can you post your address so that someone can finish the job and feed the remains to the bears in winter,” posted a Facebook user from France.

“Come on guys, don’t be so mean. This is incredibly tragic,” wrote someone from Canada. “Tragic that Momma Bear didn’t get a chance to finish the job of taking out the trash.”

An American wrote, “Bet you’re not the apex predator you thought you were. Let’s hope the next time the bear finished what it started.”

Those three commenters didn’t respond to an interview request.
Where I think it sucks, is that they would say something in a somewhat anynomous platform, yet when called on it, they won't back up what they said. I am guessing they deleted their posts from Bob's wall too. Early on I was trying to keep up with the replies on his wall but they were coming too fast adn quite frankly I didn't have the time. I did see the occasional post like this and there might have been a few replies to them, they weren't that bad. I am guessing I missed the real vile and ones filled with the hatred as exemplfied here.

I am not a hunter or fisherman myself, we have a Costco that has an aweome meat and fish department and everything is cleaned and dressed already ;) but I have zero problem with anyone who hunts for food that they will eat.
 
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Freeride

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I found a T-shirt I want to send him, along with a package of gummy bears
View attachment 56050
Some pics he posted on Facebook.
44109269_10215216640863539_4208478564602871808_n.jpg

43879618_10215216640783537_4617560996817403904_n.jpg
I
I'm not going to turn this into a gun vs spray answer because that has been done to death here already.
Near the end of the second article that was in the original post he says that from here on out he's going to reposition his spray so he can get at it with both hands.
First of all that is one of the smarter bear spray comments I've heard yet. Here in NC we don't have near the issues with aggressive bears as they do out west and we of course have a different sub-species of bear. When I'm in the woods here I do carry spray and keep it handy but the best defense seems to be making noise as you go. Eastern black bears are somewhat skittish and want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them.
Second of all if I was hunting in Grizzly territory I think I would probably keep the spray in hand until I was in my actual position to take a shot at my prey. Just about every incident I hear about has some element of either surprising the bear or the bear surprising you. It would seem like common sense to try to take "surprise" out of the equation.
After this encounter I'm a firm believer in Bear Spray and I will still pack a pistol as well as my last line of defense. Both Greg and I are pretty versed in using bear spray and it proved well with Greg saving my hide.
Bear spray in the eyes and lungs is a small price to pay compared to getting chewed on by a Grizzly, Black Bear or mountain lion.
 

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