Thread: Bear attacks

i have no sympathy for the guy killed by the bear after he shot it. I have no sympathy for the hikers killed by the bears all over this year. Glacier, Yellowstone, Norway. However bears are very dangerous and if you go in their world you better be prepared. Governments are protecting bears and as the population wants to explore the wilderness we will have more of these problems. I was lucking growing up and managed to run and survive from bears on two different occasions. I was born and raised a good part of my life in Northern Idaho. Bear were very common and very dangerous. I have met up with bear while fly fishing and they didn't run I had you yell and scream (of course had a colt python pointed at their head). But now we are encouraging increases in grizz population and territory. Now I have to pack a freaking S&W 460 mag and overrated pepper spray. I would hate to ever have to shoot a bear because it is their wilderness and because you may not be successful such as the guy in Idaho. But if you are stupid enough to go into bear country without a canon then don't complain about the endings. In bear country guides are armed for a reason - bears are very dangerous and unpredictable.

I agree with Eki's old signature which was something like "I support the right to arm bears"

If people want to kill something to eat it, fantastic, but to go hunting bears just for kicks is just dumb and they deserve to get killed tbh.

If you go out to hunt anything they have the right to fight back!

That'll learn him.

Yes I don't condone hunting bears but you also have to balance nature or you will have a bunch of starving bears running around. I don't have the answer except I won't be going over to anyone's house for bear steaks.
Also the Enviros are pushing to repopulate grizz everywhere in the northern states and this is creating some problems. Pepper spray is overrated and useless if it is raining.

Originally Posted by Roamy

Yes I don't condone hunting bears but you also have to balance nature or you will have a bunch of starving bears running around. I don't have the answer except I won't be going over to anyone's house for bear steaks.
Also the Enviros are pushing to repopulate grizz everywhere in the northern states and this is creating some problems. Pepper spray is overrated and useless if it is raining.

Of course, I support culling of animals when they're starving etc etc. You've got to have a balance, but I kind of assumed these morons were just out there to kill bears for fun.

Originally Posted by Daniel

Of course, I support culling of animals when they're starving etc etc. You've got to have a balance, but I kind of assumed these morons were just out there to kill bears for fun.

I read the article in the local newspaper, but the survivors will probably face charges for illegal hunting.

Good

Originally Posted by Daniel

I agree with Eki's old signature which was something like "I support the right to arm bears"

If people want to kill something to eat it, fantastic, but to go hunting bears just for kicks is just dumb and they deserve to get killed tbh.

True. There once was news about a hunter who went and poked a nest of a bear who was hibernating. The bear woke up and mauled him. I had zero sympathy for the hunter.

My family sometimes camps/hikes in bear country and have encountered black bears on more than one occasion. Most recently this past August one wandered through our campsite, directly behind our tent trailer, three nights in a row. By the third night the campers made enough of a fuss, shooing it back into the woods, so that it did not return. Never did anyone ever feel like our lives were in jeopardy.
Possession of a "cannon" is not permitted in my country, and our parks wardens stress the importance of wildlife awareness and education ("Bear-Aware" is what we call it) instead of cannon marksmanship .

Yes, bears are dangerous, but a bear attack is less likely than getting hit by a car crossing the street .
We also live in cougar country which gives me the willies far more than bears. Also encountered a badger earlier this summer (camping) and felt the heebeejeebees. Awareness of all wild animals is essential, not just bears.

Pepper spray has been proven to be a deterrent to bears, but it takes a steady hand to aim the spray in the face of a charging 500kg animal. If you're in pepper spray range, you're likely hooped anyways

Originally Posted by schmenke

My family sometimes camps/hikes in bear country and have encountered black bears on more than one occasion. Most recently this past August one wandered through our campsite, directly behind our tent trailer, three nights in a row. By the third night the campers made enough of a fuss, shooing it back into the woods, so that it did not return. Never did anyone ever feel like our lives were in jeopardy.
Possession of a "cannon" is not permitted in my country, and our parks wardens stress the importance of wildlife awareness and education ("Bear-Aware" is what we call it) instead of cannon marksmanship .

Yes, bears are dangerous, but a bear attack is less likely than getting hit by a car crossing the street .
We also live in cougar country which gives me the willies far more than bears. Also encountered a badger earlier this summer (camping) and felt the heebeejeebees. Awareness of all wild animals is essential, not just bears.

Pepper spray has been proven to be a deterrent to bears, but it takes a steady hand to aim the spray in the face of a charging 500kg animal. If you're in pepper spray range, you're likely hooped anyways

With fairness to persons who carry a firearm for defense in bear country, all instances I am aware of where it was used the bear usually died within spitting distance.
If one uses a firearm for defense and the bear is dozens of yards away, the supposed victim will have a hard time telling the authorities if it was a danger why it was killed so far away.

The people in this thread were all either breaking the law, or just plain stupid.

Black bears rarely attack, although people in the know say if a black bear goes after you, it is not like a grizzly where it is a quick charge and it is over, whether the charge ends in death or the bear decides it got its message across, black bears are persistent persuers rather than chargers which gives one more time to discourage the bear before it becomes a matter of life or death.

Black bears with cubs though can react like any mother.

I was in Yellowstone once as a youth, and being so excited I ran on the wooden walk ways to see as much as possible as quickly as possible.
I ran around one blind corner and came within apprx. six yards of a deer. We both stood for a second or two and stared at each other and ran opposite directions. Had that been a bear rather than a dear, thing might have been a bit hairier.

Yep, black bears are by nature timid and cautious animals. 99.9% of the time they will back off and run in the opposite direction when encountering a person. Unless, like you say, it is a mother defending her cubs.
I have never encountered a grizzly and hope I never will .

The best deterrent to an encounter is to avoid one in the first place. We've always been taught to make lots of noise and stay together as a group. A bear is not likely to investigate the source of loud noise.
Also, a bear rarely attacks to secure a meal. They are opportunistic scavengers who like to look for an easy meal. The one that wandered through our campsite earlier this summer was rummaging for garbage. Our neighbour campers left their garbage out in the open and it tore through that before rummaging through another camper's cooler .

In Canada you are more likely to be attacked by a moose than a bear .

you need a canon for a moose also. Also most of you are missing the point - if you hike into bear country then the odds are quite good you may encounter one. so you are 99 to 1 of the 100 people that went up the river. So don't be spouting these bullish!t odds based on the population of new york and los angeles etc.

4 Years ago we were in BC visiting my cousin ,who lives in Powell River,we then went south to Vancouver ,then north to Whistler.On the road north from Whistler,we were running parallel to the rail line that the Rocky Mountain train uses,when lo and behold a bear,is coming down the roadway towards us on all fours.We stopped and followed him through a camping site that was closed,also there was a cafe.The bear had obviously found some food in paper,so he was tearing off the paper and eating,.We watched from a distance and took photo,s of the Black Bear,when a guy who we think was the owner of the cafe came out,He asked what we were watching,we told him the bear.He said I must ring the authorities,and they will capture him and release him far away from here OR if they recocnize him they will shoot him,as if he is constantly coming down here for food it is dangerous as people think he will be tame and will approach him top feed him.We could see his point too !

Bears rule!

Seriously, no sympathy for any idiot who doesn't respect nature.

Originally Posted by driveace

4 Years ago we were in BC visiting my cousin ,who lives in Powell River,we then went south to Vancouver ,then north to Whistler.On the road north from Whistler,we were running parallel to the rail line that the Rocky Mountain train uses,when lo and behold a bear,is coming down the roadway towards us on all fours.We stopped and followed him through a camping site that was closed,also there was a cafe.The bear had obviously found some food in paper,so he was tearing off the paper and eating,.We watched from a distance and took photo,s of the Black Bear,when a guy who we think was the owner of the cafe came out,He asked what we were watching,we told him the bear.He said I must ring the authorities,and they will capture him and release him far away from here OR if they recocnize him they will shoot him,as if he is constantly coming down here for food it is dangerous as people think he will be tame and will approach him top feed him.We could see his point too !

Yeah, kill the bloody animal because he dares not to leave the habitat we invaded!
Also shoot them because some idiot might think it's safe to approach bears!
I would rather have all idiots in this world refused the right to reproduce for a century. Nature used to take care of them in it's own way, then 'intelligent' creatures came around, and we all know what followed.

Originally Posted by henners88

I remember as a 12 year old I went to Yellowstone with my parents whilst visiting relatives in Sheridan Wyoming and we encountered a bear but from the comfort of the Jeep we had hired luckily. It slowly walked across the road in front of us, had a look, and carried on. I think it was a grizzly bear as it was light in colour and there were signs warning you of such animals. Certainly glad we didn't bump into one whilst taking photgraphs thats for sure. Most of the area was still burnt from a fire a few years earlier and the greenery was slowly coming back, so I would imagine alot of their chosen habitat was destroyed and they wondered alot more.

I had an interesting encouter like yourself back in July whilst camping in Gloucestershire. Decided to get up early and wonder through the woods to take photographs of a lake on the otherside and stumbled across a deer. I stopped tried to get my camera to take an amazing picture of the deer with sunlight bursting through the trees onto its back and it crapped itself and charged briefly before nervously running away through the woods lol. Scared me to death nearly, but very funny in hindsight. If it had been a bear in rural Gloucestershire I'd have been mighty worried.

Never go into the woods alone, and even when you go with other people keep talking and making an acceptable level of noise, the chances to run into any wild animal will be close to none.
I grew up in an area with plenty of bear, wolves, foxes, deers etc, spent lots of time in the woods and mountains and I am yet to see a living bear or wolf close up. The closest ever was over 500 meters on the other side of a valley.

Originally Posted by ioan

Never go into the woods alone, and even when you go with other people keep talking and making an acceptable level of noise, the chances to run into any wild animal will be close to none.
I grew up in an area with plenty of bear, wolves, foxes, deers etc, spent lots of time in the woods and mountains and I am yet to see a living bear or wolf close up. The closest ever was over 500 meters on the other side of a valley.

To be fair Ioan, going into the woods into the UK is probably safer than taking a walk through suburbia. The worst you're really going to run into here most of the time is a badger or a fox.

Originally Posted by Daniel

To be fair Ioan, going into the woods into the UK is probably safer than taking a walk through suburbia. The worst you're really going to run into here most of the time is a badger or a fox.

I'd rather run into a badger or a fox than a mosquito.

Originally Posted by Eki

I'd rather run into a badger or a fox than a mosquito.

True