Between the mtb trails Fernie, my house on the hill and being in town I bet I run into 4 or 5 bears a year. I usually carry spray riding and hiking because it might be a little dangerous to rip trails with a shotgun on my back/tied to my bike. You also don't REALLY need it; it's rare that they are aggressive.
I love bear stories though.
I almost ran a black bear over last year on my bike, and the two of us were equally scared ####less. It went up a tree, and I Lance Armstronged TF outta there. Had it BEEN aggressive I'm sure I had time to pull my spray. Doubtful I would have had time to load a gun, aim and fire whilst pooping myself in a panic though.
Sprayed one in revy that was a little too curious during an enduro race. It wasn't being aggressive but it was interested in what I was and was coming towards me, so it got maced. Hopefully it learned something. Race went on, no one cared.
Walked out of a house party at 2AM and a bear was in the tree above the garage entrance. It just looked at people as they came and went, it didn't care what we were doing.
A girl I know stopped a charging sow/cub grizzly with spray. It took 3 charges and the entire can, but it eventually left. That's best case IMO, bear doesn't die and it learns humans have defense mechanisms.
Saw a black bear Friday sleeping in a tree with a cub. It DGAF about anything in particular. It saw humans, wandered around a bit, and left. We tried to scare it with loud music and when that didn't work the kids tried "goat screams" which didn't work either. Eventually it just wandered off.
They're not teddy bears, but they're not some frothing at the mouth apex killer on the hunt for small children and hikers. Give them space, don't habitualize them and they typically won't bother anyone.
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Sliver, your bear cull would destroy the wildlife diversity all the way down the food chain. A direct example of this could be the removal of predators from Yellowstone national park- they had to reintroduce wolves eventually because the biodiversity was almost completely destroyed, and the recovery was rapid. Apex predators are necessary so that other stages of the chain don't dominate/ choke out the naturally replenished resources and eradicate themselves. https://education.nationalgeographic...s-yellowstone/
One of the jokes after the wolf attack was that none of the Americans (and they were all Americans except us) was able to bring their gun over the border. I'm not going to make a definitive statement one way or the other, but when there's an animal darting in and out of the trees all around you unexpectedly and you're next to a tent containing your children, I promise you don't want anybody to have a gun. A grizzly slowly following you down a path? Ya you're probably going to want a gun. All situations are different. Feels like the likelihood of a tragic accident happening are more likely that this.
The guy who had the wolf come into his tent was literally wearing a knife around his neck. It went flying when the wolf got in there and things went the hell. All situations are different, but I'm going to say you could have bear spray, a gun, or a nuke in your tent... if a grizzly bear gets in there intent on eating you, you're gonna meet Jesus.
Last edited by Russic; 10-03-2023 at 11:26 AM.
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They're not teddy bears, but they're not some frothing at the mouth apex killer on the hunt for small children and hikers. Give them space, don't habitualize them and they typically won't bother anyone.
This. 99% of the time they just want to eat their roots and berries in peace and want nothing to do with people.
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Listen Rustic, you beat up a wolf, but I'd be able to get my strap open, Glock out, clip in, put my shades down, get on one knee, and zero in on that mother tucker in 1.2 seconds, CENTRE MASS
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Listen Rustic, you beat up a wolf, but I'd be able to get my strap open, Glock out, clip in, put my shades down, get on one knee, and zero in on that mother tucker in 1.2 seconds, CENTRE MASS
One of my favourite interactions was with the security guard at Saskatchewan River Crossing who told me he would've "just reached down the wolf's throat". He didn't really elaborate on what step 2 of his plan was. I just stood there literally vibrating with excess adrenaline, unable to form a proper sentence. If ever you find yourself coming up with a "let me tell ya how I would have handled this situation" line, you're probably about to say something inaccurate.
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Wouldn't it be ironic if Sliver setting off bear bangs made them unafraid of the sound and he was subsequently mauled.
There have been incidences of grizzlies treating a rifle shot as a dinner bell. They know it usually means somebody has shot a big game animal. One of the most dangerous times for a hunter is once the animal is down and needs to be field dressed.
Listen Rustic, you beat up a wolf, but I'd be able to get my strap open, Glock out, clip in, put my shades down, get on one knee, and zero in on that mother tucker in 1.2 seconds, CENTRE MASS
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It's not like it would become Murica in Banff overnight..
That's what I mean by Parks being a bit too stringent with these very limiting rules in a specific area of land that in many places has no marked boundaries. They're run like their own states within a country.
I swear the parks and people running them value animal lives well above human lives and their rules reflect that. In the ultra remote red deer valley that's a known grizzly corridor you should absolutely be allowed bear bangers for protection. We could be talking about the difference between one or more of these people surviving or not if they were allowed and encouraged the extra protective measures.
Are bear bangers not allowed in national parks? I had assumed they were.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chedder
If details of what exactly happened ever come out to the public it will be interesting to know if bear spray was deployed. Or if they were in or out of their tent and how the dog might have been involved.
Tragic, but at least there could be some knowledge gained.
Will be interesting to see what details emerge, if released. The fact the bear was able to kill two people and a dog and the people we able to get out an SOS alert in some form makes me assume the event was not a short one. That must have been absolutely terrifying.
See? You first said I was dreaming that a handgun could kill a bear and then edited your post to say “oh well possibly but not likely!”
The main point was to dispel this idea that bears can only be killed with a high calibre rifle from way down the road and they are these otherwise invincible beasts. People encounter them from all sorts of ranges with all sorts of firearms and successfully put them down.
If a bear is charging you and it’s 10 feet away, you’re probably hooped anyway, right? Which would you rather have as your last line of defence? Pepper spray that can get ####ed up by the wind? Or a shotgun? I know what I would choose, even knowing how bad I am with a shotgun.
My main point is that a human is more likely to die than bears if guns are in parks. Especially handguns. Because they will either be shot, or have a false sense of security.
As for "if a bear is charging me", the studies show that bear spray is slightly better.
That's a misrepresentation of my edit, though.
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One of my favourite interactions was with the security guard at Saskatchewan River Crossing who told me he would've "just reached down the wolf's throat". He didn't really elaborate on what step 2 of his plan was. I just stood there literally vibrating with excess adrenaline, unable to form a proper sentence. If ever you find yourself coming up with a "let me tell ya how I would have handled this situation" line, you're probably about to say something inaccurate.
I would've just reached down the wolf's throat....
....and got my arm chopped off.
One of the jokes after the wolf attack was that none of the Americans (and they were all Americans except us) was able to bring their gun over the border. I'm not going to make a definitive statement one way or the other, but when there's an animal darting in and out of the trees all around you unexpectedly and you're next to a tent containing your children, I promise you don't want anybody to have a gun. A grizzly slowly following you down a path? Ya you're probably going to want a gun. All situations are different. Feels like the likelihood of a tragic accident happening are more likely that this.
The guy who had the wolf come into his tent was literally wearing a knife around his neck. It went flying when the wolf got in there and things went the hell. All situations are different, but I'm going to say you could have bear spray, a gun, or a nuke in your tent... if a grizzly bear gets in there intent on eating you, you're gonna meet Jesus.
Post of the thread.
#micdropped
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Not everything Sliver has said is nonsense and at least he is prepared to actually tell you what they think, which I respect.
For instance his point about nobody caring that two people are now dead is spot on but lots of talk and concern for bears. So his point about that being super ####ing weird couldn’t be more accurate.
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People should be reading the literature available before commenting on guns vs bear spray. Alberta has the worlds leading expert on this stuff. Read what he has to say and then draw conclusions. Don’t rely on anecdote. We don’t rely on the UCPs assessment on the CPP we look to an economist. So for bear attacks we should look to bear researchers.
Not everything Sliver has said is nonsense and at least he is prepared to actually tell you what they think, which I respect.
For instance his point about nobody caring that two people are now dead is spot on but lots of talk and concern for bears. So his point about that being super ####ing weird couldn’t be more accurate.
Was there really that much more concern over the bear being euthanized than the dead couple? You guys are also acting like the bear ate these people and their dog (nothing backs that up) and nobody cares.
Anyway, the conversation has evolved past that, I believe , unless you think using a non-lethal deterrent like bear spray is “pro-bear” despite all evidence pointing to it being the most effective at preventing or stopping a bear from attacking you at close quarters, or that dismissal of the the idea of culling all of the bears in the wild is some pro-bear, anti-human stance.
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