houndy65's Link
Jason, I agree. The volume of stupid comments from all aspects and angles was really sad.
Prayers to the family.
Sounds like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and did not have bear spray or a weapon.
This is one of the reasons I carry my pistol while riding my mountain bike. Also while running, be it trails or roads. We don't have grizzlies, but a large population of black bears.
Prayers to the family and his partner. Very unfortunate incident!
I cannot believe humans would place the life of a bear over the lives of humans. cannot fathom it. Wow.
My heart hurts for the family, friends and co-workers, my heart hurts the community.
oz
or
when its windy...
Something to think about
at the risk of public whipping, I will also cast doubt on the studies on the subject of firearms vs. sprays. Lets just say that the study owners usually have a certain outcome to be substantiated with what ever information they publish.
These instances happen so very quickly. In both instances I only had mere seconds to react. Whatever you end up carrying to protect yourself, make sure you are comfortable using it and can access it very very quickly.
easeup, while that's too often the truth, there were two studies run at the same time independently that came to this conclusion. One was from the University of Wyoming. I can't remember where the other originated from, but I think it was from the U of MT, but it may have been from WA.
I looked at both studies closely since I hunt in Grizz country every year. I focused more so on the U of WY study. The U of WY is not known for being a bastion of liberal thinking. The study appeared properly done and the data were pretty straight forward.
I carry bear spray and a .45
MQQSE: thanks for making my point about being able to hit a bear sized target when in a defensive mode.
It appears that in this case, it would not have made any difference what the guy was carrying. The preliminary report says that the biker can into the bear, the reacted by attacking him, killed him very quickly, and then ran off. The bear did not consume any part of him nor linger in the area. With that information, it was concluded the bear was only defending itself from something, doing what a bear would do naturally, and will not be hunted down. You may find this weird, but I have to agree with that finding. I worked in Yellowstone for two summers. In fact I worked with the guy who was killed last year neat the lake. We both had the same philosophy.....if a bear gets us, give the bear a free ride as we are in their territory, not him in ours. I know that Lance is turning over in his grave that the bear that killed him was euthanized. And yes, I am an ardent hunter.
That said, I plan on carrying both if I'm blessed to ever hunt where the Grizzly lives. I like to be prepared. God Bless
They may well be delisted, but if the states come up with a hunting season, it will only be for the money. Coyote opportunity. Quite a few thousand in the coffers.
The first guy who kills one in a legal hunt will instantly replace Martin Shkrelil as the most hated man on earth. The term "trophy hunter" will be used as justification that hunters only want to kill, ego driven, nothing else.
Better come up with a good grizz recipe.
fawn - if you are ever attacked by a bear, I would imagine having a weapon to defend yourself would be a very desirable thing during the attack.
If you choose to be defenseless in the world that's your choice, but me? I want a gun. Evens things a bit on a grizzly that's many times bigger and powerful than I am.
As far as having a hunting season, it'll take a while, but it will educate the bears. The bears up here in AK are a different breed/culture of bears and typically run from humans because they've been taught by their mothers to flee because they're shot at. Lower 48 bears don't have the same fear because for generations, they've been protected.
One need look no further than the study that showed the collared bears and GPS marked hunters being followed by grizz and chased off of elk kills after the rifle sound. Rifle shots are not dinner bells in Canada and AK where they're not protected.
Those aggressive bears will be the first to go once we have a season.
