DanaC's Link
Is that from a different bear and incident? Could you provide more information?
In the Wyoming mountains the most likely cause of Un natural death while hunting is a horse or mule.
1 in 10,000 horse wrecks result in the fatality of a human being. Compare that to 1 in 2.1 million for your odds of being killed by a grizzly.
Better of hunting with a college wrestler
Glad he survived. That would be scary as heck.
Good interview with him on the above TV news site. He was on his back kicking at the bear when he shot himself in the leg.
I've met the guy in BC and he is the real deal with more outdoor experience than most. He was up accompanying and filming/photographing a family member's hunt. Sounds like he is doing really well.
Oh, c’mon, Jay, you know better than that. No one has ever been killed in a horse wreck without getting on a horse, and the % of the population which has never been on horseback is….??
Horseback riders are a small subset of people entering Griz country; I suspect those having wrecks are a small subset of people on horseback and only 1 in 10k will invest in agricultural property as a result.
You can choose where you get on a horse or not; bumping into a bear is not nearly as much within your control unless you just stay home….
And what fun is that???
OTOH, if you bump into a bear while you’re on a horse, I suspect your probability of having a wreck might increase just a touch…. ;)
More info
It could happen!
LOL
Lucky guy, though. And plenty smart to pull the pistol as soon as he saw the den. I have to wonder how often these things go really bad primarily because a big, red flag (or several yellows) went unnoticed or was/were noted, but the human only updated his state to “High Alert” rather than “Ready”. This guy went straight to Ready. Probably saved his butt.
But do you think that was an error where they reported that he was loaded with 130 grain hardcast?? That seems light to me.
I can easily see how this could happen. And again this was told to me by relatives a few days again. The amount of griz sign I saw on both of my 10 trips to WY this October was scary. There were 47 piles of griz poop on 1 trail in 3 miles (as the crow flies). I did not count it but saw it, the same group who told me about the attack counted it.
Interesting, too, that you mentioned a revolver, because I was under the impression that he had been carrying a semi…
It’s more likely that we escalate the risk in our minds because we are more afraid of getting eaten by something than just being killed.
I strongly agree with altitude sickness. My flight home & drive the airport were more risky. However my feelings are starting to change.
That said recent attacks, solo, and seeing a LOT of fresh bear sign did weigh on me. See my unit 4 sheep report I posted today. I did not carry my gun while packing my moose solo during an AK fly in hunt. I am not bragging just saying I have been in situations with griz a lot. The griz around Cody make me nervous, more and more each year. Solo, more and more attacks and helicopters not getting in to rough areas has made me seriously reconsider hunting remote areas with lots of griz alone any more.
Bingo…well put, and oh so true!
@Don - FWIW, I think it’s totally reasonable to be more afraid of grizzlies in Wyoming than elsewhere, especially if “elsewhere“ is a place where grizzlies get shot at on a semi regular basis. The ones in the lower 48 have been conditioned for generations to recognize that humans pose no threat to them whatsoever.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who saw this, but on the weather channel they had a video taken by a family in Glacier where they were walking along the trail and a Griz (or what appeared to be one) was coming the opposite direction. They backed away, but did not use their bear spray because they were worried that they might “agitate” the bear.
I don’t really follow the logic of carrying something to stop an attack if you think that it might actually trigger one, and JMO, it seems like a valuable opportunity wasted to have not made a lasting impression on the bear in question (regardless of species).
I’m just crazy enough to think that if more bears got pepper-sprayed, there would be lower mortality/casualties among humans and bears alike.
Won’t argue that! If I ever buy it in the woods, I just hope I do it in such a way that doesn’t give me a lot of time to contemplate what a dumbass I had been to cause it to end that way…
Having my head in a bears mouth. Not so much.
Now the guide (Lou) on the other hand has to deal with the son and the gentleman’s body. So the hunter got off easy. Lou is the one I don’t envy in that story.
We lost a gentleman from California on the Lhotse Face, and we had him rolled up in his bag for 3 days while his wife made arrangements to retrieve his body and ship it home.
for $3000 they would drag you down and burn your carcass. I went for the free option if I was in that position and low enough in elevation
Just roll me into a crevasse or out of view.
I might not do this alone anymore. True odd are rare - but it is deceptive. Tons of hunters in WY. However - WY has a very low population. Just over a half million people live in WY. When the Cavs won the championship in Cleveland Oh a few years ago it is estimated almost 1.5 million people attend the parade. That is 3x the population of the entire state of WY.
Now single out hunters AND only hunters around the Yellowstone area of WY - where most of the griz are and suddenly the low odds of attack multiple by well over 100 fold from what you would think. Attacks are on the rise. Latest one rescue helicopter could not get to the guy. Where I have hunted is for sure as bad or worse terrain so my PLB is just telling them where to retrieve my body. 3 victims in latest WY attacks likely would have dies if alone.
The local bio told me one guy saw 40 griz in the high country one time.
WY attacks on hunters are happening more and more.
At what point do you decide to avoid this scenario. For me this might be it. I was just alone there for 18 days - but if possible I might not do this every again. I promised my fiancee and kids I would not take risks. Going there again would be breaking my promise.
Please keep in mind how few hunters are in this area of Wyoming. Yes it is unlikely but the odds are not as low as you think.
I might moose hunt this area in the next few years, only because I can get a tag. I will try to get a tag in another area but might not be able to, this is my only chance to hunt Shiras moose.
Unless you have spent a week or more covering a lot of ground and glassing this area it is tough to understand the amount of griz.
To each his own. My kids need me and it would be very selfish of me to take myself out of their lives at this point.
My personal choice is not to hunt the areas in WY with lot's of griz alone anymore if at all possible. I have spent about 6 weeks, alone, in these exact areas in the past decade.
Sorry to ramble but please keep in mind this is just a small corner of WY - really small once you remove YNP. Now factor in how few hunters there are - and hunting alone with zero chance of help from others. Now, as others mentioned, there are good ways to die, and there are "grizzly" ways to die. I think I will try to avoid the grizzly ways to die in the future.
