11 year old dragged out of tent by bear...

[Don H]

It's not ifthe gun would have saved this particular boy, but at least the father would have had the option, the chance, if he had confronted the bear he would have had the means to stop the bear from going any farther.

There was no legal barrier to the boy's family having as many guns as they wished at their National Forest campsite (provided that they were not prohibited from possessing firearms as felons, etc.).

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Once you put yourself into the animal's habitat your chances of having a dangerous encounter increase dramatically.

And as simple as that sounds, it is a very profound statement. Herrera's book went into details of various attacks, noting that for every attack, there are hundreds or thousands of non-injurious aggressions by bears to humans, such as charges with no contact, growling, etc., and even more encounters that simply result in humans and bears going about their business with no result.

As a rule, very few people are attacked by bears in areas where bears don't live.

I doubt that they consult the biology texbooks and Bear Psychology Today before attacking. They attack when they attack and that's it.

This is also profound. We don't do a good job of predicting bear attacks, but we often find there to be several factors involved that bear attacks have in common, such as habituation to humans and human food although not all bears habituated to humans and human food will attack people.

 

[mlandman]

For large bear attacks/charges, you are better off with spray than a hand gun, regardless of caliber (the gun or yours )Bear Spray vs. Bullets

 

[FirstFreedom]

If they found indisputable evidence in the stomach of the killed black bear which proves that it was the one who killed the kid, then fine.

But BEFORE they killed that bear, in the initial reports, how did they know it was a black bear which did it, or even that it was a bear?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

How do they know it was a bear?

As opposed to being a mountain lion or wolf? Tracks and/or hair are probably the easiest determiners. The ripping open of a tent and hauling away of the kid is not a common behavior of the other larger carnivores, though big cats often do haul off kills.

How do they know which bear? That is more iffy, but often the bear involved will remain in the immediate area of the kill and attempt to return to the carcass. There is a higher likelihood that the first bear or two at the carcass area is going to be the culprit. Granted, kills can attract other bears and so the system is not perfect.

 

[45Marlin carbine]

Fatal Black bear attack in Smoky Park, Tn.

Around 6-8 years back a female (about 160 lbs,)Black w/cub attacked and killed and fed on a small woman (around 95 lbs) in the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park in Eastern Tn.. She was exploring a trail in a well-used section of the park alone, and had no food of any sort w/her. Her male companion saw the attack take place from some distance away and the woman did not en****er the female bear's cub, the bear simply ran up and attacked the woman as a predator would do. The man ran up to the scene (woman already dead) but could not drive the bear away from the corpse. He had to hike about 2 miles to get help, unfortunately too late. When help arrived the bear and cub both were still feeding on the corpse but were driven away this time by multiple men with limbs and stones- etc. They had no firearms. Rangers later tracked and killed the bear and took the cub to a zoo. Examination of the stomach contents of the bear confirmed this was the one responsible for the attack. In this case a handgun would certainly have provided protection, as would have some sprays. Moral of the story - any adult bear can be an attacker, they are quick and very strong.