Bear attacks rare, BUT when they DO!

% of attacks are RARE. However if you are one of those attacked your odds are 100% and the other stats not much comfort methinks.
 
Gosh, this is easy to Monday morning QB! Once you know you should prepare for an attack.

But could be a hard one for him to foresee!!!

The report says he heard the bears claws on the pavement - Was it the paved road or driveway in a rural setting or a sidewalk in the city limits?

Were there any sightings, signs or reports of bears in the area?

Were there any indications or info that he could have reasonably foreseen a bear attack coming?

Or anything that should have prompted him to prepare for this unexpected "rare" situation?
 
Shotgun with slugs or a 308 semi auto rifle.

If I KNOW I'm going to be around bears,I'm not going to depend on any handgun.

Handgun would be a Glock 10 mm just in case though.

Or a 44 mag.

Yea,twenty pounds of armament for a nature walk,go figure.

Dog comes along as a early warning friend and a distraction to the bear as I draw on him.

On second thought ,maybe I'll just go to the ballgame.
 
% of attacks are RARE. However if you are one of those attacked your odds are 100% and the other stats not much comfort methinks.
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Well if something really bad happens to you, you probably don't care about the statistics, you are right. Statistics are not comforting, but for those of us who are not attacked, it should help us to keep things in proper perspective such that we don't take rare and unique news reports and blow them out of importance proportion.

Put another way, based on IHEA data, you are more likely to be shot by another hunter than attacked by a bear and certainly much more likely to be killed by another hunter than killed by a bear.

How rare are they? You are many times more likely to be killed by a hunter (bow, rifle, pistol, or shotgun) than by a bear. You are more likely to be shot by another hunter and survive than be attacked and survive a bear attack.

However, unless you are shot by another hunter in some really unusual circustances, such as having the VP shoot you or you are an avid hiker on a marked hiking trail in a baby blue slicker and shot by an unsupervised 14 year old bear hunter, the incident isn't likely to make national news or capture the the attention of the world.

Yet we have countless threads on defense against bears and the dangers of being attacked by bears when the threat is so much more hype than reality. I guess being concerned about bears is just so much more sexy than being concerned about more common and mundane dangers.
 
Near miss bear encounter

This afternoon, (10/13/10) an elementary school in eastern King County was locked down after a black bear sighting was reported about 1600. Didn't hear what the outcome was after County Sheriff's were dispatched, but you can get an idea what the parents thought about it after the above attack. :mad:
 
The bear attack may be as rare as a Supernova but it is definitely more scary than dealing with a stray bullet from another hunter. That's why we talk about it. After you get mauled in or out of your sleeping bag and if you survive you will remember the stench of that attacking bear's breath if you still have a nose left on your face or a face left.
Then the infection begins.....
 
The issue is that of ferocity and ability to defend against such a powerful animal. Secondly, I am more than a little sick of the liberal media down playing the dangers of bears. It is their nature to be predatory, ALL bears. This whole good bear, bad bear nonsense is sickening especially from people who have been recently chewed upon by bears. They are simply opportunists. If you are alone or have small children with you, you are much more likely to be attacked than if you are in a larger group.

Bears will eat just about anything and they are ALWAYS hungry. The portrayal of peaceful and gentle bears is the issue that gets me going. I preached at a local maximum security prison for several years. Did you know that you have a much greater chance of being killed by a bear or a cougar in California than a prison guard has of being killed in all of the California state prisons where we have a similar number of inmates in California compared to black bears in America. That is about 250,000, yet only one prison guard in 30 years has been killed in California. By this logic I can conclude that California prisons are safe and the prisoners are gentle and peaceful!! Give me a break!!

That is the same exact logic to conclude that black bears are gentle and peaceful. I remember that is what Timothy Treadwell said about his bears until they ate him.
 
Ok, another attack in Washington State, only not a bear. I hiker was killed by a mountain goat! Impaled his upper leg, and he bled to death. The goat was very aggressive and would not back down. All the more reason to carry when in the wild, or the city for that matter.
 
The .454 Alaskan worked well for this guy

454_Alaskan_001.jpg


Ok, another attack in Washington State, only not a bear. I hiker was killed by a mountain goat! Impaled his upper leg, and he bled to death. The goat was very aggressive and would not back down. All the more reason to carry when in the wild, or the city for that matter.
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Of all the things i'm most worried about getting too close too around here it would be bull elk. The size and aggressiveness of a large male in rutt is an intimidating thing. Much more unpredictable and likely to charge than a lion or bear.
 
All the more reason to carry when in the wild
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RICKE,

I agree. I just wish my dad would listen. He is a vietnam vet, retired, and he is in his 60's+loves to hike. He Refuses to CCW even while hiking the appalachian trail from maine to georgia, trails from Cali to canada, etc. I respect his decision on the matter, but I disagree with his fear of guns. Wild animals is one of the strongest resons for owning firearms in my opinion(right up there with home invasion). Countless scenarios exist and appear all the time where the lack of protection was the downfall for the victim of an animal attack.
 
I thought the same thing goldenstate but didn't say anything since it was just a guess. I know many bears get into trouble because they are hungry, so that wouldn't surprise me in this case.
 
I am liking the suggestion on the Charter Arms .44 if I was carrying my own hard cast semi wadcutter's over about several grains of unique powder, or as has been suggested a SP101 in .357 even with say silver tips - point blank....still with only five not particulary powerful rounds (think in terms of a 300+ pound animal) looking at the pictures I think, for black bears the 4" or longer barreled .44 maggie with soft points or hard ball (again thinking point blank) is the point at which the graph lines cross. You know its really strange but maybe cause of the cooling weather we have had the bear attack, bear on school grounds and the goat attack, and my own dealing with a couger across the street...seems like the incidents, at least in WA are on the up swing. Now where did I put my .44 S&W in the safe? :)
 
The bear attack is probably "rare" by statistical data, but if you happen to be the odd man out then the chart statistics turn into dirt.
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My statistics professor in college was very quotable. I still remember much of what he taught us, years later. He would gesture at the tail ends of a bell curve and announce in a loud voice "There are PEOPLE living under the ends of that curve!" His point being that rare things happen.

I hunt and fish in Idaho. Just last Friday, I was quail hunting only about 2 miles from the end of the residential area, and maybe 4 miles from downtown. When working draws, we ran across a fresh pile of bear scat. Not a big one, but definitely bear. Made me think. We're carrying freshly killed quail, and working all the area that a bear is likely to hunker down in.

Couple years ago I was fishing, out in the wilds 1.5 hours from town. Hiked in, fished for several hours, and hiked back out. There was a BIG pile of bear scat on the trail I walked in on.

Also made me a little nervous.

So, yes, I carry when fishing (or otherwise) out in the boonies.
 
If you are short on money, just get a "Maverick" 12 gauge 18 incher made by Mossberg. You can then with a band saw (I have!!) take the stock down 3 inches and buffer the recoil pad to fit, so you have a bantam stock, and add a tac-star 4 shot side saddle.

Then buy Brenneke 'Black Magic' 600 grain shotgun slugs (1500 fps mind you) and that becomes your short range bear gun as well as a mighty fine HD shotgun!

And if you want to carry a hog leg, sure! .357 on up. Buffalo Bore makes some mighty good loads just for that.

But the inexpensive Mossie will do quite well. Quite well indeed.

Deaf
 
Irish B... That brown looks like he was undernourished. The ribs, and front quarter look too lean. He might have been desperate?
 
"It was starving to death and saw an opportunity," Greg Brush said.
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I can't argue with the guy that lived this ordeal; it appears reasonable the bear was going to eat him and/or his dogs. He/She was obviously starving and saw an opportunity.

I like how the guy admitted it was a lucky shot, and he wasn't sure if 2 or 3 shots were fired. That's amazing!!
 
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