THANKS for that, I didn't know that..
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Bears and the unchambered carry debate
- Thread starter Glenn E. Meyer
- Start date
stinkeypete
New member
1. Dano nailed it. When field dressing game in Bear Country, one man stands guard at the ready.
2. It’s refreshing to read a well informed, well written article about a hunting tragedy. I agree with the conclusion that the guide should have followed and been trained in a safety procedure. Hopefully, people can learn from this and future tragedies avoided.
3. Glock 10mm? I assume they had a rifles capable of taking elk at hand. Without “situational awareness”, it doesn’t matter if it was 10mm or a howitzer. The hunters were surprised by a wild grizzly bear which smelled food.
4. Round in chamber? Israelis practice with empty chamber. It’s a non-issue. About the same as not knowing how to fire a single action revolver or operate a lever action rifle. If you are in hand-to-hand combat with a grizzly, even if a round had been in the chamber, the result is still questionable.
5. Everything goes out the window in a surprise attack. Everything. People are doing things by instinct, panic, and raw plain stupid stuff happens. You or I might do better or worse, no telling. Training is one thing, experience is a whole higher level. Maintaining situational awareness is what keeps one from being surprised. “Bob was dressing the Elk. I saw a grizzly coming 100 yards away. I regret we could not scare it off so we had to shoot it with the rifles we had at the ready.”
6. I’ve spent many a vacation in that area of Wyoming. It’s beautiful, breathtaking. It can make you wet, too cold, too hot, too dry, too hungry, too sick, too excited, too damn tired to even think straight all in one outing. I’m really sorry for these men and their families. I would really enjoy hunting there, if I was 20 years younger and I don’t think for a moment that disaster could not happen to me, too. I just hope my experiences of almost getting really messed over in that area of the country (several times, got lucky several times) might help just a little. But it’s wilderness and preparation and experience only reduce the chance of bad luck.
Bears: It’s more likely you’ll get hit by lightning if you hike or ski in bear country and pay attention and take reasonable precautions such as not smelling like food. I got good at shaving every last useless ounce off myself as I learned exhaustion was one of the real culprits to smart people doing dumb things. I have no need to pack a pistol, unless it’s for hunting or just the fun of feeling like a cowboy. (Can’t deny it, it’s fun.)
If I was ever to go elk hunting, that’s a whole other thing. I’d expect my guide to carry a lever action .45-70 / .44 magnum. If the backup is a Glock... whatever. Any big bore handgun, whatever. It’s backup to high powered rifles.
I was just a tourist many times in that back country, years ago. I’m no expert. I took to heart the advice “if you think any gun is going to save you from a grizzly, file the sights off it first. It’ll hurt less when he shoves it up your @ss.” Don’t smell like food.
Ps... the cell phone password is a good tip, and I’ll remember it when hunting and hiking in the tame areas I hunt that have cell phone service. (If you have not been to the Tetons... )
2. It’s refreshing to read a well informed, well written article about a hunting tragedy. I agree with the conclusion that the guide should have followed and been trained in a safety procedure. Hopefully, people can learn from this and future tragedies avoided.
3. Glock 10mm? I assume they had a rifles capable of taking elk at hand. Without “situational awareness”, it doesn’t matter if it was 10mm or a howitzer. The hunters were surprised by a wild grizzly bear which smelled food.
4. Round in chamber? Israelis practice with empty chamber. It’s a non-issue. About the same as not knowing how to fire a single action revolver or operate a lever action rifle. If you are in hand-to-hand combat with a grizzly, even if a round had been in the chamber, the result is still questionable.
5. Everything goes out the window in a surprise attack. Everything. People are doing things by instinct, panic, and raw plain stupid stuff happens. You or I might do better or worse, no telling. Training is one thing, experience is a whole higher level. Maintaining situational awareness is what keeps one from being surprised. “Bob was dressing the Elk. I saw a grizzly coming 100 yards away. I regret we could not scare it off so we had to shoot it with the rifles we had at the ready.”
6. I’ve spent many a vacation in that area of Wyoming. It’s beautiful, breathtaking. It can make you wet, too cold, too hot, too dry, too hungry, too sick, too excited, too damn tired to even think straight all in one outing. I’m really sorry for these men and their families. I would really enjoy hunting there, if I was 20 years younger and I don’t think for a moment that disaster could not happen to me, too. I just hope my experiences of almost getting really messed over in that area of the country (several times, got lucky several times) might help just a little. But it’s wilderness and preparation and experience only reduce the chance of bad luck.
Bears: It’s more likely you’ll get hit by lightning if you hike or ski in bear country and pay attention and take reasonable precautions such as not smelling like food. I got good at shaving every last useless ounce off myself as I learned exhaustion was one of the real culprits to smart people doing dumb things. I have no need to pack a pistol, unless it’s for hunting or just the fun of feeling like a cowboy. (Can’t deny it, it’s fun.)
If I was ever to go elk hunting, that’s a whole other thing. I’d expect my guide to carry a lever action .45-70 / .44 magnum. If the backup is a Glock... whatever. Any big bore handgun, whatever. It’s backup to high powered rifles.
I was just a tourist many times in that back country, years ago. I’m no expert. I took to heart the advice “if you think any gun is going to save you from a grizzly, file the sights off it first. It’ll hurt less when he shoves it up your @ss.” Don’t smell like food.
Ps... the cell phone password is a good tip, and I’ll remember it when hunting and hiking in the tame areas I hunt that have cell phone service. (If you have not been to the Tetons... )
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