Grizzly Bears Attack Hunters in Alaska, Canada and Montana

Briandg you are statistically 1500x more likely to be attacked and killed by a pit bull than by a "pet" wolf. If it came down to being charged by an angry grizzly no gun short of a .577 Trex or .458 socom ar would "feel" like enough gun.
 
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I fish and hike real close to Girdwood in a small town called Cooper Landing. And let me tell you, there are plenty of coastal browns and black bears in the area. I hike the Russian River Falls area near there, and never go in the woods without my 12 gauge loaded with slugs, a Ruger Redhawk on my hip, and a bottle of Counter Assault Bear Spray. While hiking it's also a good idea to wear a bell bracelet so a bear could hear you. Bears are pretty solitary, and if they can hear you or smell you, they "normally" aren't interested. The worst thing however is surprising one, especially a sow with cubs. But statistically speaking, moose kill a lot more people than bears do.
 
Irish B said:
If it came down to being charged by an angry grizzly no gun short of a .577 Trex or .458 socom ar would "feel" like enough gun.
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.458 socom is comparable to 45-70 Government. That what I take with me loaded in a Marlin 1895. 5+1 shots, ghost ring sights, short barrel, and large lever. It's as good a bear gun as any.
 
dsa1115 I fish and hike real close to Girdwood in a small town called Cooper Landing. And let me tell you, there are plenty of coastal browns and black bears in the area. I hike the Russian River Falls area near there, and never go in the woods without my 12 gauge loaded with slugs, a Ruger Redhawk on my hip, and a bottle of Counter Assault Bear Spray. While hiking it's also a good idea to wear a bell bracelet so a bear could hear you. Bears are pretty solitary, and if they can hear you or smell you, they "normally" aren't interested. The worst thing however is surprising one, especially a sow with cubs. But statistically speaking, moose kill a lot more people than bears do.
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Dear dsa1115, my dad had an a-frame cabin in Girdwood when we were kids up in Alaska and he used to go hunting with a friend of his from Cooper's Landing back in the 1960's. We spent quite a bit of time in that area especially Alyeska right around the corner. We went fishing for salmon down near Hope more so than the Russian River. Bears seemed to be more scared of us in those days because we never really considered bear protection when out fishing and other things. We just never saw them in those days.

Wouldn't go there without some big bore guns now.
 
your odds of just getting mauled because you invaded some boars personal bubble are almost non existent.
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Spot-on...hogs are pretty much a non-issue as far as the danger of being attacked by them.
 
As are your odds of being robbed/raped/murdered, so why Carry a gun at all?

It's not the odds, but the stakes.

If your are in Critter Country, go loaded for Critters, and if you are in Bear Country, go loaded for bear.
 
The area may very well have been different back in the 60's. But the Girdwood area as well as the rest of the Kenai have lots of coastal brown bears and black bears now as you know. The swamp areas just North of the Seward Highway have bears around, as do the lakes and rivers around the area. There have been a number of attacks around the Cooper Landing area and locals know this. I'm just amazed that according to this news report these guys I thought it said were from the Fish & Wildlife Department so I can't imagine they'd be surprised. Frankly, I don't know how they couldn't know this. On a little different note, if anyone ever wants to experience brown bears up close and personal in Alaska, there is a guide I've worked with a number of times named Jim Oltersdorf who works out of Soldotna, Alaska. Jim is extremely experienced in browns bears in particular and IMO, probably the best guide on the planet if you're interested in finding brown bears. He is expensive, but his knowledge and experience is worth every penny. He can be contacted at highrisk@acsalaska.net
 
jimbob86

As are your odds of being robbed/raped/murdered, so why Carry a gun at all?
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My post was in regards to briang listing the boar higher on his list of dangerous critters than the grizzly.

Made no mention of odds of anything attacking, just that hogs were less likely than some others.
 
Thanks

I just wanted to say thanks for the nice comment that you posted about my work with the giant Alaskan Brown bears. Some of those experiences are featured on The Discovery Channel as well as The History Channel. They're great animals and yes, I've spent a bit of time with them in the Alaskan bush. In one remote area that I have flown to (about 320 air miles in by floatplane), it is not uncommon to be with between 25-35 individual bears a day in peak salmon spawning season. The last thing you see at dusk when you zip up your tent zipper is a bear and the first thing you see in the morning is a bear. All night long what do you think we hear? Pretty interesting and an experience no one would ever forget. What do I take besides my Nikon? A 45/70 and a can or two of bear spray. Oh ya, a huge dose of common sense when around them.
 
I'll never venture into Grizzly country, but if I were to do so, I doubt I'd rely on pepper spray...I've seen it fail on both humans and animals WAY too many times.
 
Zerojunk,

Ive notices the same thing over the last 6 years in the San Isabel and San Juan National Forests in Colorado and have similar feelings regarding the bears there losing their fear of humans in that area also.

Jim,
The first time I had bear circling my tent while we were sleeping.. was definetly something I wont forget. The person I was with woke up and assumed it was a person and when they didn't get an answer from yelling who's there several times... I figured I better let them know it wasn't a person. They shut up and grabbed there gun real quick.:D

In an area I don't really want to name.... I see bears every day. They arn't afdraid like the blacks I run into further noth in the state where its more populated...and it was not that way camping 6 years ago.
 
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