Ran out of room in that other note.
Anyway, you have no idea of the violence of these attacks until you experience it or talk to someone that has. While the animal is shaking you hard enough to separate vertebra and break bones its also swiping you with its "fists" at the same time. Theres no way you're going to manipulate small mechanical devices.
The most recent attack resulted in the death of a guy named Ned Rassmussen. Nobody witnessed it so we can only examine the facts that are apparent.
The cause of death was the severing of the major artery at the BACK of the abdominal cavity - make your own mental image, further details were not released.
It is known that he had shot a deer, he waved to his friends and indicated he was going to pack it back to camp.
He was found two days later. His rifle had bear hair stuck to the muzzle and a fired round in the chamber. He put up a fight. It must have been something like Moe's attack. He was either boning out the deer or packing it when he was attacked. Neither the deer or his pack was found.
Heres the deal the way I see it.
#1. Don't hunt alone in bear country.
#2. Follow all the common sense rules about bears. Avoid them. Unfortunately, a lot of the rules don't make sense for hunters. You can't make noise and attach bells to your pack - if successful you're going to attach a pack of bloody meat to your body - hunting by its nature attracts bears.
#3 Always obey rule #1.
If you're hunting you already have a longarm of significant caliber. If you want to also carry pepper spray or a revolver, do so, but remember you're not (in most cases) going to be able to use it until you're already down. IF you're already down and have a partner nearby it would make more sense to get belly down and protect your vital organs and wait for your buddy to intervene with his rifle than to face the bear and try and use the revolver or pepper spray.
I carry pepper spray nowadays. I'm going to use if against curious bears or in threat displays where the bear tries to intimidate but isn't actually attacking.
I don't own a revolver of the type that would be useful for a bear though I've got my eye out for a good deal when one comes along.
I didn't mean to "break bad" on the Redhawk or the Raging Bull - they just don't fit my hands very well and I don't shoot them very well. I think they'd make an excellent choice for somebody else.
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Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page:
members.xoom.com/keithrogan