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Although the (spring '00) bear mauling of the woman in the Smokies was a rarity, bear protection seems best with a firearm.
Missionary friend Keith Benner and I were attacked by brown bear (grizzly) along Kenai River in Alaska ('A Can of Spray, A Lot of Luck; Anchorage Daily News; 9/29/96).
Sprayed bear in charge--
I was knocked down with side-arm swipe to chest--
sprayed rest in bears mouth--bear ran away--
I jumped up---Bear made U-turn, charged again.
Resigned myself to being mauled--turned back to it so as not to see--
but bear went around me knocking Keith against tree before leaving. Pepper spray allowed face to face encounter--risking mauling and death--whereas a firearm (.338 rifle) could have stopped the bear in its charge.
Furthermore, ADN followup article cited biologists finding pepper spray ineffective on black bears due to a unique protective mucous coating (10/06/96).
http://www.trailquest.net/bears.html
http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/092399/out_bears.html
http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/trails/Appalachian/368.html
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PEPPER SPRAY? BAD BET
Author: Craig Medred
Daily News Outdoors Editor
Date: October 6, 1996
Anchorage Daily News (AK)
When Dave Parnow read that a can of pepper spray did little to repel an aggressive brown bear on the Kenai Peninsula last month, he wasn't surprised.
http://www.adn.com/
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BEAR BLASTED WITH PEPPER SPRAY, HAD TO BE KILLED
The bear finally turned and ran after counselors blasted her with pepper spray and fired a flare at her feet, Prysunka said. Later Saturday, following the morning attack, officials found the sow in the campsite area on Deer Island in southeast Alaska and
killed her.
April 26, 2004
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040426-2025-bearmauling.html11
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RECOMMENDED FETAL POSITION DID NOT WORK, BUT ICE AXE DID
Cataldo told rangers he camped Sunday night at the Wonder Lake Campground at Mile 85 on the park road. Monday, he rode a bicycle about five miles farther to the Kantishna airstrip and started a day hike.
Four to six miles off the road, he approached caribou about 4:30 p.m., intending to photograph them. He heard something behind him, turned and saw a grizzly bear with two cubs 40 to 50 feet away.
The bears headed toward him. When they were about 12 feet away,
Cataldo dropped to the ground in a fetal position but kept hold of his ice ax in his right hand, Fister said.
An ice ax is used by mountain climbers for cutting footholds in ice or for stopping a fall. One end of the ax head typically is a pick curved downward to provide better hooking action.
Cataldo said that when he felt the largest bear's weight on his neck and left shoulder, he raised himself up and
swung the ax at the bear,
hitting it on the left side of its upper back.
Friday, August 06, 2004
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/5390330p-5328608c.html
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Anchorage man kills charging brown bear
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A 57-year-old Anchorage man used a handgun to mortally wound a brown bear charging him Wednesday.
Retired Army helicopter pilot and maintenance chief Gary Boyd was walking his boxer puppy along a trail in the Chugach foothills north of Campbell Creek when he heard something crashing through the brush.
He tells the Anchorage Daily News he had just enough time to spin and pull out his
.44-Magnum revolver
when the brown bear was less than 20 feet away.
Wildlife authorities say the 750-pound bear had apparently been guarding the remains of a moose taken in a Fort Richardson bow hunt about 75 feet the trail.
The gravel track is used by hikers, bikers and dog walkers.
Boyd says he fired the first shot at the bear's shoulders.
After a second shot the bear turned into a ditch and Boyd fired three more times.
With one shot remaining, Boyd called police.
He and Alaska state trooper Kim Babcock returned to the scene and found the bear alive but unable to move.
Babcock killed the animal with a shotgun slug to the heart while Boyd shot it in the head.
Babcock says she believes Boyd acted appropriately in defense of his life.
September 24, 2004
See: http://www.adn.com/front/story/5591480p-5522882c.html
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VIDEOGRAPHER AND WIFE,
DEVOTED TO SAVING GRIZZLIES
KILLED
BY A 1,000-POUND ADULT MALE GRIZZLEY
Documentary planned on Timothy Treadwell
SILVER SPRING, Md. - The Discovery Channel's theatrical documentary unit will produce a film based on the life and death of amateur bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell.
Treadwell, 46, and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, 37, were killed in October by a bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Treadwell was an author and videographer who devoted himself to saving grizzlies after he said he had near-fatal experiences with illegal drugs. He said close encounters with bears inspired him to give up drugs, study bears and work for their protection. He regularly spent summers among Katmai bears, a practice other bear experts called dangerous.
Authorities believe Treadwell and Huguenard were killed by a 1,000-pound adult male grizzly. An audio recording of the attack was captured by Treadwell's video camera.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
From: http://www.juneauempire.com/
Alaska Digest
See also:
Respecting Bears
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BROWN BEAR CHARGES DUCK HUNTER
Brown bear sow charges duck hunter in the Valley
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK, JUNEAU EMPIRE
Two brown bear sows with cubs are frequenting the Dredge Lakes area and one of the sows charged a duck hunter on Sunday.
The hunter was walking on a trail when he surprised a sow with a 3-year-old at point-blank range, said Neil Barten, area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The sow charged the hunter, who discharged two rounds of bird shot at it. The bear ran away and U.S. Forest Service and Alaska State Troopers found no evidence that it had been harmed, Barten said.
Wildlife officials are urging Juneau residents to take extra precaution.
"Until four years ago, it was unheard of for brown bears to come near town," Barten said.
Friday, October 1, 2004
From: http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100104/loc_brownbear.shtml
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