Unprovoked bear attack

[farmbif]

from what I understand theres a huge difference between black and brown bears. black bear family spotted 1/4 mile from my house. all garbage now goes directly to dump when taken out of house, they just started logging across the road and I'll be wearing at least a 357 on my belt

[dtknowles]

I can get a 45 out and hit a 12 inch target at 10 yds in less than a second if the thong isnt on the hammer. My bfr is a little slower due to the weight and length

I have read a charging bear can cross a 35 ft. gap in a second.

[10x]

I have lived in Black bear habitat for over 60 years.
Black bears for the most part avoid contact with humans.
The Black bears that do attack humans are rare.
See a bear once and he is running away, that is a good bear.
See a bear once, the bear knows you are there, see the bear a second time and the bear is closer, that is not a good bear. That bear is interested in you and may be trouble. leave the area or if you can't prepare your best bear defense.
See a bear that knows about you a third time and the bear is closer every time you see the bear, you are being stalked, the bear is determining where you are on the food chain.
Black bears here have no idea of what a human on foot is. They only see heavy equipment working, and automobiles, a human on foot is rare and unusual.
Predators, including bears consider anything that runs as food. So don't run, riding a bike can be considered running. Any thing that runs is food to a predator.
Bears will stand their ground and even attack to defend cubs, food, and if they are startled and you are inside their comfort zone. Bears will attack you if they believe they will be successful - after all you are a considerable amount of walking food
Pepper spray experiments are done, not on attacking bears, but on bears that are provoked and not engaging in a dedicated predator attack where they are hoping for a meal.
What every you use, practice deploying it very quickly and know how to have it deployed and working in under 2 to 3 seconds. If your gun or pepper spray is in your hand your chances of survival increase. In a holster or packed away, the risk of not surviving increases.
If you can not get your means of bear defense deployed in under 3 seconds, you had better practice more A bear can cover over 35 yards in three seconds or less.
For those who champion pepper spray, they can carry it.
Me, I will carry a defender in 12 gauge loaded with 00 Buckshot, and 5 in the magazine. I will use pepper on the well done bear steaks.
Bears are unpredictable, if the bear is aware of you and does not leave, you should leave the area. it is that simple.

[Ozark mike]

[james23]

I have met the deceased woman in the past and know the family. We do have bad gun laws and they are getting worse but in this case the article linked is not quite accurate. Having first hand knowledge of what happened convinced me that the husband did what he thought was right. Access to a readily usable firearm was not a problem in this case. Part of the law quoted in the article actually referred to 'remote wilderness area". The fishing camp is in very remote area accessible by float plane.

(3) Paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) do not apply to an individual who stores a non-restricted firearm in a location that is in a remote wilderness area that is not subject to any visible or otherwise reasonably ascertainable use incompatible with hunting.
As a farmer I know of few neighbors that don't have a readily accessible gun fairly close at hand to protect the farm. In my parts bears are not a concern but rabid skunks and coons as well as coyotes coming in the yard trying to lure the dogs out to gang up on them are common and most people keep an eye out.

I would ask for your prayers for the grieving family. Its been a tough time.

[monadnock#5]

Bear of all stripes are omnivorus. They'll eat anything, even if it gets retched up 15 min later. If you and a bear catch sight of each other, and the bear walks off, you'd better be checking your 6 o'clock. Often. If you see a sick, skinny bear (ribs showing), consider yourself in deep kimche.

[David2011]

I can get a 45 out and hit a 12 inch target at 10 yds in less than a second if the thong isnt on the hammer. My bfr is a little slower due to the weight and length

That's pretty impressive. My best times, using the gun in my avatar picture, are 1.1-1.2 seconds. That's using a CR Speed race holster and waiting on full alert for a timer buzzer to go off. That does include getting the gun in front of my eyes to hit a target but for a charging bear I might not bother with aiming, just start shooting once the gun is close to the right position. Not blowing hot air; I was charged by a wounded feral sow at close range one time and that's exactly what I did. No point in aiming since the rifle (AR-15) was scoped and at the close distance of the incident she would have been on me before I ever found her in the scope.

[dverna]

Our bears must be different. There are very few unprovoked black bear attacks in Northern Michigan. I am still wary of them but that is just common sense. I do not treat them like cute little Boo Boo bears, but will not shoot them on sight either.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Family member was hiking unarmed in this state (WA) & ended up run up a cliff by a boar black bear; They had no idea why. They managed to find two rocks and hammered them together to sound like a .22 and the bear got concerned about being "shot at" and left. Best to have a gun and need it, than need it and not have it.

[monadnock#5]

Fred Trost, Michigan Outdoors back in the 80's or 90's. He had a guest on who had a video of himself pursued by a black bear, somewhere in Canada. Classic predatory behavior. Seen at a distance and lost track of, and then up close in stealth mode. When confronted, the bear looked up, down and side to side but never directly at him, only out of the corner of its eyes. It just kept coming and was obviously waiting for the intended victim to catch a heel and fall over backwards. The only thing that saved him was the bear wouldn't follow him into the water. Good thing he knew how to swim.

[10x]

consider yourself in deep kimche.

It has been almost 50 years since I heard the phrase "consider yourself in deep kimche" My friend Gord (A geologist) used it all of the time. We had a Korean student in the dorm who we called K.C. His real name was Kok Chui. He preffered K.C.
Kimchee - basically sour kraut with hot peppers. Love the stuff

As for bears, Black bears are predators of opportunity. If they believe they can kill you, they will do so, and that is every one of them. To them food is food and if they identify you as food, or a threat, you are in trouble
I have lived with black bears for over 60 years, THere is fresh bear scat on my lawn as it has been a poor year for berries in the woods - and I live in a town of 6500 people I do not fear bears, but I do not trust them to be benign and friendly

[Ozark mike]

Kimchi is cabbage they bury in the ground and left to rot a little. All the taxi drivers in korea reak of it i cant stand the thought let alone the smell of that stuff

[waksupi]

Within the last couple days, another guy clearing trail up in Alaska was killed by a black bear.

[monadnock#5]

As for bears, Black bears are predators of opportunity. If they believe they can kill you, they will do so, and that is every one of them. To them food is food and if they identify you as food, or a threat, you are in trouble
I have lived with black bears for over 60 years, THere is fresh bear scat on my lawn as it has been a poor year for berries in the woods - and I live in a town of 6500 people I do not fear bears, but I do not trust them to be benign and friendly

Back in the day when I would read about anything I could get my hands on, I found a magazine for farmers in my grandads collection. It contained a graphic warning on hog farming. It said "Never, Ever...go into a hog pen alone!!". If, for whatever reason, stroke, drunken stupor, you name it, a person keeled over and became incapacitated, they would instantly go to the bottom of the food chain.

I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's only 1 "wild" animal with the insatiable apatite of a farm raised hog.

[monadnock#5]

It has been almost 50 years since I heard the phrase "consider yourself in deep kimche" My friend Gord (A geologist) used it all of the time. We had a Korean student in the dorm who we called K.C. His real name was Kok Chui. He preffered K.C.
Kimchee - basically sour kraut with hot peppers. Love the stuff

The last few years I've been trying to eat a better diet. According to the experts, the (healthy) human being has more single cell critters living in their gut, than human cells in their whole body. I can't say that I really enjoy the flavor of kimche, but I love what it does for me.

[10x]

Back in the day when I would read about anything I could get my hands on, I found a magazine for farmers in my grandads collection. It contained a graphic warning on hog farming. It said "Never, Ever...go into a hog pen alone!!". If, for whatever reason, stroke, drunken stupor, you name it, a person keeled over and became incapacitated, they would instantly go to the bottom of the food chain.

I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's only 1 "wild" animal with the insatiable apatite of a farm raised hog.

I spent the first 18 years of my life on a farm with hogs. - Hogs will eat every thing they can, including the person that feeds them

[Ozark mike]

I spent the first 18 years of my life on a farm with hogs. - Hogs will eat every thing they can, including the person that feeds them

Yep some of those ornery Missourians go missing when they mess with the wrong farmer. Not a trace left

[abunaitoo]

When I was giving a Firearms class, I had a guy from Alaska.
Outside state permits don't count here.
We got to talking and he said something that always stuck with me.
"What do you call an unarmed hikers in Alaska..................bait"

[fiberoptik]

Snacks!


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[Longshank]

The only people who think situational awareness will keep you safe from a bear are the people who have never run into a bear in the woods.

They materialize out of the gloom. One second no one is there, and the next second there they are, twenty feet away and closing fast. They seem to charge you in unearthly silence. They can't see worth a damn, but it seems like they're staring right into your soul, and know every thought you have.

They're sudden death on four legs, and hell has no fiend that is their equal.