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Connecticut has passed a law allowing bears to be shot if they are or are about to injure people or pets or enter a building occupied by people. Florida is considering a similar but broader measure.As black bear populations have increased across the United States, more people and bear conflicts are occurring. Before 1960, bears had been considered a problem to be taken care of. In most states, they could be shot as pests. There was a legacy understanding – bears make for bad neighbors. Bears would kill your pigs, destroy your apple orchards, and your bee hives. Before 1950,...

On December 18, 2017, the Canadian Province of British Columbia banned hunting of grizzly bears, except by indigenous tribes. It appears to be a natural experiment that will help determine the effects of grizzly bear hunting practices. Tribes known as “First Nations” are allowed to kill bears. The exact effect of the ban is not clear or precise. Taltan hunters still hunt the bears, but they are not killing enough of them. But when the B.C. government banned the grizzly bear trophy hunt in 2017, the system was thrown out of whack. While the Tahltan could still hunt for food,...

A video of a polar bear attack which was repelled with a couple of long sticks or pipes has been popping up, on and off, for a few years. It seems to have first appeared in 2020. Some sites claim the event happened in Quebec, Canada. Any help in identifying the location and person/people involved would be appreciated. The video is 12 seconds long.The site in the video seems to be a research station of some type. There is an antenna mast, probably for communication, a rectangular shelter with a door at the corner, and what may be an instrument...

In the debate about effective defense methods against aggressive bears, some people claim extreme speed and accuracy are essential to stopping a bear attack with firearms. Here are some quotes.From Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska:The need for split-second deployment and deadly accuracy make using firearms difficult, even for experts.From cowboystatedaily.com: Many experts seem to favor bear spray. One drawback of firearms they cite is the inability of many shooters to make accurate, quick-kill shots under the extreme stress of a bear attack. From backcountrychronicles.com:If you shoot something as big as a grizzly bear and are not lucky...

Bears have killed nine times as many people when bear spray is sprayed than when handguns are fired in defense against bears. Fatal bear attacks are rare and make the news. Powerful cartridge handguns became popular and relatively easily available about 1873. Bear spray became available in 1985. The ability to learn about and report fatal bear attacks has expanded enormously since 1960.Data which are nearly impossible to obtain are:How many times are bears sprayed with bear spray?How many times are handguns fired in defense against bears?How many times are firearms generally fired in defense against bears?What percentage of human/bear...

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, a determined polar bear made a fatal error in the prey selection process. The six-year-old healthy male would not be deterred from getting at two humans in a cabin located on Svalbard (administered by Norway) at Hornsund on the island of Spitsbergen. Hornsund is the most southern fjord on the southern tip of the Island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago, about 140 km south of Longyearbyen.The incident was reported in newsinenglish.no in 2013. The incident is confirmed in the PBHIMS database obtained by AmmoLand, which includes many reports of polar bear attacks that happened...

In 2010, President Obama signed a credit card bill he desperately wanted. Inside the bill was an amendment removing the provision against exercising Second Amendment rights in national parks. A few people were offended. How dare the Constitution be allowed to be in effect in national parks! Some writers have claimed while it is legal to carry guns in most national parks, it is illegal to fire guns in the park (such as Yellowstone), even in self-defense. From yellowstonepark.com:Yes, you can carry a gun in Yellowstone. But it’s illegal to fire it – even in self defense. And once you...

At Dawson Creek, British Columbia, on October 3, 2022, a group of four were hiking on a ski trail at Bear Mountain Ski Club. Their intent was to obtain pictures of the fall colors. The group consisted of three women: Analyn Bartolome, friends Leosette Canoy and Wennali Canoy, and Analyn’s teenage son, Kelly. It was getting late when the group started heading back. The sun was close to the horizon, and the shadows were long when the bear attack started.From various accounts, including a GoFundMe, Kelly heard footsteps behind them. He turned to look but saw nothing. He dropped back...

Position of the empty chamber “click” at the charging grizzly. As part of a previous Freedom of Information Act request, AmmoLand obtained details of the defensive shooting of a grizzly bear with a revolver, which happened at Paint Creek, Wyoming, in 2010.On September 2, 2010, an archery hunter and his guide were hunting for elk from a camp at the end of Henry’s Mill Road. This is the head of the Paint Creek drainage in Wyoming. Paint Creek is in the mid-eastern part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, about 20 miles NNE of Cody. The hunter and guide left the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Word of a new gay nightclub spread rapidly through the nation's capital over the weekend, with the LGBTQ community flocking to line up outside the latest trendy hotspot. "Word has it this is the place," said a man wearing a pair of black leather chaps. "The stories I've heard about what goes on inside this place will make you burst into flames. Because it's really gay." The new hangout has been drawing rave reviews from the gay community due to its neoclassical architecture, with ancient Greek and Roman influences that harken back to some of the glory...

In 2005, Travis Newman was archery hunting in Washington state. He had drawn an archery elk tag for the Blue Mountains near Walla Walla. Late in the evening of the 20th of September, he was on a familiar elk trail. As he approached a corner, he thought: “I don’t remember seeing that stump before.” The “stump” was close, about 10 yards. The “stump” transformed itself into a big bear coming at him full bore, furiously chomping its jaws. Travis thought the bear would bluff, took a step back, and speed drew his Taurus Tracker .45 Colt from a cross-body holster...

Nature Ping. Vicious bear fight. Not for the squeamish. Recorded 3 June 2023 Filmed from a boat... We were watching a tranquil scene of 2 bears shagging on the beach…we thought how lovely…something you don’t see very often. Then we noticed another bear making its way towards them…he was on a mission…and he went in for the attack while our 2 lovers were still joined. She made a hasty departure. The guide we were with said the aggressor had killed and eaten a cub the day before…he seemed to have the blood lust…it was the longest 20 minutes of my...

From 2007 to the present (2023), there have been more fatal bear attacks in Japan than in the United States. It is possible there have been more total bear attacks in Japan than in the United States, but records of total attacks are not as clear. Through the end of October of 2023, there were 180 bear attacks where a person was injured in Japan. From JapanNews:Tokyo, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)—The number of people attacked by bears in Japan between April and October totaled 180, already a record high on a fiscal year basis since the statistics started in fiscal...

On the morning of October 31, on the Japanese Island of Hokkaido, a man with a knife fought off a brown bear as it attacked his two companions. It seems likely the attack was prompted because the bear was defending the food cache it had made of the body of a hiker it had killed on October 29. From mainichi.jp: SAPPORO — A man fought off a brown bear using a knife after he and two others were attacked by the animal while climbing Mount Daisengen in a Hokkaido town on the morning of Oct. 31.Two men in their 40s...

Many people underestimate the .22 Long Rifle (LR) cartridge. It is the most common cartridge in the world. It is capable of killing men and large animals. Three years ago, AmmoLand documented 20 incidents where .22 rimfire was used to kill all three types of bears in North America. Black bears are the most common, followed by grizzly/brown bears and, occasionally, polar bears. Since the 2020 article, four more incidents have been found where bears were shot and killed or so badly wounded they were euthanized as an act of mercy. Of the four bears in this update, one was...

Firearms are not the only tool available to defend against bear attacks. Blades and blunt objects have been effective in a number of recorded cases. Unlike bear spray or firearms, when someone defends against a bear with a blade or a blunt object, it tends to make the news.Traditionally, bears were hunted with spears and dogs. Humans with spears, partnered with dogs, are very difficult for a bear to successfully overcome. Some human and dog casualties result, with dog casualties much more common than humans. Spears give humans a necessary stand-off distance to keep them away from a bear’s teeth...

Early reports are two dedicated hikers and campers, Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, his wife, and their dog, have been killed by a grizzly bear in a remote part of Banff National Park in Canada. At least one empty can of bear spray was found at the scene. From Calgary Herald.com: From what he was told by Parks Canada officials, it appears the attack began when the couple were in their tent, where they would have typically been poring over e-readers with Tris by their side, Colin said.“Their tent was crushed and their e-readers were open, they were both discovered...

The number of Florida bears has skyrocketed. The bear population was estimated at 300-500 in 1974. Black bear hunting was banned in Florida in 1994 when the population was estimated at 1280 to 1290. In 1998, the population was estimated at 1500. According to the tampabay.com, there were 2,000 to 2,500 bears in 2006. In a 2015 bear hunt, a meager 304 bears were harvested. In 2016, the population was estimated at 4,350 bears. No study has been done to estimate the bear population since then.Bears are very adaptable. There remains considerable habitat for bears to populate in Florida in...

A 73-year-old woman was hospitalized after she was attacked by a bear west of Glacier National Park and just south of the U.S.-Canadian Border.. KALISPELL, Mont. — A 73-year-old woman was hospitalized after she was attacked by a bear west of Glacier National Park and just south of the U.S. Canadian border over the weekend, Montana wildlife officials said Monday. The woman, her husband and a dog were in the Flathead National Forest Sunday afternoon when a bear emerged from thick brush and attacked her, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks ... The woman was flown to the...

Two people and their dog were found dead at Banff National Park on Saturday after a grizzly bear attack. A GPS device alerted Parks Canada on Friday night, indicating a bear attack was happening within the Red Deer River Valley region west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Canada’s Banff National Park... Due to poor weather conditions, an emergency team reportedly could not fly to the location via helicopter, so they traveled by ground during the night. When the team arrived at the scene, they reportedly found two individuals who were deceased and ... The victim’s identities have not been...