Posted on 07/25/2011 8:28:15 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
A grizzly bear sow with a cub attacked a group of teenagers on a month-long survival-skills course Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains, causing severe injuries to two of the hikers, according to Alaska State Troopers.
(snip)
The group was on the 24th day of a 30-day backpacking trip, school spokesman Bruce Palmer said by phone from Wyoming. It was the group's first day unaccompanied by adult instructors, Palmer said.
"For the last bit of the course, we would have them travel as a student group without the instructors, utilizing the skills that they've learned over time," Palmer said.
(snip)
The seven group members were in a line, calling out to make noise as they crossed the creek, Palmer said. The first hiker had apparently made it out of the water and was out of sight of the others when he began screaming, Palmer said.
The grizzly mauled the teen, attacked another group member, then returned to the first victim, Palmer said.
"It sounds like it was moving around within the group," Palmer said. The hikers carried three canisters of bear spray, but there was no initial indication that the hikers used the repellent, Palmer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Bear Spray for Grizzly Bears? Ideology trumping survival I see...........”
Learning to skin Grizz...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcsXC2xFis4
Saturday's bear attack is only the second in the school's history, and the only mauling involving a grizzly, Palmer said. In 2003, a black bear wandered into a camp in Utah and bit a student, he said.
Given there have probably been thousands of NOLS courses in the American west, with course lengths lasting from 14 to 90 days, I think their record with bear attacks is probably below average for the number of days spent in the wilderness. Most bear problems come from people not being careful with food, something NOLS training works to prevent. But sometimes bad stuff just happens - such as walking between a sow and her cubs. I am not sure how 50 cal handguns would have made a difference here, as it seems the teens panicked all around. Not that I blame them, I blame NOLS for not having at least one adult with them.
Thats just the bear CUB.
Adult females range from about 300/350 - 750/800, and adult males can approach 1000lbs.
Pissed off momma grizzlies are the most dangerous animal in North America after humans.
Here we go with another Grizzly Bear discussion.
Going to Alaska in 6 days...
I am so looking forward to the trip.
LMAO......
Bears just doing what bears do, protecting their house.
The lesson is about...."Picking your crossing"...These are kids...not SEALS.
In reality Canada prohibits handguns from entering the country and they ban pepper spray, at least in Ontario. I cruised my sailboat in Canadian waters in the northern reaches of Lake Huron (the North Channel). There had been reports one year of bear attacks, so when I checked in with Customs and Immigration I asked about protection from bears. When I asked about pepper spray, they said it was illegal but suggested “bear spray.”
I asked what was in it, the answer was pepper. Go figure.
it has never been claimed to fend off an angry bear attack.
____________________________________________________________
Completely false.
The kids couldn’t bring a can of bear spray into play and you think they would have done better with a handgun?
FR is a great place to go to get misinformed about bears.
Stay out of bear country.
Stay out of bear country.
LOL!!!....................................
LOL
NOLS typically has the students trek out at the end of the course on their own. Back when I took the course, not only did we have to backpack through 50 miles of rough terrain in four days, we also had to do it without food. Ungh.
The idea is to make you apply what you have learned. I believe NOLS has since stopped the policy of not having food the last four days. But I can't agree with their policy of having teenagers in a group in the wilderness without at least one adult with them. They should have had a mixed group by age - I was one of four students under 18 in my group of 14, and there were some college-age students, but there were also adults in their twenties and early thirties so there was never a teen-only group.
The size depends on where you are and the time of year. I went with the lower end of the range.
But yes even tougher to do when it’s a 800lb grizzly!
Those idiots sent kids out in griz country unarmed????????????
My wife and I never hike in CT without “bear spray” which at a minimum is a .357 mag. and the worst we have to worry about is black bear.
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