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 ...
Gotta' love the government. Probably the same thing... the factory just uses a different lable to make it acceptable in another country.
Did they have any cowbell?
Still a great course.
I was 38 at the time, and the oldest on the trip. Excluding me and instructors, the average age was 23.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard#Nature
“While protected, anyone outside of settlements is required to carry a rifle to kill polar bears in self defense, as a last resort, should they attack.[99]”
THIS in a Norweigan controlled island heavily populated with polar bears. While polar bears are more carnivorous than grizzlies, the potential danger element from grizziles is as substantial as that from polar bears.
ANYONE traveling in grizzly country should be allowed, if not REQUIRED, to be armed, and have sufficient familiarity with that weapon to employ it effectively.
Its PAST time to take America back from the eco-lunatics who think livestock killing wolves and coyotes, human threatening cougars and black bears, and collision-causing, tick-infested, crop munching deer, are desirable and cute residents in populated areas.
I kinda agree with you but what would the adult have done?
The kids should have been walking in a tight line and waited in a group on the other side of the creek before moving on.
Instead the lead kid went out of sight so the bear saw 1 or 2 people instead of a group of 7 which may have made it think twice about charging.
Other than that I don’t see how an adult would have helped.
UDAP Bear Spray is the most efficient way to dispense large amounts of OC on to a subject in the shortest period of time. The pepper fogger’s enhanced range, broad spray pattern and inhalable particle size make it the most effective aerosol tool available to stop a bear attack. Simply by virtue of its ability to disperse large amounts of OC into the area in a very short time.
It is a deterrent. A lock on your door is a deterrent. Any deterrent is ineffectual in an actual attack. Spray an angry bear with this crap, and see what happens. It really p*sses them off!!
A gun, on the other hand - is MUCH more effective. Each year, we have campers who are killed and attacked by bears in Utah. Very few go into the mountains with some aerosol cans; most go in with a good sized pistol. A 9mm is on the small side; but it's better than a can of spray.
There were three instructors in our group. Two of them were probably Sierra-Club types, but the head instructor was more of an old-school mountain man mindset. I have a feeling in reading the alumni newspaper that NOLS has gone full greenie since then.
LOL!
No doubt the .375 H&H is an excellent bear round, but I think there’s a fundamental difference between the kind of weapon I’d take if deliberately setting out to hunt bear (in which case the .375 would be at or very near the top of the list) and what I’d take for close range defense if merely packing/camping/hiking in bear country, or supervising a group of campers/hikers. IMHO, I think my first choice for the latter would probably be an AR platform carbine in .50 Beowulf, with my second choice a quick lever gun in .45-70, .450 Marlin or .444 Marlin, with a .480 Ruger or .454 Casull as a last ditch back up.
Given the number of kids that were injured, I'd say they panicked. I think an adult would have gotten the other kids to retreat and climb trees and then used pepper spray to try and get the griz to back off. I don't think anything could have been done for the first victim but the fact that six got injured indicates they didn't seek safety in trees.
The critter can only go after one person at a time.
I’ve read numerous studies and detailed accounts of the effective use of bear spray in stopping a charging grizzly.
Where do you get your info?
yes.
Start shooting the Damn things, to the point where they run for their lives at the sight of a human.
We sprayed a dead standing tree with it, soaked it with 2 full cans. When we came back, at least 2 bear (By the tracks) went into a frenzy and ripped the tree to shreds. They even ate the soft inner trunk, soaked with the spray. It actually attracts them. They went out of their way to get to the tree.
That’s true, and experienced adult might have lessened the damage.
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