Posted on 04/30/2019 5:42:39 PM PDT by SJackson
[Probably because I’ve seen them acting like big racoons off and on since I was a kid and I underestimate the very real threat they represent.]
In the Tetons, you can see plenty. The Gros Ventre campground is not very far from Jackson and has plenty of visitors, they are even seen in the campground. It is located on the river and about mile from the campground coming from Jackson, it is a moose convention in the afternoon during summer afternoons.
I used a P900 Nikon which has an excellent zoom lenses and is a reasonable size camera to lug around all day.
If you are going to depend on non-lethal bear spray .... make sure you have a will and leave everything to me.
The hunting guide who got killed last year died while field dressing an elk. His client had shot the elk the night before the altercation. They started tracking it again the next morning. They were working on the elk, when a mother grizzly and junior showed up. When you dress out an elk it’s a bloody taxing job. The natural thing would be lean your rifle against a tree have your client hold a leg get your knife out and go to work. By the time mom and junior showed up blood smell and elk smell is heavy. It seems to me to be the perfect storm. Bear spray was found on the bears fur. I doubt she noticed it. Extreme caution is needed in the spring to, it was a long winter, they’re hungry and cranky. Mom and the kids are doubly dangerous.
Unfortunately, at this time of year, half of the roads in Yellowstone are still closed. We could not go to the Grand Tetons, or even other parts of Yellowstone that reportedly have decent moose populations.
The desk clerk at the resort told us that where she lives, in Idaho, she sees moose every day.
The next time we visit Yellowstone, I’m going to have much better intel on where to find moose.
Nice picture! I only have my little Nikon Coolpix which has a tiny zoom lens that isn’t very zoomy at all.
That sounds like quite the experience!
Bears like pepper. Maybe add some spices.....
No, pack your .44 magnum.
better pack 2 because some cans can fail- and the spray is a one shot deal apparently?
[[you’ll learn that a high percentage of charges are bluffs,]]
Except for the ones that aren’t bluffs- not willing to take the chance that it ‘may or may not be a bluff’
My wife manages a bread outlet store. Outdated cinnamon rolls, donuts, fruit pies, all the sweets and bread are coveted for bear bait. They trapped a young black bear in the Canyon Village campground in Yellowstone years ago using barbecued ribs. The bear was getting in to camp coolers. Bears are omnivores there’s not much they’ll turn down. People will eat it? So will they.
#8 Is the parakeet ok?..... : )
Thanks, Buttons 12. Made me laugh out loud. Been to Alaska once, four years ago. Live in Northern Maine. Massachusetts State Police told me they would arrest me at Logan Airport if I tried to fly with a pistol in my checked luggage. Bought a shotgun in Anchorage, and left it with the maintenance manager at Victory Bible Camp. Saw a moose or two, some salmon, but no bears. Likely just as well. Learned to avoid Massachusetts when flying.
When visiting any ‘sanctuary’ jurisdiction, always pack bear spray...
Pack bear spray? No, pack a 10mm pistol
Your bear spray better be over .40 cal, or your going to get your bun chewed off.
When anything charges bear or man you have to get activated and fire accurately depending on distance within three seconds or so. In the case of a bear an instant kill is pretty ambitious. If the shot doesn’t turn it you are going to get trashed by a wounded pissed off animal. Maybe you get the bear or maybe he gets you. It’s better than going down without a fight but not much sometimes hunting and covered in elk blood or carrying trout back to camp, the brakes are off. Mom and the kids is a nightmare on paws.
We feed a Douglas Squirrel in the cage to keep the Ravens from getting the food
Got that right... humans are *not* at the top of the food chain in Alaska. ;-)
We were in Alaska for a short time during the summer of 2017 attending a wedding. It was held at a small, VERY rustic lodge in deep woods, with a roaring brook and a beautiful blue pond of a color I'd never seen before. I was told the unusual blue color was because of the minerals from the glaciers.
The wedding and reception was outside... we were all out there for several hours, as the sun was up until past midnight I think.
An employee of the lodge acted as sort of a security guard, in jeans and a plaid shirt. And he was openly carrying - had his gun on his hip. We presumed it was in case any hungry bears made an appearance.
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