Posted on 06/21/2018 1:43:38 PM PDT by marktwain
Google Plus Print articleReddit Increase Article Font Size Decrease Article Font Size Update, 7 p.m.: We’ve posted a new story with updated information: Man killed, member of search party injured in Eagle River bear attacks ▶ Play
Update, 4:10 p.m.: What Anchorage police described as an aggressive brown bear believed to have killed an Eagle River man and suspected of badly injuring another man had not been found as of Wednesday afternoon.
Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game searched for the animal earlier on Wednesday. As of 4 p.m., no one was in the field but biologists were putting together a plan for what to do next, said department spokesman Ken Marsh.
The body of Mike Soltis, an Eagle River man missing since Monday, was discovered in a brushy area close to the end of Hiland Road in Eagle River late Wednesday morning.
A member of the search party looking for him was mauled by a brown bear close to where the man's body was discovered. The searcher, who was hospitalized with what police described as serious injuries to his leg, wasn't immediately identified.
"It appears the brown bear was protecting the body (of Soltis) when it attacked a member of the search party," police wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Bought a similar marlin guide rifle like that for my son (only in blue with wood stock and muzzle break holes). 45-70 but we load it to .450 marlin power for hunts in bear country. Nice compact and powerful.
Crappy part is how leftards have infested Anchorage.
Anti-hunting, pro-”nature”, typical lefty idiots.
Open hunting season on bears and moose around that area. People before animals.
While I was out of town, a full grown black bear tried to get into my home in the foothills of California while my wife and small dog were inside. He was standing and leaning against the bay window and, when he could not get in that way, he went around to the other side of the house and tried to enter. Wife got the 12 gauge shotgun next to the bed and called the Sherriff. The deputy shot the bear with ‘bean bag’ and off he went. He will return and something will have to be done to eliminate this threat. beautiful bear but used to humans and being a food source.
Caliber with a .4 in it.
That is scary-I really hope the bear stays away-
Once when the cub was about 10, we were camping in the mountains in New Mexico-we had taken our little travel trailer instead of sleeping in a tent, because of so many bears in that forest. We’d unhooked the trailer, set up camp and were getting ready to turn in when my husband asked the cub if she was sure she hadn’t left so much as a crumb of food in the Suburban, and she said she had not. In the wee hours, we were awakened by a commotion outside, and the cub whispering “mommy, daddy-a bear!”
Turns out she had left a half-empty package of Oreo cookies in an ice chest in the back of the Suburban, thinking since it was a closed container, no bear would smell cookies-wrong- as we watched at the window, a big black bear crawled into the open back window after bending the tailgate, squashed the ice chest into pieces growling the whole time, ate the cookies then tore up the carpet and upholstery looking for more before rambling off into the woods-well over $1200 damage to the vehicle. Needless to say, we checked the vehicle for food ourselves when camping in bear country, no matter what the cub said...
What’s really scary is being 3000 miles away when this happens. Wife calls with a bear at the window, not panicked but obviously very scared. told her to get the shotgun and call . I tried to call 911. Try calling 911 when you are out of area. They, the 911 operators, do not know what to do either.
Good thing your cub didn’t lie and take the cookies to bed. Black bears are about 350 lbs. of muscle. Browns are about 1,00 to 1,500. Keep the gun loaded.
One doesn’t have to outrun the Bear, just all the others in your party.;)
We used to camp in Cloudcroft NM quite a bit. Saw a couple bears, but never had any trouble. After we moved out of the area, we took a camping trip there. When we got to the campground in what should have been the busy season, we were the only people there. When we asked the caretaker why, he said a black bear killed a camper in his tent the previous week. We stayed and had a good time until we got rained out.
There are more people killed by lightning than bears, and even more killed by deer. Carrying a decent gun is always a good idea. Bears get acclimated to people pretty quickly, and proximity to food and trash only increases the danger. By the end of summer most bears are pretty docile.
Back in the day some friends and I drove off a bear going after our hanging food bag by throwing logs from the wood pile at it and tossing a pile of brush on the fire to get it blazing.
I know how that joke goes.
“Why are you putting on sneakers? You can’t outrun a bear.”
“I don’t have to.”
Diameter is not always power.
A .338 win mag or .375 H&H mag. Trumps a .44 mag or .454 casull or even a .450 marlin, .45-70 or .444 marlin. Of course the 338 win mag or .375 H&H are usually long and unwieldy. And pistols and short lever rifles/ pump shotguns are easier to carry.
When I was a kid a local farmer shot and killed a Black Bear, the picture was was in the Paper the next day , Ist Bear shot in Connecticut in 75 years. This was in the early 60’s. Not one single Bear in 75 years. I have seen perhaps 25-30 Bears since spring not only on the road but in my yard. All this due to the forests growing back where it used to be farmland.
Mr. GG2 carried a .454 Casul everywhere when he lived in Alaska. You can meet up with a bear or Moose just walking around in Anchorage.
Look up the local number for your police dept and put it in your phone. I have my local PD # in mine and have used it many times.
good Idea!
911 operators are not the sharpest tacks in the drawer. While the bear was still at the window, the 911 operator (talking to my wife) said she would have a Forrest Ranger give her a call. Fortunately smarter people directed the call to the Sherriff’s office and within a few minutes the Deputy had it under control.
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