GRIZZLY ATTACK

[sixshot]

A couple of days ago a bow hunter was attacked & worked over by a grizzly bear here in Idaho. The attack took place about 100 miles north of my place. The guy was bowhunting with a friend who had shot a 6X6 bull, the shot was kind of late in the afternoon & they decided to wait until morning to try & find it.
They immediately found blood that led them to a small patch of timber & heard brush cracking & thought it was their bull. The guy said before he could even move a grizzly attacked him, biting him & returning to the timber, they took off for a hospital in Idaho Falls.
The guy stated that he had no chance to even move, he said pepper spray, a shot gun or a handgun would have been useless it happened so fast.
I've said before, the biggest mistake people make when they see a bear is ...nothing, they wait & thats a big mistake, even if a bear is spotted a fair distance away. They can cover ground faster than a quarter horse. If you spot a bear, any bear, the first thing you do is draw your weapon, or pepper spray, etc. Waiting gets many people injured or killed.
In this case the guy was totally helpless it happened so fast, but most times there is a narrrow window where you do have time to get ready, just saying. The hunters were from Michigan.

Dick

 

[jack black]

My WIFE acted the same way as the GRIZ when I cleaned my BLACK POWDER guns in the DISH WASHER

 

[contender]

It sounds as if the griz found his elk & claimed it. They will defend their food. And,, if many people would understand that once they shoot an animal, and don't recover it soon, that it's possible for this to happen. Yes, in bowhunting, you should allow an arrowed animal time to expire before going after it. But, if you do that,, you should be fully aware of the fact that a griz could have found it. As noted,,, you have to be fully prepared.
I truly hope this hunter fully recovers & that they do not try & kill the bear just for protecting "his" food.

 

[BearBio]

It sounds as if the griz found his elk & claimed it. They will defend their food. And,, if many people would understand that once they shoot an animal, and don't recover it soon, that it's possible for this to happen. Yes, in bowhunting, you should allow an arrowed animal time to expire before going after it. But, if you do that,, you should be fully aware of the fact that a griz could have found it. As noted,,, you have to be fully prepared.
I truly hope this hunter fully recovers & that they do not try & kill the bear just for protecting "his" food.

Ditto. Things are different here in the West.

 

[skip]

Here in Alaska this year we have 8 bear attacks....most bear charges are bluffs...see a bear let em know you are there by talking or shouting...most bear attacks are a mom protecting a cub or a bear on a kill protecting it from intruders...when you see a bear you don't just start shooting...I have been bluff charges about 5 times and the only time I felt like the bear wanted to kill me was a large black bear that I shot in the chest at 12 feet...

 

[Short Barrel]

I believe the F+G had stated they had no intention of going after the bear as it left the guy and returned immediately to the kill.It was clearly a defense thing.

Bears go into what is called hyperphagia ,in late Summer and this is basically,their metabolism changes so they can eat almost 24/7,in preparation for going into hibernation.Finding and consuming food this time of year is their full time job.I'm convinced that they spend much of their time traveling with their nose into the wind this time of year and it is claimed that they have a nose better than a bloodhound's.It is just uncanny,how quickly they find gut piles and kills this time of year.A person has to be prepared.

Those guys didn't have bear spray or anything else and I realize their was no time but what if the attack had been more prolonged? The friend could have stopped the attack.In retrospect,it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to carry a long gun for an elk follow up,especially if it was out over night.It's great to hear this one ended well,considering.

 

[Swampbilly]

It sounds as if the griz found his elk & claimed it. They will defend their food. And,, if many people would understand that once they shoot an animal, and don't recover it soon, that it's possible for this to happen. Yes, in bowhunting, you should allow an arrowed animal time to expire before going after it. But, if you do that,, you should be fully aware of the fact that a griz could have found it. As noted,,, you have to be fully prepared.
I truly hope this hunter fully recovers & that they do not try & kill the bear just for protecting "his" food.

Yes, true. Understanding that hindsight is 20-20, under those circumstances, I believe I would have had pepper spray or sidearm in hand while searching for the downed game if it had been a while. And Skip introduces a valid point in his earlier post, about bluff charges.

If it is the same story I read, I do not beleive the hunter was carrying any bear spray.

 

[Fowler]

I believe the F+G had stated they had no intention of going after the bear as it left the guy and returned immediately to the kill.It was clearly a defense thing.

Bears go into what is called hyperphagia ,in late Summer and this is basically,their metabolism changes so they can eat almost 24/7,in preparation for going into hibernation.Finding and consuming food this time of year is their full time job.I'm convinced that they spend much of their time traveling with their nose into the wind this time of year and it is claimed that they have a nose better than a bloodhound's.It is just uncanny,how quickly they find gut piles and kills this time of year.A person has to be prepared.

Those guys didn't have bear spray or anything else and I realize their was no time but what if the attack had been more prolonged? The friend could have stopped the attack.In retrospect,it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to carry a long gun for an elk follow up,especially if it was out over night.It's great to hear this one ended well,considering.

You wouldnt go retrieve game in Alaska without a gun why do it country that Grizzlies are known to be?

A buddy killed a elk just east of Yellowstone with his bow a couple of years ago and had a very, very large black bear try and claim the kill while they were boning the animal out! This is where Wyoming drops problem bears so who know if this bear had a past history or not. But I know they hit him with bear spray three different times and the bear still didnt run off. They then were down to just their bows for back up and they decided to finish what they were doing while one of them watched the bear. In the end the bear waited them out and was back on the gut pile when they were less than 200 yards away on the horses. The last view they had they said the bears head was still red from all of the bear spray!

I think carrying bear spray is a great idea but a rifle, slug gun, or a handgun is better yet. But then I am a gun guy so...

 

[sixshot]

Good judgement was used by the F&G in not destroying that bear, he defended a kill that he had claimed, the intruders got a severe but not fatal warning & at the end of the day everyone went home alive.
Whatever that word is that Short Barrel used, I must be, because I never stop eating in the fall, or spring or winter or summer.

Dick

 

[TucsonDirt]

...In retrospect,it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to carry a long gun for an elk follow up,especially if it was out over night.It's great to hear this one ended well,considering.

You wouldnt go retrieve game in Alaska without a gun why do it country that Grizzlies are known to be?

...I think carrying bear spray is a great idea but a rifle, slug gun, or a handgun is better yet. But then I am a gun guy so...

In many states it is illegal to carry firearms while bowhunting.

 

[ruggedruger]

A friend of mine farms (and hunts) on wide open agricultural land in eastern NC. A lot of it is surrounded by wildlife refuge (forest/swamp). Many, many, many black bear (some 600+ lbs).

He says it's not uncommon to shoot a deer, get the truck, and when you get to the deer, a bear is dragging it off.

It is illegal to pack a firearm while bowhunting here. (I'd like to carry a .44 mag with me if I could).

 

[contender]

ruggedruger; NC is looking at a few changes to carrying a handgun while bowhunting. It has to do with CCW & the Castle Doctrine.

 

[Swampbilly]

...In retrospect,it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to carry a long gun for an elk follow up,especially if it was out over night.It's great to hear this one ended well,considering.

You wouldnt go retrieve game in Alaska without a gun why do it country that Grizzlies are known to be?

...I think carrying bear spray is a great idea but a rifle, slug gun, or a handgun is better yet. But then I am a gun guy so...

In many states it is illegal to carry firearms while bowhunting.

It's sad when anti-freedom politicians legislate good common sense options away from the outdoorsman.

 

[stevemb]

I've trailed deer after dark with only a knife. Because light + weapon = poaching. Had to throw stick,rocks and use loud foul language to get a black bear off a bow killed deer. Was NOT fun, a couple of decades or so further down lifes path, I don't think I'd do that again. stevemb

 

[dlhredfoxx]

Scary stuff, they are fast critters. Some people just freeze, ain't nothing gonna change that. And in fact until it happens to you, how do you really know how you will react? It's fight or flight, but some folks do neither... food chain can be pretty unforgiving, especially when you are not on the apex of it! Be prepared, be aware, be armed, take general precautions and use your God given common sense... it's all you can really do in bear country. When you lace up your boots, throw on your pack and head down the trail in bear country, it's a risk that you're taking. Life is a choice, lets just be thankful that as Americans we still have the right to make that choice (unless Osama get's re-elected of course)... :)

 

[tek4260]

Why is it a good choice by the F&G not to destroy the bear? It actually attacked a person. At what point is a bear considered a menace to the people hunting there?

I am not trying to go against the grain, I am just curious. If it were a bluff, I'd agree with taking no action. There are very few bears here so I have no experience. I suppose I am looking at the bear somewhat like a dog. Once it bites(or even growls), that is the end for them.

 

[SargeMO]

Amen, Tex. Kill the damned bear before it repeats that performance.

 

[sixshot]

If a dog comes outside of the property & attacks someone, he's probably going to get put down, now if a person trespasses onto the owners property & the dog attacks, who's to blame?
The bear didn't go looking for trouble, he was looking for a snack, he claimed it & the unlucky hunters walked in on his lunch break, not good, he was defending what was his.

Dick

 

[SargeMO]

There is no 'blame' to it, sixshot. When bears attack humans, they get put down. Same for bad horses, dogs, zoo animals etc.

 

[contender]

I have to side with the Game Dept & sixshot. I work with wildlife,,, and all too many people do not understand animals. The bear did no wrong. It was defending what it only knows was his/her meal. It only gave a brief attack, and returned to the meal.
Now,,, if the hunters had only been walking along, and there was no threat to the bears by them, and a bear attacks w/o provication,, then it might be a different story.

 

[paul105]

Here in Montana a grizzly attacked a bowhunter a couple of days ago. It can be a bit unnerving when bow hunting elk just before dawn and dusk -- not only bears, but mountain lions and wolves can be attracted by by elk calls/scents. Every shadow, squirrel and bird will get your heart beating pretty quick until you identify the source. It is legal to carry a handgun while bow hunting in Montana.

http://mtstandard.com/news/local/bow-hunter-inadvertently-attracts-grizzly-bear-in-madison-range/article_f0eb24fc-0294-11e2-a6d5-0019bb2963f4.html

Paul

 

[kirb44]

better try again

Kal

 

[M'BOGO]

Wow, talk about a bad day! Good that everything turned out allright.