Yellowstone bear kills hiker

[denaliguide]

sorry to hear that felicia.

news a day or so ago was that a NOLS group north of denali was attacked and several of the group were injured.

i was a fishing guide in alaska for 16 years and had the opportunity to see lots of bears up close, sometimes too close. i always carried a 12 gauge with 5 slugs. i always figured there would not be any warning shots offered. i had to chamber a round a few times but never discharged a round at a bear.

my favorite story was when i was fishing with a couple of tenderfoots up this wee little creek. we were fishing this hole and i could hear splashing around the next corner. i snuck up to have a look and there was a bear with his head in the water snorkeling for dead salmon on the bottom. i called the guys up to have a look and one of them said to me "shouldn't we be making some noise?". i looked him straight in the eye and said "if we do that, how are we going to see any bears?" thought he was gonna die. i loved that job. it was like working in the discovery channel everyday.



usually the bears would leave you alone. three things are sure to get you in trouble. sow with cubs, messing with their food, and waking up a sleeping bear. as long as the bear knows you are there then most problems are avoided

[Penelope]

Climb-Utah.com advises those backpacking in remote areas to attach bells to clothing and carry pepper spray in defense from bear attack. The bells are a non-alarming manner of alerting bears to your presence. It is also important to familiarize yourself with bear scat to ascertain which sub species of bear you are dealing with. Black bear scat contains berry seeds and particles of rodent fur. Grizzly bear scat contains bells & smells like pepper spray.

Haha! We call bear bells dinner bells.

I'm just going to make sure I'm not the slowest, fattest, tastiest one on the mountain in my backpacking group next month. It might not hurt to put some jerky in the pack of whoever snores the loudest.

[Win]

How about this incident: http://counterassault.com/kevin-boyer-encounter.pdf

Pretty much sold me on bear spray for my Yellowstone trip. The article on the Alaskan rangers seals the deal!

Win

[Firedancer]

How about this incident: http://counterassault.com/kevin-boyer-encounter.pdf

Pretty much sold me on bear spray for my Yellowstone trip. The article on the Alaskan rangers seals the deal!

Win

He posted that on a backpacking forum a few weeks ago - pretty much sold me. As someone who usually flies to my vacations in bear country, it stinks to spend 50 bucks on something you most likely won't use and can't take home with you, but I think of it as insurance just like car or home - you pay for it and hope you never have to use it.

[REDFOX]

On my trip to Alaska, the pilot would not allow us to have bear spray on the bush plane, so my only other choice was to bring a shotgun. I am curious to know if this was just specific to my pilot, or if other pilots allow pepper spray on their planes while they are dropping off their clients.

[denaliguide]

On my trip to Alaska, the pilot would not allow us to have bear spray on the bush plane, so my only other choice was to bring a shotgun. I am curious to know if this was just specific to my pilot, or if other pilots allow pepper spray on their planes while they are dropping off their clients.

most bush pilots won't fly with it in the cabin. i certainly wouldn't, it would suck if it went off. but in the floats it's not an issue, provided your are on floats. personally i'd rather have the shotgun anyway. if the plane goes down you can't kill a moose with pepper spray.

[keithd]

Our pilot loaned us a can (and we bought a can at REI), but, as Denaliguide said, it was a float plane, so he put the cans in the floats.

[keithd]

I have to confess...while I do have almost complete faith in bear spray, I did make a purchase last week:



http://www.ruger.com/products/superR...an/models.html

After spending some time in the Absarokas last year, I noticed that literally everyone was carrying a big gun...and I guess I got gun envy...

[torange]

sorry to hear that felicia.

news a day or so ago was that a NOLS group north of denali was attacked and several of the group were injured.

i was a fishing guide in alaska for 16 years and had the opportunity to see lots of bears up close, sometimes too close. i always carried a 12 gauge with 5 slugs. i always figured there would not be any warning shots offered. i had to chamber a round a few times but never discharged a round at a bear.

my favorite story was when i was fishing with a couple of tenderfoots up this wee little creek. we were fishing this hole and i could hear splashing around the next corner. i snuck up to have a look and there was a bear with his head in the water snorkeling for dead salmon on the bottom. i called the guys up to have a look and one of them said to me "shouldn't we be making some noise?". i looked him straight in the eye and said "if we do that, how are we going to see any bears?" thought he was gonna die. i loved that job. it was like working in the discovery channel everyday.



usually the bears would leave you alone. three things are sure to get you in trouble. sow with cubs, messing with their food, and waking up a sleeping bear. as long as the bear knows you are there then most problems are avoided

Ahhrrr man. I would have thought that a change of pants would have been in order!! Blimey