Alaska bear attack leaves teens in serious condition

[Mr Natural]

Originally posted by Kooshdakhaa
Those kids did have bear spray with them, it just all happened so fast they didn't think to use it, apparently.

Personally, no way in hell, NO WAY IN HELL, would I go traipsing around in bear country without a big gun. I grew up in Southeast Alaska, big brown bear country, and that's where I get that attitude.

Of course, you can't just have the gun with you, you have to know how to use it, and be prepared to use it quickly. Be very, very aware of your surroundings at all times. Where they were was real Alaskan wilderness, not Disneyworld for crying out loud!

Here's a better idea:

Take your big gun and put a bullet in the head of this imbecilic, moronic american tradition to camp in national parks.

Nothing wrong with camping in national parks, thats what they are there for in part. What you need to do is know about the dangerous wildlife in the area, the proper steps to take to avoid contact, and to have a weapon ready as a last resport to defend yourself.

That doesn't sound like a very relaxing vacation.

 

[José]

The national park is their home, marty. You are the human invader. If there is the slightest chance you'll have to kill them for behaving like bears in their own habitat, cancel your trip and go watch a ballet performance.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

The national park is their home, marty. You are the human invader. If there is the slightest chance you'll have to kill them for behaving like bears in their own habitat, cancel your trip and go watch a ballet performance.

Why are you guys all talking about National Parks? I don't think this occurred in a National Park. It occurred in the Talkeetna Mountains, east of Denali National Park, is my understanding. East of the park, not in it.

Are you suggesting that Alaskans, or visitors to Alaska, should never go out in the woods lest they might have to kill a bear in self-protection? You must be kidding.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I have gone and reread the stories about this attack. It wasn't a matter of those kids "not having time" to spray the bear, it's a matter of them not being prepared to spray the bear. There were seven of them for crying out loud. Maybe the first one didn't have time, but some of the others should have been able to get the spray out.

I wouldn't have been taken unawares because I'm scared shitless of bears and I would have been walking along like I was in a combat situation.

My younger brother is a big game guide in Southeast Alaska, and no way would he ever go out in the wilderness without a gun. He's been up close and personal with bears many times and he knows not to underestimate them.

These kids probably won't underestimate them again, either. If they ever go back out in the woods again.

 

[Zona]

The only way I can be bitten or eaten by a shark is by being in the water they are in. I am safe. I hate the ocean. I also will never have to deal with the threat of being attacked by a bear because of my same philosophy...

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Their teacher is a dork. ALWAYS MAKE NOISE when walking in bear country. They can hear ya from way off and will avoid YOU.

Duh.

Not always, Grace. Sometimes they may come after you. You may have wandered into their territory and they don't like it. They may be curious so they come to investigate.

The thing to remember about them is that they are predators.

A recent study has shown that in incidents where humans have been killed by black bears, the majority of the bears doing the killing were males and it was a predatory attack.

Brown bears will eat human flesh, also, as was graphically demonstrated in the killing of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I was hiking with a friend and we saw a bear.

The bear was not happy we were around so I dropped my pack, took off my boots and put on a pair of sneakers that I had in my pack.

My friend said, "Are you nuts? You can't outrun a bear"

I replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you."

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I was hiking with a friend and we saw a bear.

The bear was not happy we were around so I dropped my pack, took off my boots and put on a pair of sneakers that I had in my pack.

My friend said, "Are you nuts? You can't outrun a bear"

I replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you."

Many Alaskans tell variations of that joke. And everytime someone tells it, we still laugh. There's a lot of truth in it.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

The only way I can be bitten or eaten by a shark is by being in the water they are in. I am safe. I hate the ocean. I also will never have to deal with the threat of being attacked by a bear because of my same philosophy...

I agree, Zona. Been there, done that enough times. Even used to live in the woods. I feel no need or desire to go tramping around in the woods again.

 

[Kevinthedog]

I wonder if this would have helped.

Amazon.com: Guard Alaska Bear Pepper Spray: Sports & Outdoors

Pepper spray is just gonna piss a momma bear off even more. She'll see it as an attack on her cubs.

Pepper spray works.

 

[Kevinthedog]

I wonder if this would have helped.

Amazon.com: Guard Alaska Bear Pepper Spray: Sports & Outdoors

Pepper spray is just gonna piss a momma bear off even more. She'll see it as an attack on her cubs.

Did they have a rifle with them? You would be crazy to go into the deep woods in alaska unarmed, or even worse, underarmed. Something in 30.06, preferably semi-auto, like a Garand.

I live here. I do it all the time. many other alaskans do too. Isnt a biggee.