Tips for hiking in bear country

[el wacho]

alot of people don't know that out here in the land of Oz that the koalas lay in silent wait until... drop! out of the tree and onto the victim!! there's nothing you can do after that. very sad really...

 

[John McCallum]

I've heard about that. Doesn't it happen when they fall asleep and roll off the branch?

 

[Paul Goutiere]

The late Canadian writer, Didier Fascenbach, wrote a book on the subject of Koalas. It is called "Koala Horror" and is about this very subject. He was commissioned by the Australian government to study the phenomenon because the Aussies wouldn't do it, hence the book. ISBN #2888671BS Koala Horror and Ursus Arctos Horribilis.

The largest living relative of the Koala, the Canadian Mountain Grizzly, will fall out of a tree occasionally also. Ironically this is how Mr. Fascenbach met his untimely end. (The bear is fine however.)

 

[Early Riser]

I've heard about that. Doesn't it happen when they fall asleep and roll off the branch?

That sounds more like what happens in New Zealand where after having consumed too much Monteiths lager, the Kiwis fall asleep and roll off the branches.(Yeah they sleep in branches, NZ is a rough and tumble country with massive flocks of aggressive and hungry sheep posing a severe danger to those with allergies to wool, hence the need to sleep in trees).

Here in the US you just have to be on the look out for our citizens, for as the country that proudly bears the claim of having the most rotund citizenry, we roll easily on flat surfaces.

 

[edebill]

I hope I never have to test it.

I've debated getting a .357 to carry, myself. Around here the worries are wild hogs and mountain lions, both of which should be well within its capabilities.

People don't talk about it, but wild hogs are large, aggressive and very very common in some areas. They're the only wildlife that's actually forced me to back down and go back the other way.

 

[c6h6o3]

I've seen citations of .357s doing the job on black bears, but never heard of anything short of a rifle working on grizzlies.

The .44 Magnum (S&W Model 29, Dirty Harry's gun) is for all intents and purposes a rifle cartridge.

A .357 Magnum with a 158 gr. hollow point has a muzzle velocity of 1,410 ft/s and delivers 539 ft-lb. of force. A 300 gr. .44 Magnum load has a muzzle velocity of 1,500 ft/s and delivers 1,500 ft-lb. of force. It should be quite adequate for even a Kodiak or polar bear.

 

[Robert Hall]

The 360 grain Casull has up to 2125 ft-lbs of energy, about that of a .300 Winchester Mag (rifle cartridge)

 

[Kilgallb]

This business about out runnng your friend is nonsense. After the bear kills the slow guy (about 4 seconds) the bear then kills you. (8 seconds)

Two years ago in Alberta, a grizzely bear managed to kill two heavily armed hunters who had just killed an elk. The hunters were found many meters apart.

 

[Frank Szabo]

Liberal???
Given the choice of your model 29 and pepper spray, I'd take the pepper spray any day. You'd have to be very accurate with your first shot, or else you're just going to piss off the bear.

All I can say, sir, is that it's not my fault you don't practice at the range.

What you suggest is akin to taking a knife to a gunfight - sheer nonsense.

 

[Frank Szabo]

The .44 Magnum (S&W Model 29, Dirty Harry's gun) is for all intents and purposes a rifle cartridge.

A .357 Magnum with a 158 gr. hollow point has a muzzle velocity of 1,410 ft/s and delivers 539 ft-lb. of force. A 300 gr. .44 Magnum load has a muzzle velocity of 1,500 ft/s and delivers 1,500 ft-lb. of force. It should be quite adequate for even a Kodiak or polar bear.

Like any other projectile, however, only if placed correctly.

 

[RobC]

So how fast can a big bear move? My guess is that if he's coming your way at speed, then by the time he's in range of a pepper spray, he will have already started the swipe at your head which will kill you. Still, it'll be very comforting to have one of two possible last thoughts. Either "that bears going to have sore eyes for a bit" or "Oh S***". My guess is the latter.

 

[Robert Hall]

35mph Rob, pretty dang fast.

 

[John McCallum]

That sounds more like what happens in New Zealand where after having consumed too much Monteiths lager, the Kiwis fall asleep and roll off the branches.(Yeah they sleep in branches, NZ is a rough and tumble country with massive flocks of aggressive and hungry sheep posing a severe danger to those with allergies to wool, hence the need to sleep in trees).

Here in the US you just have to be on the look out for our citizens, for as the country that proudly bears the claim of having the most rotund citizenry, we roll easily on flat surfaces.

Rotund is a relative thing. That is, genetic?

I guess in this case, we should be thankful US citizens don't fall asleep in trees like NZ'rs (and Australian koalas).

Killer Sheep - the movie

 

[RobC]

Rotund is a relative thing. That is, genetic?

I guess in this case, we should be thankful US citizens don't fall asleep in trees like NZ'rs (and Australian koalas).

Didn't Keith Richards fall out of a tree in New Zealand? Or maybe he was completely out of his tree?

 

[RobC]

35mph Rob, pretty dang fast.

Thats what I thought. Way too fast for you to do anything about it with a pepper spray from 10ft. And who thought that signpost was a joke?

 

[Early Riser]

Rotund is a relative thing. That is, genetic?

I guess in this case, we should be thankful US citizens don't fall asleep in trees like NZ'rs (and Australian koalas).

Killer Sheep - the movie

John the only way you'd get some Americans up a tree is if you used twinkies as bait. Then again some of your roasted chicken and taters would get this American up a tree.

Regards to the family, B

 

[Early Riser]

As for bears and bear spray, what I've read by the experts on dealing with bears, bear spray is usually more effective than a firearm. I've tested my bear spray, there's no aiming involved. It sends out a huge cloud at least 20-30 feet wide by 30-40 feet long depending on the wind. There's no way that a charging bear going through that is not going to get a huge nose, lung and eye full of it. If he can't see, smell or breathe, and has intense pain I think he'll turn away. Whereas a bullet that doesn't take out his heart, brain or nervous system leaves one very pissed off and adrenalized animal.

 

[johnnywalker]

All I can say, sir, is that it's not my fault you don't practice at the range.

What you suggest is akin to taking a knife to a gunfight - sheer nonsense.

Sheer nonsense? Knife to a gunfight? You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
It would be a waste of my time to practice pistol shooting on the off-chance of meeting an angry or hungry bear, when the bear spray is perfectly adequate protection. I have no interest in pistols of any type.

 

[Paul Goutiere]

All I can say, sir, is that it's not my fault you don't practice at the range.

What you suggest is akin to taking a knife to a gunfight - sheer nonsense.

Nearly 1/2 ton of pissed off meat, with teeth, claws, intelligence and attitude would make quick work of you I'm afraid. You would have to be pretty lucky to handle a bear like a Grizzly, even at short distance, with anything like a piddly little handgun. Ultimately you might fatally injure him, but he'd have you first, sure as hell. Sorry, but firearms are a pussy idea anyway.

However, if you left him alone, realized that he wanted nothing to do with you and just walked away, everything would be OK 99.9% of the time. Then, just in case, it would be handy to have some bear spray.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Paul, being from Canmore (in the Canadian Rockies) probably has more Grizzly experiences than the rest of us put together. I'll stick to bear spray...I couldn't imagine anyone getting off an accurate shot at a bear through underbrush so thick you can't see it coming, no matter how often they practiced shooting at stationary targets far off in the distance at a rifle range.

The last person to get attacked by a Grizzly around here had a rifle, but he leaned it against a tree so he could wash his hands in the river. You see, his hands were pretty bloody after dealing with the moose he'd just shot and his buddies had gone back to the truck for a minute. The bear stomped on him pretty good before dragging the moose into the bush. Another case of big gun, dim bulb.

Murray

 

[Glenn M]

Just to advise Mr. McCallum who posted the link on Message #63 (Killer Sheep, the Movie): New Zealand WAS on my list of gotta-visit places before I die... it has now been removed. But at least my fear of bears has been lessened.

In this part of the world we're far more worried about fire ants... bells, pepper spray, 45-mags, Cassulls... anything short of nukes have no effect on 'em.

Perhaps if we all carried electronic gattling guns these critters would all be less worrisome.....

 

[el wacho]

i use these

 

[Lee L]

i use these

http://www.waspknife.com/video_watermelon.php

If you blow up a grizzly's watermelon like that, you're just gonna piss him off. Leave him to eat in peace.

Lee

 

[RobertP]

I spent 4 yr in Alaska. Most of that on Kodiak Island, home to the largest brown bears in the world. Their rich salmon diet contributes to their size. We fly fished there quite a bit. If you were caught out fishing without a firearm you were fined. A ranger, looked at my friends 44 mag side arm and told him he needed to file the front sight off of it. When asked why he replied, "So you can fit it into your mouth and not knock your front teeth out when you blow your brains out, because that's all its good for against a charging Kodiak brown". I carried a Browning model 98 45/70 that fired a 500 gr. round. The most dangerous bear is a sow with her cub. She will die protecting it. We floated upon one that was in midstream and stopped about 1000 yards away. After an hour or so her and her cub wadded to shore. She false charged us for about 300 yards. The sound of her growl in the quiet of the Alaskan wilderness made my hair stand on end. Luckily I was with an experienced guide because I was chambering a round when he said "hang on a second she's just letting us know this is her river" She covered that 300 yards in what seemed less than ten strides then stopped dead in her tracks and turned around and went back toward her cub. I probably couldn't have got off a good shot because I was shaking so bad. I'll never forget that sound. Now a polar bear is a different animal. Its the only animal on earth that will stalk a man to eat him. Now you can carry all the pepper spray you want but if your close enough to use it against a charging bear its probably to late. The kids that play outside on Kodiak Island wear bells. Unless a bear is startled they are more afraid of you than you are of them. The bears are so protected there if you do happen to shoot one you'll go through more legal red tape than you can ever imagine. In others words, like the ranger said, "if you shoot one you better have claw marks on you".

 

[RobertP]

Oh I almost forgot one of the most important tips...stay away from the garbage dump.