Bear Bums - Bear Hunting

We’ve blogged before on bear attacks and now everyone must have heard about the girl biker who was mauled by a grizzly outside of Anchorage Alaska on a 24 hour bike race. She must have surprised the grizzly bear and that is when the trouble started.

I feel bad and I felt worse when I spent the time reading 5-6 comments people sent in to the local newspaper. Most suggestions were to get rid of the humans and thus end the bear attacks.

Warning sign posted outside of the bear attack scene.

Last year I was grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia with Harry Leuenberger of Baldy Mountain Outfitters. That day I was a spotter for a stalk on a big black bear. I was walking down an easy trail, an old logging road, through dense cover. Around the corner I came and in one, maybe two seconds, I had a face-to-face encounter with a grizzly. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday one of the blog readers asked about bear attacks. This spring I shot a bear while bear hunting on the coast of Alaska. The black bear showed no aggression but no fear, and was shot at approximately 5 yards. That’s not real common but not surprising. I’ve watched hundreds of bears, harvested dozens and been chased by a few.

When I hear things like; “he’s a bear expert”, or “you’re safe, you have a gun”, or “leave them alone and you don’t have to worry”, I laugh or become concerned. Bears are very independent and very unpredictable. There are situations that increase the likelihood of creating a hostile reaction from a bear. Read the rest of this entry »