Gun In Truck - Attacked By Bear Away From Truck

https://darwinawards.com/

This sounds like a guy who will always travel with a slower friend from now on.

Sounds like there is a lesson in that story

ApacheCoTodd said:

A dog is a great thing as long as it is not of a nature to be an instigator and can be called *out* 100% reliably.

One-couple things about bears in general and Grizz in particular - in my experience - is that they stink to holy-hell and are noisy in the strangest ways.

Ironically, the stench is seldom ID'd as bear until too late and the noises that they make are strangely anomalous and easily disregarded to the potential victim's distress.

I recall my first bear briefing at a place called Tanana Base Camp up Alaska held this jewel: "Browns smell gawd-awful.... Don't ask me exactly what they smell like but trust me; if you attend to the outrageous smell we are warning you of.... if you EVER smell it you will know instantly!"

Couple weeks later this was proven out. I needed about 1/2 or less of a second between noting as a mental flash: "what the hell is THAT?!?" and logging it as a potential Brown. Play into that attaching the strange sounds I'd been hearing for about a minute prior.

She and I eventually went our separate ways but the encounter is the stuff of high-fiction and far too long a story to type out here.

Todd.

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Ever been near a whale when it blows? Absolutely putrid smell, too. But those generally don't eat you. Well, maybe killer whales.

There's an acronym is motorcycling, ATGATT. All The Gear, All The Time. You don't get to choose when you may go down, so if you wear it all the time, you're covered.

Something that surveyor might want to consider. But I bet he will now.

Speedo66 said:

Ever been near a whale when it blows? Absolutely putrid smell, too. But those generally don't eat you. Well, maybe killer whales.

There's an acronym is motorcycling, ATGATT. All The Gear, All The Time. You don't get to choose when you may go down, so if you wear it all the time, you're covered.

Something that surveyor might want to consider. But I bet he will now.

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I have, a couple-few times in Monterey Bay and never got to notice that or merely don't recall.

Now, I feel like I've had less than complete experiences in that regard.

Todd.

ApacheCoTodd said:

I have, a couple-few times in Monterey Bay and never got to notice that or merely don't recall.

Now, I feel like I've had less than complete experiences in that regard.

Todd.

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Maybe it's just east coast whales. lol

Or it was so hideous your mind has blocked any memory of it to save your sanity. Nasty rotten fish odor to the Nth degree.

Speedo66 said:

Maybe it's just east coast whales. lol

Or it was so hideous your mind has blocked any memory of it to save your sanity. Nasty rotten fish odor to the Nth degree.

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So the Easty-Beasties or Atalanticians have mind-wrending halitosis do they?

Or, would that be holeitosis?

Todd.

Today I learned that dove and brown bear have something in common. They show up as soon as your gun is too far out of reach to shoot them.

Easy to be critical of others when you have never been in their shoes. If this guy really was a surveyor in Alaska for 40 years, he is much more aware of risks from bear attacks than any of us here. If you ever read or heard the story of the attack on Sue Aikens(from Life below Zero) even the most prepared are still vulnerable. The guy, like Sue, survived, so they both did something right, altho their guns were out of reach. There is credit due.

In Alaska, the best bear pistol is a rifle.
.44mag or a .357 are very popular, among those who work outside, fishing, cutting meats, picking berrys, ect.
A loose dog is an exceptional "Bear repellent", as they absolutely despise dogs.
You can keep Bears away with a "piss fence" and use natures way of establishing territory.

I wrote it up a couple years back, but I was hunting a nice fat Brown Bear a couple years ago and when he came into view from behind the mound between us, (I was waiting for him), so when around he saw me and he came right at me.
A solid shot straight on, slightly left of his face, 7.62x54r hit is neck/shoulder, blew through his heart, lung and ended in the liver, deadly, yet not so dead yet all he did was a forward roll and kept on coming.
I worked the Mosins bolt and in the time it took to do that from the first hit to his demise was just seconds.
He stopped dead with a bullet through the brain that entered just between the eyes and bit back, ended smashed in his first 4 vertebrata,7 paces away, ........he had easily covered 50 yards.

Luckily, that has been the only "Charge" Ive had, and I was hunting him.

You can kill a charging Brown Bear, but you cannot stop one.

Make your presence know,so no surprises that way.

Im lucky to live in the wide open, Bear attacks up this way are very very rare.

Popular local advice is If a Bear is on your friend, shoot the bear in the guts.

A bear is about 20% faster than Usain Bolt! How many folks here think they can outrun him! Much as when you're sitting in a coffee shop or at Walmart, if that gun isn't on your person when you need it it might as well be on the moon. I try to have my 12ga on me when I'm camping but it's hard to have a long gun within arm's reach 24/7 in the woods. So I like to keep a 9mm or .40 S&W in a chest rig. It's not ideal but if I can't get to the slug gun it at least gives an upgrade from harsh language.

buck460XVR said:

If this guy really was a surveyor in Alaska for 40 years, he is much more aware of risks from bear attacks than any of us here.

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With all due respect , and while it is easy to talk smart from my safe & comfortable chair , the surveyor was in the bush in bear country - and left his gun is his vehicle. While it is certain that the victim knows a lot more about bears than I ever will , it is also obvious that he made a terrible mistake that nearly cost him his life.

The situation turned out as it did. There's no way to know if having a gun would have made things better or worse. Who knows, perhaps if the bear had been wounded it would have continued the attack and finished off the surveyor. Or, maybe he would have dropped the bear before any damage was done. There's just no way to know. Personally I'd carry one with me where I could actually use it.

I posted this before in another “Bear” related thread but this is a test that I read about years ago and also heard from a couple of guys that fish in Alaska a couple of years ago. It cured me of thinking certain handguns would be good Bear medicine.

The test:
Get 5 target stands that put the bullseye at about 30 - 36 inches off the ground. The bullseye should be 3” in diameter representing a bear’s nose. A bear running on all fours nose is about 3 feet off the ground.
Set your first target at 50 yards, second at 40 yards, 3rd at 30, 4th at 20, 5th at 10 yards. Stagger them to one side or the other of centerline to the 50 yard target to simulate the bear’s nose moving side to side as it runs.

Now, take the gun of your choice and prepare to fire at the 50 yard target first. A bear can move 50 yards in 3 seconds. Either count off 3 seconds to yourself or have a Buddy run a timer or a stop watch, but see how many of the 5 targets you can hit in 3 seconds.

Quite a lesson in humility, believe me.
It’s a very good drill to see what you shoot the best and probably what you should be carrying in bear country.

My Ruger Vaquero.45 Colt loaded with some 255 grains hard cast bullets traveling at around 1200 feet per second? BAD CHOICE!…for me.
Double action should be my friend. But it was a no go for my test from 2 of my .357 magnums.
The only gun that I got 2 hits with in “the nose” consistently with 5 rounds in 3 seconds?
My Winchester 94 carbine in 30-30.

It’s a fun test. I would love to try it with my new S&W 25 sometime soon.

Fortunately I don't live in brown bear country. But if I did, a Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt, stoked with stout "Ruger Only" hardcast, is going to be always on my person in a SR Chesty Puller rig.

Pat Riot said:

The test:
Get 5 target stands that put the bullseye at about 30 - 36 inches off the ground. The bullseye should be 3” in diameter representing a bear’s nose. A bear running on all fours nose is about 3 feet off the ground.
Set your first target at 50 yards, second at 40 yards, 3rd at 30, 4th at 20, 5th at 10 yards. Stagger them to one side or the other of centerline to the 50 yard target to simulate the bear’s nose moving side to side as it runs.

Now, take the gun of your choice and prepare to fire at the 50 yard target first. A bear can move 50 yards in 3 seconds. Either count off 3 seconds to yourself or have a Buddy run a timer or a stop watch, but see how many of the 5 targets you can hit in 3 seconds.

Quite a lesson in humility, believe me.
It’s a very good drill to see what you shoot the best and probably what you should be carrying in bear country.

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I have a setup at my personal gun range that is similar, except it uses a tetherball attached to a spring wound air hose reel. The shooter stands with the rope between his legs and they tetherball about 25 yards in front of him. Can't start shooting till the ball starts coming at you. The ball is about the same size as a "stop" zone on a bear. Not many folks hit it. Even I, who have done the drill for years, have a hard time hitting it more than once before it gets to me when using a handgun....even if it's my 1911.

Double Naught Spy said:

Knowing the risks of your environment is one thing. Being complacent about them is another.

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You are correct. Complacency is a common human trait, especially when one has done something for years. Riding motorcycle one must ride distinctively defensively. Yet folks relax once in a while and it costs them. Coupla weeks ago, my wife and I were clearing a old fence line. I told her to put repellent on because it's tick season. She didn't. A day later she finds a tick behind her knee. Another week goes by and she is diagnosed with Lyme. Here's folk's chance to trash her too.

buck460XVR said:

I have a setup at my personal gun range that is similar, except it uses a tetherball attached to a spring wound air hose reel. The shooter stands with the rope between his legs and they tetherball about 25 yards in front of him. Can't start shooting till the ball starts coming at you. The ball is about the same size as a "stop" zone on a bear. Not many folks hit it. Even I, who have done the drill for years, have a hard time hitting it more than once before it gets to me when using a handgun....even if it's my 1911.

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That is a pretty cool idea. Have you ever tried it with a rifle, like a pistol caliber rifle or carbine?

I am a surveyor who worked for several years in remote parts of Alaska. While I always carried a rifle or handgun on me, I will say that I'm not sure how helpful it would have been in a lot of cases.

Bears are fast. A lot of times you are carrying a lot of equipment, and probably wearing a mosquito face net and full rain gear, even when it isn't raining, due to the hordes of mosquitos and white socks. In my case, I was often sweating buckets because of the rain gear and my glasses wiould invariably be constantly fogged.

Reacting quickly to anything while encumbered like that can be a real challenge.