Bear Attacks Hunter...

[nwgunslinger]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002948254_bear23.html


Bear attacks hunter near Olympic National Park
By The Associated Press


FORKS, Wash. — A black bear attacked and seriously injured a hunter on a road just outside Olympic National Park late Saturday, authorities said.

A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help, said Larry Evans, a shift supervisor for the Washington State Patrol's office in Bremerton, on the Kitsap Peninsula between Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula.

The injured hunter was rushed to Forks Hospital with a compound fracture to the arm, a broken hand and several bite marks, Evans said.

The man lost a significant amount of blood, but was expected to survive, Evans said.

The attack was reported to the state patrol around 9 p.m., and aid workers arrived about 15 minutes later.

The bear apparently had dragged the man away from the site of the attack before being shot, Evans said.

Troopers said they receive occasional reports of cougar attacks in the area, but that bear attacks are relatively rare.

Forks is a small town near the northwest edge of Olympic National Park, one of the state's most popular attractions for hunters, anglers and other outdoors enthusiasts.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

 

[sturmruger]

I have been through forks before and it is really out in the boonies!! I am suprised they even have a hospital.

 

[PCGS65]

I really hate to hear about incidents like this. But we all must remember to be so carefull when venturing out into their habitat.
Get well soon..............

 

[Cosmoline]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=196650

 

[fredcwdoc]

He was flown to Harberview in Seattle.

 

[Funkytime]

The worm turns...

And the hunter becomes the hunted. Can't blame the bear really though can you - perhaps he was hungry

 

[Guyon]

At least these fellows had a gun. A tragic reminder that you always need to be alert in the wild. Always.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

you always need to be alert in the wild.

What about sleep?

 

[TCOV]

The parties involved were hunting bear with a permit on private timber land to control bear damage on young trees. It appears that their hounds had circled the bear back into the hunting party and the area was heavy brush. The man attacked was on a road and unarmed. It was just his bad luck and don't give the bear any undue credit. If you spend enough time in heavy woods you know that anything can happen. Cell phones and radios saved his life. The Forks area is the edge of the continent and there are amazing stories and people there. Visit it if you can.

 

[LAK]

The injured hunter was rushed to Forks Hospital with a compound fracture to the arm, a broken hand and several bite marks, Evans said

Just an aside of which I am reminded. Animals are, pound for pound, very strong indeed. Even a smaller than average bear or cat is extremely dangerous in a hands-on meeting.

------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[Double Naught Spy]

At least these fellows had a gun.

As hunters, I would expect them would have a gun. They would either be (most likely) hunters with bows or hunters with guns. I don't know of two adults who go hunting together who only have one person armed, so why didn't the first hunter shooter or otherwise use his weapon. If hunting, I assume he would maybe have a knife for cleaning his killls and other utility, but yet no report of such an implement being used.

Were they really hunting?

See the other thread, sure they were hunting. The guy who got bit was chasing he bear!!!!

Why do people assume bear attacks are for food (see above)? Some are, but some are simply because humans are stupid, careless, or clueless. You can't blame the bear for biting the guy with the guy was trying to hunt and kill the bear.

 

[H&Hhunter]

What about sleep?

You should be especially alert where you plan to sleep and what scents you are putting off and have a flash light tied to one hand and a weapon tied to other.

In serious predator countyr that is.

 

[22-rimfire]

Are these bear attacks becoming more common or are they just being reported by the press these days more?

I flip flop on this issue as far as being armed in the woods (when not hunting). Sometimes I feel as though a 22 is plenty and other times I lean toward a large bore handgun.

 

[BigO01]

I had a book years ago that the Author claimed there have been more documented cases of Black Bears stalking , killing and eating people than those by Brown bears by far .

The one story that comes to mind is one in Canada where three boys went fishing , the oldest who had driven his younger brother and a friend was taking a nap in the car and when he woke up he couldn't find the other two boys but found torn and bloody clothing by the stream/river .

After calling for help a search party found a Black bear standing over a body feeding off of it , they had to call for permission for a game warden to use a gun in the park "some Canadian law/rule" killed the bear and unravled the scene , the boys had been ambushed from behind by the bear one at a time , killed very quickly and drug off for food . This was in the 70's or 80's I think .

 

[V4Vendetta]

I read in a hunting magazine recently about how most bear attacks happen very fast. They gave a example about how one hunter had just shot & killed a deer. By the time that he got to it, a Grizzly bear was already watching him. The hunter had a 44. Magnum on his belt. As the hunter kneeled over the deer, the bear lumbered towards him so fast that the poor fellow never even got a shot off. He was killed.

ALWAYS BE ALERT!

 

[Art Eatman]

"...more documented cases of Black Bears stalking , killing and eating people than those by Brown bears by far ."

I ran across a magazine article which also stated this (might have been same source, originally).

The thesis is that the brown bears will make fake charges about territory, and aren't charging onto a food source. It is believed that the majority of black bear charges are for food, and the attack is more likely to be pressed home.

This thread's subject attack, however, is not in that category, but more in fright/flight/attack mode.

I have read that in Rocky Mountain deer/elk hunting country, grizzlies have learned that a gun shot can mean food, and will come to the sound. This suggests waiting a while crosswind from one's downed deer or elk, and definitely watching downwind when field-dressing the animal.

Art

 

[Double Naught Spy]

22-rimfire asked,

Are these bear attacks becoming more common or are they just being reported by the press these days more?

Nope, but people do seem to be getting more stupid. Actually, I never heard of bear attacks while living in Texas. It wasn't an issue. I worked in Alaska and did a bunch of research on the topic, then noticed the occasional news reports over the next decade, very infrequent. It wasn't until getting on gun forums that I heard of them more commonly. Basically, if a person is harmed by a predator in the US or North America, or if somebody finds and article from elsewhere in the world as well where it is FELT a gun might have saved the folks' lives, they will post it on a forum. It gives the impression of the attacks being more common.

Maybe it is both, stupid people living closer to nature because of the expanding population, hence encountering bears more often and getting killed. After all, we all know that only crazy or sick bears attack people.


BigO01 said,

I had a book years ago that the Author claimed there have been more documented cases of Black Bears stalking , killing and eating people than those by Brown bears by far .

...the boys had been ambushed from behind by the bear one at a time , killed very quickly and drug off for food.

I highly doubt that 1, the older boy slept through everything unless the car was a long way from where the fishing was occurring. That just sounds weird. 2, I doubt the forensics determined the bear ambushed each boy from behind one at a time. What the bear attacked the first using ninja tactics, assuring no screams, and used similar stealth in attacking the second boy?

Attacking the first from behind is smart. There is less chance of injury to the bear if he can attack by stealth and from behind is helpful. The second kid would have been killed on the run, likely, if he was not killed by attacking the bear to save his friend, which would be frontal.

Of course the bear killed them on at a time. It is unlikely for a carnivore such as a bear to get a 1 shot 2 kills sort of strike peformed. Short of chasing the boys over a cliff.

 

[H&Hhunter]

After all, we all know that only crazy or sick bears attack people.

Double,

I hope that this was spoken in jest as it is completely incorrect and of no scientific or statistical basis what so ever.

The whole black bear VS brown bear thing is really pretty easy to explain.

There is a MUCH higher human population base where black bears live than where brown bears live. PERIOD!

Therefore there is going to be a higher incidence of black bear encounters/attacks than in brown bear country where the human population density is much lower.

The most common attack scenario in brown bear country tends to be one of two scenarios.

1. Unsuspecting human accidentally walks up on a protected bear kill. bear swats unsuspecting human

2. Unsuspecting human accidentally and unknowingly threatens momma bear with cubs. Human gets swatted.

3. A much rarer scenario: bear stalks and kills human as prey.

It seems to me that black bear attacks tend to lean towards the bear hunting the human for prey more often than the brown/ grizzly does. Once again this may be due to the higher human densities generally present in black bear country.

 

[BigO01]

http://www.samcef.org/Attack Stories.htm

I found this

"In the worst attacks, the bear will try to prey on every human he can find. Some have taken several victims, then cached the bodies as a food supply. In one incident (not in B.C.), four teenage boys were fishing in a woodland stream. The four had gotten back in their car to leave, when one boy decided to go back and try again. When he didn't show up, two others went out to look for him. They didn't return either; so the remaining teenager, realizing something was seriously wrong, wisely went for help. They found a male black bear guarding the three bodies in the woods where he had dragged them after killing them one by one. The fourth teenager would almost certainly have met the same fate had he gone to look for the others."

In this http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/bears/17275 web article , it has been 20 years or so since I read that book so it seems my memory may be faulty here , or perhaps this person didn't quote the book correctly .
NO matter realy because I don't know about you folks but I will carry a .357 as a minmum weapon if I know I am in Bear country .

 

[Matt G]

I camped up in the park a couple of nights with my family about 6 years ago, and found it to be one of the most stunningly beautiful places on this continent. The old-growth rainforests up there are amazing. I found myself walking along trails with heavy tracks from Roosevelt elk, but never saw them or bears.

Because we had flown up there and we were in a national park, carrying a pistol wasn't terribly feasible, so I found myself unarmed.

But the REAL danger up there, according to the Park Service, is the beach logs! Beware the mighty beach log!! Argh!!!!

 

[H&Hhunter]

Matt,

That is why I ALWAYS carry a big bore double bladed chain saw when in beach log country.

I prefer a controlled feed saw but will gladly use a standard pusher if nothing else is available.

I once had an old grizzled boar beach log threaten me with an agressive rolling charge, if it hadn't been for the quick start function on my Stihl I may not be here writing this today!

(Of course it may have been the retreating surf that caused him to roll back god only knows. )

Them beach logs don't like the sound of a Stihl in full rev and I'm hear to tell you!

 

[Matt G]

Next thread: "Which armament to use against charging Sitka spruce?"
Problem is, if you're hunting during primative weapons season, you can only bring your crosscut saw and an axe, with perhaps a hatchet for backup (save the last chop for yourself.).

It's kind of funny, until you see these frickin' enormous trees overhanging the Pacific coastline, hanging on by their roots. I had just never thought to be afraid of that before.

To think of the danger I put my family in-- they're within inches of potential killers, here:

--Matt"No Honest Man Needs More Than A Ryobi 14-Inch"G

 

[H&Hhunter]

Matt,

You sir are a shamless thrill seeker!!