Polar Bears run amok! Cops airlift ammo to cabin

[Zundfolge]

source

Nfld. RCMP air drop bullets to cabin residents in standoff with polar bears

Thu Jun 3, 4:57 PM ET

NAIN, Nfld. (CP) - Police in northern Labrador received a frantic call for help this week when three people in a remote cabin found themselves surrounded by polar bears and running out of bullets.

A man and two women, speaking via satellite phone Thursday, said they had been forced to shoot a 680-kilogram polar bear the night before after warning shots failed to scare away the animal.

"On three occasions, the bear had come right in around the cabin," said RCMP Sgt. Kevin Baillie, who is stationed in the Inuit community of Nain, the most northerly settlement in Labrador.

"On the fourth time, it came right to the cabin, it was growling and snarling very aggressively."

The cabin's occupants said they had no choice but to shoot the animal dead.

Hours later, several more polar bears showed up, possibly to scavenge from the carcass.

"The lady said there were a number of bears circling the cabin and they were just about out of ammunition," said Baillie.

That's when the trio called the Labrador Inuit Association in Nain. But the signal went dead before they could complete the call.

The RCMP dispatched a Twin Otter aircraft to drop some ammunition near the cabin, about 50 kilometres north of Nain at the base of the Kiglapait Mountains.

When the aircraft arrived overhead, the RCMP officers could see a man using a snowmobile to drag the dead bear away from the cabin.

Another bear was spotted in the water about 100 metres from the cabin.

One of the officers opened a cargo door and dropped four boxes of bullets to the cabin below.

Baillie said the pilot considered landing nearby but the the people on the ground waved as if to say they needed no further help.

"The only way a person can legally kill a polar bear at this time of year is in self-defence," Baillie said of the protected animals.

"This time of year . . . polar bears are going to be hungrier than normal, and while polar bear attacks are rare, we've had other reports."

 

[P95Carry]

dropped four boxes of bullets to the cabin below dropped four boxes of bullets to the cabin below

Hmmmm ..... all they'd then need is powder, brass, primers and a press!

Hope they got the caliber right too!

30-06 slingshot??

 

[Chipperman]

I wonder if they dropped the right cartridges.
I'd be pretty frantic, trying to jam a .338 into a .30-06.

 

[mfree]

Heh, if you'd succeeded then you wouldn't be frantic for long

You'd have that polar bear smiling like a Coke commercial in one pull of the trigger

 

[CZ-100]

"The lady said there were a number of bears circling the cabin and they were just about out of ammunition,"

You would think that they would of planned a little better...:banghead:

 

[auschip]

They missed the "How do I plan for an extended siege by mutant zombie polar bears, and at what point will Agent Schmuckatelli airlift ammunition to my bunker." Thread.

 

[P95Carry]

Facetious afterthought .....

"The lady said there were a number of bears circling the cabin and they were just about out of ammunition,"

So - we wonder, what ammo caliber was it the bears were using?

Did, we also wonder, the emergency ammo drop reach the guys in the cabin
or did the bears get hold of it - thus keeping them better armed!

A Polar Bear with a loaded gun is not to be messed with - except by use of a bigger gun!

 

[Byron]

Here is the actual newspaper article. It was a 243. Byron

http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/news/story.html?id=b0004e04-d183-4bfa-bc81-0c68491ffb76

 

[JohnKSa]

You would think that they would of planned a little better

I think some of these people are probably pretty poor.

I read a story awhile back by a fellow who went hunting with an Eskimo guide. The Eskimo shot a deer or a caribou and retrieved the bullet. It turned out that not only was he reloading, he was also reusing the bullets if they weren't too badly damaged. The writer reported that the Eskimo only took one or two rounds out to hunt.

I can't vouch for the veracity of the story, but having lived in South America for awhile, I can definitely tell you that there are people living in remote areas who are poor beyond what most of us can understand. This was back in the early seventies, and some of them were still using ancient black-powder guns for hunting.

 

[ZeroX]

That could easily be made into an exciting action movie of some kind.

 

[Halffast]

Maybe it's just me, but I think I'd want a little more than a .243 to use on a 1500 pound polar bear. Heck, I think a .243 is light for a 150 pound deer.

P95 - I guess in Kanada they have the right to keep bears armed!

David

 

[The_Antibubba]

Apparently, they didn't get the memo

You don't need to shoot those poor defenseless bears! Just shout, and wave your arms to make yourself look bigger. That's what we do in California.

 

[Stand_Watie]

Apparently, they didn't get the memo
You don't need to shoot those poor defenseless bears! Just shout, and wave your arms to make yourself look bigger. That's what we do in California.

I heard a Canadian describing his actions in one of those "when animals attack" films - he said "So I said to the bear, get away bear, eh?"

 

[TallPine]

Any indication of whether these polar bears are linked to Al Quaeda ....?

 

[Sportcat]

A man and two women

 

[The_Antibubba]

Sportcat

Winters are REALLY long up there.

 

[Dr.Rob]

That must have been a hell of a radio call... wonder what the Mounties were packing?

If you need to call in air support... the bears are about to overrun your position... you have pretty much earned a beer. Make the mounties return with a sixer of Molson.

 

[p35]

I've heard they use the .243 for everything up there- seems light to me but it's hard to argue Arctic survival with the Inuit.

 

[tbz]

Make the mounties return with a sixer of Molson.

But what if there's a mouse in it eh?!

 

[kernal_panic]

"managed to scrounge 4 box of ammo"

i cann buy more than that at my walmart!

 

[angrywalkindude]

If this had happened in CA the rangers would have air lifted the bunny huggers to the cabin. A few hours later the bears would leave with a full stomach.