Bear Spray vs. Firearms

[peternap]

I think my rubber decoy was carrying a stun gun

[Redoverfarm]

Maybe it is early mating season Peter.  We'll see when it done and has no feathers then we will know for sure a "bareturkey".

A friend of mine had put up a 3D archery course on Friday for a weekend shoot. When Saturday morning came around 8 out of the twelve targets fell prey to the bear overnight.   

[peternap]

I may put a deer target up next week.

This was funny because everytime he came back, he'd bite that turkey

[Redoverfarm]

Peter I have three full body geese decoys along the drive next to the creek. A couple years ago on a full moon night soemthing jumped one of them and left 4 teeth marks in the back.  Still not sure what it was. Probably a coyote or bobcat. I can imagine the surprise he got when there was no feathers or blood to taste. What ever it was it hadn't returned for another meal.

Actually they work pretty good as I am always seeing wild geese standing amoung them and along the road.

Been worring about my son's two pigs about 60# now.  Probably about the right size for a bear meal.  They are fenced with what little good that will do.

[gandalfthegrey]

And yet another child attacked by bear or mountian lion. 

from this link:  http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng



A 5-year-old boy hiking with his family near Sandia Peak has survived an attack from an unidentified species of large animal, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said Sunday. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said the family was hiking near the popular Balsam Glade area on the east side of the Sandia Mountains on Saturday evening when the boy ran ahead of his parents. A sheriff's department report identified the boy as Jose Salazar Jr. of Albuqureque. The boy's parents saw the animal emerge from the brush and start dragging away their child, White said. The father then chased the animal, which let go of his son. White said the animal was a mountain lion, but Ross Morgan, a spokesman for Game and Fish, said dogs trained to track mountain lions picked up no scent in the area Saturday night or Sunday. "The dad described it as a short, stocky, dark brown animal," Morgan said. Neither White nor Morgan released the victim's name. The boy suffered puncture wounds to his head, neck and back. He was in serious condition at University of New Mexico Hospital on Saturday, White said. A hospital spokeswoman said Sunday the family declined to make the boy's condition public. Morgan said hikers in the area Sunday were told about the attack, but the news did not deter them from hiking.)

[MountainDon]

That's near us (suburban home)... well, across the Sandia Mountains.  There are signs warning about that being Bear and Cougar Country. If the kid hadn't run ahead MTL the attack would not have happened. The attack has more characteristics of a Cougar attack than a bear. And the boy had more than puncture wounds according to another report; it stated that a large piece of scalp was loose. The boys father ripped his shirt off to bind the wound and hide it from his wife, the boys mother.

One strange thing is that the 'crack' team of dogs and the handler that were brought in found to Cougar scent. The dogs are trained to react to Cougars and nothing else.  So maybe it wasn't a Cougar. Hard to say now. In any event, don't let your small kids get ahead or behind you.

[glenn kangiser]

'He's eating my brain. I can feel it,' recalls bear attack survivor
Last Updated: Friday, May 16, 2008 | 11:09 PM ET
CBC News


Saanich resident Brent Case says the bear came from behind him, and started gnawing at the back of his head before tearing away at his scalp. (CBC) Excerpt from below article:

A 53-year-old man managed to drive to safety after a grizzly bear mauled his head and tossed him to the ground in the woods near Bella Coola, about 700 kilometres north of Vancouver.

The attack took place on May 3 when Brent Case was on a surveying job along the rugged Central Coast area.

"He came up from behind me and started gnawing at the back of my head. It just started ripping the scalp off the head," Case, who lives in Saanich, B.C., told CBC News on Friday.   continued...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/16/bc-bear-mauls-man.html

[Redoverfarm]

Sign to protect tourist from bear attacks

[glenn kangiser]

That's a good one.  Here is an article about more bear dinners.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/starving-bears-eat-russian-guards/2008/07/24/1216492641726.html

[NM_Shooter]

That's a good one.  Here is an article about more bear dinners.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/starving-bears-eat-russian-guards/2008/07/24/1216492641726.html

Wow... what a scary story.  Sounds like a made-for-TV drama.

I suspect that this suggestion is a little late, but maybe if they shot the poachers they wouldn't now have to shoot the bears.

[glenn kangiser]

In just checked for updates and it looks like they are not going to shoot the bears unless they become a real threat.  

[NM_Shooter]

Was browsing through a magazine in a doc's office and found a small piece on deterring bear attacks.  From June 2008 of Camping Life

They said that this data was based on research of 20 years if incidents.  Claims that spray halts aggressive bear behavior in 92 percent of cases.  Guns were effective in 67 percent.   

"According to Smith, those armed with guns had trouble shooting accurately during the grizzly's terrifying charge.  His data also showed that it takes an average of four hits to stop a bear."

Findings reported in April issue of Wildlife Society's Journal of Wildlife Management.  More info at joomla.wildlife.org, but it appears you have to have a membership to access old issues.

[MountainDon]

They said that this data was based on research of 20 years if incidents.  Claims that spray halts aggressive bear behavior in 92 percent of cases.  Guns were effective in 67 percent.   

I read that, or something similar, a while back too. I wish bear spray had a range as good as the 12 Ga. though. And the article doesn't get into calibers and types of guns. A .38 isn't going to faze a bear intent on agression.

[Redoverfarm]

Neighbor building a cabin on the other ridge top from me has a pest.  125# black that has so far bit holes in his water jugs, tried to bite in his generator gas tank and unhooked his electric cable to his RV from the generator.  I told him the bear is trying to tell him "You are in my spot".

[glenn kangiser]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/10/08/bc-bear-attack-survivor.html

[NM_Shooter]

I hope the Chicago Cubs offered that guy a contract.

[glenn kangiser]

That was one scary bear story.  There was another very similar one a while back.  The head bites were almost the same.

I found it.  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/16/bc-bear-mauls-man.html