Camping with Firearm-Post Bear Mauling

[Christophe Noel]

Nope. I've lived, played and worked in dense Alaskan brown bear country. While these events are extremely sad, few would be thwarted with a firearm.

All I have needed is a lot of smarts, a dose of luck and a can of spray.

 

[RMP&O]

All I have needed is a lot of smarts, a dose of luck and a can of spray.

Totally agree!

 

[Bugspray]

Totally agree!

x2!!

that being said this has been a crazy bear year so I've been rolling deep with bearspray AND shotgun even into the Park. Apparently there is a Cougar(not the good kind) hanging around the ski area, it has been spotted by people riding the gondola. Cats scare me more than bears as you would not even see it coming.....

 

[IdaSHO]

Cats scare me more than bears as you would not even see it coming.....

What scares me is that I KNOW that many of the cats that see me, I never even know about.

They are excellent hunters, and stay stay hidden amazingly well.

That, and their cry sends chills down my spine. :Wow1:

 

[Mr. Leary]

Lucky for us... our anatomy makes us a more difficult kill for this near perfect predator...

 

[slus]

I actually drove through Cooke City that night, glad I didn't set up camp there. The opinion of locals seemed to be that it was a stupid idea to tent camp there in the first place due to the frequency of bear visits, many of the campgrounds in the area are open to hard sided RVs only, just for that reason. This campground was not one of those, although I have a feeling it may make the list soon.

I rarely take a gun in the tent with me. I'm usually in the company of others. Firing off a gun capable of stopping a bear, in close proximity to people, shooting blind through a tent or while being mauled by a bear sounds more dangerous than the bear itself IMO.

 

[Corey]

My two airhorns came today, very loud.
One will stay up in the roof top tent with me, and the other will be on a table or nearby during the day/night.

When I am hiking, I will have it with me.

 

[IdaSHO]

Lucky for us... our anatomy makes us a more difficult kill for this near perfect predator...

Your anatomy has nothing to do with it.

Strip a human of anything man-made, and there is no contest.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

It will make me double check my bear spray...

Not sure a firearm is gonna help nearly as much as bear spray when you are in a tent...

Well lets see... can your spray go through a tent... I know for a fact that a bullet will.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Your anatomy has nothing to do with it.

Strip a human of anything man-made, and there is no contest.

Actually, the way our shoulders and necks are shaped, it makes it almost impossible for a mountain lion to achieve a quick kill on a human, allowing the possability of fighting it off, which happens in most of the cases. You will be injured, for sure, but likely not killed during the attack.

Well lets see... can your spray go through a tent... I know for a fact that a bullet will.

Correct... and right through another one... and into another person... or into what you are shooting at... depends how lucky you are... I'd rather take my chances with the spray. You may be different than I, but I will never take a shot at anything without positively identifying my target.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Correct... and right through another one... and into another person... or into what you are shooting at... depends how lucky you are... I'd rather take my chances with the spray. You may be different than I, but I will never take a shot at anything without positively identifying my target.

I am proficient enough I have no qualms about shooting a bear. But you are correct, you have to knwo the back drop when shooting.

As for the spray, won't it get you if you use it in a tent.... I mean..just thinking it would make you very ineffective in a matter of seconds....lol.

 

[DrMoab]

Correct... and right through another one... and into another person... or into what you are shooting at... depends how lucky you are

Luck has nothing to do with it if you know what you are doing.

 

[squatch]

keeping a clean camp goes a long way to prevent encounters, there are a lot of bears in that area. ran into 3 griz not but a mile from cooke city out on a trail run.did have my water bottle with. bear spray works so does curling up fetal and s##ting yourself! really ask my buddy, had a bear jump him so fast all he could do was play dead and s##t. yeah he had a 44 and a 300 win. mag. talks cheap bears are way faster then you think! HEY BEAR?

 

[Bugspray]

update

They ended up catching the three cubs and it turns out they were very malnourished weighing around 60-70 lbs where normally they should be 80-130 lbs. They think the sow was just desperate to feed her cubs. Park officials euthanized the sow and are doing additonal tests to see if there was anything else wrong injury, illness etc. Kinda sad for all involved.

 

[Mr. Leary]

I am proficient enough I have no qualms about shooting a bear. But you are correct, you have to knwo the back drop when shooting.

As for the spray, won't it get you if you use it in a tent.... I mean..just thinking it would make you very ineffective in a matter of seconds....lol.

I don't doubt YOUR proficiency, and would probably trust your judgement if I was camping with you. I know you've spent some time over in the sandbox... but I WOULD worry about the judgement of someone I knew absolutely nothing about.

I'm not talking about using the spray to fog your tent like bug bomb for bears... just grabbing it instead of a firearm and doing the best you can while rudely awakened to a bear eating you.

Luck has nothing to do with it if you know what you are doing.

I'm pretty handy with firearms. Not competition good, but I can hold my own. I would still grab the spray first.

They ended up catching the three cubs and it turns out they were very malnourished weighing around 60-70 lbs where normally they should be 80-130 lbs. They think the sow was just desperate to feed her cubs. Park officials euthanized the sow and are doing additonal tests to see if there was anything else wrong injury, illness etc. Kinda sad for all involved.

Indeed. Very sad.