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Thread: Bear spray & grizzles

  1. #1
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    Default Bear spray & grizzles

    I wonder if the young woman in this news article wished she had had a .44 Magnum instead of a can of bear spray?

    http://www.adn.com/article/20150804/...-near-sterling

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    Last edited by Seniorman; 08-06-2015 at 03:40 PM.
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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    This is verification of something I have always believed.

    Bear attack on two joggers, more attacks on joggers in Anchorage, wolf attack on jogger earlier....

    Wild animals hate joggers.

    That or they consider you dinner and you are running away!
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Glad to hear she lived......and hope she didn't get hurt to badly.

    Dogs like chasing some one that runs.......?
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I think the problem is she had neither gun nor bear spray. This is just one more confirmation that jogging with kill you. My wife and I hiked with bear spray and a side arm but we walked. You don't get into trouble when you walk. And even if you do you don't die tired.

    Who in their right mind goes jogging in Alaska without spray? You can use it on bears, wolves, people and the occasional errant ptarmigan.

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    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Rick jogging or running didn't work out for Jim Fixx either. (You can build muscle - just not heart muscle)


    I am glad everyone did their best to get her help - I think her jogging alone in Alaska was a bad idea.
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

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    'Zactly. At this stage of the game I'm looking for a stool with off road wheels. I'll convert from hiking to rolling.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Article says she tried bear spray to no avail....?
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    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hunter63 View Post
    Article says she tried bear spray to no avail....?

    Everything tastes better with bear bells & hot peppers.

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    If you are not laughing ....shame on you.
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    First thing I thought of....They wearing bells?
    And,
    I was gonna say earlier....
    "Run with a slower partner"

    But really been trying to stay serious...
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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Grizzlies will go after the women every time!

    This has been well documented by the National Park Service but is not one of the things they can even mention due to the PC nature of our society.

    I had a friend that was a ranger at Crater Lake NP and he said they would beg women to stay out of the back country at certain times of the year and times of the month. He said the women hikers would get furious at them and accuse them of discrimination and sexism. They finally put a Native American female on the staff and got a better response. Suddenly is was "ancient Native wisdom" that grizzlies stalk and eat women during their monthly time and during the bear's breeding season.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    I agree with Hunter63; no matter what your sex or what time of the month if you are running you look like prey to any predator.

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    That's interesting, Kyrat. My brother decided he wanted to go after grizzly bear. Don't ask, I have no idea why. Anywhoo, he spoke with a couple of guides that told him the same thing. They would not take any women that were having their period. The bears could smell it and became more dangerous. After some discussion about bear speed, agility, you get one shot and I run fast kinda stuff he decided not to go. Whether the female thing was just an old guide's tale or there is some fact to I have no idea but apparently it's a common belief.

    @ Hunter - Thanks, I don't know if I missed it or just forgot because of age. Odd the spray didn't work if she had it. When I worked outside we had Dog Stop and that stuff was wicked nasty. The slightest breeze that put you in the path of it got you moving pretty quick. Although, it didn't work on angry blue jays. I had a stand off with one on a pole one day working near its nest.

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    I agree with KYRATSHOOTER almost all predators are more likely to attack a person or prey animal running. Just use a teaser toy with a house cat, or fishing lure in clear water where you can observe it, i.e turn away from musky or bass and they are more likely to chase it.

    So folks wishing to jog in Alaskan bear country should probably consider that. And that every instruction I have read on what to do in bear country basically says "Do NOT run when you see a bear, it will trigger their chase instinct and bears can run much faster than humans" probably climb much faster than humans as well. If you think you can see a brown bear running 40 mph out of the tree line behind you pull your .44 mag from a chest holster and make a kill shot in a few seconds then good luck with that. Better than spraying pepper into a stiff wind and seasoning his next meal.

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    Someone from Alaska should comment because I am only vaguely familiar but is it not King Salmon or other migration and spawning season in the "Skilak" lake area around early August when this happened. The place would have been full of brown bears from almost 100 miles around. What was this Californian lady thinking?

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Guess she want to "not break her streak" in training"....as in "I run everyday, rain or shine, cold or hot....Bah, bah, Bah......and I ain't afraid of no bears".....You all know the type.

    I wanted to look marvelous........not taste marvelous........
    Last edited by hunter63; 08-06-2015 at 10:08 AM.
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    Darnit she wasn't wearing her little noisy bell! That's why the bear attacked!!!

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    If she wanted to go jogging in a bear free place she could have gone to Indiana. But if she went to the land down under (Australia) she should be careful when jogging under eucalyptus trees due to the "Drop Bears". Scroll down to Q & A #12

    http://theweathercontinues.blogspot....ie-humour.html

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    Hey. Lighten up on Indiana. We have some danged fierce bunny rabbits. Killer rabbits. One was even used in a Monty Python film.


  19. #19
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    Yea that sign's pretty hilarious. Is that thing real? That just ain't right.

    And why do bears go after women first anyway? That just ain't right.

    I came up with an idea concerning things like wolves and bears and felines. Haven't been able to try it out, but that's probably a good thing. (Warning - I always think of things from the primitive standpoint...primitive as defined by having very few "modern" tools, and as if I were doing very long-term camping far away from things like jogging trails.) This has probably long since been thought up already and used by others, but I just haven't heard of it. It's something to eventually make dozens of, and have around your core campsite, being able to grab one or two wherever you are at a moment's notice, if a wild predator is too curious about you at night.

    Dry dead leaves catch fire fast and easy. So, trim a stick a few or several feet long with some off-branches on the very end of a few inches each. Take the smallest of green/pliable twigs and wind them round and round, weaving and whatever, into a kind of ball or basket about 7 inches across, affixing itself to those off-branches at the end of your stick. Then gather groupings of green leaves still connected to each other (the most terminal end of a shrub or tree) and/or bigger leaves stacked upon each other...roll and wad these up and stuff them into the ball/basket until it is plum full (when they unfurl inside it doesn't matter)...

    ...using leaves which are already dead/dry will of course just cause those leaves to crumble and fall out. Since leaves are leaves, green ones will dry pretty fast. If they dry in place and intact, after having been stuffed into this basket at the end of your stick, the whole thingamajig will remain relatively intact...

    So you have a kind of "flash bomb stick". Assuming that you sometimes design a fire such that there are some coals all night, or you have an "all night" smoldering long-fire (I would otherwise use fire as little as possible) You have one within reach somewhere that you can grab (or from within a solid shelter that would make a predator have to work to get at you, so you wield this from within your doorway), lay this thingamajig onto your smolderings, and it'll light up pretty fast. I imagine that it'd have the following stages of use:

    - The initial flash of fire, which you stick into the animal's face or throw to land between it's front feet under it's chin (Doesn't matter if you miss or it moves).

    - If a little singe or the general startledness doesn't make it not want to mess with you and go away, it provides a few moments of distraction as well as some partial night-blindness from the localized brightness for you (and maybe fellow "tribesman") to grab up your spears and such, and position yourself to harass the animal further.

    - After the initial ignition of the leaves, which will burn out fast, you now have a bundle of burning twigs at the end of a stick to last another few minutes which can surely be used in some way as well (and in such a situation, more of these prepared flash bomb sticks can be grabbed up and wielded).

    Just remember kiddos, if this ever happens and you are successful, be sure that nothing is on fire in your vicinity afterwards. Don't start a forest fire.
    Last edited by WalkingTree; 08-06-2015 at 07:31 PM.
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  20. #20
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    I would encourage you to try some theory to practice.
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