Posted on 07/01/2016 4:30:44 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
A West Glacier man was killed by a grizzly bear Wednesday afternoon while riding his mountain bike on a forested trail in the Halfmoon Lakes area south of Glacier National Park.
(Excerpt) Read more at flatheadbeacon.com ...
I would not want to bet my life that that will happen.
Please tell me it was Barry on the bike.
This shows even bears hate bicyclists. If you are biking in bear country bring bear spray.
No, Barry has never been seen on a mountain bike - strictly a flatland bike. So no!
I’ve gone hiking in grizzly country several times in Alaska and Canada. All I ever had was bear spray. Attacks are very rare.
If you are anywhere in Grizzly territory, on anything other than an enclosed vehicle or horse, bear spray works about as good as prayer, neither being my 1st choice. Better is large caliber from a decent distance.
Sure... and always make sure the bear is downwind from you.
Sent this story to a friend who is going there next week. He says he’s got bear bells. I tell him, to the bear, that’s the dinner bell.
“Sure... and always make sure the bear is downwind from you. “
How do you do that if you don’t know where it is?
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Obviously you are right about rarity BUT all it takes is ONCE! Have you ever actually used the spray on a Grizzly? Genuinely curious.
Some black bears and such might, but not a Grizzly. They appear to have some kind of hereditary gene for unhinged aggressiveness.
One of my favorite stories is from the Stephen Ambrose book “Undaunted Courage”. He talks about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and when they went further west, they began to encounter enormous grizzly bears, the likes of which they had never seen. I don’t doubt this, because being the apex predator that they are, they had probably grown to enormous sizes without a lot of interference from humans.
They made it clear to the Indians who befriended them that they were going to go out and hunt these bears, the Indians were astonished, and communicated to them in every way possible that doing so was an extremely risky and foolhardy endeavor. Apparently, they couldn’t believe these white people were crazy enough to do that.
Lewis and Clark were “undaunted” by the admonitions, and made it clear that they were perfectly confident because of the advanced weaponry that they carried with them, that the Indians did not have… their rifles.
I imagine that if I were there, I could just see the Indians turning to each other and shrugging their shoulders, saying the equivalent of “Well, I guess it’s their ass…”
When they came across a particularly large specimen of these grizzly bears by the side of a river, they set upon it and begin shooting it. The way the story goes as I recall, at one point there were 12 guys firing away with these black powder guns, and ended up throwing down their guns and running into the river to try to escape while this massive grizzly bear chased after them into the water.
I do believe that there was illustration that one of the party had drawn of this incident at the time, and it showed a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs in the middle of a large spread out ring of frontiersmen all firing their weapons in what looked for all intents and purposes like a circular firing squad, except that all their rifles were pointed up at what looked to be at least a 45° angle. The bear, standing erect on its hind legs, with the perspective of the amateur artist looked to be, oh, say, 30 feet tall, with both of its forepaws straight up in the air with claws extended! I think I’ve always been surprised that the artist didn’t make the bear appear to be 100 feet tall, rivaling Godzilla…
What was really funny though, was the dry log entry by one of the guys that basically said “We decided to avoid encountering those types of beasts in the future…”
It reminded me of the other entry later on their journey, when they reached the Columbia River. Now anyone who pays attention to these things knows that the Columbia River in those days was a particularly wild River, so when Lewis and Clark made it clear to the Native Americans out in that area that they intended to take their funny looking (funny looking to the Indians at least) wooden boats down the river, the Indians again must’ve looked at each other in astonishment and said “These pale faced white people are absolutely insane…”
Sure enough, on the day went down the river, there were hundreds and hundreds of Indians lining both sides of the river to watch the spectacle of these white guys completely destroy themselves… it promised to be a real show. This has to be one of the times though, where Lewis and Clark really did know what they were doing, and the Indians were extremely impressed and again, astonished in a positive way, that these guys in their buckskins and funny looking wooden boats actually made it down the boiling white water river.
“They die quickly without brain function.
Unless they’re a Democrat.”
Haha. Thanks for the laugh. I needed that today.
I blame global warming. Bear pissed-off because his glacier is melting.
/sarc
>Attacks are very rare.
Yes, they are. Even less with human attacks against you.
If I died from my first attack, I would not be so prepared for any future ones.
The main thing to remember in grizzer country is to file the front sight off whatever handgun you happen to be carrying.
Well actually, I was being facetious about the benefits of bear spray. Don’t get me wrong... it is far better than nothing but being able to grab the can in time, aim it accurately all the while on a bike does present it’s challenges. Regardless, the problem isn’t knowing where the bear is because they are not all that quiet and are not all that stealthy. The problems is that once they see you they are very quick. This is a great video piece about a couple of guys in a bear stand. Take a look at how fast that bear moves after they finally shoot it at the 12:55 point....now imagine you stumble upon a bear on a trail and you are looking for your bear spray. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VQSZ4c20KE I think if you are biking in bear country and you don’t want to be carrying a gun, your bike needs to be outfitted with at least four bear spray cans (two on the front and two on the back) pointed outwards at say 45 degrees and all triggered by buttons on your handle bar. And perhaps one on your helmet beside the go-pro camera. Anything less than this is useless.
I have never had to use the spray. When we’re hiking in thick brush with no visibility, I keep the spray in my hand with the safety off.
Actually studies have shown bear spray to be more effective and much easier to use than a firearm. Hitting a charging bear in the brain with a handgun of any caliber is not easy even if your life didn’t depend on it.
Thanks for that info.
I am the most un—outdoorsy person that there is,always have been.
I am very urban and need sidewalks and street lights.
I do have a couple of kids and grandkids who LOVE the outdoors and remote places and I will definitely share your information with them.
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That is probably true.... but I still think that if I’m on a bike on a trail somewhere, I won’t want to be fishing for my can of spray with a bear bearing down on me. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would want something mounted on the bike that could be activated by a button.
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