Posted on 02/15/2023 3:11:38 AM PST by marktwain
In 2020, Mike Becwar was, without provocation, attacked by a cinnamon black bear in Alaska. He fought back with a folding knife and survived. This is his story.
On May 29, 2020, Mike was going stir-crazy. This was during the COVID restrictions. He had been pushed to extend two weeks longer than the usual period in the remote camp at Pump Station Number 5.
He had to get out of the camp to relieve stress. He chose to take a run along the road to the camp airport, around the runway, and back into camp, about a 3 1/2 mile run. Going to the airport and back was a fairly common activity for camp workers in the remote location. He expected to be gone no more than 40 minutes. He told camp security staff where he was going and how long he expected to be gone. Mike was 53 years old.
At the end of May, that far north, there are more than 20 hours of daylight. It is always at least twilight because the sun does not dip far below the horizon. There are no climbable trees in the area. The temperature was 58 degrees.
Mike has been in Alaska for 28 years. He is an experienced and capable outdoorsman and hunter. He has hunted and dealt with many bears over the decades. Mike has a policy of never going outdoors in Alaska without the means to start a fire, a knife, and a firearm. It became an impossible policy at the camp. The company authorities forbade the possession of firearms by individuals.
Mike was dressed for running in T-shirt, running shoes, running pants, and a hat.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
I'm sure the rules were in place when he signed on.
Plus the fact the bear broke his leg means he had no standing.
Ooh Rah!...This Marine never ventures into the woods with out it...or my 10mm SIG
That was a relatively small bear. If he was carrying a knife with like an 8” blade he would probably have fared better.
Somebody gave me a hunting magazine article about bear attacks, particularly black bear attacks. The author claimed that when black bears attack humans, unless it is a sow protecting her cubs, the bear is usually intending to eat the human. Becwar is surely lucky to have survived.
That is mostly correct. Most black bear attacks are predatory attacks. Very few sows will attack a person to protect their cubs. The vast majority put the cubs up a tree and run off.
A fair percentage of sows bluff charge people, but the number which are willing to actually make contact are extremely small, much, much less than the already rare predatory attack.
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