"Grizzly Man" Movie Spurs New Looks at a Grisly Death

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0812_050812_grizzly_man.html ^ | August 12, 2005 | James Owen

[Disambiguator]

Ruger now makes a short-barrelled revolver in .454 Casull or .480 Ruger called the "Alaskan". I would imagine it would be a good defensive piece for use against bears.

[yawningotter]

I stumbled across something on tv about this guy last week. He was camped in thick brush and grass at the time the bear attacked. The killer bear was about 20 years old, and probably went hunting for the easiest prey he could catch at his age. Among the items found at the campsite was a video camera. The camera was running during the attack, but the lens cap had not been removed (supposedly), so only the audio of the attack was preserved. Probably the biggest lesson from this guys life is that no matter how close you can get to wild animals, sooner or later one will turn on you, with deadly results. Most of the bears were probably used to him enough to leave him alone, even when he got too close, but one old, hungry bear that couldn't catch anything else still got him without warning.

[ZULU]

Black bears are omnivores - from the word "omnis" in Latin which means "everything".

Black bears eat anything edible - vegetation, fishm meat, carrion, insects, honey, people.

[ZULU]

Most of the bears were probably used to him enough to leave him alone,.."

They thought he was crazy = poisoned meat.

Some wild animals are not harmfull. Others, like bears and mountain lions are very dangerous. Some, like wolves and coyotes, are somewhere in the middle.

[Mike Darancette]

Black bears are omnivores

I know, I told the poster that they should smear on bacon grease, don a pork chop necklace and hike around Yosemite Park looking for Vegan Black Bears.

[Texican72]

Do they feel because it killed a human, it is suddenly going to rampage on the nearest town? Did some sort of reverse vampirism occur where the animal is now infected and can't get enough of that human taste?

If I remember correctly, when the Rangers came to investigate what happened, the bear charged them. At that point they had little choice.

[HairOfTheDog]

"We as humans have to be diligent about being around these beautiful animals. You don't move away because the bear is going to kill you. You move away because you want the bear to be wild."

I spend a lot of time riding horseback in an area with a high population of black bears, and I've seen two, the latest a sow with cubs, while up there.

I like the attitude of that quote above. Here, the bear are hunted, so it's not as dangerous as park bear situations where they're never pursued, but still, there are more recreational riders and hikers up there than there are hunters, and with the amount of cover available, any bear that will allow himself to be seen is on the verge of becoming a dangerous bear.

[HairOfTheDog]

I once had a guy on FR tell me that Black Bears are less dangerous because they are vegetarians.

They certainly are mostly vegetarian, technically omnivores because they will eat carrion, garbage and anything else they find. They are more scavenger than predator. They definitely are less dangerous than say a Grisly or Brown bear who are primary predators.

[jordan8]

Just read an interesting article on bears in Alaska magazine. Said bear spray was effective 90+% of the time.

[tongass kid]

Here in Alaska we have both brown and black bears, both are very dangerous. I have hunted and traveled most of this this state for decades and assure you to be very careful around our bears.

[HairOfTheDog]

I understand that.

[ZULU]

Thats good news.

But what about the 10% of the time?

A lead slug big enough in the right spot is effective 100% of the time.

[mel]

Then they had to do a necropsy on the bear and found body parts in the stomach, gee I wonder why.

[WKUHilltopper]

"Though he had a "great heart"

Yup. And I'm sure the griz that ate him thought it was particularly tasty too.

[Billthedrill]

I'll just skip to the punchline - "The Czech's in the male!"

Thankyouthankyouthankyou. I'll be here all week...

[doug from upland]

Oh, goodie. Back from the archives ---

MIDI - RUNNING BEAR

Grizzly Bear met Timmy Treadwell...Timmy thought that they could be friends
But if you know about grizzlies...they are pranksters to the end

Grizzly Bear was getting hungry...the meat market's far away
So all day long he sized up Timmy...it would not be Timmy's day

Grizzly Bear ate Timmy Treadwell...man, I bet that had hurt
Grizzlies don't go on a diet...girlfriend Amie was dessert

Here's a tale that has a lesson...if you play with Grizzlies for fun
If you want to go on breathing...you had better have a gun

I won't say that Tim was stupid...but he did not have a clue
Still, I would say that he's much smarter...than those who post at DU

Grizzly Bear ate Timmy Treadwell...man, I bet that had hurt
Grizzlies don't go on a diet...girlfriend Amie was dessert
Girlfriend Amie was dessert

[absolootezer0]

personally, i'd go for a large bore double. .375 h&h or a .416 rigby ought to do it.
i say a double for the simple reason that the gun is simple and is it's own back up. there's 2 barrels, triggers and firing pins. anything goes wrong, you still got another. also, you can get off two shots quicker in a double than in anything else or you can fire both at the same time.
2d choice would be anything magnum in an enfield action.

[ZULU]

That's really good. Sad but good.

[dljordan]

"This is not the individual that is the subject of the documentary."

No, this is another moron.

[knak]

In Alaska's National Forests, a tourists guide was giving a talk to a group of tourists about hiking in grizzly bear territory: "Most bear encounters occur when hikers, being extra quiet along the trails in hopes of viewing wildlife, accidentally stumble into bears. The resulting suprise can be catastrophic." To avoid this, he suggested that each hiker wear tiny bells on their clothing to warn the bears of their presence. "Also," he said further, "be especially cautious when you see signs of bears in the area, especially when you see bear droppings."

One tourist asked, "How do you identify bear droppings?"

"Oh that's easy," the guide explained, "its the ones with all the tiny bells in them!"