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Cultural Divide on Bear Attacks
Gun Watch ^ | 9 August, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 08/08/2013 9:37:51 PM PDT by marktwain


This sow and four cubs are part of an exploding bear population

Quoted below are comments from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area chat group (BWCA).  It shows an interesting cultural divide in this country.   The first poster is willing to be oblivious to some dangers, the second offers to increase the first poster's skill level, but that would never happen without a change in attitude.

The old saw about a conservative as a liberal who has been mugged comes to mind.

This is of some interest  to me because I have inside knowledge that I do not have permission to give the source for, so you will have to accept it on faith.   The bear that is referenced as being shot in the BWCA had (almost certainly) recently attacked a camper.  The wound was not life threatening, a bite to the foot while the camper was sleeping, but it adds some interesting spice to the story.


Here is the first poster:

 quote nctry: "No and have had several encounters with no problems. I live in bear country and have encountered them at home and in the blueberry patch also. Never a problem! I'd be more worried about pissing off a bear with the spray or worse a firearm. Just because you shoot a bear doesn't mean your going to kill it. Funny how you see mocho guys out there with their 45's and such ready for them bears... Then you paddle a few yards and some young lady's are paddling with nothing more than their paddles for defense and they are just fine. Some people I think just need an excuse to carry a firearm. :)"

Here is the reply:


I also live in bear country we have had 3 bear attacks in Wis. this year. I see a couple a week some times more I had them on the deck and in the yard.


I am not worried about pissing a bear off With a firearm If I shoot a bear it is going to die very soon if not instantly. Matter of fact every bear I have shot with one has died right off. I been in on the killing of quite a few bears. I hunted them in several states AK and Canada. Even one in the BWCA one shot one dead bear wasn't hard at all.


Bears are not that hard to kill with a good firearm. Place a decent bullet from a decent caliber in the right place and the bear dies rather quickly. Why do you think they wouldn't die it is not that hard to do. They also taste very good.


You must need some good firearms training. Being a professional firearms instructor I could help you with that. I offer training from the basics to advance tactical training. I could help you to become very good with a firearm and you wouldn't have to be worried about it.


I will see if I can obtain permission to write a fictionalized account of the BWCA bear story.   It would be fun.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Outdoors; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; bearattack; beardefense; bwca; guncontrol; secondamendment
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I do not have a problem with unarmed people wandering about the woods. Most will not be in trouble most of the time. I expect them to have the same tolerance for my desire to be armed.
1 posted on 08/08/2013 9:37:51 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

I’ve been told bear meat tastes horrible.


2 posted on 08/08/2013 10:01:06 PM PDT by Ray76 ( Common sense immigration reform: Enforce Existing Law)
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To: marktwain
marktwain said: "I do not have a problem with unarmed people wandering about the woods."

Perhaps you should.

If bears become complacent about attacking humans because so many humans are defenseless, this could lead to an attack against you. To paraphrase a character from a movie, in a fight between an armed human and a bear, the outcome is far from certain. You would be much better off if the bears have great fear of humans and very little success when attacking them.

3 posted on 08/08/2013 10:03:51 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: marktwain

I’ve encountered quite a few bears in the woods, and haven’t had to kill one, though I’ve scared a few. There are a lot of bears where I hunt elk, and there always seems to be momma bears with cubs, so I stay wary, and ready to kill one, if I have to.


4 posted on 08/08/2013 10:06:57 PM PDT by pallis
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To: pallis

And lord knows how many “encounters” that we have had - but only the bears (and cougars where I live) know about them! But, just like most times frying something on the stove or having a campfire are just fine - it is still wise to have a fire extinguisher handy.


5 posted on 08/08/2013 10:17:46 PM PDT by 21twelve ("We've got the guns, and we got the numbers" adapted and revised from Jim M.)
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To: Ray76
I’ve been told bear meat tastes horrible.

I've heard it both ways. I've never had any bear meat, so I can't say for sure, but what I've been told is that bear meat is very fatty and if not cooked correctly, will be very 'gamey'. If cooked with the right seasonings, and very slowly at that, I've been told that it can be tasty indeed. If you want to broil or fry a steak, you're better off with deer, elk, or cattle, but not bear.

YMMV

6 posted on 08/08/2013 11:48:50 PM PDT by Wingy
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To: Wingy; Ray76

You are what you eat.

Same goes for a bear. If it’s been eating bitter acorns the meat and fat are going to be bitter. If it’s been eating rancid garbage, it’s going to taste rancid.


7 posted on 08/09/2013 12:12:31 AM PDT by null and void (Some day your prints will come...)
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To: kanawa

Who needs a gun?


8 posted on 08/09/2013 12:12:58 AM PDT by null and void (Some day your prints will come...)
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To: marktwain
Whenever I'm in bear country, I like to carry a ziplock freezer bag full of fish guts I've left outside in the sun for a few weeks until the contents are nice and rank. Then, if I happen to run across a group of obnoxious lefties while out on the trail, I'll follow them to the nearest park facilities, and when they drop their packs to go inside and stock up on granola bars, I'll stroll over by their gear and let that smelly stuff drip all over their backpacks. Bears have an excellent sense of smell.

J/K, it's just a daydream.

9 posted on 08/09/2013 12:25:17 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. LOL


10 posted on 08/09/2013 3:38:54 AM PDT by Vinnie
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To: Ray76
You been told wrong a good bear roast is better then beef IMHO. We are talking black bears now Just had one a couple of nights ago. Bear like deer, elk or other meet is very dependent on animal and how it was taken care of after it was killed and what they have been feeding on.

I prefer bears less then 300lbs 200 to 250 seem to be a very nice size.

I have eaten a 100lb bear it was very good but less meat. I have eaten meat from a 500lb bear. It was a bit tougher and a little more gamey but not bad.

Big boars are harder to make into good meat then young boars or sows. There is a reason that farmers and rancher castrate boars and bulls and sell them before they get to old or big.

11 posted on 08/09/2013 3:43:14 AM PDT by riverrunner
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To: marktwain
Bears having multiple cubs use to be rare now it is very common to hear reports several times a year of sows having 3, 4 or even 5 cubs.

These reports are often back up by pictures of said bears.

That said bear increase the bear population in her area 4 times in one year. Doesn't take long to have a very huge increase in a states bear population with a birth rate of that many.

12 posted on 08/09/2013 3:48:27 AM PDT by riverrunner
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To: Wingy

We’ve had good bear roasts and we’ve had fatty, greasy roasts. Cooking is the key. Good in booya.


13 posted on 08/09/2013 5:02:30 AM PDT by From The Deer Stand
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To: Wingy; Ray76

I’ve eaten it. You have to cut off every bit of fat, first. I’ve even had an ok bear steak cooked by someone else. Stewed is better.

I’ve eaten a lot of different game animals, large and small. Differences may come down to the skill of the hunter in the dressing-out. I’ve had venison that tastes terrible, but every deer I’ve helped butcher was handled skillfully from the moment of the kill and was excellent.


14 posted on 08/09/2013 5:17:52 AM PDT by reformedliberal
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To: reformedliberal

The bear that I have eaten has been in roasts, It was excellent, like good roast beef.

I am sure that if you do not prepare beef well, you can make it taste pretty bad.


15 posted on 08/09/2013 6:26:57 AM PDT by marktwain (The MSM must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: Ray76

Save the bear meat for when you are so hungry the next door neighbor is starting to look tasty. :-)


16 posted on 08/09/2013 7:38:28 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: marktwain
Then you paddle a few yards and some young lady's are paddling with nothing more than their paddles for defense and they are just fine

Reminds me of that fellow a few years back who was a "friend of the grizzlies". He never had any trouble with them, either, until they killed and ate him and his incredibly stupid girlfriend.

17 posted on 08/09/2013 8:13:25 AM PDT by chesley (Vast deserts of political ignorance makes liberalism possible - James Lewis)
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To: pallis

Remember: the bear won’t bother you, unless you bother it first.

the thing is, the bear is the one that gets to decide if it is beeing bothered.


18 posted on 08/09/2013 8:14:43 AM PDT by chesley (Vast deserts of political ignorance makes liberalism possible - James Lewis)
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To: chesley; All

“Remember: the bear won’t bother you, unless you bother it first.

the thing is, the bear is the one that gets to decide if it is beeing bothered.”

And, the bear might be bothered by being hungry, and you might smell like...food.


19 posted on 08/09/2013 8:31:29 AM PDT by marktwain (The MSM must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: marktwain

When I am hiking in the back country I am always armed. But I am not at all concerned about bears. Attacks by animals are rare.

I carry for the 2 legged variety. They attack often. Sad to say, I trust people less than I do any other creature on the planet.


20 posted on 08/09/2013 10:05:49 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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