Canada Ping!
Posted on 08/17/2013 7:23:16 AM PDT by george76
Maine man badly injured in Torngat Mountains National Park.
A U.S. hiker vividly recalls the night one of his fellow campers was pulled from his tent and attacked by a polar bear in Torngat Mountains National Park in northern Labrador.
Matt Dyer, a lawyer from Maine, was badly injured during the attack at around 1:30 a.m. AT on July 24.
Richard Eisenberg was with Dyer and six other hikers as part of a Sierra Club hiking trip to the remote park.
He said the group woke up to the sounds of Dyer screaming as he was dragged from his tent.
"He only screamed twice, and I saw the bear dragging the tent and then pulling Matt out of the tent and carrying him off," Eisenberg told CBS News.
The bear ripped through the electric fence the group had set up around their campsite that night.
...
Parks Canada strongly advises visitors to hire an armed bear guard during their stay, but it is not mandatory.
The Inuit bear guards are hired through the Nunatsiavut base camp set up within the park.
However, Castaneda-Mendez said his group was never offered the armed bear guard. He said his group was under the impression the portable electric fence was an adequate deterrent.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
It would take more than a handgun to stop (notice, I said "stop") a polar bear attack. Guides in Kodiak country often carry the Marlin 444 lever, or a lever action in 45-70.
Besides, at 1:30 in the AM, being dragged out of one's tent in a dead sleep, I don't think the meal is going to have any chance to grab any gun.
Are they sure it was a bear? Perhaps this was an Inuit bear guard, dressed in a bear suit, angry that he wasn’t hired! (just joking here — no flames, please)
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Very clever. Good laugh!
“Getting dragged off by a polar bear. I’m surprised he survived.”
Your right, lucky for him all the bear wanted was the tent.
And just where did they do their business? Did they soil the biota with their own brand of DNA?
The excretions of a Sierra Clubber are naturally ecologically correct. Therefor they were at one with nature while being at one with nature...or something...
I thought they were friendly animals who like drinking Coca-Cola as depicted in the Coke commercial.
Ol Castaneda-Mendez must not be a very good safety conslutant. Deterrent does not mean barrier. It isn’t bear proof, fool.
“The bear fence advertisement said that it works as a deterrent,” he said. “There was no reason to believe that that wasn’t adequate.”
Castaneda-Mendez said he works as a safety consultant in the U.S. and has offered his service free of charge to Parks Canada and the outfitter his group used to help make changes to ensure appropriate safety policies are being executed.”
I don’t think his services would be worthwhile even if they were free.
Natural selection should have taken its course and we would be rid of these dopes. If there are any regulations that should change it would be to keep helicopters out of the park and tell people not to feed the bears.
I’d rather have a large caliber revolver under my pillow and then let the bear decide whether it wants to break off the attack.
I don’t need others telling me what won’t work.
Non-restricted firearms:
Most ordinary hunting rifles and shotguns. These may be brought temporarily into Canada for sporting or hunting use during hunting season, for use in competition, for in-transit movement through Canada, or for personal protection against wildlife in remote areas of Canada. Anyone wishing to bring hunting rifles into Canada must be at least 18 years old, and the firearm must be properly stored for transport.
http://canada.usembassy.gov/traveling_to_canada/bringing-weapons-into-canada.html
When the wife and I crossed the Rockies from Alberta to B.C. a few years ago, we saw a number of bears by the side of the road. Needless to say, we didn’t get out of the car and take a stroll into the woods.
Thank You!
This is my point, as sleeping with a rifle is a bit less useful than a powerful revolver. At least for the person in the case of this attack.
You might have thought that somebody in the group would have had a rifle with them.
So, your protests are moot, aren't they? And people who know firearms, know that no handgun caliber will stop a determined carnivore that happens to weigh in at around 3/4 ton. That's the polar bear.
My favorite handgun caliber is 44 mag, and even that caliber is inferior in ballistics to even the anemic (in the minds of most) 30-30 rifle.
The "what caliber handgun for bear" debate is constant. Somebody's always asking that over on The High Road or The Firing Line. And the conclusion is that if you go into brown or polar bear country armed with only a handgun, you'd better save that last bullet for yourself.
Canada Ping!
No, my protest is that Americans can’t take handguns into Canada.
I also made clear that I wasn’t suggesting a handgun would drop the bear in its tracks.
I simply believe there is a higher probability of the victim discouraging the bear, if he’d had a handgun under his pillow, than if he had to reach for a rifle and get it into position to take an effective shot.
Brought a grin to my ugly mug - when stationed in Italy and living downtown, the Itals had Vigilantes who got paid each month to watch over your car and home. Those that didn't hire them soon found out that no protection was like putting a neon sign on your house to beckon the crooks.
The mafia eventually took over and were more professional and friendly. They would actually give non-members a freebee and fill them in on the details of who they caught and what they were after. If you declined to pay after that, you were on your own.
My husband is certain that Anti-virus programs are sold by the people who create the viruses!
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