Posted on 09/22/2014 10:59:31 AM PDT by george76
The bear began to follow the hikers and they scattered... Four of them regrouped but Patel was missing and they contacted police, it said. Patel's body was found about two hours later.
"Evidence at the scene indicated that the victim had been attacked by a bear.
...
In New York state, a bear killed a 5-month-old girl in 2002 after knocking her out of a stroller and dragging her into the woods of the Catskills Mountains.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
They should have stayed together because the larger numbers of people would cause the bear to think twice about attacking.
Thoughts; hard cast solids for the.44
I know nothing of filing off the front sights. Please enlighten me.
Knock-out game?
I’m okay being armed, there’s a university owned 8,000 acre forest where I hike. There is a growing bear population there.
I recently told a friend that I ALWAYS carry a Ruger SP101 .357 magnum when I go fishing in black bear country.
He responded, “black bears rarely attack humans.”
I said, “Then the bears have nothing to worry about.”
“The bear was unarmed. He was also (reportedly) about to enter college.”
Paws Up. Don’t Shoot.
Justice 4
Yogi Bea.
Filed front sights are recommended so it doesn’t hurt so bad when the bear shoves the pistol up your a**
This view espoused by those that denigrate any pistol caliber when used against large predators.
It’s the punchline to an old joke. After discussing which pistol is best for bear hunting, the hunter is cautioned to be sure to file off the front site so that when the bear shoves it where the sun doesn’t shine, it wont hurt so much.
The message being, use a rifle or a 12 ga.
I would opt for the .44Mag in a jacketed round because of better penetration. A Blackie can carry a fair amount of bulk that can absorb a round and a .44Mag should have a better chance of reaching a vital area. Bear spray would be my 1st line of defense backed up by the .44 and a good sturdy knife like a CS Trail Master. The down side would be the range that they are employed at. That would mean you are at almost contact range and you may get swatted or bitten before he drops or breaks off the attack.
The reality is that the kid likely jumped into a car with his friends and drove west on the highway for an hour.
They probably thought they would hike up the side of a small mountain, have a snack at the peak, then return to drive home.
Who would expect true wilderness survival training is needed to hike a well-worn trail in a primarily suburban state?
His family and friends must feel terrible over this tragedy.
Was the black bear a 290lb unarmed teen who just swiped some honey?
Yikes!
No gun hiking in the mountains? Jersey or not, I’d have mine.
But in NJ, handguns are illegal.
I bet that the hiker wished the law was different now.
Bears have always been a problem when people move into their territory. Worked for three summers in a NW national park during college years. I remember tourists getting out of cars to feed bears which would actually walk on two legs to people giving out goodies. Situation was more than park rangers could handle. One incident happened at the campground when a camper was yelling at some cubs snitching food to get off the picnic table. The foolish camper went so far as to chase the cubs down the hill into the heavy wooded area. Not a good idea at night. Mama bear was waiting off the path an took a swipe at the guy. The guys WWII leather flight jacket was shredded as was his chest. As I recall the guy was lucky that people were following him and they picked him up right away and took him 10 +or- miles to an Indian reservation medical facility. I have worked in the woods putting up phone lines and always saw bears but gave them plenty of territory for hunting food.
Yep in real life they aren’t interested in just the “Pic-a-nic” Basket.
Most people know there are bears around, but they generally just eat from garbage cans and get chased up trees by cats.
The problem is when bears or other predators are “allowed” to move back into inhabited or populated territory. Restrictions on hunting and trapping of predators in places like California, for example, have meant that these animals have come back down from the high mountains and are now hunting people, since they no longer have any fear of humans.
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