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I was watching “Life Below Zero” on the National Geographic channel last night. A woman living alone on the Tundra was talking about being attacked by a bear when she was out hunting.

The bear punctured her skull and disjointed her hip before rolling her down a river embankment. She dragged herself back up the bank, drove her ATV back to her cabin and laid on the floor for 10 days till somebody found her.

She said she’s an old fashioned gal who prefers a lever action but carries an AR style rifle because she wants to put as much lead downrange as possible.

She’s more man than I’ll ever be.

My husband was hunting grizzlies in British Columbia a few years ago and I was tagging along with him. We had an Indian guide and he told us a story about his wife.

She was out gathering up the horses in the remote area where they lived. She walked up on a grizzly and it attacked her. It knocked her around for a while and she played dead.

The bear buried her in a pile of sticks, rocks and dirt and would have come back to eat her. when she knew the bear was gone she climbed out from under the brush and staggered home.

Her husband said it took almost 7 years for some of her wounds to heal. (Canadian health care I guess)

Quite common for young blk bear to stalk people, especially if they haven't seen many humans. They usually come in real slow with front quarters hugging the ground and butt high in air; same way a cat sneaks in on a rabbit in cut hay field. Has happened to me twice in my life, and yet never have had a grizzly bear get that close to me. Truth is vast majority of all bear, run at the whiff of man.

We have several Spring bear stands that we bait. My kids have shot over 20 blk bear last 4-5 years, biggest 350 lbs with a 6.8 Stag Ar; 110 grain TTSX's, 28 grains H-322. They run 10-20 yards let out their death bawl. Indian friends down Ft. Yukon killed a sow polar bear a few years back with an old .556 Ar. My nephew killed a grizzly bear this fall with my 308 Scar, 165 A-frames. Rural Alaska, people have used cheap old military guns for many years, so the transition to the newer Ar platforms is quite acceptable to most.

I actually know some of the people on "Life below Zero" & "Yukon Men". You are seeing how they really live, but it's played up for Reality TV for sure. That one guy that has his Eskimo wife shoot everything. He can't be seen with a gun, cause he knocked the crap outta state cop a few years back and isn't allowed to touch a gun; the law is waiting for him to be seen shooting something; then they'll be after him again, regular vendetta, ha ha. Ya know, I dvr them shows and sit back and laugh at all the hocus pocus, but I watch them too.