Posted on 04/01/2024 5:56:12 AM PDT by marktwain
James Albert Maierle was a well-known educator and sportsman born in 1942 in Calumet, Michigan. He was an enthusiastic hunter, fisherman, and woodsman. He is well known in his local area and published a few stories in hunting magazines. He died in 2022. His son related the circumstances of his father’s shooting of a black bear in self-defense in the early 1960s on the Montreal River in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The location is only a few miles from where Maierle grew up. The area was pretty wild in the early 1960s. After the major copper mine shut down in 1967, the population dwindled further. From Jim Maierle:
It was some time in the early 60s from what he told me, I don’t remember him saying what year specifically. This was somewhere on the Montreal river up in Keweenaw county where he was stream fishing alone. I believe it was in the spring. He said he was walking along the river when he noticed a small cub. He stopped and looked around and immediately realized he had inadvertently ended up between the cub and the sow. He started backing away from both of them and the sow started advancing on him. He put some distance from them but she wouldn’t stop despite him yelling and waving his arms to warn her off.
When he realized she wasn’t backing down he drew the Ruger and waited until it was quite close before he fired. He was a very good shot so I have no doubt he wanted to make sure he could hit where he was aiming. The bear went down as I described. [dead right there with a brain shot] He then took the cub and wrapped it up in his jacket and put it in the trunk
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
>>>Bears can be dangerous. <<<
And unpredictable. If it’s early Spring and they have just come out of hibernation, you are breakfast. And if it’s late Fall and they need to pack on some pounds for hibernation, you are dessert.............................
Was it a black bear or a grizzly?
In trying to open this article, it went to the site and then proceeded to a Norton site with 3 additional pop-ups giving Norton Virus Warnings. I don’t have Norton. I couldn’t close the pop-ups. It shouldn’t have done a referral to another site, the Norton site,...Is something wrong with the article/original webpage?
"Defense Against Pursuing Black Bear and Man Fishing in Michigan in the 1960s"
Sounds like you might have a malware problem or someone is trying to get you to give them your personal information.
Gads I’m dense. I’ve even had a cup of covfefe.
I was going to say there was a slight chance that a black bear would break off with shouting and arm waving, but not a grizzly.
Very slight with a momma bear, but non-zero.
2nd that. Works fine here. Safari browser on iPadOS.
Ain’t no grizz in Michigan that I know of. :)
“Was it a black bear or a grizzly?”
OP. First paragraph
“Was it a black bear or a grizzly?”
Headline: Black Bear
Don't worry about it. The only people who never make a mistake are those who never do anything.
That is the worst mistake of all.
I make lots of mistakes...
Bears are very dangerous- there was a fella who was in the road taking photos of a bear on side of road, and he man was run over by a semi truck. Stay away from bears!
I thought I made a mistake once, but of course I was mistaken.
That’s my conundrum. I’m pretty sure I don’t have issues on my end. I’m glad to hear others aren’t having issues with the article. I would have liked to read it.
To the best of my knowledge Grizz have never occupied that part of the country, pretty much west of the Mississippi River in the western United States.
From Alaska down to Mexico, from the Pacific coast out to the Great Plains.
Grizzly bears are relative newcomers to the U.S. South of Canada. They got here about the same time, or a little after, people.
People will recoil in terror when a door is answered by a 120-150 lb rottweiler, but still want to perceive a black bear 2-3 times that size as something cute and cuddly.
Bears have a much better, louder, and better financed marketing department (starting with Disney!).
“The area was pretty wild in the early 1960s.”
It’s still pretty wild.
L
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.