[kms61]

99.9% of the people on this thread aren't gonna have a bear dog, though. Taking ol' Rover out in the woods is asking for trouble if there are grizz around.

Reading stories like this have the same attraction as listening to ghost stories. It gives us a chill, but the reality is most people will spend a liftetime in the outdoors without a hostile encounter. I've spent a fair amount of time in grizzly country, and have seen seventeen bears by my count, the closest at about fifty yards. An amazing experience sight.

Be prepared, be aware, but people shouldn't let stories like this panic them. Take the proper precautions and you should be fine.

[SLB]

Really surprised at the lack of understanding in bear country. Make noise, lots of noise. Break sticks, throw rocks and whistle and talk. Then we have the pros taking them on with a handgun. Hope their wills are in order. Many guides in Alaska carry a 12 ga pump gun with slugs or something in the .458 Winchester category. The .44 mag or .454 is only a last resort after the magazine for the shotgun or rifle is empty. I have hunted elk and deer just South of Yellowstone and we always made sure we let the bear know we coming. Never had a problem and saw lots of sign. No, it did not smell like pepper. We even left elk hanging in trees for five or six days and did not have problems, just take the right precautions.

[LibWhacker]

Marcus Aurelius looks like any ol' Rover to you? Harumpf! Think I'll tell him you said that. :-)

[hoosierskypilot]

I pulled this out of my files: "The late Earl J. Fleming, an Alaska state biologist, was perhaps the only man to investigate objectively the bear’s reputation for attacking humans. When Fleming encountered a bear, he neither ran nor shot. At the end of his unique study, he had encountered 81 brown bears, and although several staged mock charges, not one actually attacked."

Don't know as I would have the courage to stand up to a mock attack, though.