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Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- Two pairs of archery hunters were attacked by a grizzly bear or bears in Montana, in the Gravelly Mountains. The attacks occurred within 11 hours and one mile from each other.  Because of the proximity, it is suspected the same bear was involved in both attacks.The attacks are remarkably similar with an interesting difference. In one, the hunters used bear spray. In the other, they used 9 mm handguns.  From mt.gov: The first attack happened about 7:30 a.m. when two archery hunters from New Mexico were following elk tracks south of Cottonwood Creek, west of Black Butte....

A few years ago, I held the widespread belief that in the wild, humans were far more dangerous than bears. Humans are the top predator on the planet. They routinely prey on their own. Far more humans are killed by humans than by bears. The reality is more complex. As I researched bear attacks and the effectiveness of using handguns to stop those attacks, I found I was mistaken about the comparative danger of humans. Comparing how many people are killed by humans against how many are killed by bears is a misleading metric. There are hundreds of millions...

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.

a woman staying on an island in a lake that straddles the border between Minnesota and Ontario, Canada has been killed by a black bear ... The 62-year-old woman was staying at a remote family cabin on Red Pine Island in Rainy Lake. The island, in Canadian waters, is about 10 miles northeast of International Falls. ... Ontario Provincial Police Constable Jim Davis says the woman, who was staying with her parents from Minnesota, went outside when she heard her two dogs barking Sunday evening and never returned. Davis says the parents called police who shot the bear after finding...

In several cases this summer, there were times where you read what happened and say, they should have had a gun. Fatal bear attacks are rare. Attacks, where someone is injured, happen much more frequently. Close calls, without injury, are more common yet. Here are some cases from this summer where it seems the people involved would have been well served by the availability of a defensive firearm. It is better for everyone concerned if the attacking animal is killed by the people immediately involved. It takes the authorities time and considerable money to respond.On 26 June 2019, 54-Year-Old...

'Colin Dowler ended up in a Life-or-Death Struggle with a Grizzly Bear in British Columbia' A Canadian man from Dowler, British Columbia survived a brutal grizzly bear attack by stabbing the animal in the neck with a 2-inch pocket knife, according to reports. Colin Dowler, 45, was mountain biking in the remote back country of British Columbia outside of the city of Power River on July 29 when he spotted a large male grizzly. Dowler stopped about 100 feet away from the bear in order to decide what he should do next—stay still, ride past the bear, or cycle in...

In January, 2018, I published some original research on the efficacy of pistols in stopping bear attacks. It started with this observation: On the Internet, and in print, many people claim that pistols lack efficacy in defending against bear attacks. Here is an example that occurred on freerepublic.com: “Actually, there are legions of people who have been badly mauled after using a handgun on a bear. Even some of the vaunted magnums.” OK, give us a few examples. As you claim “legions”, it should not be too hard. I never received a response. I believe the claim was made in...

Just one day before he turned 45, Colin Dowler didn't think he'd live to celebrate it... the avid outdoorsman was scouting backcountry trails outside of Powell River, B.C., on his mountain bike, about seven kilometres away from a nearby logging camp. After making his way down one of the hills onto the logging road, he caught sight of a large male grizzly bear, walking in his direction. "I wasn't really sure what to do about the situation," Dowler said from his Vancouver hospital bed. "I largely stood there, and let the grizzly keep walking up towards me." Concerned of making...

Alexander Burton is a well known Registered Professional Geologist and Professional Engineer. He has been active in the field since obtaining his degree in Geology in 1954. He has worked professionally in Australia, numerous African countries, Canada, several Central and South American countries, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Russia, and the United States. During his more than six decade long career, he worked  in several remote locations in British Columbia and the Yukon. He obtained his first pistol, a Colt 357, with a six-inch barrel, in 1955. He holds an Authority to Carry (ATC) and an Authority to Transport (ATT) from...

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)-On 31 May, 2019, at about 1 p.m., a woman hiking with her husband on a popular trail near Aspen, Colorado, was bitten in an unprovoked attack by a black bear. She was bitten on the thigh and required hospitalization for a short period. Most bears that show no fear of humans have become acclimated to humans. Bears that have no fear of humans are likely to test humans to see if humans are potential prey. Eventually, the bears have a good chance of causing harm.The case illustrates how effective a pistol could be at stopping bear attacks,...

On 26 November 2018, a young Canadian mother and her 10-month-old child were killed by an adult male grizzly bear. It was a horrific tragedy. Two sides quickly emerged in the discussion that followed. One side suggested that the woman “got what she deserved” because she and her partner were trappers. The other side suggested she could have been saved if she had a gun to use for protection. Lost in the push from these sides were the suffering of the father, the young couple's friends, and the Yukon community they were part of. The coroner's report has now been...

On 5 May, 2019,  Ashley Gribble was walking in the woods with her five dogs. She had bear spray. She encountered a black bear that exhibited typical predatory black bear behavior. The bear kept coming, even after the bear spray was used.   Fortunately, one of Ashley's dogs, 80 pound Bane, jumped between the bear and Ashley. Here is some of Ashley's account from facebook: I was able to discharge my bear spray but it did not stop the bear. At this point I'm yelling and backing up while the dogs are barking. As I do so, I fell backwards over...

Teen fights off charging grizzly with bear spray after being pinned face-down on the ground [Good Morning America] MORGAN WINSOR Good Morning AmericaApril 11, 2019 Teen fights off charging grizzly with bear spray after being pinned face-down on the ground originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A teenager who encountered a bear in Montana on Sunday was pinned to the ground by the animal but managed to escape using bear spray, authorities said. The 17-year-old boy told wildlife officials that he was walking down a hill in a remote area some 30 miles south of Ennis on Sunday afternoon when he heard...

In January 2018, I published some original research on the efficacy of pistols in stopping bear attacks. It started with this observation, on the Internet, and in print, many people claim that pistols lack efficacy in defending against bear attacks. Here is an example that occurred on freerepublic.com: “Actually, there are legions of people who have been badly mauled after using a handgun on a bear. Even some of the vaunted magnums.” OK, give us a few examples. As you claim “legions”, it should not be too hard. I never received a response. I believe the claim was made in...

One of the issues in determining the efficacy of guns and bear spray in stopping bear attacks is how to decide if an incident should be included in the database. One of my selection criteria is: an incident should only be included if the bear spray was actually sprayed or if a shot were actually fired.  Here are two examples of incidents that should not be included in the statistics for the efficacy of either bear spray or firearms. The first is an example of when the bear spray was available, but not used.On 23 July 2011, a group of...

On 11 November 2018, on Sunday morning, Anders Broste was hunting with a friend. He had already harvested his deer, weeks earlier. He had an elk tag, so he had his rifle along in case he was fortunate enough to encounter an elk. He knew there were plenty of deer in the area. Broste was using two hands to move through heavy brush and alders. His friend was about a hundred and fifty yards away. It is a common and successful hunting technique.Broste saw the bear as it lifted its head from its bed. Then, the bear charged. Broste had...

On Friday afternoon, the 14th of September, Mark Uptain, a hunting guide, and Corey Chubon, a bow hunter,  were attacked by grizzly bears as they processed an elk carcass. Chubon had mortally wounded the elk with an arrow, the day before, but they had not recovered it before nightfall. They came back the next day and followed a good blood trail to the dead elk.They had nearly finished processing it when they were attacked by the grizzly bears. The attack started with a full out charge.  Uptain was hit by the bear first, then Chubon, then the bear went...

A Wisconsin bear hunter was attacked by a 357-pound black bear and miraculously survives the ordeal. Tye Carlson is an experienced hunter with 40 years, he was surprised when he found himself getting mauled by the large bruin. Carlson and his party were chasing the bear near Wascott, Wisconsin, when the bear got tired of being chased so it decided to stop and attack. Unfortunately, Carlson was the nearest to the bear when it attacked. Before Carlson knew it, the bear was on him. "He popped out and he wasn’t going to stop,” he said. “He just ran me over...

Opinion Flurry of Bear Attacks in Fall of 2018, Are You At Risk?Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- It is the season for bear attacks. Bears are very active in the fall, when they must accumulate enough calories to lard up for hibernation. At the same time, human hunters are out and about, hunting all game animals, putting human hunters in the same areas with heavy bear populations. In the last month, there have been several bear attacks in the news. On 9 September 2018, Dr. Brad Johnson was attacked and severely mauled. He had bear spray in his hand.  He was attacked...