Bear attacks rare, BUT when they DO!

[Sulaco2]

From the Seattle Times:
"Bellevue WA City Council member John Chelminiak, who narrowly survived a bear attack, awoke Sunday morning at Harborview Medical Center.
Chelminiak, 57, was mauled by a black bear at 8:30 p.m. Friday 10/01/10. He had left the family's vacation cabin at Lake Wenatchee's (WA) Lakeshore to walk two family dogs." He was airlifted from there to Harborview Trama Center in Seattle. For now, however, he'll spend more time at the hospital as doctors guard against infection of multiple wounds and lacerations to his upper body, face and head. (He lost his left eye, removed by doctors).
"He was clawed and bitten over a large part of his body". "He's bandaged up. His spirits are good, and he's going to make it."

Agents with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife found and killed the 10-year-old female bear about three hours after the attack. They described the attack as rare."

Maybe, but the real not news is the rest of the story, in that Chelminiak said he was standing near the road at the bottom of his drive way when he heard the bushes russle and then heard the bear's claws clicking on the pavement as she (yes female bear, no cubs were found) charged. He had just seconds to react and she body slammed him to the ground. After some chewing he got away and run up the driveway but the bear followed him and attacked again then went for the two small dogs he STILL had on leash. His wife says she scared the bear away by "Turning on the lights".

We know in this state that if you are ambushed by a big cat you will have almost NO time to pull a weapon to shoot and in this case he had about 1-3 seconds to react and did not because he was still holding dogs on leash.

So, gun part. Considering this is the norm for attacks by big toothy things, what handgun would you now think would have made a difference in this more normal then not attack. I don't think the gentleman attacked would have EVER thought of carrying a firearm, Bellevue is VERY liberal city, in the future? Maybe not so much.

 

[publius]

2 1/2 -4" double action 44 mag and some help from God.

 

[Quantrill]

Publius +1

 

[BigJimP]

Bellevue isn't as liberal as you think .... It depends on the age group / but its generally conservative in my part of Bellevue ....

Any weapon suitable for a carry situation is fine ....a 4" revolver in .357 mag / a 1911 in .45 acp / even something in a 9mm with say 147gr Hydra Shok rounds in it , etc .... but 1 - 3 sec, in the dark, isn't much time to react - but in most cases, the dogs would have alerted him to the bear in the area. ( that was why we had outside dogs in Northwestern Montana on the ranch ..when I was a kid)....

 

[Skans]

I keep an old beat up Winchester (post-64) 30-30 for bears at a cabin in N. Georgia. Yes they are very rare around N. Georgia, and very timmid, but ya never know.

 

[Alaska444]

I agree with the .44 magnum with high powered loads with a hard cast bullet. Have we lost our commen sense about being out in the woods in America because of all of the liberal ecowackiness for the last 50 years? Bears and cougers are in the area where he was walking. Throw in some out of place Canadian wolves in northern Idaho and a .44 magnum looks like the minimum to have in hand.

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

my thoughts are the same for every bear thread... short barrel, double action, big bore magnum, snubbie revolver is the best "defensive weapon" if you are hunting ( an offensive situation ) I'm fine with a longer barrel, or a single action... but nothing says "get off me" better than a big bore magnum snubbie, that is short enough to push the muzzle into the bear, even if it's already on top of you, & that fires by just pulling the trigger, in case you are in shock, & can't muster up the muscle memory to cock a single action...

 

[Sulaco2]

Bellevue isn't as liberal as you think ....

OK, I'll give you that one BigJim, much less Lib than Seattle sure. And I don't know the feelings of the victim in this case. I do know that most if not all elected to office have to be big time libs to win in this state... (Opps, NOT trying to start Lib vs. Conser debate. Please make a note of this...)


..."but nothing says "get off me" better than a big bore magnum..." Oh man, LMAS, just struck me funny. Now where did I put that keyboard clean up rag?

 

[tet4]

Yes, we have lost our common sense about being outdoors because there are way too many people in cities that go for day hikes once a year and don't see the need to carry even a pocket knife, let alone a small survival kit. Kids go to wilderness camp without a knife now. It's insane. People have forgotten how cruel mother nature really is if you aren't prepared.

 

[m.p.driver]

We go to Gatlinburg Tennessee all the time,last visit the bears would come right up to the porch of the house we were renting.With two dogs i wasnt taking any chances,friend found it amusing that i kept a Rem 870 with slugs leaning against the porch rail when we all sat outside,and carried a Glock 21 with black talons in it when we went hiking.I look at it this way there's always that one time.

 

[Sulaco2]

I am good with the 870 M&P. I kept one near the front door for several weeks last year after a mountain lion was seen accros the street from my subburbs home last year about this time. Coming down out of the mountains as the snow line goes down each year me thinks...

 

[EdInk]

Anyone else notice the paper (since it is in quotation marks) spelled "trauma" wrong?

 

[Daryl]

Anyone else notice the paper (since it is in quotation marks) spelled "trauma" wrong?

Yes, I did.

On which gun? I'd make due with whatever I had, but would prefer something .40 caliber or bigger. I typically carry a .40 or .45 Caliber handgun these days when outdoors, so I reckon that's what I'd make due with.

Anything is better than nothing, which is what it sounds like he used.

 

[2500ak]

After some chewing he got away and run up the driveway but the bear followed him

Based on this statement even if he hadn't had time to shoot at first, assuming he kept a level head, I'll warrant that if he had time to get away and run to from one side of the driveway to the other, that he'd had had time to shoot at it. Had he had anything to shoot in the first place.

I carry a .44 Magnum as a backup, but also a Remington 870. If I was down in the Washington area wilderness I'd feel quite comfortable with a .357 mag, or maybe even something a little smaller.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Bear attacks rare, BUT when they DO!

They are rare and many of the "attacks" are not actual attacks, but acts of defense, such as when hikers or cyclists surprise a bear in a clearing or get between a mama bear and cubs.

Regardless of what the encounters are called, if a human gets involved in a violent contact situation with a bear, even very briefly, at best the human is going to the emergency room. The human may not have to stay in the hospital, but usually needs to be treated for lacerations and/or bites.

Maybe some of the northern folks who are more current on these incidents can find an exception, but I don't recall any from 1:1 conflicts. I do seem to recall a woman beating on a bear with something like a frying pan or hammer after the bear had downed her husband and I don't think she was actually harmed, but I can't recall any others.

 

[hickstick_10]

What makes you think the bear is going to make a ton of noise and start slowly bungling toward you, and you'll have time to pull your pistol?

Carry the spray or carry a rifle/shotgun.

With the spray you wont be belligerent and stupidly wander to far off of the beaten path, since no one wants to use the spray and see if it works.

With a rifle/shotgun you have an adequate weapon IF you can use it in time.


Best bet is travel in a group when you hit the outdoors.

 

[Nnobby45]

Agents with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife found and killed the 10-year-old female bear about three hours after the attack. They described the attack as rare."

Every time there's a bear attack, some spokesman says something like that.

Bear attacks are similar to attacks on people in that respect. It's going to happen, with absolute certainty, to people for whom the odds were that it wouldn't.

Plain English: Odds are it won't happen to us, but to some, it does, anyhow.

 

[Blue Monster]

I was clearing open some old logging roads on my dirt last month and whacked my way into a large Blackberry briar patch.
Had some tent worms last spring and it allowed a lot of sun into the woods early on, the briars went nuts and grew to about 10'. After clearing the road through the patch with the whacker (steel spinning blades of death), I turned around to get my chain saw to buzz up the fallen stuff and pretty much stepped into a pile of crap. Lets just say it was more impressive than my own and full of berry seeds and color. (N. MI)
Multiple bears based on spore.
You could see where they tramped their way through the briars and have had numerous feasts, we are talking acres of berries. I haven't seen one yet but the patch is a good 600 yard through the forest from my shop. Plus the remaining fruit is overripe and starting to rot.

I normally have a huge, fierce Beagle with me but not when working with power equipment.
The roads are clear enough now that I am flattening them with an old Cherokee, the jeep now has an old double shotgun to repel boarders.
I have taken to holstering a .357 while small gaming with a .22 or 20ga.
Also going armed on those late evening walks to "commune" with nature.

 

[Sport45]

So, gun part. Considering this is the norm for attacks by big toothy things, what handgun would you now think would have made a difference in this more normal then not attack.

We have had many, many bear threads started here. What is different about this one in deciding which firearm to carry if you're within a few miles of woods or brush?

Until we evolve self-loading .454 Casull index fingers I get the feeling we're all doomed and bears will take over the planet.

 

[MLeake]

Scarcity and timidity of bears in north Georgia...

... Skans, they might be scarce and timid; I haven't seen one up close so far. However, when I lived right off the Pine Log WMA, a bear wandered through our barn one night, based on the coarse black fur on the hayloft ladder it knocked over, and the claw marks 4-5 feet up the tree outside...

So they are definitely around.

Odds are I'll never see one, but my woods guns are a GP100, 4", with 180gr HC Buffalo Bore, or a S&W M29 Mountain Gun, with 255gr Keith HC Buffalo Bore.

I might use the 10mm longslide for hunting, but it's a bit long for a draw on something close in. Both the revolvers are a bit quicker to present.