Always good to brush up on bear etiquette

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SeilerBird said:
Personally I don't care about one in a million chances. Bears are not interested in you period. All he wants is to get fatter before the snow hits.
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  If ?you? are the one in one million....your attitude may change!
 
Memtb said:
  If ?you? are the one in one million....your attitude may change!
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No my attitude will not change because it will not happen. Bears do not randomly attack humans. The one in a million you are talking about is someone who violated a rule and upset the bear. I don't do those things.
 
catblaster said:
  Along the same lines but not with bears.....some of you may want to brush up on your alligator etiquette also. 

Dont feed them
They arent cute little cartoon gators
They love to eat dogs...so..
a gator can come vertically out of the water almost half of its length
They can out run you or your dog for a short distance
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Alligators don't generally attack people either. Their normal behavior, is to submerge and swim away, as fast as they can.  Those who have been fed, may be bolder, but still rarely attack.

Several years ago, I was on a 3 day canoe trip across Okefenokee Swamp. About half way through the second day, we came to a large downed tree, completely blocking the trail. There was no choice, except to get into the water, and drag the canoe over the trunk. Almost immediately, a large gator swam over, opened his mouth, and began bumping me in my legs. It was clear, that he expected to be fed. He thought he was the "toll gate keeper." I kept tugging on the canoe with one hand, while using the other hand to try to keep a paddle between me and his huge gaping mouth. Meanwhile, my wife was throwing hand fulls of Cheetos into his mouth. It was the only food immediately available, but it seemed to satisfy him.

It was clear that he was used to being fed. Despite that, there was absolutely no indication on an attack.

Joel
 
Great Horned Owl said:
Alligators don't generally attack people either. Their normal behavior, is to submerge and swim away, as fast as they can.  Those who have been fed, may be bolder, but still rarely attack.

Several years ago, I was on a 3 day canoe trip across Okefenokee Swamp. About half way through the second day, we came to a large downed tree, completely blocking the trail. There was no choice, except to get into the water, and drag the canoe over the trunk. Almost immediately, a large gator swam over, opened his mouth, and began bumping me in my legs. It was clear, that he expected to be fed. He thought he was the "toll gate keeper." I kept tugging on the canoe with one hand, while using the other hand to try to keep a paddle between me and his huge gaping mouth. Meanwhile, my wife was throwing hand fulls of Cheetos into his mouth. It was the only food immediately available, but it seemed to satisfy him.

It was clear that he was used to being fed. Despite that, there was absolutely no indication on an attack.

Joel
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Joel is right on. Alligators have been in existence for a few 100 million years, humans about 200,000 years. We are not even a blip on their radar. They will not attack you to eat you since we are not food to them. They will attack to defend territory or eggs so if you are in the water with one they might attack to defend themselves or their territory, but not to eat you. Remember the three year old boy who was killed at the Disney resort a few years ago? His body was found a few days later, not eaten, just killed. Same thing with bears, they won't kill you to eat you, however they will kill you to defend territory or cubs.

I saw a gator down at Everglades park called Speedbump (he loved to sit in the road). I videoed him for an hour. So I used the telephoto lens and kept a safe distance away from him. Gators can run up to 35 mph but only for extremely short bursts. So if you don't get to close to one they can never hurt you.
 
Yes, Bear attacks are very rare but they do happen with no provocation. A friend of mine was Moose hunting in Canada a few years ago and he and his guide rounded a rock outcropping and met a Grizzly. Before they could do anything the Grizzly was on him and killed him instantly. Then he turned his attention to the guide. Neither got their guns up to protect themselves. The guide lived to tell us what happened and how fast it was. That said, you could spend the rest of your life in the woods and run into bears on the hour and have no problems. But you should always be prepared.

On another note, we are going to Fort Mountain in North Georgia in two weeks and they have sent us notice that we need to be prepared to see bears during our stay. They sent a long list of things we can and can't do especially with food and garbage. However, they have had no people harmed up there this summer and we are looking forward to our trip.
 
Yes, if you round a rock and surprise a bear, you very well might be in trouble. If, when rounding a blind corner, cresting a hill, etc., you make enough noise to let any bear know that you're coming, you'll be just fine.

Joel
 
ro1459 said:
Yes, Bear attacks are very rare but they do happen with no provocation. A friend of mine was Moose hunting in Canada a few years ago and he and his guide rounded a rock outcropping and met a Grizzly. Before they could do anything the Grizzly was on him and killed him instantly. Then he turned his attention to the guide. Neither got their guns up to protect themselves. The guide lived to tell us what happened and how fast it was. That said, you could spend the rest of your life in the woods and run into bears on the hour and have no problems. But you should always be prepared.
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Guns would not have helped them, shoot a bear with a handgun and you will just piss the bear off.
 
My son was stationed in Alaska while in the Air Force.  He luckily got a Brown Bear License.  While he was telling me about the up coming hunt,  I asked if he had gotten a heavy caliber side arm for emergencies. 

He told me that he had gotten a .50 Cal Desert Eagle.  He then told me that it really bothered him, that he had to file the front sight off.

I asked him, why would you have to file the front sight off?

He said.  "That way when the Bear sticks it up his butt, it won't hurt so much." ;D ;D ;D

He did get his Bear.

 
To put this whole thing in perspective, I have very little doubt they you are in more danger walking down the street in most any large city, than you are walking down a trail in bear country.

Joel
 
Right on Joel. Like I always said, driving a car is the most dangerous thing you can do. It is hundreds of times more dangerous than walking in a forest or diving in the ocean.
 
SeilerBird said:
Guns would not have helped them, shoot a bear with a handgun and you will just piss the bear off.
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    Once again, complete misinformation. Many bears are killed every year by handgun hunters.....I myself killed a black bear with a “handgun”!  It didn’t make the bear mad....it made it dead! Also, provided my family with a lot of meat. Also, several times a year a handgun is used to stop (often killing the bear) a bear attack. About 2 years ago (in Alaska), a fishing guide killed a Brown Bear with a 9 mm handgun...hardly a bear hunting handgun. Again, story is verifiable by Alaskan newspaper articles!
  There is a survey available on the internet, that gives the percent success rate of bear defense with a handgun....also broken down by caliber!
 
Many years ago I had a corporate flight where we flew some guys into Canada for some fishing, great trip. Both guides carried 44 mags, even though it was (and of course still is) illegal for them to do so. They felt it was important enough for them to do so they were willing to risk the significant ramifications if they got caught.

One night, in the middle of the night when it was literally, absolutely silent, I heard a twig snap outside the tent, estimating within 10 feet. Never heard another noise, but to this day, perhaps 35 years later, I remember that twig snap.  :eek:
 
Tom Hoffman said:
My son was stationed in Alaska while in the Air Force.  He luckily got a Brown Bear License.  While he was telling me about the up coming hunt,  I asked if he had gotten a heavy caliber side arm for emergencies. 

He told me that he had gotten a .50 Cal Desert Eagle.  He then told me that it really bothered him, that he had to file the front sight off.

I asked him, why would you have to file the front sight off?

He said.  "That way when the Bear sticks it up his butt, it won't hurt so much." ;D ;D ;D

He did get his Bear.
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    Did he take his Brown with a handgun or rifle! Did he get a measurement on the skull? Oh......Congratulations to your son!
 
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