Worse yet, the cubs were between me and the Sow, that's her in the background. She could have easily charged and she would not have stopped until one of us was chewed up! Had the cubs made ANY kind of whimper or fear related gesture, all hell would have broken loose. Fortunately they did not.
That's bears, you learn to live with them here.
Every year people get mauled and killed by our bears. This newspaper article is typical. Read on...
The Anchorage, Alaska newspaper headlines read "Bears Lovers Eaten".
"Among the last words Timothy Treadwell uttered to his girlfriend before a Brown Bear killed and partially ate both of them were these:
"Get out here. I'm getting killed.''
"Words caught on a tape recording of the attack also reveal Treadwell's girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, shouting at him to play dead, then encouraging him to fight back.
"Alaska State Troopers report that is what they heard on a videotape recovered Monday at the scene of a bear mauling in Katmai National Park and Preserve. The tape was in a camera found near the bear-buried remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37.
"Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said there are no pictures on the tape, leading troopers to believe the attack might have happened while the camera was stuffed in a duffle bag or during the dark of night. Treadwell had talked to an associate in Malibu, Calif., by satellite phone around noon Sunday. He mentioned no problems with any bears.
"The remains of the Southern Californians who periodically came to Alaska to live intimately with the bears were found the next day. A large but scrawny old bear with bad teeth that a pilot had seen sitting on the brush and dirt pulled over the bodies was shot and killed by National Park Service rangers at the scene after it charged them..."
Brown Bear are nothing to mess with. They are not pets and they cannot be approached or trusted in the wild. Many Alaskans are mauled each year, many in Anchorage! The joggers are taking to the hillside mountains of Anchorage and the bears are there!
I have had to go in the brush after Brown Bear that have been hit by clients then disappear. It's not something I look forward to doing, but it does happen. What do I pack when I back up Brown Bear clients? Mr Gibbs. That's a .505 Gibbs! Denny Crum gave my rifle that nickname on his Brown Bear hunt years back. The name "Mr. Gibbs" has stuck ever since. Always told my clients if all else fails, we'll hide in the barrel!
"Among the last words Timothy Treadwell uttered to his girlfriend before a Brown Bear killed and partially ate both of them were these:
"Get out here. I'm getting killed.''
"Words caught on a tape recording of the attack also reveal Treadwell's girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, shouting at him to play dead, then encouraging him to fight back.
"Alaska State Troopers report that is what they heard on a videotape recovered Monday at the scene of a bear mauling in Katmai National Park and Preserve. The tape was in a camera found near the bear-buried remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37.
"Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said there are no pictures on the tape, leading troopers to believe the attack might have happened while the camera was stuffed in a duffle bag or during the dark of night. Treadwell had talked to an associate in Malibu, Calif., by satellite phone around noon Sunday. He mentioned no problems with any bears.
"The remains of the Southern Californians who periodically came to Alaska to live intimately with the bears were found the next day. A large but scrawny old bear with bad teeth that a pilot had seen sitting on the brush and dirt pulled over the bodies was shot and killed by National Park Service rangers at the scene after it charged them..."
Brown Bear are nothing to mess with. They are not pets and they cannot be approached or trusted in the wild. Many Alaskans are mauled each year, many in Anchorage! The joggers are taking to the hillside mountains of Anchorage and the bears are there!
I have had to go in the brush after Brown Bear that have been hit by clients then disappear. It's not something I look forward to doing, but it does happen. What do I pack when I back up Brown Bear clients? Mr Gibbs. That's a .505 Gibbs! Denny Crum gave my rifle that nickname on his Brown Bear hunt years back. The name "Mr. Gibbs" has stuck ever since. Always told my clients if all else fails, we'll hide in the barrel!
Pepper spray? Forget it. Word is, the bears want a little salt spray to go with there meals too!
