"HELENA, Mont. (July 18) -- A bear attacked a person sleeping inside a tent early Thursday, leading authorities to close two campgrounds near Yellowstone National Park.
The camper suffered bite and claw marks on his arms while protecting himself. Forest spokeswoman Marna Daley said the bear was believed to be a grizzly. The camper apparently had stored his food properly, Daley said." Should he have sprinkled amonia or skunk scent around his tent?

I just came out of 6 days in the backcountry of Glacier National park ....

There was a lot of talk about what happened to the Biker ... apparently, the bear started pushing in on his tent so he unzipped the tent and hit the bear on the nose.

The Bear grabbed his hand.

When he his the bear with his other hand the bear grabbed that hand and bit down hard, breaking a number of bones in his hand.

The bear then wandered away.

the National Parks should allow firearms, if I am in bear country I would never sleep without a big bore handgun. These people are lucky they aren't dead or maimed for life, oh well I guess it's better that the bears aren't hurt while they eat you. additionally this demonstrates the power of political correctness to overpower common sense.
idiots

Edited by m_walker on 08/15/2008 22:50:34 MDT.

... please stay home on your couch.

Is there a troll lurking about?!

that had to be a joke.........right??????????

I don't think he is a troll he just has an unpopular opinion. Arguing about guns in national parks will get us nowhere.

you are right I have an unpopular opinion, not meant to turn into an argument, as we can see nature harvests the unprepared. Can't stay on my couch I am planning and training for a 4 week AK bush trek next summer and I will sleep w/ a handgun. If anyone thinks they have hoplophobia
I can suggest some methods to overcome it.

Aren't you more likely to accidentally shoot yourself than be attacked by a bear? Has anyone tried using a deterrent/disabling weapon like Mace spray on a bear? Or would it just get really mad?

We brits don't suffer these hazards from big predators, though someone got bitten by a badger last year. :-)

poor Brits, nothing more exciting than trekking into the wilderness, knowing that if your skills aren't good enough there is a chance the weather, or some critter is going to kill you. As we have seen nature harvests the unprepaired.

It's true we don't often get hurricanes here in blighty, the last one was in 1987. It killed a number of yachtsmen in the fastnet race.

We do get challengingly quickly changing weather here though, and so skills do come into play when going high (well, above 2000 ft ;-)

I got caught by a big storm camping high in Andalucia a couple of years ago. I was glad I had a relatively heavy sierra designs lightyear over my head rather than a tarp. No bears left in Spain though, those guys have blasted everything bigger than a sparrow ino oblivion.

For the record, I'm a good shot, and can drop a rabbit from 50 paces with my air rifle. I'm not sure how I'd get on with a fast moving bear though. Especially if it was moving fast towards me!

There do seem to be a lot of gun accidents in the US though, witness the other thread about a 14 year old shooting a hiker he'd mistaken for a bear. I'm more worried by the unpredictable actions of other people than I am of animals.

Edited by tallbloke on 08/18/2008 02:09:20 MDT.

What model airgun are you using, I am looking for something like that.

You have to be careful when interpreting statistics about all this stuff. Hunting, guns and self protection are highly manipulated political wedge issues here in the States. When we have a gun accident it's opportunity for gun haters, the hoplophoic, peta people, and the anti self defense crowd to manipulate the lawmakers.

For Rabbit I use a Wierach .177" opposed piston recoilless underlever with a scope. The smaller calibre gives a higher velocity and ensures a clean kill at distance. For ratting I use an old BSA airsporter .22" with open sights - lighter and more manouverable.

The farmers round where I live appreciate a cull every now and then. The rabbit's go in the pot, and the rats go up in flames.

Vermin control is ok in my book, and for rats, a quick death by gun is better than putting poison down as I see it. I wouldn't feel so good about shooting larger animals like deer which aren't a problem to livestock or pasture though. A friend in scotland where they are a problem sends me a few pounds of venison down occasionally.

You can't beat wild meat.

To be honest, I find the idea of blasting at a bear with a handgun pretty abhorent. I'd have thought most bears would be scared off by the sound of a gunshot, without having to maim an animal you can't be sure of killing with a hand cannon. Without getting into the issue of animal rights, I'll just say that for me, the thought of being responsible for injuring an animal which then suffers the agony of a gunshot wound for days or weeks until it dies just makes me feel bad.

I'll check into those, I agree about the maiming that's why
I load up w/ these. If you study terminal ballistics a little you can see the benefit of this design, http://www.garrettcartridges.com/products.asp
these have a proven track record. Recently spoke w/ a guy that had to stop a charging Kodiak (they are really big)
dropped w/ one shot from a .500 Smith and Wesson handgun.
Dropped 2 ft from him says he still has nightmares about it. We are off topic thanks for the info.

You won't find a BSA airsporter on the american market, they stopped production many years ago. I'd have thought a nice light Crossman pump up would be the tool of choice over there.

As you say, we're off topic.

Cheers

Rog