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#14067239 08/21/19
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Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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Lots more to the story, ......as I've been told, they got caught in a big rainstorm with their blow-up canoe, and decided to pull ashore, ......she noticed fresh grizzly tracks in the mud, but he didn't want to go further and decided to set up camp, believing a bear would be hunkered down due to the rain. Morning came and so did the bear, .....pulled him out of the tent, and she made for the canoe, started paddling. Some other canoeists saw her, got the story and set off their "Spot" GPS.
His body was found about 200 yards away.
No gun, no bear spray, .........not that it would have helped!


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Barryt;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was a good one for you and that this finds you well.

Thanks for the additional information, I appreciate you taking the time.

Honestly I am at a loss to understand why people continue to believe that if they leave predators alone that the predator will leave them alone.

When I'm teaching the survival night in our BC Hunter Safety course I start by telling the class two things

First - luck favors the prepared.

Second - the mountain doesn't care if you die on it.

For sure and certain we don't know if a firearm would have helped or not, but I'd also suggest that without carrying anything, we'll never know either.

Anyway sir. thanks again and good luck on your upcoming hunts.

Dwayne


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BC30cal,

Good points.

On your second point, I always stress that one's attention and awareness must never stray from it.

On your first point, seems that this pair's mindset or experience were NOT prepared for the hazards. Since they were traveling by canoe, a rifle or shotgun would not added any additional hardship to travel for the potential protection it afforded.

A Canadian hiker once told me that the difference between Americans and Canadians in the Wilderness was that Canadians carried bells and Americans carried guns...

Seems that the famous Canadian bells might have been utilized to potentially give some warning if attached to the tent opening/perimeter wire? Ever hear anyone doing that?



Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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SheriffJoe;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was a good one for you and this finds you well.

When we're in a National Park, we typically will carry spray, a Cold Steel Irish Blackthorn walking stick and a Gryphon - Bob Terzuola designed M30A1.

If we've ever seen folks with bells, I can't recall tonight, but as my late father used to say, "it takes all kinds".

Honestly we don't prefer to be in National Parks that much as the wildlife around them learn bad habits pretty quickly.

We'll see what happens with our grizzly bear hunt ban here in BC, but if it stays in force long my guess is the grizzlies will get pretty snuffy with folks in a fairly short order.

That said, I know a few folks in the ranching community and if a bear, wolf or cougar turns out to be a problem, sometimes it just vanishes like it was never there. So I've heard anyway and of course I have no direct experience or knowledge of such events.

When we're teaching new hunters here in BC, we instructors really stress that it's not a bubble wrapped world up there in the hills above the house. Honestly truly it isn't down in the valley here either, but we're spoon fed that insidious untruth from so many sectors now that many young people begin to believe it.

Anyway I couldn't agree with you more on mind set and awareness - whether we're in the mountains or in town.

Thanks for the reply and all the best to you as we head into the hunting season.

Dwayne


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Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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All too often, in recent years, people seem to have the idea that wild places should be made safe for them and preparedness means having a way to call for help.
I don't know what effect the grizzly hunt closure might have here but I suspect that any grizzly which is threat will get shot just like before. Here, there has not been a fall hunt for decades yet grizzlies got thumped when necessary (and sometimes when not) anyway. An increased population of both bears and people is bound to create some problems though. Hunters and hikers in remote areas in Canada carry handguns a lot more often than many would believe although we must, of course, deny it. GD

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A lot of the problems I observe up here stems from folks that believe what they call "wilderness" is not what really exists here. Many think wilderness is a place where they'll bump into only 50 people a day, whereas, up here most places you can spend 50 days without seeing anyone! Once you're 10 miles from a community the odds are that any animal you see has never seen a human before.

So, we get lots that think a cell phone is sufficient and cell service should be everywhere they go. 90% of the North does not have cell service, and even a SAT phone is not 100% reliable.

When tourists (and often fresher locals) leave a road they have no concept of what to expect, and get into trouble, only to discover they are on their own.

In the case of this pair, they had no communication device, and when the bear came in, she ran to the canoe. Fortunately, she was spotted by a group of paddlers who had a SPOT, but being an early model, could only send a distress signal and approximate location. When it was relayed to Yellowknife, the weather was down so no immediate response could happen. The RCMP did contact a helicopter company that had a chopper at Norman Wells, and explained that they'd received a distress signal and the co-ordinates, ......could they mobilize and check it out?

Being the North, they got in the air, not knowing what they were looking for, but luckily finding the paddlers who explained the situation. They picked everyone up and reported the situation back to Yellowknife. As soon as the weather cleared they headed to Norman Wells where they could board a chopper and investigate.

Had the woman not been discovered by the other group, she was 50 miles from the nearest settlement and wouldn't have known where the incident even took place.

A month before, 450k out, a pair radioed in that a bear had destroyed their canoe, camp, eaten all their food, and had them pinned on a small point with their bear spray emptied. At least they had a SAT phone, and, luckily, were rescued.

It's estimated we have 3-5000 grizzlies in the NWT, all capable of getting a whiff of food from 10 miles away (I've seen this proven too many times), and no one expects a bear to show up?

Sorry for the rant!


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Well said.

In the Pacific Northwest, thankfully 99%+ of Wilderness travelers stay on the trail whether it is ground or water. Once they leave it...uh oh.

Few *appear* to be armed.

*Some* climbers,*some* hunters, a few backpackers and the occasional military unit are able to function off-trail at any appreciable distance from their transport.

In winter, we encounter very few really cognizant of avalanche hazards, let alone are trained to deal with the terrain.

We find that the typical traveler that leaves their vehicle in remote areas and particularly if they *feel* marooned after a mishap or in winter usually don't experience a happy resolution.


Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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Well, we know that they're "entitled" to a wonderful, safe experience while in a different world!


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Sad day for his family. God Bless them.
Grizzlies however can be unpredictable, you gotta be prepared for anything in our Bush country, black bears can be predatory and quite cunning too. The little things can kill you .
Why not prepare? I see hiker types in short pants and no gear , expecting the sun to shine all day. Weather can change drastically, quickly.
City folks are most likely to have trouble- most country boys wear a hat and keep a pocket knife, long pants a good footwear. Farm and Ranch kids are savvy to things around them in the outdoors.


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