Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Bear attack in Banff NP

Curious,, how did they know from the GPS it was a Bear attack?
Careful out hunting this year, lots of Grizzlies around.
https://cochranenow.com/articles/two-dead-after-bear-attack-in-banff-national-park-

Two dead.

And Joe Biden just announced on Friday that we need to transplant grizzlies to Washington State to area that has cattle on it.

Stuff happens in the wild. Grizzlies bite! GD

I wonder if that's why they call it the wild ?

GPS alert at 8pm the responders could not get there untill 1pm. 2 dead and an aggressive bear. Fun in the dark. Killed the bear.

It could be that the alert was sent via a Garmin Inreach Explorer unit. Part of the SOS function allows the Garmin response centre to contact the person triggering the SOS via txt on the GPS itself, not a cellphone so cell service isn't required. The folks attacked might have had time to reply to the txt with info ref the SOS request before they died. FYI, a non-response to an SOS txt doesn't stop the search crews, if anything, it might speed them up.
I have one of these units, it has some very cool features.
It appears the responders couldn't fly in due to weather conditions. It was supposed to be pretty crappy weather in that region the last couple days.
Darn shame all the way around regardless.
Jeff

Just enough to subdue you, then they eat you alive.

troutfly;
Good evening my friend, I hope the weekend has been kind to you all and you're all doing well.

Thanks for the explanation on the Inreach, I appreciate you doing so.

My family keep on urging me to get something like that since I mostly hunt solo and as you can attest wouldn't qualify for a spring chicken anymore.

As 673 mentioned, there seems to be a whole lot of all varieties of bears about this season, so I'll echo his thoughts to be a wee bit extra careful out there this year.

All the best to you all troutfly, thanks again and good luck on your hunts.

Dwayne

Thanks Troutfly.
I need an Inreach too Dwayne, I hunt almost exclusively alone, either of my Sons or both at times, but alone alot.
It would be good to call home and let them know... I'm getting eaten...over,... LOL

Hi Dwayne and 673,

Good evening gents. Spring chickens we ain't but I suspect we can still do what needs doin, just doin it with a bit of style! Keeping the hunting, fly-fishing Gods and the ladies happy is what is important!

We finally received a bit of rain the last couple of days. still, darn dry out there. My shoulder is slowly getting better. Long way to go before I can shoot still.
I did acquire a dog recently. 8 year old Choc lab, fully trained as an upland bird machine. Owner had some serious health issues and couldn't keep him any longer.
All I had to do was offer the dog a good home and continue his hunting life. While I can't hunt this Fall, I have a friend who is going do the shooting while I work the dog.
Pretty good deal, everyone wins. He has even offered a few birds for my freezer. Of course, he had to actually shoot them......

Those Garmin units are great. I found out that the version I have isn't available through Garmin anymore. Was speaking with tech support a couple days ago ref an idea my hunting partner and I were kicking around. Off the cuff, I asked about the lack of new Inreach Explorer units on the website. They were d/c but will still be fully serviced/up-datable for the foreseeable future. Very popular product. Darned if I can recall the unit he said replaced them though. I suspect the new unit would also have those features plus more as Garmin does take outdoor safety quite seriously.

My hunting partner talked me into investing in the unit a couple of years ago. Being as I am diabetic plus bad knees and a tendency of hunting/flyfishing alone in some rough country he figured it was high time I had something like this. He had snagged one himself a month before for research purposes or, so he claimed lol. He hunts alone as well, I live in SE Alberta as Dwayne knows, my buddy is in the Edmonton area, so we only get together a few times a year, usually in the foothills. With an app that Garmin created, we can follow each others travels, whereabouts etc. even without cell service. As well, you can set it up so your family or friends can also track you, in realtime, from home on thier cell or laptop. I'm following his moose hunt this week from home. It is another safety feature built in to the system.

Have a great day,
Jeff

3. Their dog was killed too.

California would be the better place. They have it on their flag after all.

This illustrates the folly of not having some means to protect yourself in bear country. Plainly, the authorities charged with your safety are not going to be able to help you. I've almost always carried a rifle or pistol (depending on legality, of course) when in bear country. I have never had a need to shoot one but I would have felt pretty stupid if I had the need and didn't have the means. In this instance, firearms are prohibited in national parks (a good reason to strike them off your hiking list), so I don't know what the answer is. As for the electronic devices, Grandpa didn't need one; I don't either! GD

The "experts" are giving multiple reasons for any Bear attack, hungry Bear, territorial Bear, Bear angry at dog, Bear guarding food etc...but they overlooked the main reason......no Grizzly hunt. This particular attack was in Alberta, but here there are alot of Grizzled Bears around, I am not sure what the goal is?

My friend who lives above me was watching tv and noticed something walking by, it was a Grizz and a rather large "cub", he took pics.

It isn't just Grizzlies, Blacks too, but you know, if someone doesn't kill the Sow's (black bears) you haven't done anything to control pops, on the contrary really as Boars will provide their own population control. My son just found a dead Black Bear he figured was killed by another Bear.

I am always armed when out in the bush, mostly for Bears, many (most) of my hunting acquaintance's have shot either a charging Grizzled or Black Bear,. Years ago when some were allowed handguns (timber cruisers), my friend shot 2 charging Black Bears on 2 occasions. I never have, but did have 3 experiences which keeps me on my toes.

Banff, Jasper, Waterton, Yellowstone and Glacier are all parks with plentiful grizzlies and areas where people are likely to come in contact with them. Kind of like all around Fernie! GD

We made a last minute trip to Cody with our dog in November a couple of years ago, we decided to hike to the park entrance, about a mile from where we parked. There was pretty heavy snow and I figured bears would not be a problem then I came across bear tracks in the road. I felt like a totally defenseless fool for now having bear spray at a minimum. We've spent many summers in Alaska, Montana and Wyoming and I always carried a 10mm and spray, didn't think I would need any of that for this short trip, never again!

I've been following this woman's long distance back backing adventures for a few years now. She just recently had to push the SOS button. First one is kind of long but she keep the camera going while agonizing if she had made the right choice.

The second one is from her mom's perspective.

My condelences to the families , horrific to lose loved ones any way it happens.
I live in Grizzly country, they frequent my land, and can stroll through our chicken house. We are experienced around them.
I find most city folks and many young people have no skills around wild or domestic animals.
I see evidence of this all the time, and furthermore they have no real interest in our wildlife or livestock.
I was at that lake in Banff for a wedding in August, the landscape is much like ours.
It seemed like the visitors around us were only there for the photo opp....imo. It is sad to see that the greater meaning of the landscape and its wildlife is completley lost to these tourists folks.
Then again....I am a Geezer. God Bless their families.

The Garmin In reach was a compromise with my wife as I continue to do solo trips as I get older. Kinda like life alert (I’ve fallen and I can’t get up) for outdoorsmen. You can have it report your location at predetermined intervals and text off the grid.

I send my wife a text in the morning and night to say I’m still alive, and she can track my movement if she wants. Is nice for solo hunts and cross country flights in the cub. If you do use the SOS function, you can send info on what the emergency is.

Mostly I think my wife wants it so they can find a body and speed up the life insurance payment.


https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/outdoor-recreation/satellite-communicators/