Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Bear attack in Banff NP

Agreed comerade, being a dumb tourist around Grizzles isn't smart.

Whenever I hunt in their territory, my senses are Keen, and I am Armed.

Dying by Grizz has to be the worst way to go!

I am always armed in bear country, except in national parks. I do carry bear spray in the park and when I have a rifle with me.
It is unfortunate that we can't carry a gun in the parks but, I don't see that ever changing regardless of who is in power.
At least bear spray is legal in the park.
I also carry bear spray when I'm wandering around certain areas on the prairie as we have a healthy population of cougars, 4 legged kind. At least we have a long hunting season for them, keeps them wary of people unlike Mr. Griz.
And, grizzlies have moved out of the foothills on to the prairie in the Milk River area as well as further north to the Sundre area. I think it is only a short matter of time and they will move into more grasslands from Montana. From what I understand, there are griz in the Sweetgrass Hills, a short hop from SE Alberta.
Lots of bears in Alberta.
It would nice if the gov would re-instate the grizzly hunt but......politics.
Jeff

No worries, the dog will protect you! GD

After getting a 50000.00 bill for the helicopter ride it must have come as a huge relief to discover she had signed herself up for auto renew on the emergency services contract.

Dixie is an interesting woman. If so inclined like and subscribe to her channel. She still owes 12000.00 for the hospital and air lift.

Bears dont kill, they feed. Horrible way to go........

There are a number of subscription based options. There are PLBs as well that aren't subscription based, but don't allow 2 way communications. Here in the USA, response agencies treat them the same once they are activated. PLBs are built to certain technical standards that the commercial based ones do not have to meet.

Paul;
Top of the morning to you sir, it's just breaking daylight here but I trust the day is behaving for you all down in the south east.

Thanks for the information, it's much appreciated.

If you'd care to comment, might there be a particular PLB that you've seen work better than others?

We're pretty much out of cell service on the mountain behind the house within 10km of home so it'd all be satellite for us.

The idea of not having yet another subscription to keep track of appeals to me on a bunch of levels.

Thanks in advance and all the best.

Dwayne

I had 2 Grizzlies sneak downwind of me in more than 2ft of snow, I never would of known it had I not heard the woofing.
I have also walked by Black Bears sleeping under tree's in nests they have made, they just look at you lol, they will get up and move for whatever reason..

FWIW re the InReach: I’ve had one for a dozen years or more, an older InReach I got before Garmin bought the system. It is simply the greatest advance in wilderness communication for civilians in my lifetime.

It is clumsy to type with, and mine does not sync to a phone, but it has worked from the Yukon to California, all over BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the East Coast from New York down to South Carolina. It has worked under heavy tall Vancouver Island forest, in mountains, canyons, ocean, urban. On a trip to Sask one time I didn’t have a cell phone and used it in all my communications to set up appointments, arrange lodging, all the things I would have done with my cell phone.

I sometimes use it to mark a position on a map for later, by sending myself a text to my computer at home, which will show the exact spot from which the InReach message was sent.

I have never punched the emergency rescue button but all of my family like me to have that feature. I have used it for things like telling my son that I had changed our plan for base camp by two miles, so that he could find me when he backpacked up to join me. I also asked him to bring an item I’d forgotten. I texted my wife once that I was going to stay up in the mountains another day rather than come home, so that she would not call search and rescue. Without the InReach I would have come out because I knew that she would call S&R.

I don’t use the tracking, automatic messages, nothing but basic simple text that I compose at the time. I can ask my son to bring a 10mm wrench and a hose clamp rather than send him some canned message made up ahead of time. It will do a lot more.

Yep, I like it.

I feel fairly secure with the Garmin tool handy. Still, I don't do anything stupider than I would without the unit. You are quite right, txting from the unit is a challenge, fortunately my unit does sync with my phone. FWIW, my phone keys are only slightly bigger than the Garmin. Real bonus is that I don't have to scroll through the keyboard on my phone. But, yep, the Garmin in worth it's weight in gold. I have the premium package and use most of the features, even here on the prairie with cell service available. I figure if I'm badly injured or have a problem with my diabetes, it will be faster to trigger an SOS than describe to 911 where I am.

I read an account of the incident yesterday by Parks Canada.
From the acct it appears the couple were experienced backcountry folks, hung thier food in a tree away from the tent etc, had bear spray although the acct was not sure if it had been deployed or not. Also not known was any part the dead dog may have played in the incident. A Garmin Inreach was used to trigger the SOS request.
When rescuers arrived on the scene they were met by an aggressive sow who was put down onsite. Examination showed a 25 plus year old sow with a less than ideal amount of winter fat built up. Her teeth were quite worn. So, it sounds like the folks did everything right, just ran into an old, likely starving bear. So, even doing everything right, or, as best as one can do sometimes just doesn't work out.
Be safe and aware out there,
Jeff

The only thing he could have done more right would be to illegally carry a pistol under his coat. I've known people who have done that, but have not had to use them. One acquaintance was busted in Banff when his coat rode up and revealed his Ruger Blackhawk 44, while he was cleaning some fish and the park warden came by. A sympathetic Judge levied a minor fine and a stern lecture. The Warden was pissed. GD

That is why I hate Canada.

God Bless America, with a 357 magnum for you and me lol

When you go fishing in Grizz Country in Canada, you can not protect yourself with a sidearm, what a pile of

I have posted this a few times, if you have not seen it, it's worth the watch.

A Survivor of a small Sow Grizz attack in Alberta

BRUTAL!!!

Too bad about the hikers in the park. Bad way to die.

As per the InReach, I've had the yel.low Garmin SE version for 6 years. Used everywhere from the polar bear hunting in Nunavut, several hunts in the NWT, countless times in BC, Mexican border Coues deer hunting, even down to the Northern Territory of Australia . Great unit to let my wife know where I am and that I am OK. Gives her piece of mind, but also a means of communicating questions and answers both ways, etc. Never for an emergency yet

Our unit allows us to change plans up or down 12 times in a year...and we do. We go to bare a minimum basic plan unless I am going on a multi-day hunt out of cell coverage...which is much of BC. We increase the number of texts per day we need. And we only have to pay for the number of days in the month we have the more expensive plan for that month, going back to the basic plan when the hunt is over. Very happy with it.

Nope, they are all good Dwayne. ACR, McMurdo and a new one from Throw Raft. ACR has two models. One is very compact. It or the Throw Raft model will be next for me. I have a larger ACR RESQ Link + now that I like better more maritime applications. I'll be moving inland though, so a slightly more compact unit makes more sense. Take a look at battery life and whether the battery replacement can be done at the user level.

So.....I see Bears are starting to get attention from the controlled media, looks like its going to be an election platform in BC,..... again.

Hunting Grizzlies was a huge platform during previous elections from the NDP, we have an election likely within the next 12 months. Polls say 87% of people want the Grizz hunt ban to remain, 77% want it made permanent through legislation, most of these people live on the lower mainland.

The indians can hunt them, but want the ban lifted, but why?..........so they can sell the hunts for the G/O they bought and or had handed over to them. Covid mandates starved many outfitters out and your a genius if you can figure out what happened next.

Remember, if you get beat up or killed by a Grizzly, its your fault.

I don't honestly have any real desire to hunt grizzly but I think it's a necessary tool for management. Val Geist said grizzlies need to be hunted just to keep them educated as to the danger of being around humans. He was usually right in such matters. As it is now, If I am threatened by a bear, I'll shoot it, and regulations won't change that. Game management in BC sux overall; the bear hunt controversy is just part of it. GD

The only people that are at fault for being attacked by Grizz are Stupid Tourists that get close to them and pull a Timothy Treadwell, to get close photos or to feed them.

Stupid is as stupid does.



Here is the story on Scary Bear Attacks

It's legal to carry in the parks in the US, you just can't take them inside the buildings. I always carry in the parks but keep them concealed, people on the trials don't know the rules and it can be upsetting to them (not that I care, just not looking for trouble). Discharging said firearm in the park is a whole nother story, not legal but prefer an attempted defense and fine before judge than being eaten alive.

This spring we bought an inReach mini from Costco for $350, prior to our planned remote cabin trip, which didn't come off afterall. More than 40 years going there , but now we are in our 70's, so it seemed time. I carried it solo moose hunting this year - still have to explore it more, but I knew how to operate the SOS button, at least, and still haven't found my eTrex. I think it might have fallen out of my fanny pack in my rocky man-cave 600 miles north of here, while caribou hunting in August. I'll find out next year....

Recently I saw Cabelas had the same inReach unit for $250, on sale.

One can buy subscriptions for a month at a time.

Un-hunted critters of all sorts can develop attitude, not just bears, especially with frequent contact with humans.

By the tracks in the frozen grass yesterday morning, I had a griz/brown bear cross my lawn in the early hours. The dogs told me about it while we were all still in bed. That makes 3 years running, this time of yea,r and I have yet to see it. Pretty sure it's not just once a year either!

Bearanoia is way over-rated, until it's not.