FW: [at-l] weight/use efficiency & Guns

[jbkramer@afn.org (Bryan Kramer)]

To be honest I just picked out Glacier as an example of a place with
Griz problems. My actual experience has been with Yellowstone and that
was years before pepper spray became common. I lived in Idaho for a year
and there were two human deaths at Yellowstone during that period, a
photographer and some women asleep in her bag in the campground.=20
Spelunking the web for 20 minutes shows 4 attacks in the Yellowstone
area and 4 human fatalities in BC in 1995. There are lots of references
to the Glacier area too, 2 attacks in the fall of 2000 for example. So
that area of the country is a whole different case from the east coast.=20
Pepper spray seems to be at best 50% effective, about half the bears run
off but the other half continue the attack. This fits in with a report I
recall reading, maybe in backpacker, a couple years ago. Some fellow did
a study on bear bells which were popular then. He found that bears
ignored bells, his hypothesis was that the bells might sound like bird
calls to them. But! The sound of a breaking branch caused a 50:50
reaction in bears, half of them ran away but the other half charged the
sound. His hypothesis on this was that it depended on the bear's social
order position, high ranking bears charge, low ranking ones run away
fearing a confrontation with another bear.=20
He also found that bears are instantly attracted to bright colored tents
but ignored tents that blend in with the background.
All this being said, I think its obvious that bears are a whole order of
magnitude greater problem out west. Pepper spray is unproven at least
with a gun you can take the critter with you.
=20
Bryan

-----Original Message-----

Glacier Park, bears and guns.....=20

That certainly sparks my interest, as I'll be hiking there sometime this
year.  Not for nothing, but why wouldn't you just use pepper spray,
which is legal?  Even if you used your gun in self defense of a griz or
another person you'd be likely to get heavily fine and/or sent to jail,
assuming you came clean and notified the authorities.=20

Me, I figure I have two of three options hiking through griz country.
One, hike with three/four or more (I've never heard of an attack), two,
hike alone and hope for the best (being carefully aware of my
surroundings and accepting fate) and three, carry pepper spray (which
I'm not likely to buy).=20


I'm hoping for option #1, but may have to settle for option #2.  For
those of you not inclined to break the law and choose number #3, check
this out.  I find it ironic how he just prayed for thanks of his kill
and minutes later nearly got killed himself.=20





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