Black Bear Attack

Guy make sure you shoot the correct type of bear. A few years ago a fellow in Idaho just over the line from us up Highway 12 shot a grizzly bear that came into bait thinking it was a black bear. Just saying it could happen. The grizzly bears have been doing really well here in Montana and are expanding their range a lot.
David

David - my hunt came and went without me firing a shot. One of the guys in camp nailed a good black bear with his 45-70.

In other news a grizzly was captured in Washington:

Guy
 
My wife told me tonight that a couple and their dog were killed recently near Banff by a grizzly bear...and that the City of Prince George has destroyed 21problem black bears in September!
Bears are getting hungry after a hot, dry summer with record setting number of forest fires and poor vegetation and berry crops!
 
From all I’ve read and understand black bear attacks are much more likely to be predatory in nature than a grizzly attack. Black bears seem to feed on the victim if killed more often than a grizzly bear. Grizzly bears are larger and have a more sour temperament. Black bears tend to have a more even temperament but will stalk and predate humans more often. To me it’s an odd paradox.
 
Oh I agree completely, your first thought won’t be ”that’s odd”. I always have a side arm, so if it’s hungry it’s gonna have to work for dinner. I‘ll gladly face law enforcement over an undertaker in that situation.
I just think it‘s interesting when looking at the behaviors between the two species. Black bears usually have a purpose with intention in the act. Where as a grizzly interaction is more of a “get the hell away from me, I‘m in a bad mood” interaction when surprised.
 
David - my hunt came and went without me firing a shot. One of the guys in camp nailed a good black bear with his 45-70.

In other news a grizzly was captured in Washington:

Guy
Damn, that sucks. When I went on my hunt, my brother and I went together; I got mine and he didn't. It was bittersweet. Yeah, I know you've done bear before, but it's always a bit of a gut punch to go home dry.
 
From all I’ve read and understand black bear attacks are much more likely to be predatory in nature than a grizzly attack. Black bears seem to feed on the victim if killed more often than a grizzly bear. Grizzly bears are larger and have a more sour temperament. Black bears tend to have a more even temperament but will stalk and predate humans more often. To me it’s an odd paradox.
Rule of thumb
Grizzlies will maul you
Black bears will eat you like you eat a chicken leg
 
It appears from the reports that the 25 year old grizzly sow in poor shape attacked the 62 year old couple and their dog (experienced backcountry users) while they were relaxing in their tent last Friday evening near Banff.
Tent wrecked, both victims in their socks, and fight took place over the campsite area, but both victims laying together when rescuers arrived. They attempted to fight her off with bear spray (one can completely empty).
The bear was destroyed as she was acting aggressively to protect her kills when the rescuers arrived.
A little more than a mauling in this case...
 
Here's the most info I've seen re the grizzly attack in Alberta:

UPDATED DETAILS OF RECENT BEAR ATTACK. ( no restart the hunt comments, pay respect.)
Bear was intent on killing them’: Grizzly tore through couple’s tent, says relative
Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse both worked at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Research Centre in Lethbridge, and ‘explored the world together’
Author of the article: Bill Kaufmann
Published Oct 04, 2023 • Last Updated 17 minutes ago • 4 minute read
Jenny Gusse (L) and Doug Inglis were killed by a grizzly bear at their campsite in Banff National Park on Sept. 29. Photo supplied by Ron Teather
Jenny Gusse and Doug Inglis were killed by a grizzly bear at their campsite in Banff National Park on Sept. 29.
When Colin Inglis received a three-word GPS message of a bear attack, he feared the worst for his nephew and his partner.
Doug Inglis and his common-law wife, Jenny Gusse, were meticulous about being prepared and keeping him continuously updated on the progress of their latest seven-day hiking excursion in Banff National Park, even sharing with him their full itinerary, Colin said.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
A message he received late Friday afternoon from the two — that they were delayed but OK in reaching a camping spot along the Red Deer River in the Panther Valley — was followed by a desperate SOS at 8:15 p.m.
“I got a call from their Garmin (inReach device) that said, ‘Bear attack bad,’ ” Inglis said, adding Parks Canada officials were automatically notified by the couple’s message.
“The alarm bells were going off, ‘this is not good’ — that means there’d been some engagement. You’re completely helpless to know what’s going on.”
Colin said he was told a helicopter was grounded due to overcast weather but that a response team had been dispatched at 10:31 p.m. and had to travel three hours to Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, from where they travelled on ATVs in search of the couple.
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A young female grizzly photographed on June 11, 2004, in in Banff National Park.
Bear believed to have killed couple also charged rescuers: Parks Canada
Divide Pass in the backcountry of Banff National Park is shown on July 3, 2019.
Fatal bear attack on experienced hikers in Banff backcountry was likely 'predatory': expert
When the response team reached the site just before 2 a.m. Saturday, they found both Gusse and Doug Inglis, both 62, and Tris, their seven-year-old female border collie, mauled to death, said the deceased man’s uncle.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
From what he was told by Parks Canada officials, it appears the three were attacked in their tent, where they would have typically been poring over e-readers with Tris by their side, Colin said.
“Their tent was crushed and their e-readers were open, they were both discovered in their stocking feet,” he said.
It also appeared they fought the bear to the end, he added.
“One can of bear spray had been fully discharged but this bear was not to be deterred,” Colin said.
“It’s possible one was on the outside trying to fend off the bear while the other was in the tent sending the message.”
He was also told the response team encountered the same grizzly believed to be responsible for the deadly attack, and were forced to shoot it.
“In their words, the bear was intent on killing them.”
‘They’d explored the world together’
The couple had met in university and been together continuously since, Colin said. Both worked at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Research Centre in Lethbridge.
Doug was a research scientist and Gusse a lab technician, both accomplished at what they did.
“Jenny was on the ground in that research, carrying out that research . . . there’s holes in that lab right now,” said Colin, who’d accompanied the two on earlier hiking excursions.
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“They approached everything in their outdoor pursuits the same way they approached that science — the mapping, the planning, the food, everything.
“They did everything right, but bad things happen.”
Banff bear attack victims
Jenny Gusse and Doug Inglis are seen on a canoe trip in northern Saskatchewan. PHOTO BY SUPPLIED BY RON TEATHER
The couple made similar trips twice a year and knew the remote Panther Valley well, and had recorded a number of bear encounters on their backcountry journeys, he said.
“They were very bear aware,” Colin said, noting the two had hung their food from a tree, a common safety protocol.
The two were looking forward to retiring next year and would no doubt have enjoyed that extra time outdoors, he said.
“They’d explored the world together,” said Inglis.
A former co-worker at the federal research centre said Inglis was a productive and hard-working scientist. Gusse, a botanist by training, was involved in work on micro-organisms.
“Doug would have published half a dozen papers a year, for a number of years,” said Ron Teather, adding reducing the risk of bear attacks was top of mind for the two.
“He was (recently) talking about this new bear-proof food cache they’d acquired — they were always concerned when travelling in the backcountry but you have to accept the fact some things are beyond your control.”
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Hallmarks of predatory bear attack, biologists say
On Tuesday, Parks Canada said the bear likely responsible was a female grizzly more than 25 years old and in “fair body condition,” with poor teeth and less body fat than usual for this time of year.
It wore no collar or tags and wasn’t known to federal officials, said the agency, which is subjecting the animal to a necropsy to confirm it was responsible for the attack.
Some wildlife biologists said the incident has the hallmarks of a predatory bear attack at a time when the animals are seeking to fatten up ahead of winter.
Though there haven’t been any people killed by bears in Banff National Park in decades, there have been relatively recent fatal grizzly attacks in the foothills not far from where the latest deaths occurred.
In May 2021, a man and woman were killed in separate incidents in the Waiparous and Water Valley areas.
It was determined different grizzly sows, both with cubs, were involved in those attacks.
Since 2006, there has been a moratorium on the hunting of grizzlies in Alberta, where their numbers have rebounded to about 1,000 since the ban took effect, say biologists and provincial officials. But some, including landowners affected by the bears’ presence, are convinced that number is considerably larger.
 
Bear spray I will never depend on bear spray in Bear territory. I live with bears in Alaska and always take a Shotgun with Breneke Slugs or Marlin 45/70 and always a Glock 20 in 10mm or my SW 629 in 44 mag. I have been very close to huge brown bears and shot over their head when needed. This has worked 100% of the time while fishing. I have had a close friend while quartering his moose one year had a grizzly come in and mauled him but he put all 6 rounds 44 Mag in its mid section while under the bear killing it. He required to Air Lifted with severe claw marks and required immediate surgery. He was my pastor of my church. The Grizzly was mounted full life size mount and is on display at Fort Greeley AK airport terminal today. My Pastor lived to preach and moose hunt another day and what a story to tell !

I have been trained on Hazing Bears with Rubber Slugs and cracker Rounds from shotguns. I have also been trained on Bear charges using a shotgun and Pistol and how difficult it is too provide a lethal shot on a charging bear 10/15 yards away and closer charging you.

This year while moose hunting I had a bear come in very close while on moose stand he growled at me but I never seen him due to vegetation. He was close too close !
 
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