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Murphy
Posted by Ray on Jun 28 2005
I understand your points, Murphy. I also posted at least one example of a fellow in an Anchorage trail who shot a bear with his pistol. He was never injured by the bear. The guy was not necessarily a good shooter; the bear got so close that he could not miss. He shot it several times at a very close range, and the bear turned around and ran. It died in the brush not too far, but I don't remember if it was the guy who killed it, or if it was F&W that killed it later.
Then there were two guys from Eielson AFB a couple of years ago. These guys were charged by two grizzlies, and one of them took a couple of shots at the bears, injuring one of the two. The bears turned around and ran after the shots. Again, what saved these guys was not gun proficiency, but maybe good luck if not the noise from the revolver.
I agree with you that gun proficiency is of utmost importance, but most people are not gun proficient. The reason why more people are not mauled by bears in Alaska is because bear human confrontations that result in shootings or killings are rare in Alaska. I also understand that over 56 people have been killed by bears in Alaska is the past 100 years, so encounters are possible. Only in rare occasions those charged at close range by bears have had any time to fire a gun of any kind, and of those, must did not have time to aim the gun. For example:
1. A moose hunter decided to look for moose on a windy day a year ago. He waled on a trail and passed some large rocks, and from behind the rocks a grizzly charged from a few feet away. He had his rifle in hand, but got knocked down before he could fire it, but on the way down he managed to pull the trigger. The noise startled the bear, which in turn ran a few yards away and then turned around. Before the guy could get up, he fired the rifle at the bear from without bringing it to his shoulder. The bullet from his .338 killed the bear instantly, and it dropped in front of him.
2. Bow hunter is looking for a brown bear to shoot. He is walking ahead of his guide, and has a loaded .338WM rifle on his shoulder. he sees a brown lump of something a few yards ahead, and realizes that it's a bedded brown, but the bear gets up and charges. He drops the bow and grabs his rifle, but has no time to aim. He fires his rifle one time from waist level, and then drops on the ground in the fetal position, sure that he could not have hit the bear. There he stays a few seconds, and then he raises his head slowly scanning the area for the bear, and sees it dead on the grass a few feet away.
These two stories have been published already, and happened in Alaska. The first one happened about a year ago. The previous story about the bow hunter who shot a bear on the neck when the bear was chewing him happened approximately 10 years ago.
Most folks have no idea a bear has charged until the bear is on top of them, and those who manage to shoot have no time to aim. Most just fire towards the center of mass, hoping to hit the animal. Again, gun proficiency is extremely important, but must people out there are not gun proficient. We have had guides who have gotten mauled by bears, guides who have died to bears, gun experts mauled or killed by bears, as well as folks without guns or folks who rarely shoot guns...mauled or killed by bears.
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