bears

You have reason to be afraid.

Mwahahahahahaha!

How did I know you would be the first to respond to this thread.

Up in Jasper (during the rut) I had a bull elk charge the jeep.  My wife was just quick enough to slide down on the floor as the antlers came IN THE JEEP!  It was so stupid, we came around a corner and the tourists were stopped to look at other elk up ahead.  I just had time not to rearend the guy ahead of me and this elk smacked us - he was pissed about all this traffic.  That's when I decided to pass the tourists by driving on the sidewalk/lawn and go on my way (OK the tourists were all in their cars - I didn't hit anyone)!

Canadian athlete killed by a bear.    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1644171,00.html

I came around the corner while running the Sehome Aboretum, "oh hello Mr Big Deer!"  He looked at me, and then my dog saw him and barked "Chase is On!!".....Always wonder about mountain lions in our area.  They do have postings.  And my dog is a snack waiting to happen for the cougar.  Or he will lead the cougar right back to me.  Dog thoughts, "uh Master, can you take care of this big Kitty?"

A shame that certain drivers and their cars didn't come like this.

From a USFS site:

Bear and mountain lion attacks are extremely rare. However, if you are attacked, most wildlife experts recommend that:

At night, the griz has been drinking all day, and you have a better chance of getting the upper hand.  During the day, they're cranky because they haven't drank enough, and are much more unpredictable...

Actually, I think it has something to do with 'in a tent', as that would make you APPEAR to be larger, and animals tend to back off from a fight from anything that LOOKS larger than they do.  Fortunately, since bears are typically unemployed, they can't afford mirrors...

I guess I come from a different school of thinking that the best bear repellant is a .44 mag.  First shot goes in the dirt at it's feet.  After that, well that's up to the bear.

OK, that's only in certain situations and training would not be one of them.  Hunting, hiking, or camping - absolutely.  Last year, my brother and I came back to deer camp to find one of our game bags with a 6"-8" hole ripped in it and all the contents missing.  A little un-nerving considering that was about 50 yds. from where our tent was set up.  No other problems after that though.  I guess it got it's fill.

The problem is, you have to be a pretty good marksman and have a pretty high caliber to actually kill the bear before it comes and mauls you before it dies. Really. I'm serious. Bear pepper spray is supposedly more effective. But I've never been attacked by a bear, so who knows.

Edit: I have no idea how effective a shot at it's feet would be. Probably about the same as throwing rocks and no one seems to espouse that.

I think the difference is that at night, the bear probably just smells something so he's looking for food. He's not expecting to get his ass kicked and will run off. During the day, if he attacks, he feels threatened by you and is expecting you to fight back, thus playing dead is a better option.

If you don't think fighting back or yelling at it (not squealing at it) is something you could do and you live in a seriously bear heavy area, carry bear pepper spray/mace with you just like you would if you lived in a rough neighborhood in a big city. No sense being scared. BTW, in fighting back, you don't actually have to whoop a bear's arse, you just have to put up enough of a fight that they decide you're not worth the trouble.