Thread: Bear Mauling Surviver's Interview

A .50 Desert Eagle would have been nice to have at the time.

Originally Posted by troubador

A .50 Desert Eagle would have been nice to have at the time.

Don't you workout? How old are you? Do you always have that on you?

Originally Posted by Hoglander

Don't you workout?

Yeah, I'm on the bear combat preparation program and making good progress. I'm at black bear status now. I just need to bench 1250 lbs to reach Grizzly.

Reminds of of the episode of 1000 ways to die where that nature lover guy chained himself to a tree so loggers wouldn't cut it down and then a bear ate him.

Originally Posted by troubador

A .50 Desert Eagle would have been nice to have at the time.

I'd rather have a lightsaber

Originally Posted by vortrit

Reminds of of the episode of 1000 ways to die where that nature lover guy chained himself to a tree so loggers wouldn't cut it down and then a bear ate him.

Hope the bear enjoyed his meal. Some people are just too stupid to live.

Originally Posted by Hoglander

Great account of a life and death struggle...

The Seattle Times: Video

Sounds like the guy was pretty fortunate. Good thing it was only a tiny bear. Unfortunate that people living in the area didn't do a better job of securing their garbage. They are really the ones responsible for the attack. Bears generally stay away from people unless they are drawn in by food. Bear was probably just too young to realize the danger. If you live in the woods, you should know better than to attract bears. Glad the guy survived.

I used to never leave my house to go hiking in the woods without grabbing our .45 or a rifle, and my boot knife and this was in Texas where the worst we had were coyotes, boars and bobcats....

Originally Posted by maniclion

I used to never leave my house to go hiking in the woods without grabbing our .45 or a rifle, and my boot knife and this was in Texas where the worst we had were coyotes, boars and bobcats....

Yep-I grew up in the Northwest, and going into the woods without a decent rifle is pretty careless.

Originally Posted by troubador

Yeah, I'm on the bear combat preparation program and making good progress. I'm at black bear status now. I just need to bench 1250 lbs to reach Grizzly.

Originally Posted by MDR

Yep-I grew up in the Northwest, and going into the woods without a decent rifle is pretty careless.

When I lived in Oregon, up on the side of a mountain, my father and I would go hiking on Saturday or Sunday, 1 out of 5 times we'd see fresh signs of a cougar or bear or actually see them at a distance, the bear had a cub twice and was alone the other 3 times and the cougar we saw once creeping below the cliff ledge we were on and the other time on the cliff right above our house....

Originally Posted by maniclion

When I lived in Oregon, up on the side of a mountain, my father and I would go hiking on Saturday or Sunday, 1 out of 5 times we'd see fresh signs of a cougar or bear or actually see them at a distance, the bear had a cub twice and was alone the other 3 times and the cougar we saw once creeping below the cliff ledge we were on and the other time on the cliff right above our house....

Lots of critters out there, for sure. Bear with a cub could be especially dangerous. Whenever I saw any signs of a bad situation, I'd get the hell out of there as quickly and quietly as possible. Having to kill an animal in the wild because you are careless really sucks. Cougars and Wolves are fun to watch, so long as you have plenty of space between them and you. Bears are deceptively quick, even at full size. Lots of places to bear watch safely. They are all over the place up there.

Originally Posted by MDR

Lots of critters out there, for sure. Bear with the cub could be especially dangerous. Whenever I saw any signs of a dangerous situation, I'd get the hell out of there as quickly and quietly as possible. Having to kill an animal in the wild because you are careless really sucks. Cougars and Wolves are fun to watch, so long as you have plenty of space between them and you.

Oh believe me we kept our distance, closest we got was 300 yards away up the mountain looking down on a stream with binoculars watching the mom and her cub drinking and rolling in the grass, and we were on a 40ft cliff above the cougar.....I think the most exciting thing to watch though was the herd of Elk (it seemed like hundreds)crossing the valley one morning while a low fog laid just at grass level, it looked like they were crossing the sky on a cloud bridge, my dad was sipping his coffee and I had hot cocoa in my thermos we sat for an hour just watching quietly...

Living there was the happiest I've ever been in my life, and my dad too. Him and my uncle got stoned and made clocks out of tree stump cuttings. Instead of cutting down living trees they would go to where the lumber co's were cutting and slice off several 3 inch thick pieces from the stumps and then hollow out the back, drill a hole, varnish them and put gold roman numerals embedded into the varnish and then put the clockworks into them. They also made end tables out of a tall stump and larger round stump slicings with thick varnishings, and they even made a play table for me and my cousins to draw at by hollowing out a large stump round a foot thick and building a small wilderness setting of Bambi inside and covering it with glass and then they varnished it all so it was like a solid piece.....they were very creative which was what my dad loved to do, then my mom kidnapped us and took us to Missouri and he left for Texas to get a new job and fight for custody of us,,,,

Oregon to Missouri. Bit of a change there. Got offered a teaching job in Burns right before I left, and I thought about it pretty seriously. Middle of nowhere, and the road crossing the mountains closes for months during the winter. Figured it would be a tough place to be single. Thriving metropolis of around 1500 people. Outdoor life would have been fantastic, though. Oregon is a great place to live, and a great place to grow up. When I tell people down here I got my first rifle on my fifth birthday, they look at me like I'm crazy. Wilderness training was a rite of passage for every male I knew growing up, and most of the females, too. Oh yeah, Elk are really something to see, aren't they. The sound of a large herd is like nothing else in the world.

Originally Posted by MDR

Hope the bear enjoyed his meal. Some people are just too stupid to live.

That show cracks me up. I guess I shouldn't laugh at people dying but most of these people are just dumb and deserve what they get.

Yes. Everyone around there knows about the bear population. Even campers, there are signs to warn them. Small dogs are a dinner invitation to top tier wildlife and they should know that too. He's a calm thinker kind of guy, he had just that. He lived.

I've heard it said that most car accidents happen close to home. Probably applies to other statistics but I don't know.

Originally Posted by vortrit

That show cracks me up. I guess I shouldn't laugh at people dying but most of these people are just dumb and deserve what they get.

The victim from Hoglander's post did seem like a pretty good guy, and I do feel bad for him. If you are talking about that show about the idiot in Alaska, that guy was a menace. Tries to make friends with bears and leaves out food for them. Guy had to have a death wish. People who think nature is some Disney movie are generally the most dangerous. Bet his neighbors hated having him around.