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That was the case with my grizzly charge. When the 3 yr old boar reached the point where I was sure that any closer would be too late, I emptied my 30-06 into him. His nose skidded to a stop no more than 20 ft from my toes, so had I hesitated any longer, he would have run over me, wounded or not. In those days, here in BC, 40 years ago, you could buy a grizzly tag over the counter, but that is no longer the case. Tags are issued on a lottery basis, so it could take years to get one. As you say, save your life and deal with the Conservation officer later. About 20 years ago, a long time friend and hunting partner had a grizzly charge into his camp. He dropped it into the campfire, where another friend was stoking the fire as they had just returned. They left the bear on the spot, drove to Cranbrook to find the C.O., and brought him back to the camp. He cleared them of any offence, but took the carcass for study. Also on the subject of grizzly charges, our own esteemed Thomas Steenburg was charged by one in the high country between Pemberton and Lillooet some years ago. He saw what he described as a "ship's wake" approaching at speed through the brush towards the trail he was hiking on. He clambered up the nearest substantial tree, with the bear clawing up after him. It actually hooked claws into his fanny pack and ripped it off, along with some small bits of his fanny! After what seemed like hours in the tree with the bear milling about the base, it finally left, and hours after that, Thomas climbed down and made a hasty retreat to his distant Land Rover. Ask him to show you his scars sometime.

The idea for this thread came from some back and forth between Norseman and myself in the "Squatchin' Vehicle" thread. My thought is to have a kind of clearinghouse where we can share our knowledge of how to deal with vehicle breakdowns, maintenance tips to prevent them or mitigate the damage when they happen anyway and what to have handy in the way of tools and parts, etc. Tell of a personal experience and how you solved it or share a video clip. I'm no mechanic, but in over 50 years of driving hundreds of thousands of miles in lots of different vehicles I've learned a bit here and there, and collectively there has got to be a lot of knowledge on the Forum. If you have a question, ask it here, but please don't wait for questions if you have something to share. I'll start with something that just came up recently. Both our son and daughter and their families live in Seattle, and I got a call from my son last Saturday with a vehicle question. He drives a 2001 GMC Jimmy and it was starting to idle roughly, the worst when facing uphill, and there are lots of hills in Seattle. The check engine light wasn't on so the first thing that came to mind was a fuel problem. The fuel pump had been replaced last summer and he'd been running on the same tank of gas for three days so fuel contamination wasn't likely. I suggested he replace the fuel filter, and that solved the problem. I've replaced fuel filters several times over the decades and they've always given a little warning with a rough idle or, with my '65 Cutlass, it suddenly began "motor boating" on the highway with the RPM's dropping way down then returning to normal so rapidly that the car was surging up and down like a speed boat on choppy water. One thing to keep in mind is that most vehicles since the late 1980's use some form of fuel injection and the fuel system is pressurized, so before disconnecting the line to the fuel filter, loosen the gas cap to relieve the pressure unless you would like a flammable liquid shower. If you've never had to replace the filter on the rig you're about to take into the back of beyond and it has some miles on it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace it as a preventive measure. Alternately, stop at a parts house and pick up a spare (be sure to ask where the filter is located and if you need a special sized wrench for the job). I can tell you from experience on many GM trucks it's located on the inside of the frame, driver's side, and at least for a '97 Suburban it does take an odd size wrench and no, I don't recall the size but the parts store was happy to sell me one for about $14. Happy researching, and please, let's have some more tips!

PBeaton Should be an interesting show. I assume that they are visiting Chichagof Island. I was in Tenakee Inlet years ago. The bears are everywhere. Day or night, they own the island and are roaming, eating salmon on the beach seasonally or snacking on the Sitka Deer. The Sitka Deer is very small, slightly bigger than a large dog. People may wonder how the bears got there. They swim the channels. This is a bad ass bear. I watched a full grown bear run full speed on a beach in a territorial dispute charge. Impressive. Most important hiking equipment is a Remington 870 with a short barrel and a lot of Brenneke 12 gauge slugs.

I'd forgotten about those ads Pat, weren't they for canned salmon, or was it beer? If you had one of those legendary katanas that could decapitate a horse or something, for stabbing though, long and sharp pointed would be the ticket. Seriously, something like a stout spear or pike that could be braced into the ground and use the attacker's mass and momentum against it would be my preference. If that painting depicts a common tactic against bruins, then it is not anatomically correct, and that is all I'll say on the open side of the Forum!

I think the most likely vehicle issues in the field are: 1) Flat tire 2) Stuck in mud/snow/ditch 3) Dead battery I had a situation in my Jeep where the stock jack was useless. It would not fit under the suspension when the tire was flat because of the terrain. It would not extend high enough for an alternative position. I was lucky because the tire went flat on my way out and I wasn't far from town. So now I always have a Hi-Lift jack with a lug strap and base when going off-road. The jack can also be used as a come-along winch... I'm looking at installing a dual battery kit.

^^^^ Yep, good tactic. With a handgun, if you're right handed, drop your right knee to the ground and bend the left, turning as you do to put the target forward to your left, drop your left elbow to the left knee as a brace and shoot two handed ... it's fast, it's accurate, it places you in a decent position to move quickly if needed, and it brings you down to a position to shoot as Norseman suggests THROUGH the target instead of behind it. You can do much the same with a short rifle with only very slight variation. MIB