Fatal bear attack on experienced hikers in Banff backcountry was likely 'predatory'

[norseman]

I have flares for my 12 gauge.

[Catmandoo]

17 minutes ago, norseman said:

I have flares for my 12 gauge.

 Any barrel fouling problems?

Signal flare or Dragon's Breath?  Dragon's Breath discharged vertically is a distress-locate shot.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Catmandoo
text

[Huntster]

17 minutes ago, Twist said:

 .........Flare gun seems more viable to me than bear spray.  

 

I doubt you'll hear the authorities endorse them. The woods catch fire, too. Recall Sampson tying a torch onto the tail of a fox.........

2 minutes ago, Catmandoo said:

 Any barrel fouling problems?

Signal flare or Dragon's Breath?

 

I've always been tempted to try that, but the possibility of fouling my barrel just isn't worth the experiment.

[norseman]

14 minutes ago, Catmandoo said:

 Any barrel fouling problems?

Signal flare or Dragon's Breath?  Dragon's Breath discharged vertically is a distress-locate shot.

I don’t know LOL. I pack it but never used it. Never needed too.🤔

[cmknight]

Parks Canada reveals additional details about deadly bear attack in Banff

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/parks-canada-reveals-additional-details-about-deadly-bear-attack-in-banff-1.6587263

 

Apparently a female bear, possibly over 25 years old and in fair body condition but with poor teeth and less than normal body fat.

[Chim Chim]

“We have to recognize the population is growing and we’re going to see more interactions between humans and bears,” said Nixon, minister of seniors, community and social services.
 

Expect more attacks, they’re the top of the food chain and unless they’re hunted and taught to fear man they won’t.

 

[Explorer]

12 hours ago, Huntster said:

I doubt you'll hear the authorities endorse them. The woods catch fire, too. Recall Sampson tying a torch onto the tail of a fox.........

 

I also like the idea of using those red signal flare guns, but doubt that I can use them safely given all the forest fire threats in the west.  

If you aim towards the bear but instead hit the ground and start a fire, now you have another problem to deal with.

 

7 hours ago, cmknight said:

Parks Canada reveals additional details about deadly bear attack in Banff

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/parks-canada-reveals-additional-details-about-deadly-bear-attack-in-banff-1.6587263

 

Apparently a female bear, possibly over 25 years old and in fair body condition but with poor teeth and less than normal body fat.

 

Thanks for the update. Per the article, they had 2 cans of bear spray.  Obviously, that did not work.

[Huntster]

4 hours ago, Explorer said:

I also like the idea of using those red signal flare guns, but doubt that I can use them safely given all the forest fire threats in the west.  

If you aim towards the bear but instead hit the ground and start a fire, now you have another problem to deal with........

 

Those flares are made of phosphorous........like the Willie-Pete grenades the military uses in warfare. It will even burn underwater. If it hits a bear, it will stick to its fur and burn. The bear runs off for cover and sets the woods on fire. After the authorities put out the forest fire, they try to throw you in prison for not using spray, or even a gun. 

 

Alaska? Nope.

 

https://craigmedred.news/2018/07/19/dangerous-bear-2/

 

Quote

.......Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials today revealed the man-killing bear was not the sow in a family of three bears agency shooters gunned down Friday on a hillside above the site of the Soltis attack. 

Department officials have refused to say whether they believe Soltis was a attacked by a particularly aggressive or predatory bear, but they have been acting as if that is the case. They have said that any other female grizzlies spotted or trapped in the Hiland Road area will also be killed if possible.........

 

Alaskans have recently run out of patience for predatory bears.

[MIB]

17 hours ago, Huntster said:

I doubt you'll hear the authorities endorse them. The woods catch fire, too. Recall Sampson tying a torch onto the tail of a fox.........

 

There was a big fire over in the "range" country in Eastern Oregon some years back.   They were having trouble with the fire spreading when burning jackrabbits (and coyotes) would run across the fire lines into the grass and brush on the other side.   They brought in some shooters to travel with the fire crews to shoot the burning critters before they could get across the line.    I think I'd like that job.

[Huntster]

46 minutes ago, MIB said:

 

There was a big fire over in the "range" country in Eastern Oregon some years back.   They were having trouble with the fire spreading when burning jackrabbits (and coyotes) would run across the fire lines into the grass and brush on the other side.   They brought in some shooters to travel with the fire crews to shoot the burning critters before they could get across the line.    I think I'd like that job.

 

The same thing happened in California during the Camp Fire when the town of Paradise burned to the ground. They had shooters killing the burning rabbits running about. Sad stuff.

[OldMort]

1 hour ago, Huntster said:

They had shooters killing the burning rabbits running about. Sad stuff.

 

 Do you have a source for this?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by OldMort

[norseman]

43 minutes ago, OldMort said:

 

 Do you have a source for this?

 

 

 

 

 

https://nypost.com/2018/05/09/flaming-rabbit-sparks-wildfire/

 

 

[OldMort]

Thanks Norseman, But I wanted to know if this is documented as happening specifically during the Paradise fire. 

 

I live in the adjacent town, none of us will ever forget that day. That fire moved so fast and in such a devastating manner that it seems that any burning jack rabbits were hardly a factor or concern. The wind was roaring downslope through the canyons to the east that day at over 45 MPH. The fire rolled down the hill, about 10 miles during the course of the day destroying 80 acres per minute, and was halted finally only by the wide asphalt boundary of Highway 99 less than a mile from my home. The suddenness and scope of devastation this inferno caused left only the options of rescue and recovery rather than any actual firefighting or attempts to save structures or property. There was simply nothing left. Paradise was a nice place. I lived there for a while many years ago...

 

I suppose some burning jack rabbits could have been shot during mop up during the ensuing days.

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by OldMort

[Huntster]

2 hours ago, OldMort said:

 

 Do you have a source for this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The short answer is no, and I retract the claim.

 

The long answer will be kept confidential (thus also short), but it was a very interesting research journey down the burning rabbit hole looking for the source.........

[Huntster]

1 hour ago, Huntster said:

........The long answer will be kept confidential (thus also short), but it was a very interesting research journey down the burning rabbit hole looking for the source.........

 

Amazing. I no sooner finish writing about my frustrating research journey than Medred, opining on this very bear mauling, expresses his own frustration with the exact same thing, and even highlights the word I found universally used in the news media:

 

https://craigmedred.news/2023/10/04/banff-bear-deaths/

 

Quote

........."While at the site,” Outside magazine, which is supposed to know something about the outdoors, reported that the rescuers “also encountered a grizzly bear that, according to the release, ‘displayed aggressive behavior.’ Parks Canada officials euthanized the bear.”

“Euthanasia,'” according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (such as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.”

This is what you do with your beloved dog. You take it to a veterinarian who injects it with an overdose of pentobarbital, which puts the dog to sleep after which, in a matter of minutes,  heart and brain functions stop.

So-called WHART teams do not carry pentobarbital. They carry firearms for self-protection...........