Big Freaking Bear !!!
This is a story that could leave much untold. Some should be, I hope I don't reach that line, no promises.
We left from from Orange County, CA for a ritual trip to slay trout. 400 miles away, the fish were waiting for us, We knew it. Hell the state put them there for us. Our tax dollars at work. Of course I had to get a fishing license for $20 and a trout stamp for another $5.
That was serious cash then, and nothing to sneeze at today. I suspect it wold be hundreds today to be properly permitted to collect fish.
I was not permitted or anyway authorized to kill a bear unless in self defense. I knew that, my party knew that, the bear missed the memo.
We started at a primitive campsite, hey, we our outdoorsmen, this worked pretty well for about 4 hours. Than the freezing rain started, along with the river through our camp.
Some would say we chose a bad site, but how to choose a good one from 400 miles away.
Yes, we reserved the wash. On a different day, the place was great, The day we were there, really wrong place to be.
4 AM, the ruptured ice dam comes through camp. A 12 to 16" icedam sounds benign. It is not. A foot of ice cold water at speed, with debris, is a huge hazard.
We all survived and said screw this, we need a roof.
This is vacation, not "Survivor".
I will breathe here for a moment. More to come, Oh yeah, and the bear.
We have reached a deeper place than the bear. His story will come, Spoiler alert, bear lives.
After being flooded out of our campsite, we had a team meeting, okay, boys we have to have a house, not in the channel. It was a pretty lopsided vote based on who had a job or not, we only had 2 without jobs, so we sucked it up. Dry bed, hot shower 3 days, $40 bucks, for a friend,, Ya, I think we can work that out. let's call it prepaid karma.
There was one small problem. The fridge in that cabin could hold about 3 12 packs,
Perhaps not the best unit of measure, but it was the unit of the days. We had one of these 120 Qt coolers filled with food for 12 for 4 days. That was a heavy ice chest. We got lazy and stupid and just left the cooler on the porch of the cabin. Was not any need to bring it inside, what could go wrong ? We were in civilization again.
We made a very nice dinner, and everyone went into a food coma. Mine was lighter for some reason, but sleeping has never been a strong suit for me. It had been a long day.
Sean and his girlfriend went for a stroll. Why you would bring a girlfriend to such an endeavor as this was planned, I can't figure out, but she was game. They were out there, and I hear something. I get up and see this bear, who has dragged this huge cooler off the porch, playing ping pong with it in the driveway. That is all our food!!! This will never do...
I had my Blackhawk .44, and at the time was doing my own loading. I had bear rounds in it. Now there was a dilemma, I failed to share I was packing, after the fact, I was chastised severely, we can take that up later, there is a bear stealing all of our food.
What to do... just kill it ? That was an option, I chose to grab the fireplace poker, and the .44 mag, and try intimidation. What could go wrong?
Nothing did go wrong, a lot of shouting and banging the poker made him go away. If he had even looked at me funny it would have been another story. I am glad it went that way.
Having pissed off the bear, and saving the food, my concern was quickly transferred to our strollers. Now they are out there with a pissed off hungry bear, very near.
I found them and escorted them home.
Then I was made the bad guy for having a gun.. Oh well.
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A few comments:
1- Hanguns are NOT reliable bear killers. The idea that you're shooting the bear with a mere 44 magnum handgun somehow equates to instantly killing it and not getting yourself or one of your party mauled/killed is not realistic. It sure is better than nothing and I'm not saying this guy made a bad choice...just making a point that whoever wrote the advertising for some gun/round is not there when a bear attacks you.
2- Having a weapon in the (real)woods is de rigeour and if someone else doesn't like it they either shut up and mind their own business or they do NOT come on the trip. Maybe a lot more important than the caliber or weapon carried is the big NOISE they can make and in anything less than imminent threat of death it's quite possible that an animal will turn-tail and depart if a shot is put into the ground.
3- There are not just bears, badgers, and mountain lions to consider but also if a Moose or Elk gets pissed off someone can get badly hurt and killed fast. I've been on the receiving end of an Elk attack (got away without hurting it...) and a badger and Mountain lion at really close range and out of a cage. I've never felt safe with any weapon I've ever had when this was going on. There is no feeling of inviciblity when something is about to kill you. It's just one more option to have if you have to take a chance and hope it might save your life.
Some of the less experienced people just can't accept that the real outdoors is NOT the nature channel. Leave them at home. The only way to educate the ignorant about what wildlife can sometimes be like is to let someone get badly hurt or killed...and the PC people are not worth that.
Most animals are pretty benign and attacks are rare. When they get in someones face...or yours..it really can make a difference in howyou decide to prepare next time to go out into nature. Assuming of course that you survive the encounter and are even still capable of walking, etc.
P.S.: If you get lost and there is someone that might look for you a weapon makes a universal signaling device in particular at night when hunting is not usually going on. This is why carrying 40 or so rounds of ammo when you intend to shoot one or zero rounds makes sense. All hunters used to be taught that if you shoot three rounds in a row and then stop that is the universal sign that you need help. If SAR is out there and can hear it they will respond with three shots themselves and things will proceed from there. If you do this every 3-4 four hours each night you are lost that's about 12 rounds per night to try to get someone's attention. Atthat rate 40ish round is nottoo much to have. Remember your ear plugs..I suggest putting one pair of the foam disposable ones in each box of ammo so your hearing remains intact.
I once took a nature hike/camping trip by myself. I spent a night on a mountain top literally in the middle of a thunderstorm that was at that same elevation. I spent the entire night with a tent tied to two tall trees and those huge trees were swaying like twigs and the deer were jumping all over scared to death, etc. In the morning I didn't wait for the scheduled next day pickup but instead chose to hike down the more direct path possible which was a washed out steep canyon. About 1/3 of the way down I started running into diamondback rattlesnakes chasing rodents in the creekbed. I had no choice but to stay in that creekbed as hiking up the walls of the canyone was not possible. Snakes will sometimes move but others will just coil up and refuse to move. I used my magnum revolver sidearm and shot the first three that would not move out of commission (it's not easy to shoot even a big snake and it takes more than one shot just to hit one let alone in the right spot). All that noise was making me deaf so I had to give up shooting them for fear one would rattle and I would not hear it, get bit, and die up there. Sure wished I had some ear plugs at that time.... I got lucky and there was a thicker bare branch I pruned and used to "fan" the creekbed and both sides of itand when a snake would not move I would hook it with the branch and toss it somewhere long enough for me to scoot past.When there were two orthree...well...it was a very stressful 4hours and about50 snakes later before I got out of that canyon. I had an adrenalin "come down" of epic proportions coming out of the canyon that day. In modern days someone would probalby has seen me and thought I was high on drugs. Someone who had been in heavy combat would have recognized what I was going through immediately.
BTW: The "little" rattlesnakes are just as dangerous as the big ones are. Take them ALL seriously.
Experiences like these are why NO ONE is every going to tell me that carrying weapons to include knives, and fire starter, etc, are a bad idea when out in the real woods.
I could go on.
There are many ways to get killed out camping and being prepared and havinga plan is a good idea. If you are in a group be glad someone else has prepared and don't hassle them. Nature is NOT PC and it is NOT the big city either. Leave the PC stuff back in civiliation or you just might not be comingback at all.
Some people just don't appreciate preparedness of any sort.....
Nice to see a few stumbled across this.
I realize better than most that a handgun is not the weapon of choice for a bear, even it is a badass one with custom loads. My secondary weapon was a fireplace poker, which turned out to be effective.
My motivation was to make the bear leave, not to kill it. My chances were better with a handgun designed for such a purpose than not. I like 50/50 better than none any day.
Wilderness is just that, food chain and danger from the most innocent of sources. If you choose to go out you can die. That is why it is an adventure.
Great story '84 and sounds like quite the adventure!
:~)
Well, you didn't use it! or at least, you didn't kill the bear, 84. And no one died, so that is a happy ending, isn't it?
Okay, I'm the idiot that just has to say...
these days, in any situation, including the wilderness, there are also the two-legged variety of snakes and vermin you have to worry about running into.
Take the gun. My choice is a rifle. I'm female.
My choice would be a rifle as well if I was stalking bear.
This weapon was a last resort, and I had done my research. I was loading my own rounds at this time,and pushed the envelope that a friend of mine tried one on his shiny stainless S&W and almost blew it up. My Ruger showed no signs of overpressure. 240 grain at least jacketed hollowpoints, I was loaded for bear. I hoped.
The weapon was never discharged in anger, nor at a living creature. It was a hoot to own, and my fantasy was to hunt a wild boar. That never happened, but is about as close as you can get to a fair fight in the hunting realm.
Thanks for stopping by, 84
Thank you so much for trying something else first than just shooting the bear. Glad it all worked out. That had to be frightening! The authorities here just shot a yearling bear dead in an orchard today that was being chased by coyotes. I'm quite discouraged. Aren't authorities trained to handle large animals (this one just a bit larger than a Labrador Retriever) with more creativity than by just killing them? Your story has made me feel better. Thank you.