The Bureau of Land Management is planning a truly boneheaded move, angering some conservationists over the affects to herd populations and migration routes. From Field & Stream.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released a draft plan outlining potential solar energy development in the West. The proposal is an update of the BLM’s 2012 Western Solar Plan. It adds five new states—Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming—to a list of 11 western states already earmarked…… [read more]
I really like Dan Becker, and I especially like his faith commitment to Christ.
However, I think he got sold a bill of goods by interviewing someone who claims to have the last word on the gun versus bear spray debate.
It’s no debate in my book. I will never go into the bush without a large bore pistol. End of story. And all of what this “expert” claims are potential pitfalls of use of a firearm aren’t really pitfalls in my book, and I also think he ignores the potential pitfalls of the use of bear spray. If you’re worried about your ability to use a firearm under pressure, carry a revolver in a shoulder holster. A revolver is simple to use.
For my part, I’ve carried a .44 magnum wheel gun, but if I am carrying 450 SMC ammunition, I’ll carry it in a 1911 (with an enhanced recoil spring, i.e., 22#), with a round chambered and on safe, which is an advantage with the 1911 design. It’s easy to sweep the safety off while raising the pistol. A Hill People Gear kit bag worn on my chest puts this within hand’s reach of being able to deploy it.
Dan, if you’re listening, if you want another perspective on this by someone who has compiled the largest, most well-researched catalog of bear attacks and how well firearms do, contact Dean Weingarten (who writes at Ammoland).
On the evening of September 30, a sow grizzly bear charged an elk hunter in thick timber near Henry’s Lake, Idaho. According to an Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) press release issued this morning, the hunter yelled to alert his partner about the charging bruin before firing several shots from his sidearm that killed the bear “only a short distance way, before it was able to make contact.”
“The hunter immediately called the Citizens Against Poaching hotline to report the incident,” the press release states. “Idaho Department of Fish and Game responded to the call and conducted a thorough investigation. It was determined that the hunter acted in self-defense during a surprise encounter with the bear from a very close distance.”
This is incomplete reporting because we aren’t informed of the handgun make and caliber. But at least the outcome is clear.
A 73-year-old woman was mauled by a bear while walking with her husband and their dog in Montana near Glacier National Park on Sunday, officials have announced. The woman’s husband used bear spray to get the beast off his wife and they were able to make it back to their vehicle and drive to a location where they could call emergency services at around 3 pm.
Between bear spray and a large bore handgun, you know which one I’d choose.
They’re lucky that sow didn’t claw their eyes out and then rip their hearts out and eat it in front of the cubs as an object lesson.
I await comment by “The Alaskan.”
Three guys springing towards a bear and two cubs; one with some papers and one carrying a child. What exactly was the plan here? pic.twitter.com/VgDmR68CrS
This is an utterly fascinating video, and may be the first of a kind. I spend time finding fascinating things for you that enable learning about nature, and machines and their operation, especially firearms. I hope you appreciate it. This apparently is a recent encounter in Yellowstone.
Believe it or not, the black bear backed down the grizzly, with the grizzly even running from the black bear. For a while. The grizzly eventually came in for the food, with the black bear wandering off (probably when he figured out that there would be a fight and someone would get hurt – which incidentally is probably the reason the grizzly ran from the black bear to begin with). They were both wise bears that day.
It’s difficult for me to tell, but I think this was a black bear.
Next, she said she deployed her bear spray and it was completely ineffective. Yea, I’ll bet.
Retreating, she stumbled backwards and fell down. This is a bad position to be in when the bear jumps on you.
The dog intervened, and was badly mauled, but still lives and looks good. Dogs are man’s best friend. Get yourself one or more. Also, notice that the bear went after her, not the dog. It only went after the dog when the dog intervened.
Finally, she should be carrying a large bore handgun. If I’m out and about in the South, I never go into the bush without a firearm. There are bears, Coyotes, snakes and two-legged threats, as well as feral hogs. This holds doubly true for the Northwest. If you go “walking” or “jogging” in the bush without a big bore handgun, you’re asking for what happens next.
They awoke around 3 a.m. Thursday morning to their dog barking downstairs. When Bolkcom went to check out the commotion, he found a black bear in his living room.
Bolkcom grabbed his gun and shot the bear, chasing it from room to room before it finally collapsed after several shots.
The first thing that struck me is that all of the newscasters have weird foreign accents. Not sure what states they are from but not South Carolina. Also, the reporter said that cubs show up with daddy bears. That’s highly unlikely. Of course, the State blames the homeowner for having modern conveniences like outside trash pickup and nice things like a bird feeder to enjoy. At the end of the video, the state propagandist says she wants bear spray, which is an excellent choice for her; please rely exclusively on it. I’ll carry a large bore handgun.
“It’s terrifying, I’m 75 years old or will be, where in the world would I go? I can’t run from one,” she said. “I used to walk up and check our mail ‘cause it’s up on the road, and I would walk up there and check it and come back. But now I’m too scared to even walk up the driveway during the day.”
In a security video from Chambers’ property, a young bear can be seen coming up to her door, down her porch and leaving behind a big mess.
She said the bears come out at various times of the day, making her scared to go outside, even just to walk her dog.
“I opened the door this morning and my porch, it was torn to pieces,” Chambers said. “My chair was overturned, my bird seed in that can was everywhere, the flowers were knocked over like they were trying to eat them or something, I don’t know. I’m terrified.”
The State is for control, not the security of a free people.
It’s unlikely that you’ll be attacked by a bear in the ocean, but apparently, it’s a possibility.
I have questions.
June 12 (UPI) — Visitors to a Florida beach were in for a surprise when a black bear was spotted swimming side-by-side with their fellow beachgoers.
Multiple visitors to the crowded beach in Destin captured video when the bear emerged from the ocean and swam next to human beachgoers before making its way to shore.
“The bear was out pretty far,” Chris Barron, who recorded footage of the bear, told WTVT-TV. “A lot of people started swimming in. I was worried it was a shark. I walked over and thought it was a dog.”
Barron said the bear was swimming right by his brother and 12-year-old son.
“At this point I realized it was a bear and started videoing. It kept swimming in. He got to shore, shook off, and ran into the brush in the sand dunes,” Barron said. “I think most people were shocked instead of being scared. No one expected to see a bear in the Gulf of Mexico.”
