Bear Mauls 7 Survival School Students

Mannlicher

Mannlicher

Joined
Nov 19, 2008
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Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. A group of city kids on a 'leadership' training trip meets a bear. Bear wins.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two teenagers badly mauled by a bear while on a survival skills course in the Alaskan wilderness were Sunday in a hospital in Anchorage with "serious, life-threatening injuries," the Alaska Dispatch reported.

Seven teens were attacked while crossing a river Saturday night, by a brown bear with a cub.

A statement from Alaska State Troopers and the Department of Public Safety said two of the victims had life-threatening injuries, two were seriously hurt and three others all had "minor injuries or had exposure-related issues."

The teenagers were identified as, Samuel Boas, 16 of Westport, Conn.; Noah Allaine, 16, of Albuquerque, N.M.; Shane Garlock, 16, of Pittsford, N.Y.; Joshua Berg, 17, of New York, N.Y.; Samuel Gottsegen, 17, of Denver, Colo.; Simeon Melman, of Huntington, N.Y.; and Victor Martin, 18, of Richmond, Calif.

The seven were with other teens and instructors from the National Outdoor Leadership School.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/24/teens-mauled-by-bear-in-alaska/#ixzz1T73gW1bw
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sad event :( they were part of a NOLS group doing a 30 day outing, NOLS is a very highly respected outdoors school (based in Lander, WY) sounds like they were pretty well prepared (first aid, rescue plan and bear awareness), sometimes things happen that even the best of planning can't negate
 
tonym said:
Poor kids, I'm glad they made it out with their lives. 2 of them are in really bad shape.

Here's another link to the story.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/24/alaska.bear.attack/index.html?iphoneemail
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from that story:
The teens told state troopers that they were crossing the river in a line when the bears attacked. Those in front got the worst of the assault.

"They were mauled, very severely," said Peters. "It was truly an emergency situation."

Between ages 16 to 18 and from all around the country, the boys said that they followed protocol in calling out to warn the bears and carrying bear spray, according to the wilderness program.

Afterward, the group set up a camp, provided first aid and activated a personal locator beacon, which is used to alert authorities about one's whereabouts in an emergency.

A helicopter was then dispatched, tracking the beacon's signal and finding the teens in a tent around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, said state troopers.

The rescuers then determined that two of the victims were too hurt to be safely transported by the helicopter for medical aid. A state trooper stayed on the scene, helping tend to those two as well as a third boy who was in the best condition, while the others were flown out for treatment at Mat-Su Regional Hospital in Palmer.

Four hours later, around 6:45 a.m., a better-equipped aircraft arrived to fly out the most seriously injured to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, about 150 miles to the south.
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Terrible accident, but it sounds like the teens were well trained to handle the emergency. They gave first aid and were able to call for help and set up shelter to wait. Amazing response given the violence and surprise of the situation. It could've ended a lot worse.
 
chopchop said:
from that story:


Terrible accident, but it sounds like the teens were well trained to handle the emergency. They gave first aid and were able to call for help and set up shelter to wait. Amazing response given the violence and surprise of the situation. It could've ended a lot worse.
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Amen to that!
 
Mannlicher said:
I still say some responsible adult should be carrying an effective bear deterrent.
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from what I've read they had bear spray (not sure if it was deployed), no instructors were directly with this group (guessing as they were on day 24 of 30 they were giving them a little leeway)- the students were 17-18 yoa, young adults anyways
 
Stuff happens. Whose to say if one of them had a gun things would have been any different? I agree with mtw and give them a huge kudos for handling the aftermath in the way they did.
 
kgd said:
Stuff happens. Whose to say if one of them had a gun things would have been any different?
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It's pretty simple. Because when you shoot the bear, it dies which makes it much more difficult for the bear to continue mauling the teenagers. How did you not put those dots together?
 
not all shot bears die and not all shot bears that do die, die quickly

a charging sow coming out of thick brush, while your fording a river, is not going to be the most optimal conditions for shooting quickly and accurately (this is the understatement of the year) , not to mention you are in a rather tight group of people fording said river- don't think I want the responsibility of telling Timmy's mom that I shot the top of his head off hoping to fend off a charging bear

with out having been there I'd very careful about drawing armchair conclusions, grizzly encounters can happen with the great speed and ferocity- easy to say I'd just draw my trusty .44 and dine on bear roast for supper- doesn't happen like that- not even close
 
From the little I know about bears, if a group like that gets attacked, it probably wasn't a "defensive" attack, rather more of a hunt/kill attack. I'm thinking that the bear didn't give them much warning at all, and if they were in a group, it would have been difficult for the tail guys to get a clean shot with the spray.
OT, if more 17-18 year olds were treated like, and expected to act like adults, we'd all have fewer problems, these young men did well in a bad situation, made good choices after the fact (or so it seems). I wish more "kids" were like that.
 
mtwarden said:
not all shot bears die and not all shot bears that do die, die quickly

a charging sow coming out of thick brush, while your fording a river, is not going to be the most optimal conditions for shooting quickly and accurately (this is the understatement of the year) , not to mention you are in a rather tight group of people fording said river- don't think I want the responsibility of telling Timmy's mom that I shot the top of his head off hoping to fend off a charging bear

with out having been there I'd very careful about drawing armchair conclusions, grizzly encounters can happen with the great speed and ferocity- easy to say I'd just draw my trusty .44 and dine on bear roast for supper- doesn't happen like that- not even close
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Truth, if you aren't constantly ready for a bear, preferably with a 12 guage loaded with slugs AND a very quick/accurate shot AND in between the bear and its target... someone WILL get hurt or killed.

I didn't read but a thousand pound bear moving at 40 MPH from close distance is dang near unstoppable barring the aforementioned skills, position and similar equipment.

They did an outstanding job given the circumstance.
 
I think mtwarden and skimo have a point. I think whenever I read or see (I think there is something on u-tube) someone trying to defend themselves from a bear with a gun they rarely if ever hit the thing (and when they do, they just enrage it). It seems that it's the noise from the shot that deters the animal. Sometimes I wonder if it may be worthwhile having one of those airhorns. If it doesn't deter the bear, at least someone will know something is wrong.
 
my point was that if this was a group of kids on a 'training mission', and were in known bear country, an adult, or supervisor type leader should have been prepared with an effective gun.
Going off into the wild, and getting half eaten could be, I guess, a turn off.

Some on in charge was remiss, and lax, and not thinking. This is a professional training outfit?
 
carry some udap
problem solved

people don't realize especially in alaska bears like to hunt for food/play around rivers
 
You don't train people to be independent and competent under fire by baby-sitting them. These weren't cub scouts on their first walk in the woods.
 
VulcansChrome said:
carry some udap
problem solved

people don't realize especially in alaska bears like to hunt for food/play around rivers
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from the story above

the boys said that they followed protocol in calling out to warn the bears and carrying bear spray, according to the wilderness program.
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Solutions don't always work as planned.
 
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