Knife to carry in Bear country

Status
Not open for further replies.
shane45-1911 said:
Completely agree with your post.

The comment above is puzzling however. I have taken girls many times into bear country, and honestly - I don't think that increased my survival odds that much. :)
Click to expand...

Hahaha. Besides sounding pretty creepy taking so many girls into the woods, thank you for pointing out my auto correct folly!! It gets me only in the important conversations :0
 
If you really think your knife will stop a grizzly bear from having some fun with you I suggest you visit McNeil Falls area in Alaska. You can view it live on You Tube. McNeil was my mother's maiden name.

 
Just out of curiosity, where in the world are we talking about?
This may have been answered in a previous post, but I can't seem to find it.
 
Unless Youtube's sanitized it (and if tjey have there's always Goodgle, DuckDuckGo and Altavista) look for vids of people bear huning with dogs. It is simply unbelievable how quick and powerful a fuzzy friendly black bear can be when he/she is in the mood, and that mood can change in far less than the time it takes your heart o beat or your mind to work out some way to escape. It's a regular thing for a 75-80# Plott bearhound get smacked and travel in the air for 25-30 feet before he lands. I've seen the evidence where a young bear had dug out something in the woods - looked like maybe a ground, maybe a chipmunk. It had flipped a rock out that was guarding the hole, and it went 10-15 feet or so and the bear only had the tips of his claws on the rock judging from the scratch marks. To top it all, the only bear (alside the polar bear) in the Western Hemisphere has been documented to have hunted down humans as a food source have been young badchelor black bears.

I don't know if it's still the practice, but i the 90's when a nuisance bear would develop in Cade's Cove and similar touristy places in the Great Smokies, they tend to capture them ... and drop them off here. We are not amused, as many end up being eutanized which should have happened in the first place - I mean, the is a CSA area with nearly half a million residents, it's not a place to drop Ol' Smoky when he takes to the pic-a-nic baskets and vodka.

Peole will take me as skittish (or other less kind word), but young black bears and the occasional long-tail cats give me pause, and I prefer to camp with companions. Besides, how else will anyone at work will know who won the drikiking contest. (we don't realy have those, m\ybu some groups do).
 
I have been on a trip with a Mountain Guide and former gebirgsjäger (mountain troop) who was Trainer and Bear Protection on the Mosaic expedition (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSAiC_Expedition).
No grizzlys but polar bears.

The guys doing bear watch on this mission basically carried two kinds of guns: 12ga shotguns with slugs and 7.62mm automatic rifles with 20 round mags (aka HK G3).
"You are not going into bear country with a 5 round bolt action rifle" he said. And for sure you dont do this with a knife only. Stop dreaming.

As killing a bear was last resort, the had different deterrents after spotting a bear (there was a bear watch aboard ship with thermal imaging in the polar night).
First step was calling every one back to shop, turn on ship horns and lights.
If bear still was interested, the bear guys shot a signal flare in front of the bear. The light and bang often was enough to spook them away. YOu had to be careful to not fire BEHIND the bear as this would force him into your direction.
Third step was firing a shot next to the bear, as they have good hearing this would further warn them.

And if this wasnt making him turn and he kept coming, you would fire on target if he enters a circle about 30m around you. And then you have to stop him asap. Saw a video of the guys doing gun training. One of them was pumping his shogun into the targets within seconds. And thats why they had 20 round mags on full auto guns.

No bear was killed on this entire mission.
 
One thing to add.

When you hunt, you are the one in charge.
If a bear is on you, HE is in charge.

The next thing is to think about the difference between "CAN xyz stop a bear" and "WILL xyz stop a bear" (insert any knife, gun, ...)
Bears are faster on land and water and stronger and naturally more armed than any human.

Any discussion about a knife in a bear fight is as stupid as it gets.
Just watch videos about bears charging or hunting. Thats not the fluffy pet in the zoo. thats an animal that feels threatened or is on the hunt.
 
KenHash said:
If you can not carry a firearm or Bear Spray, what knife, either type or model, would you carry in the woods where occasional bear attacks have been reported.
Double edged daggers, and sharpened swedges are not permitted either. Unfortunately this means no "pig stickers" which I personally think would be ideal.
Already recognizing that any knife is a total last resort if attacked and retreat is not possible. And that your non-weapon arm may have to be sacrificed
while your knife arm is deployed.
Click to expand...

Any volunteers ?


I don't know if the shot finally did the bear in or the knife.

A lady who was really mauled by a bear said the movie scene was not real enough because he got off too easy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top