The uncle of a Canadian man who was mauled to death by a grizzly last week alongside his partner in Alberta’s popular Banff National Park has revealed that he received a final message from the couple.
Colin Inglis told the Calgary Herald he received the SOS call from Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse’s Garmin GPS device around 8:15 p.m. last Friday after hearing hours earlier that they were delayed in reaching a camping location in the Panther Valley area of the park.
“Bear attack bad.” was the message Inglis recalled getting in a call from the couple’s Garmin inReach device. “The alarm bells were going off, ‘this is not good’ — that means there’d been some engagement. You’re completely helpless to know what’s going on.”
Inglis also said he was told by Parks Canada officials that the tent the couple was using “was crushed and their e-readers were open” at the scene of the attack, where their 7-year-old border collie Tris died as well.
“One can of bear spray had been fully discharged, but this bear was not to be deterred,” he reportedly added.
I am not disparaging OC sprays. I carry one can every day because I believe situations can present where this will be an appropriate defensive tool to use. But you cannot have only one defensive tool at your disposal, or you are limited to its “potency” which might be insufficient to the threat you are facing.
I am sure you have seen videos where police deploy Less Lethal weaponry, but there is always one or more officers with lethal means in hand and aimed at a suspect as back up. We must apply the same idea: Use the Less Lethal if you deem is needed and resolves the situation, but ready to use the firearm if things do not de-escalate and your initial assessment turns out to be wrong.
To coin a phrase: “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
If you gonna be dumb….. another example of how F’in dumb people have become.. “lets go camping in bear country wrapped in saran wrap and hot sauce”…oh, and have zero awareness of our surroundings…..“tonight on the next episode of “Nope”… so where is “bear control inc”? Stupid.
There is zero reason to go less lethal on an animal(this goes for dogs too….) If it will attack a human today, it will do it tomorrow. Use maximum force at the beginning.
Absolutely correct Birdog357. The only time which could be an exception to this mindset is when there is the possibility of collateral damage, as in using a sidearm to shoot a dog in a densely populated area where a round could continue downrange. Then in that instance you go with the proper blade weapon. And I speak from experience when I also say it helps greatly to have a coat to take off to wrap around your arm, which allows you to offer it as a target in the attack.
One reason. Humans in the area. Line of fire, too high of a potential to harm/kill a fellow hiker/camper.
Aside from that, you are absolutely correct.
I disagree. It depends on the animal. American Black Bears are deterred by bear spray quite often. Humans are not their usual prey. Grizzly bears actively hunt humans and for them a rifle is a good idea.
Bear spray, well any pepper spray no matter the potency, does nothing to deter a determined animal. Or human for that matter.
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The only benefit it has is to distract. If a bear, wolverine, wolf, moose, etc… is approaching in a threatening manner (which tells you it is not intent in attacking, but it is protecting something) a shot of bear spray in the nostrils will (most of the time) cause them to lose focus for a second or two. It may, in some situations, make them turn around, but that all depends on what they were protecting. A startled bear might turn around, a bear protecting a kill will stop for a second and then continue threatening.
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If you are not ready to deploy deadly force, do not bother carrying anything at all in bear country. And, for the sake of all that is holy, have the damned bear spray and/or firearm handy. The number of people I see with the bear spray stuck in rear pocket on their backpack is amazing. Added weight, no benefit. Like the animal is going to allow you the time to take your pack off and retrieve the spray?