By now, most folks should be aware that last weekend there were two fatalities due to black bears here in AK.
First was a teenage boy running in a mountain race. He appeared to be chased down and killed. The bear was still on the body when responders made it up the mountain and using Find My iPhone located the body. Bear was shot in the face as it charged a park ranger. Ran off into stupid nasty terrain. Using a spotter plane after a few days of fruitless ground searching they found a few bears in the area and sent ground based people in. Killed a few bears, one of which had an injury to the lower jaw and is assumed to be the bear in the attack. Others are assumed to be collateral damage.
Second was a geologist working near Pogo mine in the interior. They work in pairs and the second person in the pair was injured. Not a lot of info until today. Link
One thing to note about the attack on the geologist is the use of spray. Not much info about it other than it was used and didn't stop the bear. When spray started to hit the market decades ago there was a study in Canada about its effectiveness to protect bow hunters in tree stands. I saved a copy of this some where way back when but can't find it now. The study pointed out the fact that black bears have what appears to be a nictitating membrane which they use to protect their eyes. Black bears are able to deploy this membrane and not be very bothered by the spray. Grizz do not have this feature and are typically very bothered by spray. Black bears that were repeatedly sprayed over a season had learned to deal with the effect and not be bothered at all.
Its early summer in Alaska and there is nothing to eat out in the wilderness except grass, mushrooms, and a few moose calves. Any bear you encounter will more than likely be hungry and not bothered by anything not bigger than them. With a built in defense against spray, a big chunk a lead moving fast is a better solution. But you have to be serious about it and train. You will only have a second or two to deal with the animal.
First was a teenage boy running in a mountain race. He appeared to be chased down and killed. The bear was still on the body when responders made it up the mountain and using Find My iPhone located the body. Bear was shot in the face as it charged a park ranger. Ran off into stupid nasty terrain. Using a spotter plane after a few days of fruitless ground searching they found a few bears in the area and sent ground based people in. Killed a few bears, one of which had an injury to the lower jaw and is assumed to be the bear in the attack. Others are assumed to be collateral damage.
Second was a geologist working near Pogo mine in the interior. They work in pairs and the second person in the pair was injured. Not a lot of info until today. Link
One thing to note about the attack on the geologist is the use of spray. Not much info about it other than it was used and didn't stop the bear. When spray started to hit the market decades ago there was a study in Canada about its effectiveness to protect bow hunters in tree stands. I saved a copy of this some where way back when but can't find it now. The study pointed out the fact that black bears have what appears to be a nictitating membrane which they use to protect their eyes. Black bears are able to deploy this membrane and not be very bothered by the spray. Grizz do not have this feature and are typically very bothered by spray. Black bears that were repeatedly sprayed over a season had learned to deal with the effect and not be bothered at all.
Its early summer in Alaska and there is nothing to eat out in the wilderness except grass, mushrooms, and a few moose calves. Any bear you encounter will more than likely be hungry and not bothered by anything not bigger than them. With a built in defense against spray, a big chunk a lead moving fast is a better solution. But you have to be serious about it and train. You will only have a second or two to deal with the animal.
