Mark's Glock was empty

[Coach Chris]

For you guys that carry do you always keep one in the chamber?

What about your rifle, do you have one in the chamber as well?

Always one in the chamber in my sidearm.
Always have bear spray

If my rifle is in my hands I have a round chambered.

 

[theotherdubya]

Sad deal. The Hunt Backcountry Podcast has an episode on Grizzly Awareness that is both interesting and educational for anyone going into griz country. They go into detail about both pepper spray and handguns, but also talk about how quickly you need to be able to reach it.

Hunt Backcountry Grizzly Bear Survival and Defense Tactics

 

[sneaky]

The toughest part for me to read is "the hunter fled". I'll leave my thoughts on it at that.

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[Trial153]

"No one truly knows what they will do in a certain situation until they are actually in it. It's very easy to judge someone else's actions by what you assume your own would be, if you were in their shoes. But we only know what we THINK we would do, not what we WOULD do."

Ashly Lorenzana

 

[sneaky]

"No one truly knows what they will do in a certain situation until they are actually in it. It's very easy to judge someone else's actions by what you assume your own would be, if you were in their shoes. But we only know what we THINK we would do, not what we WOULD do."

Ashly Lorenzana

Well, I can 100% assure you that running away wouldn't be what I would do. 12 years in the Marines teaches you some valuable life lessons... like never leaving someone behind, especially when you know it's a death sentence if you do. He saved his own ass, and he has to live with it, knowing he ran away. That might be punishment enough.

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[deerhunter628]

Well, I can 100% assure you that running away wouldn't be what I would do. 12 years in the Marines teaches you some valuable life lessons... like never leaving someone behind, especially when you know it's a death sentence if you do. He saved his own ass, and he has to live with it, knowing he ran away. That might be punishment enough.

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.

Not to get into a debate but im sure he was not going to be able to fight off the bear. If he didnt get away they would have found two bodies.

 

[AKDoc]

I might be wrong, but it sounds like the client wasn't familiar with pistols or at least not Glocks. Sure sounds like the Glock didn't have a round in the chamber, and the individual didn't understand to rack the slide...or it just didn't mentally compute in the intensity of the moment.

I always carry a pistol in the field up here. Started with a 44 mag, then a 454 Casull...both with my hand-loaded hard-casts. This year I started carrying a Glock 20 with 220grn hard-cast factory loads. It is so much more comfortable to carry all day for two to three weeks with 15 rounds in the magazine. My holster completely covers the trigger guard, and yes, I always have one in the chamber when I am carrying.

 

[sneaky]

.

Not to get into a debate but im sure he was not going to be able to fight off the bear. If he didnt get away they would have found two bodies.

Wouldn't have to "fight off " the bear. He could have given the guide the precious seconds needed to deploy his spray in an effective manner. 100% guaranteed that running away only helped himself. There's no debate involved. There's a reason they recommend not being alone in bear country, better survival odds in pairs or a group.

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[AKDoc]

I definitely agree sneaky...Semper fi brother.

 

[bluetick78]

I am infinitely excited that everyone that has commented on this thread is better at surviving grizzly attacks than Mark Uptain was. After all, it's been pointed out multiple times how many mistakes he made, and how he could have "tried harder" to survive. Either that....or what we have here are a buncha keyboard commandos that clearly have nothing better to do than disrespect a wonderful man that passed under extremely unfortunate circumstances. If you had seen the sadness and loneliness in the eyes of his children at his funeral, or watched his strong wife trying her best to hold it together on the worst day of her life, then you'd realize how inappropriate and juvenile the content of this thread is. Let the man rest. Let's respectfully kill this thread right here and agree to the fact that most of you don't have the experience to comment, truth be known.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Wouldn't have to "fight off " the bear. He could have given the guide the precious seconds needed to deploy his spray in an effective manner. 100% guaranteed that running away only helped himself. There's no debate involved. There's a reason they recommend not being alone in bear country, better survival odds in pairs or a group.

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Sneaky he did deploy the spray. All of it. And the bear was covered in it. Didn’t matter.

 

[bozeman]

+10,000 Bluetick.......I am both amazed and unimpressed by the many grizzly attack experts we have on this forum.

 

[Shrek]

I am infinitely excited that everyone that has commented on this thread is better at surviving grizzly attacks than Mark Uptain was. After all, it's been pointed out multiple times how many mistakes he made, and how he could have "tried harder" to survive. Either that....or what we have here are a buncha keyboard commandos that clearly have nothing better to do than disrespect a wonderful man that passed under extremely unfortunate circumstances. If you had seen the sadness and loneliness in the eyes of his children at his funeral, or watched his strong wife trying her best to hold it together on the worst day of her life, then you'd realize how inappropriate and juvenile the content of this thread is. Let the man rest. Let's respectfully kill this thread right here and agree to the fact that most of you don't have the experience to comment, truth be known.

There’s been little to no disrespect. Mark Uptain did make mistakes as we all do and very unfortunately he lost his life. I didn’t know the man but the tragedy pulled on my heartstrings enough that I donated to his family. Discussing the situation and learning might save one of our lives one day and that would be an honor to Mark’s sacrifice.

 

[Broomd]

+10,000 Bluetick.......I am both amazed and unimpressed by the many grizzly attack experts we have on this forum.

+2...

 

[sneaky]

I am infinitely excited that everyone that has commented on this thread is better at surviving grizzly attacks than Mark Uptain was. After all, it's been pointed out multiple times how many mistakes he made, and how he could have "tried harder" to survive. Either that....or what we have here are a buncha keyboard commandos that clearly have nothing better to do than disrespect a wonderful man that passed under extremely unfortunate circumstances. If you had seen the sadness and loneliness in the eyes of his children at his funeral, or watched his strong wife trying her best to hold it together on the worst day of her life, then you'd realize how inappropriate and juvenile the content of this thread is. Let the man rest. Let's respectfully kill this thread right here and agree to the fact that most of you don't have the experience to comment, truth be known.

No one is commenting on the actions of Uptain. We're commenting on the client. Way to read more into something like you normally do, I would expect nothing less from the morally superior SE Idaho spokesman.

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[sneaky]

Sneaky he did deploy the spray. All of it. And the bear was covered in it. Didn’t matter.

And from the article it clearly stated they believed the spray was deployed after he had sustained the life ending injuries. A second or two of distraction MAY have been the difference, we will never know because he was left to defend himself alone.

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[Trial153]

+10,000 Bluetick.......I am both amazed and unimpressed by the many grizzly attack experts we have on this forum.

x3 ..........

 

[5MilesBack]

If you had seen the sadness and loneliness in the eyes of his children at his funeral, or watched his strong wife trying her best to hold it together on the worst day of her life, then you'd realize how inappropriate and juvenile the content of this thread is.

So just because there's sadness and loneliness at the funeral.......you don't want or expect people to learn from what happened? Every event (good or bad) is a teaching and/or learning opportunity for all regardless of everyone's emotions. No one is disrespecting Uptain.

 

[wind gypsy]

Some thoughts:

No disrespect meant to Mark. You look at the Meat Eater bear charge story at Afognak and the experience of the guys in that group, they were largely complacent. People don't look at them with a negative view because of it. I typically carry a sidearm on pack belt during archery season but have ended up without it when I take the pack off countless times. I killed two bulls on solo hunts this year in areas where griz exist and still had these lapses. It happens.

That said, I believe Mark had bear spray on his person at the time of the attack so it seems like reasonable care was taken in that respect. The coroner saying he couldn't have functioned after the fatal bite to the brain and people saying he discharged the spray after being mortally wounded sure don't add up..

As far as Chubon running - Seems he had very little familiarity with side arms but didn't he have bear spray in the same pack? Running with no spray or sidearm (that he could figure out how to use) is vastly different than running if he had easy access to bear spray. Maybe he witnessed Mark empty his spray can and still fail to stop the attack. If he in fact dropped the mag and threw the empty pistol at Mark.. well that's shitty.

I know what I think I'd do in the same situation but I wasn't there and haven't been in a similar position..

 

[jmez]

Keep in mind that coroners in WY are elected positions. Anyone can run and win, you need no training. I wouidn't put much stock in a coroners report.