Man kills charging bear with 1911

Ifishsum · June 10, 2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

‘Bears always run away'

Published: June 4, 2008

Joshua McKim of Halfway shot and killed this approximately 400-pound black bear on May 28 when it ran at him while he was picking mushrooms in the mountains north of Halfway.
Submitted photo

By JAYSON JACOBY

Baker City Herald

When the bear just up the hill roared, Joshua McKim's first thought was that he had never heard a bear make a sound like that.

His second thought, almost instantaneous with the first, was that he was awfully glad he had brought his pistol on this mushroom-picking trip.

When he first glimpsed the bear through the thick brush, McKim had cocked the hammer on the .45 caliber semi-automatic Taurus, a copy of the famous 1911-model Colt.

The bear didn't move.

McKim, 22, who has picked mushrooms and hunted deer and elk in the Wallowa Mountains above his hometown of Halfway since he was a boy, has seen maybe 20 bears.

And every one had fled, rumbling away from him in that awkward but oddly efficient gait peculiar to bears.

But this bear just stood there, no more than 35 yard away, staring down at McKim.

"I was saying, why isn't he running away — the wind's blowing right at him so he must be able to smell me," McKim said, recounting what happened a week ago today, on the evening of May 28.

"This is really weird. Bears always run away. Maybe I should holler at him."

The bear hollered first.

Then, finally, the bear started moving.

Right at McKim.

McKim yelled.

"He kind of hesitated for a second," McKim said.

"Then he came on. Faster."

McKim fired the first of the eight bullets in the .45's clip.

"The first shot hit him in the shoulder."

The bear tumbled, rolling for about 10 feet until it came to a flat place.

The bear righted itself and kept moving, not directly at McKim but in his direction.

The bear was closer now, 15 yards or so.

McKim pulled the trigger until the clip was empty.

"I knew I was hitting him; I didn't know where," he said. "I wasn't about to let him get any closer."

The bear careened into a patch of brush and McKim couldn't see the animal.

"I wasn't about to go into the brush with a wounded bear in there," he said. "I couldn't see much."

Besides, he was out of bullets.

Entire story:

OBSOLETE LINK REMOVED

Aggressive bears are uncommon here in Oregon but we've had two bear incidents in the last couple of weeks, and a cougar stalking 2 young girls as well. Stay safe out there!

STAFF EDIT: When I clicked on the "Entire story" link, I got a "404 Not found" indication. Doing a name search on the publication's min page yielded
a new link
END STAFF EDIT.

davlandrum · June 10, 2008, 03:19 PM

Thanks for the post. I might have to re-evaluate my nonchalance about black bears. Cougars scare the c**p out of me.

On the west side, it is the mushroom pickers you have to be afraid of...

Kreyzhorse · June 10, 2008, 03:34 PM

Interesting article. Just goes to show you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Musketeer · June 10, 2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

When he first glimpsed the bear through the thick brush, McKim had cocked the hammer on the .45 caliber semi-automatic Taurus, a copy of the famous 1911-model Colt.

1911 with the hammer down on a live round!

Not good.

Predatory Black Bears are scary critters by all accounts. From what I have read and seen though they are rarely loud, preferring to simply close and kill you with no demonstrations such as vocalizing.

MrClean · June 10, 2008, 04:55 PM

Picking mushrooms in the mountains?..... Hmmmmm

What KINDA mushrooms is he pickin' out there???

simonkenton · June 10, 2008, 05:04 PM

Stropharia Cubensis

Ifishsum · June 10, 2008, 05:46 PM

Morels... I grew up in that part of the state and used to pick them quite a bit. They are very tasty!

akr · June 10, 2008, 05:51 PM

Next time he needs to take a loaded XD .45ACP and a .357 mag 6" with speed loaders or strips. Oh!! By the way, there's nothing like a Pt1911 Taurus, but it only holds 8+1! He he he he.

.300H&H · June 10, 2008, 07:03 PM

Sad the bear had to be shot. When it comes to the lives of Oregon Mushroom Pickers and Black Bears - it's sometimes a very difficult decision to make in regard to choosing the appropriate side.

Black Bears get talked about sometimes as if they're wimpy little things. I guess it's because they are always compared to the big Brownies. Yet, if you've ever encountered a big ol' Black Bear, it's not unlike a street encounter with a big ol' Rottweiller - can be kinda scarey. They can look at you in a way that suggests they truely know you are the smaller, slower, weaker creature. It's their territory and they're to be respected. I would never want to shoot one unless it was a life or death situation. When I was a child I had a young black bear chase me - scared me to death - but it was because people were feeding the bears...and the bear was just being 'playful.' Looks like the mushroom picker didn't have much choice. Sounds like he was encroaching on the 400lb.'ers territory...and/or the bear was under survival stress ie. needing food...

Sidetracked · June 11, 2008, 12:04 AM

As .300H&H said... I fell into the 'wimpy black bear' mentality in Florida.

Last year I spent 32 days straight, with every spare moment scouting for the upcoming whitetail hunt.

Having seen 14 ragged and weak looking bears in 3 days, that all ran away from me... I dropped my guard a bit.
The next weekend, I was charged by a 300-400lb mother protecting her cub. The only thing that saved me was the cub squeaking out a strange grunt, which stopped the mother. There were about 50 yards between us, and she covered at least 40 before the cub turned her around. Even if she had kept coming; my only weapon was a 2" pocket knife. It was illegal to carry a weapon in the area outside of a hunting season.

A week later, the same female charged my truck while I crossed the stream I had been walking to the first time.

One month after seeing the 14 bears in 3 days, my count was up to 39 bear sightings.

Deer season was now open. Same stream, same place, same bear. Heavy rains had changed the flow of the stream, and created a washed out bank. I stopped, looked around for the bear and cub, figured it was clear, left the truck running, and got out to check the stream for crossing options. Everything looked good... I decided to look around for deer tracks, and got cornered. Against the locked passenger door of my truck, 15 feet from the mother (hiding in some scrub), 5 feet from the stream, and no weapon.

My 9mm was in the driver's door pocket with 10 rounds in the magazine. My 8x57 Mauser was on the passenger seat with 4 rounds in the magazine. All of my knives were in the truck.

This bear WAS going to charge me. She had done it before. She would do it again. I didn't think I could make it around the truck faster than her, so I did something stupid. Dumbest thing I've ever done... I picked up a big muddy stick and charged the bear.

She and the cub took off into the woods. I cleaned my shorts, drove straight home, and called the manager of the WMA I was on - to report the sighting again.

Had the passenger door been unlocked... I would have fired until the threat was neutralised. I would have felt terrible for the cub, but it was me or her.

I learned these things as a kid, and this reinforced them again.
Never get out of the vehicle without a weapon. (preferably a high-speed lead injector)
Animals are unpredicable. (she let me pull up in the truck, 15 feet from her!)
If you know there is a bear in the area, don't go back. (game animals are probably staying away from the area, anyway)

Even having been charged by the same bear three times... I am still leary of these stories of others being charged. I know some are true, but... I always have to wonder if it was simply human fear that lead to firing, and killing the animal; with the story coming later. I was terrified the second I saw 'my' mother 50 yards away.

38 ran away from me. Only 1 charged. It works out to <3%, in my experience. (Though I understand it doesn't apply to everyone.)

Scorch · June 11, 2008, 12:34 AM

I have read a few times that a black bear charging a human has one of two things on its mind: scaring you away from its cubs, or turning you into a meal. If the sow with the cub had wanted to attack you, she would have done it the first time, and with relative ease. You did the right thing chasing her away like you did, although at the time you were probably wondering if you were close to death.

MikeGoob · June 11, 2008, 12:53 PM

that bear could have been rabid

Strange roar and agression are pretty odd clues.

NoraLeighMcKim · January 5, 2009, 04:43 AM

Hey so get this, Josh McKim is my brother, his middle name is Daryl, and yes we were picking Morels, they are delicious and wonderful with butter you should try it. Anyway......

HiBC · January 5, 2009, 05:07 AM

Read Kanutt's "Bear Tales"

And cougars are a problem.I saw a pretty good size cougar near a hiking trail a couple years ago.Maybe a hundred yards,but he wasn't real concerned.I pop riveted a holster to the side of my 2 qt canteen cover.A not concealed but discreet carry of my little 5 shot .44 snubby.Comforting.

elkman06 · January 5, 2009, 09:52 AM

I learned my lesson once. We were packing a moose out approx 800yds uphill to the truck. Decided the rifle was too heavy for the multiple trips. 3rd trip in there was 500lb boar on the kill, I had a .38spl smith. Fired off to the side once and he ran about 20ft and sat down on his a09, like "that didn't hurt" and just stared at me. I fired once more and he didn't move. My Dad, always the joker, leaned over and said " save the other 4". Nonetheless, we did the jump and scream method for about 5min and he got nervous and moved away, probably not very far. We got the front shoulders of the moose and hauled butt. Never again, even in the summer time I now carry my old iron sighted 06 w/ me. Especially important w/ my teenage girls if you know what I mean.
elkman06

Brian Pfleuger · January 5, 2009, 10:32 AM

Where do you get those 1911's that use clips?

How can they tell that "the first shot hit him in the shoulder."? Seems like a tough call on a bear charging straight at you.

Makes for a dramatic story though.

hogdogs · January 5, 2009, 10:54 AM

peetza, I have often watched the tell tale signs of impact on various game. Actually seeing the impact shock wave from the entrance is a phenomenal sight! The other aspect I look for is the lurch which isn't a perfect science as different individual critters may not lurch the same... front on, a 400 pound bear has about a foot of shoulder or so to each side of their head.
Brent

Brian Pfleuger · January 5, 2009, 11:04 AM

Quote:

peetza, I have often watched the tell tale signs of impact on various game.

Oh, I know, I've seen it too. It's just that seeing it on a charging bear from a .45 handgun seems more about making a good read that actually seeing it. I do suppose it could easily be one of those things that is just "burned" in your memory. Your eyes happened to see it while your brain was saying "AAAAAGGHHHH!" so it decided to remember it.

hogdogs · January 5, 2009, 11:13 AM

Likely, as with other high intensity situations, the shooter is in a super slow motion condition... and like you said the image is well burnt in his brain...
Brent

cchardwick · January 7, 2009, 09:31 PM

I carry a Para 14.45 with 15 rounds for my mushroom picking in bear country, and keep it cocked an locked! After reading this article it makes me want a second mag with another 14 rounds. I've seen where hunters will kill one bear and another one, probably it's mate, will charge you from a different angle. Good thing that didn't happen here.

Wonder what kind of ammo he used? I carry 45 ACP full metal jacket for tough skinned bear. I've heard stories of people using expanding bullets, shooting the bear ten times with 45 ACP right before the bear eats them.

CW-NH-HUNTER · January 8, 2009, 01:50 AM

I always carry my .45 kimber on my side cocked and locked when I go out scouting preseason for deer. The black bear can be very dangerous, most will turn and run before we ever know they were there, but theres always the chance of coming in contact with one that doesn't. The black bear has the abilty to process thought like you and I. They can analize a situation and come up with a game plan on how, where and when to attack you, they are much smarter than a brown/grizzly bear and should never be taken lightly.

There is one instance that sticks out in my mind. A rancher out west would get on his horse every morning and go check on his herd around his property. One morning he went out a never returned, his wife called the fish and game and a search was started. She told them the route he would take every morning, when they went out to look for him they came upon his horse, a short distance down the trail they came upon his body that was half eaten. Upon further investigation they concluded that he had been attacked by a black bear. Heres where it gets interesting, while they were going over the scene they realized that the bear had accutually stalked the rancher for awhile then moved ahead of him and ambushed him where he knew the ranchers path would lead him though some thick cover where the bear could then pounce on him from the bushes. This bear learned the route the rancher took and knew when and where to move to ambush him. This is a 100% true story and certainly opened my eyes to intellegence and danger of a black bear.

Double Naught Spy · January 8, 2009, 04:59 AM

The story no longer comes up through the link.

Quote:

that bear could have been rabid

Strange roar and agression are pretty odd clues.

Not really. The bear could have been protecting a kill. It issued a challenge and McKim's reaction wasn't appreciated.

As for being rabid, that is pretty low on the list of worries in a bear attack. Rabies can be treated and really only presents a distant threat, life threatening days in the future as opposed to the threat posed immediately by an attack.

cchardwick · January 8, 2009, 09:06 AM

I've been stalked by a huge mountain lion before, good thing I had my Glock 21 at the time. Also, there was a guy at church who had a mountain lion pounce on him while he was elk hunting and luckily survived with just scratches and shot and killed the lion. Neither incident has been reported. I'd say not many people want to deal with reporting an incident like this, especially with the legal system and how it aims to blame you for illegal kills of game animals, which risks your hunting privileges for life. Just look at the story and how they 'set the guy free' from liability based on the shot placement and his story. It makes me sad that they discarded the hide even though he reported it and even wanted it.

I've found living in the mountain wilderness that your ears are your best friend. Usually you can hear an animal way before you can see it, in fact that has saved me from a surprise encounter on several occasions. The most dangerous situation is a very windy day when neither you nor the bear/lion can hear each other and suddenly are within just a few feet of each other. Walking around on windy days in the mountains up here makes me jumpy.

Sixer · January 8, 2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

As for being rabid, that is pretty low on the list of worries in a bear attack.

Lol, that's an understatement

First thought that runs through my mind when getting attacked by a bear: "Man I hope this thing aint got rabies..."

eastbank · January 8, 2009, 02:07 PM

elmer keith wrote about a friend who killed a big black bear with a heavy loaded 44 spl., from horse back in the 20,s or 30,s. i watched a big black bear tear a large plastic dumpester to pieces at a friends trailer park and i would not want to tackle him with out a rifle. eastbank.

June 10, 2008, 03:19 PM	#2
davlandrum Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2006 Location: Lane County Oregon Posts: 2,547	Thanks for the post. I might have to re-evaluate my nonchalance about black bears. Cougars scare the c**p out of me. On the west side, it is the mushroom pickers you have to be afraid of... __________________ U.S Army, Retired Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. -Potter Stewart

June 10, 2008, 03:34 PM	#3
Kreyzhorse Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2006 Location: NKY Posts: 12,463	Interesting article. Just goes to show you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times. __________________ "He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson

June 10, 2008, 04:55 PM	#5
MrClean Senior Member Join Date: January 31, 2008 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 336	Picking mushrooms in the mountains?..... Hmmmmm What KINDA mushrooms is he pickin' out there??? __________________ I'm like a Fat Kid on a Playground..... " I ain't Playin' " Lifetime NRA, USPSA, HCSO, CRS Club

June 10, 2008, 05:51 PM	#8
akr Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 1,379	Next time he needs to take a loaded XD .45ACP and a .357 mag 6" with speed loaders or strips. Oh!! By the way, there's nothing like a Pt1911 Taurus, but it only holds 8+1! He he he he. __________________ Http://www.nationalgunforum.com NRA Lifetime Member

June 11, 2008, 12:04 AM	#10
Sidetracked Senior Member Join Date: May 12, 2008 Location: Henrietta, FL Posts: 306	As .300H&H said... I fell into the 'wimpy black bear' mentality in Florida. Last year I spent 32 days straight, with every spare moment scouting for the upcoming whitetail hunt. Having seen 14 ragged and weak looking bears in 3 days, that all ran away from me... I dropped my guard a bit. The next weekend, I was charged by a 300-400lb mother protecting her cub. The only thing that saved me was the cub squeaking out a strange grunt, which stopped the mother. There were about 50 yards between us, and she covered at least 40 before the cub turned her around. Even if she had kept coming; my only weapon was a 2" pocket knife. It was illegal to carry a weapon in the area outside of a hunting season. A week later, the same female charged my truck while I crossed the stream I had been walking to the first time. One month after seeing the 14 bears in 3 days, my count was up to 39 bear sightings. Deer season was now open. Same stream, same place, same bear. Heavy rains had changed the flow of the stream, and created a washed out bank. I stopped, looked around for the bear and cub, figured it was clear, left the truck running, and got out to check the stream for crossing options. Everything looked good... I decided to look around for deer tracks, and got cornered. Against the locked passenger door of my truck, 15 feet from the mother (hiding in some scrub), 5 feet from the stream, and no weapon. My 9mm was in the driver's door pocket with 10 rounds in the magazine. My 8x57 Mauser was on the passenger seat with 4 rounds in the magazine. All of my knives were in the truck. This bear WAS going to charge me. She had done it before. She would do it again. I didn't think I could make it around the truck faster than her, so I did something stupid. Dumbest thing I've ever done... I picked up a big muddy stick and charged the bear. She and the cub took off into the woods. I cleaned my shorts, drove straight home, and called the manager of the WMA I was on - to report the sighting again. Had the passenger door been unlocked... I would have fired until the threat was neutralised. I would have felt terrible for the cub, but it was me or her. I learned these things as a kid, and this reinforced them again. Never get out of the vehicle without a weapon. (preferably a high-speed lead injector) Animals are unpredicable. (she let me pull up in the truck, 15 feet from her!) If you know there is a bear in the area, don't go back. (game animals are probably staying away from the area, anyway) Even having been charged by the same bear three times... I am still leary of these stories of others being charged. I know some are true, but... I always have to wonder if it was simply human fear that lead to firing, and killing the animal; with the story coming later. I was terrified the second I saw 'my' mother 50 yards away. 38 ran away from me. Only 1 charged. It works out to <3%, in my experience. (Though I understand it doesn't apply to everyone.) __________________ Feel free to disagree with my opinion. -I do it all the time.

June 10, 2008, 05:04 PM	#6
simonkenton Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2008 Posts: 891	Stropharia Cubensis

June 10, 2008, 05:46 PM	#7
Ifishsum Senior Member Join Date: September 15, 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,033	Morels... I grew up in that part of the state and used to pick them quite a bit. They are very tasty!

June 10, 2008, 07:03 PM	#9
.300H&H Senior Member Join Date: April 30, 2008 Posts: 215	Sad the bear had to be shot. When it comes to the lives of Oregon Mushroom Pickers and Black Bears - it's sometimes a very difficult decision to make in regard to choosing the appropriate side. Black Bears get talked about sometimes as if they're wimpy little things. I guess it's because they are always compared to the big Brownies. Yet, if you've ever encountered a big ol' Black Bear, it's not unlike a street encounter with a big ol' Rottweiller - can be kinda scarey. They can look at you in a way that suggests they truely know you are the smaller, slower, weaker creature. It's their territory and they're to be respected. I would never want to shoot one unless it was a life or death situation. When I was a child I had a young black bear chase me - scared me to death - but it was because people were feeding the bears...and the bear was just being 'playful.' Looks like the mushroom picker didn't have much choice. Sounds like he was encroaching on the 400lb.'ers territory...and/or the bear was under survival stress ie. needing food...

June 11, 2008, 12:34 AM	#11
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	I have read a few times that a black bear charging a human has one of two things on its mind: scaring you away from its cubs, or turning you into a meal. If the sow with the cub had wanted to attack you, she would have done it the first time, and with relative ease. You did the right thing chasing her away like you did, although at the time you were probably wondering if you were close to death. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

June 11, 2008, 12:53 PM	#12
MikeGoob Senior Member Join Date: January 31, 2006 Posts: 876	that bear could have been rabid Strange roar and agression are pretty odd clues.

January 5, 2009, 04:43 AM	#13
NoraLeighMcKim Junior Member Join Date: January 5, 2009 Posts: 1	Hey so get this, Josh McKim is my brother, his middle name is Daryl, and yes we were picking Morels, they are delicious and wonderful with butter you should try it. Anyway......

January 5, 2009, 05:07 AM	#14
HiBC Senior Member Join Date: November 13, 2006 Posts: 8,283	Read Kanutt's "Bear Tales" And cougars are a problem.I saw a pretty good size cougar near a hiking trail a couple years ago.Maybe a hundred yards,but he wasn't real concerned.I pop riveted a holster to the side of my 2 qt canteen cover.A not concealed but discreet carry of my little 5 shot .44 snubby.Comforting.

January 5, 2009, 09:52 AM	#15
elkman06 Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2006 Location: Wyoming Posts: 885	I learned my lesson once. We were packing a moose out approx 800yds uphill to the truck. Decided the rifle was too heavy for the multiple trips. 3rd trip in there was 500lb boar on the kill, I had a .38spl smith. Fired off to the side once and he ran about 20ft and sat down on his a09, like "that didn't hurt" and just stared at me. I fired once more and he didn't move. My Dad, always the joker, leaned over and said " save the other 4". Nonetheless, we did the jump and scream method for about 5min and he got nervous and moved away, probably not very far. We got the front shoulders of the moose and hauled butt. Never again, even in the summer time I now carry my old iron sighted 06 w/ me. Especially important w/ my teenage girls if you know what I mean. elkman06 __________________ "The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves and of the state shall not be denied." Wyoming Constitution Article 1, Sec24 "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6"

January 5, 2009, 10:32 AM	#16
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	Where do you get those 1911's that use clips? How can they tell that "the first shot hit him in the shoulder."? Seems like a tough call on a bear charging straight at you. Makes for a dramatic story though. __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

January 5, 2009, 10:54 AM	#17
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	peetza, I have often watched the tell tale signs of impact on various game. Actually seeing the impact shock wave from the entrance is a phenomenal sight! The other aspect I look for is the lurch which isn't a perfect science as different individual critters may not lurch the same... front on, a 400 pound bear has about a foot of shoulder or so to each side of their head. Brent

January 5, 2009, 11:13 AM	#19
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	Likely, as with other high intensity situations, the shooter is in a super slow motion condition... and like you said the image is well burnt in his brain... Brent

January 7, 2009, 09:31 PM	#20
cchardwick Senior Member Join Date: September 26, 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 574	I carry a Para 14.45 with 15 rounds for my mushroom picking in bear country, and keep it cocked an locked! After reading this article it makes me want a second mag with another 14 rounds. I've seen where hunters will kill one bear and another one, probably it's mate, will charge you from a different angle. Good thing that didn't happen here. Wonder what kind of ammo he used? I carry 45 ACP full metal jacket for tough skinned bear. I've heard stories of people using expanding bullets, shooting the bear ten times with 45 ACP right before the bear eats them.

January 8, 2009, 01:50 AM	#21
CW-NH-HUNTER Member Join Date: January 4, 2009 Location: NH Posts: 58	I always carry my .45 kimber on my side cocked and locked when I go out scouting preseason for deer. The black bear can be very dangerous, most will turn and run before we ever know they were there, but theres always the chance of coming in contact with one that doesn't. The black bear has the abilty to process thought like you and I. They can analize a situation and come up with a game plan on how, where and when to attack you, they are much smarter than a brown/grizzly bear and should never be taken lightly. There is one instance that sticks out in my mind. A rancher out west would get on his horse every morning and go check on his herd around his property. One morning he went out a never returned, his wife called the fish and game and a search was started. She told them the route he would take every morning, when they went out to look for him they came upon his horse, a short distance down the trail they came upon his body that was half eaten. Upon further investigation they concluded that he had been attacked by a black bear. Heres where it gets interesting, while they were going over the scene they realized that the bear had accutually stalked the rancher for awhile then moved ahead of him and ambushed him where he knew the ranchers path would lead him though some thick cover where the bear could then pounce on him from the bushes. This bear learned the route the rancher took and knew when and where to move to ambush him. This is a 100% true story and certainly opened my eyes to intellegence and danger of a black bear.

January 8, 2009, 09:06 AM	#23
cchardwick Senior Member Join Date: September 26, 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 574	I've been stalked by a huge mountain lion before, good thing I had my Glock 21 at the time. Also, there was a guy at church who had a mountain lion pounce on him while he was elk hunting and luckily survived with just scratches and shot and killed the lion. Neither incident has been reported. I'd say not many people want to deal with reporting an incident like this, especially with the legal system and how it aims to blame you for illegal kills of game animals, which risks your hunting privileges for life. Just look at the story and how they 'set the guy free' from liability based on the shot placement and his story. It makes me sad that they discarded the hide even though he reported it and even wanted it. I've found living in the mountain wilderness that your ears are your best friend. Usually you can hear an animal way before you can see it, in fact that has saved me from a surprise encounter on several occasions. The most dangerous situation is a very windy day when neither you nor the bear/lion can hear each other and suddenly are within just a few feet of each other. Walking around on windy days in the mountains up here makes me jumpy.

January 8, 2009, 02:07 PM	#25
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	elmer keith wrote about a friend who killed a big black bear with a heavy loaded 44 spl., from horse back in the 20,s or 30,s. i watched a big black bear tear a large plastic dumpester to pieces at a friends trailer park and i would not want to tackle him with out a rifle. eastbank.