Backpacker attacked by Grizzly in Alaska's Denali National Park

[Melensdad]

Fortunately he didn't rely on "bear bells" to save his life.

Says he used a 45 caliber automatic pistol to save his life, I'm curious if it was a 45acp? That would certainly not be my choice for the backcountry of Alaska!

Backpacker shoots, kills grizzly in Alaska park
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100531...vajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--
Mon May 31, 6:48 am ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A backpacker shot and killed a grizzly bear with his handgun in Alaska's Denali National Park, officials said.

A man and woman reported that they were hiking Friday evening when the bear emerged from trailside brush and charged the woman, park spokeswoman Kris Fister said in a statement.

The man fired nine rounds from his .45 caliber, semiautomatic pistol at the animal, which then stopped and walked into the brush.

The two reported the shooting to rangers, who restricted access to the Igloo Canyon area for fear that the bear was wounded and dangerous.

On Saturday, rangers found the dead bear about 100 feet from the shooting site.

Park officials are determining the justification for the shooting. It's legal to carry firearms in that area of the park but illegal to discharge them.
Rangers said it was the first known instance of a grizzly bear being shot by a visitor in the wilderness portion of Denali, formerly called Mount McKinley National Park.​

All he needed were Bear Bells and that fuzzy little teddy bear would be alive today!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it

 

[mak2]

That was my first thought, what the hell did he do, throw it at him?

 

[bill w]

we can finally carry in a park....but it's illegal to discharge the weapon...wth...who writes these laws...Bill w

 

[Melensdad]

we can finally carry in a park....but it's illegal to discharge the weapon...wth...who writes these laws...Bill w

Not sure but I'm going to guess it was an animal rights group like P.E.T.A.

 

[mak2]

A friend of mine was/is a County sherrif. I always carried when I went fishing because you have about 30k worth of stuff and are far away from help. Anyway one day he started telling me about how I couldnt discharge my weapon accross water. He pretty much went on and on about it. I dont really care though, because if stuff got so bad I had to shoot, I would be glad to be charged with discharching my weapon illegally. It would have to be to protect my life, and if I was still around to charge me, it worked.

 

[joec]

Well you know what they say, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6 or in the case of a grizzle end up a bear sh#t.

 

[muleman]

He must have put 3 or more in the same place to stop a grizzly with a 45. I would want something a little more powerful than that for bear protection.

 

[Melensdad]

Here is an interesting video from the DISCOVERY CHANNEL. There are several bear related videos on this page. This one is a dual grizzly attack on a campsite.

LINK => http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/bear-feeding-frenzy-campsite-bear-attack.html

 

[Cowboy]

interesting vids Melensdad thanks . This guy dont seem to have to much of a problem with them grizz . Sorry couldn,t help it

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVS1UfCfxlU"]YouTube- John West Salmon "Bear Fight" ad[/ame]

 

[norscaner]

Those little bells and pepper spray really work ,if you stay in the office or with someone that you can run faster than.
Myself, I carry a 12 guage pump with these tucked away.

Is it legal? I never asked and as long as your not waving it around who knows its there?
In the last 25+years of tenting it has never come out of the case away from home.

At home it has been uses to "remove" bears from around the house, works just fine.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

for the most part you are not going to see a griz up close usualy a black will come snooping around but if some thing is out of the ordanary a griz will lay low,,unless you get too close to a food stash or around cubs this time of the year is different they come out oof hibernation and era hungry every thing looks like food and i have seen where they have ate vegitation off the tundra to satisfy there hunger the 45 was a little light but can do the job with well placed shots just as a guy i used to know would moose hunt with my 30 carbine. i would say this guy made a lucky shot as in a high stress situation those perfect shots are hard to make your best defence gun is always going to be the largest gun you can handle. for the novice i always recomend a shot gun with the first roound being buck shot followed by a slug buck will sooften uop the area followed by a slug also a shot to the face with a buck shot will ruin sight and smell giving you time to get in a good kill shot.