Quote:
Originally Posted by Stinky Coyote
I simply try to spread the word, maybe it's more realistic, maybe it's further over the line, but many seem to be well under the line too.
We have a better understanding here on the forum as we all play out there. I don't get near the days afield as many here and i've been around 8 in one day. My uncles friend was the one eaten by bergen a few years back. I took the pictures of Rick Cross with his nephew on that ram they killed in 2012 and saw Rick the night before he was killed two years later. Could have been up that drainage myself. We both slept in our trucks and went into different spots in the dark. I came out, he didn't. I didn't see on the news till a few days later. I was in burnt solo for days when a big bear started chewing on another hunters tent in the middle of the night and bothered him all night, it ran that hunter out of there, packed up that morning and left. Two years later a guy gets predatory mauled while having breakfast in there...same bear imo as i'd played in there for years and knew he was there, his turf, big turds/tracks and no others. First guy should have killed it but that's another story as he was an outfitter in an area on atv that he shouldn't have been, little karma the bear singled him out initially but wouldn't wish that on anyone, then the bear just about kills another guy a couple years later. Just glad the second guy survived despite how horrific that sounded. I've come out from bowhunting just west of jumping pound on transcanada to fresh griz sign...i know what happened to that bear, it had to be done, wasn't me and wasn't on that property when it happened but within a couple weeks of me coming across that fresh sign there was an encounter with a bow hunter looking for elk. That was like 10 yrs ago now and numbers have only gone up and up and up.
The sightings are going up, the encounters and maulings are going up. Just keep educating that it's not like we remember even 15 years ago would have been pretty rare to run into one within a few miles of 22....now they are all over the place near 22.
But most importantly the general public needs to be properly informed. Everyone that doesn't hunt and even many that do just prairie stuff etc. don't even realize the predator numbers. Surprising grizzly bears doesn't usually end well. I don't have encounters as i refuse to surpise one lol, if i'm hiking in the dark i might be singing etc. and that will scare anything away for certain.
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Sad stories with any bear attack but even more so when you know the person involved. Was it ever determined if Cross was able to get a shot off before he was killed, or would he have been in walk mode with it strapped to his pack.
100% with you on the public needing to be informed and there being full disclosure on actual numbers and sightings outside of their normal range. Same for cougars.