Man survives 2 grizzly attacks in Montana

An elk hunter in Montana was attacked not just once but twice. The thing is he seemed to do most things right to protect himself, except he just ran into one angry sow and her cubs. He was audibly calling out, carried both bear spray and a pistol for defence but that didn't stop the attack.

After the first attack he trying making his way back to his vehicle but was intercepted again by the sow. He protected himself as best he could with his arms and hands over his neck and lied down face first.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Orr told his full story.

It began in the black Saturday predawn, when he ventured into the untamed Montana wilderness to scout for elk.

He hiked nearly 5 kilometres into Madison Valley, about 160 kilometres south of Bozeman. Every 30 seconds, he would stop and “holler out, ‘Hey bear,'” in an attempt to “not surprise any bears along the trail.”

Orr was no amateur, though, so he didn’t merely rely on audible warnings.

Hanging from his side was a holster, a pistol snug inside. More importantly, in his bag was a canister of bear spray, a pepper spray made to repel bears that Chuck Bartlebaugh, founder and director of the Center for Wildlife Information in Missoula, Mont., told National Geographic is “the single most important innovation to emerge for both hunters and hikers passing through grizzly country in the last 50 years, if not ever.” Studies have shown it can stop a bear charging at 56 kilometres per hour.

Orr was prepared for anything, or so he thought....

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/...th-same-grizzly

Facebook link: Warning Graphic Pictures

How many people would have panicked or given up? Very impressive.

WOW! What an amazing story. When I hear stories like this I always get a little scared inside. That must have been terrifying.

Makes me think about beefing up my own defenses. There's no grizzlies around here but we do often walk the same trails as black bears, coyotes, coy-wolves and possibly the elusive cougar. Other than a picnic basket scouting black bear that walked into our camp a few years ago, I've only had one other predator encounter on the trail, but it was enough to make me want to be more prepared for my own defenses. I was rushed on the trail by two big dogs while sitting under a pine tree making a brew one early morning. They were someone's pets and were stupidly off-leash in a known coyote area. Had I been weaponized, it could have gotten ugly. As it was the owner called them off when he heard me yelling at them.

A gun isn't going to happen, but a bigger/sturdier walking stick is going to be purchased, to be sure, and I've been thinking about carrying a spray too.

Does bear spray work on dogs?

Sounds like hunting may be on the table soon, as the bears have lost fear of humans and attacks are becoming more frequent. This is the fourth attack in Montana this fall.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/oct/03/montana-man-survives-two-attacks-by-sow-grizzly-be/

The way some statistics by pro bear spray people are collected, this incident will likely be counted as one where bear spray was used and the person survived.

I saw this story, and don't exactly know what to make of it. It just seems odd. He's scouting for elk, and yet constantly shouting out? I know fall is rutting season, and bulls will challenge anything (including my old Toyota) but I don't understand that approach.

Don't get me wrong, this fellow had a bloody horrific experience. As a solo hiker, this ties my guts in knots. Lord preserve us all. I'm glad he wasn't killed.

As for "fear of man," I think it's fair to say that Grizzlies don't have any, and never have had. They just don't spend energy unless they think it's necessary. As with humans, the trigger event and the tenacity of the follow-through have some pretty large extremes for some individuals, regardless of the general average.

Sometimes.