Doug:


The man was interviewed on the local news a day or 2 after the video was shown. He seemed to know his stuff and has a good 20 year track record in filming wildlife.

From my own personal experience in observing more bears that I can remember over the years (and I am not a bear expert by any means), bears will see/scent a human and either run off, stop and or move closer for a look (remember a bear's eyesight is poor compared to most mammals) or charge as what occured here. I have never been charged by a bear, yet I have had one walk by me less then 20 feet away and completely ignore me...granted it was not a female with a cub either.

When you watch that video clip, you see the bear charging, however she is not going in a straight line which possibly means that although she had a good scent whiff of the man, mama dd not at first have an exact sense of where the man was filming from. Also see the look of bewilderment on the cub's face...knows something was wrong but just could not quite figure it out and decided to stay close to it's mother.

In regards to the scent, it is certainly possible the breeze/wind shifted down toward the bears. As any hunter will tell you, this happens very easily and in this case, there were no hunters and the man suddenly became the hunted...

As for the choice of firearms, yes some people can and are allowed to carry a sidearm here in Canada. I can see where carrying a rifle, video cameras/equipment and other supplies can be a chore. Having a sidearm instead of a rifle makes sense in this case. If I had the choice, I would rather carry a sidearm then a rifle....mind you, while out hiking, I only carrying Bear Spray and never had the need to even consider using it yet. it's all about perspective and the risk factor I guess. If I get eaten by bear...sure beats getting taken out by a bus flattening me or any of the other usual and mundane ways to die...but thats just me.