Katherine Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Warren, I find it impossible for me to let sleeping bears lay....At the Paddlesport show a few weekends ago I attended a lecture by a woman who has paddled extensively in Alaska. Her advice was if you are going to shoot at a bear (mind you, she wasn't advocating shooting at the bear) that one should shoot the GROUND in front of the bear and that would scare s/he away.Hope that's helpful and that you come back safe and sound and the bear population did not decrease, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Warren, I find it impossible for me to let sleeping bears lay....At the Paddlesport show a few weekends ago I attended a lecture by a woman who has paddled extensively in Alaska. Her advice was if you are going to shoot at a bear (mind you, she wasn't advocating shooting at the bear) that one should shoot the GROUND in front of the bear and that would scare s/he away.Hope that's helpful and that you come back safe and sound and the bear population did not decrease,Nigel Foster shot with flares the ground in front of the bears that were chasing the group. The bears just swatted at the flair and weren't at all deterred. You will only have ~6 shots, if your going to shoot make them count as you might need all 6 to take a bear down.Worth a read: http://www.chuckhawks.com/firearms_defense_bears.htmFrom the Nigel Foster talk the bears swim at 4kts and they were chased for a full 24 hours... (Might be a bit like a fish tale, getting ever larger). On land they are much faster than we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Wow! I am facinated about all this discussion concerning bears.Not to worry, David and I both have our Bear Bells to wear while on land. I understand the sound of the bell will scare away a bear! However, it might just act like a dinner bell for the bears. Time will tell. Actually, I am going to Alaska to see bald eagles.Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 "However, it might just act like a dinner bell for the bears."Funny you should say that since there are reports of bears being curious about sound made by bells and being attracted to them.Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Wow! I am facinated about all this discussion concerning bears.Not to worry, David and I both have our Bear Bells to wear while on land. I understand the sound of the bell will scare away a bear! However, it might just act like a dinner bell for the bears. Time will tell. Actually, I am going to Alaska to see bald eagles.WarrenIf your going to see bald eagles you might go much much closer to home.A couple of years ago I did a paddle with http://cpakayaker.com/ and the bald eagles were more pletifiul than sea gulls around Kelly's on Reverer beach.. It was fun watching them take the fish from the ospray. They didn't seem to fish, but they were good at taking the fish away from other birds.They don't have a lot of tide or currents where I paddled, but it was fun. On the week night paddle/rolling session I joined it was on a reservoir as it was getting near sunset everybody rafted up then wine and cheese appeared out of hatches (with openers, plastic glasses, cutting boards etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martinsen Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 http://www.nols.edu/nolspro/pdf/wrmc/PracticesforTravelinginBearHabitat-KatieBaumMettenbrink.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Something else to add to the reading list on the topic of what to take to repel a bear after other efforts to avoid a confrontation have not worked.http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear/files/JWM_BearSprayAlaska.pdfEd Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverseyourself Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Keep Pavlov in mind: He conditioned Russian bears to salivate in anticipation of a meal when they heard a bell. No wait...it was Russian dogs....same principle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Ed,Thank you for posting the very informative Bear Spray link above, I found it to be excellent. I particularly liked the sections detailed below."In Alaska, bear spray was highly effective indealing with all 3 species of North American bears, althoughmore data on polar bear responses is needed." "Importantly, latent bear spray residues have been found toattract brown bears rather than repel them (Smith 1998),which was evident in 7 instances in Alaska where personsapplied bear spray to objects with the intention of repellingbears. Unfortunately, bears were attracted to, and subsequentlydestroyed, the property that had been coated withbear spray, similar to observations reported by Smith (1998).These observations underscore a need to carefully managespray residues by not indiscriminately dispersing spray."When David and I arrive in Anchorage, we plan to visit the REI store and load up on Bear Spray. It was comforting to read that Miss Clairol Hair Spray has been found to be as effective as the REI Bear Spray. So now we will have an option in case the Bear Spray has been sold out! Good to know! Edited April 11, 2014 by Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 It was comforting to read that Miss Clairol Hair Spray has been found to be as effective as the REI Bear Spray.Plus your hair will look good....always a challenge when one is out paddling...pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mforti Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Hats off to you, Warren, for planning this. This sounds like it's going to the trip of a lifetime.Are you using a digital or film camera? Just wondering about batteries.How do you like the Ultralamina bag? That's the same bag I have, I haven't had a chance to use it yet.Why do I feel like should be adding a comment or anecdote to this post to steer the discussion back to bears? Edited April 11, 2014 by Mforti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Hi Mforti,The trip plan is very much a group effort between David, Beth, Michael and me with Ryan, the local expert, providing a reality check on our efforts. Early on Ryan empowered us to work together on drafting a plan. I like how we do not have any experience paddling together as a team, so the plan needed to adjust for that unknown particularly as it applied to our abilities to handle the “big three” of wind, weather and conditions. We then needed to layer in the next concerns regarding length of crossings, location and condition of emergency take outs, etc. The main take-away for me has been a greater understanding of Prince William Sound and the opportunities to flex the plan to include greater exploration, rock garden work, etc.On the question of my camera, I am planning to take my Panasonic Lumix which I adjusted to increase photo capacity on the memory card and I will have a second battery. I am not a great photographer, so that should be AOK for me.I do like the sleeping bag and I actually have four of them in different degree ratings. I always get a good night sleep and they are easy to pack.Just in case the discussions on the Alaskan bears starts to peter out, we should not forget the Alaskan wolf packs. Now since my camera does not have a telephoto lens, I need to find a way to attract the wolves for a nice photo op. Maybe if I put out a raw sirloin steak or two that might attract them. If they get too close I can ring the dinner bell, oops, I mean the bear bell. What do you think?Warren Edited April 11, 2014 by Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 ....Just in case the discussions on the Alaskan bears starts to peter out, we should not forget the Alaskan wolf packs. Now since my camera does not have a telephoto lens, I need to find a way to attract the wolves for a nice photo op. Maybe if I put out a raw sirloin steak or two that might attract them. If they get too close I can ring the dinner bell, oops, I mean the bear bell. What do you think?WarrenYour going to be in bear territory, the bear's will keep the wolfs away. They don't want to be dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I don't know why this thread keeps going back to bear bear bears, when we'd FINALLY gotten to the all important topic of hair care products on kayaking trips...pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I don't know why this thread keeps going back to bear bear bears, when we'd FINALLY gotten to the all important topic of hair care products on kayaking trips...pruThis would be ones (my) normal camping hair care:http://www.dawn-dish.com/us/dawn/product/037000222057This would be an idea of what's in fashion in AK for clothing: https://www.wisementrading.com/insectprotection/bug_out.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Warren I found another article for you http://www.garrettcartridges.com/defensive.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josko Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Is there a hair spray for porcupines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Jason, Thank you for the insightful article from Garrett's of Texas. I also found their motto, "When Penetration is Vital" to be fascinating! Keep em coming! Josko, No luck finding a good hair spray for porcupines, may I suggest a heavy duty hair net! Now there is a photo op! Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Over the weekend, Pru showed me an article in the May/June issue of Sierra Magazine entitled "Lost in Time". It takes place in brown bear territory of Alaska. I think you might enjoy the article, I know I did!!Warrenhttp://content.sierraclub.org/new/sierra/2014-3-may-june/feature/lost-time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Over the weekend, Pru showed me an article in the May/June issue of Sierra Magazine entitled "Lost in Time". It takes place in brown bear territory of Alaska. I think you might enjoy the article, I know I did!!Warrenhttp://content.sierraclub.org/new/sierra/2014-3-may-june/feature/lost-timeWe won't know about other writers that couldn't write about "avoiding the digestive tracts of grizzlies" as the other Grizzlie didn't go "harrumph," and trot away. I think that they were a little under prepared, not even a jet boil.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Jason,I think their greatest omission was failing to pack a bear bell!Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Jason,I think their greatest omission was failing to pack a bear bell!WarrenThis one might have a proper bear repelling ring:http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/bigbore/1895SBL.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Jason:Are you a closet NRA member? <g>Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Millar Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 To beat this topic to death even further, I'd like to recommend two books. Both are well-written and both look at Grizzlies AND black bears realistically and not though the lens of New Age pseudo science."Grizzly Years" by Doug Peacock.Peacock came back from the Vietnam War with some serious PTSD. He found that living in the wilderness with Grizzlies helped him."Bear Attacks: Their Causes and How to Avoid Them" by Stephen Herrero, PhD.The definitive (and revised since I first read it, and, yes, I own a copy) book on both Grizzlies and black bears by a University of Calgary scientist.Neither book sensationalizes the topic ("The Bear ate my baby..") although the details of the before and after of a bear attack can be, well, sobering.Deb M (who has a mortal fear of bears in any way, shape, or form and has never seen one in the wild nor particularly wants to.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Deb,I applaud your efforts to separate fact from fiction regarding bears. Thank you for posting the book titles. I believe it is a wise approach to learn more about how to stay safe when in bear territory by reading the books you highlight.By the way, I did not realize bears eat babies!!! OMG!!!Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.