15 June 2005

Don't be a ding-a-ling

An interesting article on staying safe around bears. Link provided by Michelle Malkin.

That reminds me of a story. We were scooting around out west a few years back, headed for Glacier National Park and a ride across "Going to the Sun" Highway. I had heard that hikers in the park wore tiny bells tied to their boots to alert and scare away Grizzly bears. At a fuel stop right outside the park, I asked the guy behind the counter how did the hikers know if Grizzlies were in the area. He said you looked for Grizzly poop. I then asked how do you recognize Grizzly poop. He said it was easy, just look for a large pile of dark brown poop with little tiny bells in it.

2 comments:

Red Queen said...

Gunner- Thanks for this great advice. I will be treking out to our ranch in Northern Idaho in July and we do have a potential for grizzly visits. I do not have bells but I do have a very loud scream, 2 cans of bear repellant- resently saw a video of a woman who had been mauled and after the spray ran out she used the can upside the bears nose which actually seemed more helpful- and most importantly Santa brought me a Mossburg 20 gauge Persuader with a 18 inch barrel and a pistol grip. Fight great on the back when wandering through trees etc and I am hoping will be a better "peruader" then the can.

I say who needs a staff to rule- One just needs a noisy stick-hehe

Gun Trash said...

Noisy stick, indeed. The Mossberg 500 Persuader - an excellent firearm and at 20 ga, very manageable and little recoil, even with the 18" bbl. I've one in 12 ga with 26" bbl and an aftermarket 18" bbl.

Now, I've my own opinion on the utility of pistol grips, but that's another story for another time. You use what you're comfortable with. But again, the Mossberg 500, an excellent firearm.

For bear I'd load it in either slug or maybe even more effective in "Oh sh*t, a grizzly!" situations, a No 3 buckshot load which has more pellets than a 00 load, but still is very deadly at close range. And, practice, practice, practice.

Be safe out there in them woods!