WTF is wrong with you, Wales, Alaska?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Very remote town of 168. A polar bear was chasing residents and killed a woman and boy. CNN reports that the global deaths due to polar bears has only been 20 in the last 150 years so these deaths are quite a spike.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/us/alaska-polar-bear-attack/index.html

 

[BabaYaga 15302]

Errebody wants to be a polar bear until it's time to do polar beat shit

[Brisketexan 105185]

Wow.  This the most horrific polar bear incident since the one in Jasper, Missouri some decades ago.....

 

[next2naus 439]

[RPM 26329]

Quote

 

The bear had chased residents after entering the western Alaska town of Wales before attacking the woman and boy, an Alaska State Troopers dispatch report said.

The bear was shot and killed by another resident as it attacked the two victims, according to the report.

 

Well it's obvious who was slowest.

[BabaYaga 15302]

Bears are fucking terrifying.  Giant monsters that eat you ass first while you are still alive.  Can outrun a car over short distances, have noses more sensitive than any canine, and have razors for claws and will eat their own cubs if necessary for food.

Nope.

The Steve Rinella hunting story of being charged by a grizzly on Afognak Island, AK is wild.  

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2681]

Hims just needs some hugs, instead he ostracized for bloody snoot

[TwiceHorn 31514]

Seems like they should be issuing more Ka-Bars up there.

[BabaYaga 15302]

16 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Seems like they should be issuing more Ka-Bars up there.

More like level-action 45-70's loaded with Buffalo Bore 405gr jacketed flat points

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Choose to live in a snow filled area, inhabited by free-roaming, 8 foot, white monsters? what could go wrong.

[deadshank 24653]

Never go into the wild animal areas unarmed.   Bear spray is a minimum.  9mm pistols are woefully inept on bears.  
 

Your results may vary. 

[TornACL 7722]

How can you start a town in Alaska and name it Wales instead of Whales.

[deadshank 24653]

2 minutes ago, TornACL said:

How can you start a town in Alaska and name it Wales instead of Whales.

They took the silent H seriously. 

[SHOOTER12 8816]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

More like level-action 45-70's loaded with Buffalo Bore 405gr jacketed flat points

I never leave home without mine.

[Ten Bears 2481]

Someone check on @Mooseoutfront

[Gene Parmesan 4008]

In my experience with polar bears, rule #1 is you offer them a coke.

[ABSR 5320]

23 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

In my experience with polar bears, rule #1 is you offer them a coke.

... and a smile!

[RPM 26329]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:11 AM, deadshank said:

9mm pistols are woefully inept on bears.  
 

Your results may vary. 

Not really

[YGIFS 19452]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:23 AM, SHOOTER12 said:

I never leave home without mine.

Where the fuck do you live you need that kind of firepower to go shopping?
 

These are two autopsies that are totally fine remaining sealed.  I don’t wanna know what kinda damage, And it what order, a murdering Polar bear can do.  
 

in other news, the baby polar says,    “Cause I’m fucking freezing!” 

[SHOOTER12 8816]

26 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Where the fuck do you live you need that kind of firepower to go shopping?
 

These are two autopsies that are totally fine remaining sealed.  I don’t wanna know what kinda damage, And it what order, a murdering Polar bear can do.  
 

in other news, the baby polar says,    “Cause I’m fucking freezing!” 

I live in Nacogdoches Texas,  the wild chickens and goats are vicious around here.

[SHOOTER12 8816]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

Where the fuck do you live you need that kind of firepower to go shopping?
 

These are two autopsies that are totally fine remaining sealed.  I don’t wanna know what kinda damage, And it what order, a murdering Polar bear can do.  
 

in other news, the baby polar says,    “Cause I’m fucking freezing!” 

Supposedly there's some 2nd rate college in the area working on altering the genetics of farm animals and something went terribly wrong🫢

Edited January 20, 2023 by SHOOTER12

[George 493]

You know how to catch a polar bear?

cut a hole in the ice and put a bunch of peas around it. When the bear goes to take a pea, you kick him in the ice hole. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

On 1/19/2023 at 8:22 AM, BabaYaga said:

More like level-action 45-70's loaded with Buffalo Bore 405gr jacketed flat points

While I do love a good level-action, an AR-10 in .45-70 Auto would make me feel a little better about a charging polar bear.

[BabaYaga 15302]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

While I do love a good level-action, an AR-10 in .45-70 Auto would make me feel a little better about a charging polar bear.

I see your AR-10 and raise you an Mi Garand in .458 Winchester

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

First it was level-actions, and now it's Mi Garands?

[BabaYaga 15302]

Just now, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

First it was level-actions, and now it's Mi Garands?

What can I say, I'm a fan of the classics....;)

All kidding aside, .50 Beowulf or .458 SOCOM would be fun

[YGIFS 19452]

While you guys were measuring your "ammo", the Polar Bear ate two of your children.

But yeah, I try and avoid bears but sometimes...you never know.  Before we had kids, I did a deep backcountry multi-day hike/camp in RMNP and there was a bear probably 5 yards from us that night.  That was the last time I probably do a deep hike like that for the rest of my life.  My buddy and I had no gameplan.  They had showed us where bears were spotted recently and we were a few miles from the last sighting, but we were also 3 miles from the nearest other campers and many miles more from the nearest ranger station.  He brought a pistol from Texas, but left it in the car because he didn't want to disclose it to the ranger.  We sweated it that night.  I've also been deep pack-in country in Big Bend when we saw a big cat.  But there was several of us.  We woulda been fucked up but could, in aggregate, neutralize it.  That bear though given the rough size of it in the moonlight would have fucked me and buddy up in under a minute and nobody would know anything about it until the next maintenance trail service day a week later ,   

[Gatorubet 30275]

2 hours ago, YGIFS said:

While you guys were measuring your "ammo", the Polar Bear ate two of your children.

But yeah, I try and avoid bears but sometimes...you never know.  Before we had kids, I did a deep backcountry multi-day hike/camp in RMNP and there was a bear probably 5 yards from us that night.  That was the last time I probably do a deep hike like that for the rest of my life.  My buddy and I had no gameplan.  They had showed us where bears were spotted recently and we were a few miles from the last sighting, but we were also 3 miles from the nearest other campers and many miles more from the nearest ranger station.  He brought a pistol from Texas, but left it in the car because he didn't want to disclose it to the ranger.  We sweated it that night.  I've also been deep pack-in country in Big Bend when we saw a big cat.  But there was several of us.  We woulda been fucked up but could, in aggregate, neutralize it.  That bear though given the rough size of it in the moonlight would have fucked me and buddy up in under a minute and nobody would know anything about it until the next maintenance trail service day a week later ,   

RMNP has grizzer bear pilgrim.  DNA says a polar bear is just a white grizzer.

I use Buffalo Bore 158 grain Outdoorsman cast lead for my .38 snubbie when I hike in eastern forest black bear country.   That would just piss a grizzly off though.

[Deej 76862]

On 1/18/2023 at 1:44 PM, BabaYaga said:

Giant monsters that eat you ass first while you are still alive

South Austin's mom says, "Hold my beer!"

[ztejas 43525]

1 hour ago, Gatorubet said:

I use Buffalo Bore 158 grain Outdoorsman cast lead for my .38 snubbie when I hike in eastern forest black bear country.   That would just piss a grizzly off though.

If you're a good shot a .38 will fuck up a grizzly. Especially if using FMJ. 

9 hours ago, RPM said:

Not really

Correct. This is a fun read (which right off the bat includes 3 cases of grizzlies being killed with a 9mm):

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/08/handgun-or-pistol-defense-against-bear-attack-73-cases-96-effective/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

Basically - there are far more cases of pistols of various calibers being used to successfully defend against bear attacks - whether the bar ran off, died at the scene or was found dead later. 

However - against a polar bear - I'm packing at least a .357 FMJ and making sure I know my way around the gun. Because this is a fuller description of one of the encounters linked above:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/10/details-of-22-pistol-defense-failure-against-polar-bear-in-norway/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

TLDR - polar bear took three .22 shots to the dome and didn't skip a beat - killing one dude and seriously injuring another.

Edited January 21, 2023 by ztejas

[Gatorubet 30275]

19 minutes ago, ztejas said:

If you're a good shot a .38 will fuck up a grizzly. Especially if using FMJ. 

Well, if a grizzly was charging me I’d be simultaneously shitting and pissing myself while shaking, so I doubt my aim would be so good.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

4 hours ago, ztejas said:

If you're a good shot a .38 will fuck up a grizzly. Especially if using FMJ. 

Correct. This is a fun read (which right off the bat includes 3 cases of grizzlies being killed with a 9mm):

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/08/handgun-or-pistol-defense-against-bear-attack-73-cases-96-effective/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

Basically - there are far more cases of pistols of various calibers being used to successfully defend against bear attacks - whether the bar ran off, died at the scene or was found dead later. 

However - against a polar bear - I'm packing at least a .357 FMJ and making sure I know my way around the gun. Because this is a fuller description of one of the encounters linked above:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/10/details-of-22-pistol-defense-failure-against-polar-bear-in-norway/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

TLDR - polar bear took three .22 shots to the dome and didn't skip a beat - killing one dude and seriously injuring another.

Yup. I have a .44 mag snubby I carry when hiking out west along with bear spray. The bear spray is to deter a bear attack. The snubby is in case the bear spray doesn't work. It used to be that the standard advice was bear spray is more effective than a firearm, but that advice was based on poor understandings of the scientific literature at the time. Even the authors of the studies that were used to justify that point of view have said that folks were comparing apples to oranges. Bear spray is great for preventing seemingly aggressive bears from getting near you, but if you decide you are just going to shoot any bear that makes you feel threatened you could be in for a rude awakening of the type that doesn't involve female genitalia. Once an attack is actually underway, the bear spray looses most of its efficacy and a surprising number of firearm calibers that used to be considered inadequate have been shown to be effective.

[Al Czervik 1229]

Awaiting @mooseoutfront’s take on this tragedy. 

[SHOOTER12 8816]

13 hours ago, ztejas said:

If you're a good shot a .38 will fuck up a grizzly. Especially if using FMJ. 

Correct. This is a fun read (which right off the bat includes 3 cases of grizzlies being killed with a 9mm):

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/08/handgun-or-pistol-defense-against-bear-attack-73-cases-96-effective/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

Basically - there are far more cases of pistols of various calibers being used to successfully defend against bear attacks - whether the bar ran off, died at the scene or was found dead later. 

However - against a polar bear - I'm packing at least a .357 FMJ and making sure I know my way around the gun. Because this is a fuller description of one of the encounters linked above:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/10/details-of-22-pistol-defense-failure-against-polar-bear-in-norway/#axzz7qzMe0gyl

TLDR - polar bear took three .22 shots to the dome and didn't skip a beat - killing one dude and seriously injuring another.

So one wasn't faster than the other...

[Augustus 3061]

Are these things really that important to the ecosystem?

They're frikkin terrifying and should be exterminated.

[futureman 22513]

exterminated?

Edited January 21, 2023 by futureman

[Chewbacca 7780]

Seems like they should be issuing more Ka-Bars up there.

The fuck do you think a Ka-Bar is going to do against a fucking polar bear? Is your name Kevin?

[Chewbacca 7780]

While you guys were measuring your "ammo", the Polar Bear ate two of your children.
But yeah, I try and avoid bears but sometimes...you never know.  Before we had kids, I did a deep backcountry multi-day hike/camp in RMNP and there was a bear probably 5 yards from us that night.  That was the last time I probably do a deep hike like that for the rest of my life.  My buddy and I had no gameplan.  They had showed us where bears were spotted recently and we were a few miles from the last sighting, but we were also 3 miles from the nearest other campers and many miles more from the nearest ranger station.  He brought a pistol from Texas, but left it in the car because he didn't want to disclose it to the ranger.  We sweated it that night.  I've also been deep pack-in country in Big Bend when we saw a big cat.  But there was several of us.  We woulda been fucked up but could, in aggregate, neutralize it.  That bear though given the rough size of it in the moonlight would have fucked me and buddy up in under a minute and nobody would know anything about it until the next maintenance trail service day a week later ,   

No grizzlies in CO anymore. That was just a cuddly black bear.

[6th Street 6444]

Grizzlies in CO have been extinct for almost 100 years.

[YGIFS 19452]

I never said it was a grizzly bear.  It was nearly pitch black but you could make out the general massive size by a waning moon.  Between trying to shit myself, I didn’t have the occasion to ask the bear where on KPCOGS nomenclatura he fell. 

[mooseoutfront 3643]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:08 PM, Al Czervik said:

Awaiting @mooseoutfront’s take on this tragedy. 

Checking in

Weird this story died in Alaska after the first day or two.  Makes me think the rumors I've heard are true.  Someone didn't follow trash protocol and the smell lured the bear in.  Wrong place, wrong time for the mom and kid.  Such is life up here, especially in polar bear country.