Far North Rambles #25: Guns And Bears
In the bush, bears are on my mind (Photo 1).
Photo 1: A small black bear seen in the Killarney Provincial Park area, south of Sudbury, Ontario. Image by Andy Fyon, June 6, 2010.
My first summer as a student, I worked in the Cassiar area of northern BC. We were told to worry about grizzly bears. I had never seen a grizzly bear, so when the discussion turned to bear attacks, they had my full attention. From the stories I heard that summer, the bears were twice as big and four time more ferocious then, as compared to today . But perhaps those stories were intended to scare we summer students.
Ultimately, the discussion focused on which fire arm was best to protect against a grizzly bear attack. The hand gun proponents argued that a 45 pistol would drop a bear in its tracks, at close range. They dismissed rifles - too easy to miss or worse, wound the bear, which was really bad. The long gun proponents argued that a rifle had more punch and was more accurate at longer distances. My choice? I bought a 30-06 for protection (Photo 2).
Photo 2: A typical start to a day in the Dease Lake of British Columbia. The weapon of choice for this crew was the long gun, leaning against the canoe. I am the person wearing the yellow hat. The person wearing the blue T-shirt was named Steve and the person wearing the brown shirt was named Ray. I am not certain who composed this photo, but it may have been Jim Hoover, Dease Lake area, British Columbia, summer 1972.
After being outfitted like a paramilitary army, we headed out. Before the end of first day, I lost the sight for my rifle. No idea how that happened. To test our weapons and “sight them in”, we laid out a big blue tarpaulin on a hill as a target. My colleagues all successfully hit that blue tarp target. I had no gun sight, so I just pointed the gun barrel at the tarp, after all, that should work. Right? Well I missed. Load up, fire another clip. Missed again! And my shoulder was suddenly really sore from the 30-06 kick. I suddenly lost faith in my rifle as protection. Interestingly, I felt sudden relief knowing that I would not have to stand proud and provide “cover” for my colleagues when in the bush. I am certain my colleagues also felt a sudden relief!
Fast forward many years. We have learned a lot about bear behaviour. We use bear bells and air horns or just shout “hey bear” to announce our presence to the bears. We carry bear spray to use in the event that a rare bear attack happens. We were trained to look for predatory bears. They are less predictable and often are intent on attacking you. Signs we were trained to look for were: position of the bear’s head - down; ears back; eyes mostly closed; walking in a broad arc around you as it sizes you up, but watching out of the corner of its eye (Photo 3).
Photo 3: Some signs of a predatory bear that was protecting its food - a dead moose. Note the position of the bear’s head - down; ears back; eyes mostly closed; walking in a broad arc around you as it sizes you up, but watching out of the corner of its eye. Image by Andy Fyon, July 12, 2008
I have seen less than 10 grizzly bears in my life, and one of those encounters left us feeling utterly insignificant. I confess, that encounter took place in the alpine on Montana Mountain, south of Carcross, Yukon. We had NO bear spray because I thought it was too expensive to buy. The grizzly we encountered came over a rise with her three cubs. Fortunately, she turned and ran in the opposite direction! That was the last time I ever went into grizzly country without bear spray!
I have seen more black bears than I can count. We had bears visit our bush camps. We have moved camps to give space to a curious bear. I sat in a truck one night, for safety, because a bear wanted to share our camp. I sewed up two sides of a 14 x 16 cotton tent after a bear entry - and learned that bears never exit through the same hole they entered . But, I have never been attacked.
Despite the stories I heard as a summer student in northern BC, it seems that bears are happy to live their lives without bothering humans, unless there is an extraordinary reason. And sadly, people are killed during one of those extraordinary events.
In the bush, it is hard not to think about bears, but my thinking is quite different now.
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Andy Fyon, Oct 4, 2020 (Facebook, July 17, 2020).