Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A couple lessons learned:

1) Nothing makes you forget losing a 30+ inch rainbow like seeing a bear charge* your wife.

2) Always keep your bear spray/gun on your person.


*The Wife maintains that the bear merely came at her in an aggressive manner, but did not "charge."  A distinction without a difference, I say.

11 comments:

Jack said...

Incredible! Nothing like watching your wife backpeddling from a griz to reset your priorities for the day; although it did sound like a great fish. Glad we still have some country with grizzlies, but try to keep your distance! The details of this story are priceless.
--Oregon Dad

Austin said...

^ yeah, it was a great fish. Of course, I'm back to thinking about the fish now that a few days have passed and the bear no longer poses an immediate danger. All the more reason to get back on the water . . .

schnitzerPHOTO said...

Agreed on the lack of distinction. As you know, my vote is for more and bigger guns. Let's get her comfortable w/a 12 ga.

schnitzerPHOTO said...

Also, per Jack's comment, I'm in need of some details.

Austin said...

Here's the short version of Sunday's events:

I had just hooked and lost a huge rainbow--significantly larger than any we had hooked yet this year. We beached the raft near the top of the island where you (Russ) caught the large Chinook that I blogged about a few posts ago so I could mourn my loss. After a few minutes, Nelli wandered a bit downstream to fish; I went up. Like idiots, we left the bear spray and gun in the boat.

Not long after, I noticed Nelli acting weird and retreating back to the boat. I was about 75 feet from Nelli but could hear her yelling that there was a bear.

Hollering for her to get the bear spray, I saw a younger grizzly bear emerge from the woods on the opposite bank directly across from Nelli. The bear, still staring directly at Nelli, stepped off the bank and lunged into the water toward her. I continued yelling and began running toward Nelli and the raft causing the bear to pause, look in my direction, and eventually retreat back into the woods.

I'd guess that before it turned back, the bear was 3 seconds from reaching Nelli, and Nelli was 7-8 seconds from pulling the trigger on the bear spray. Obviously, those numbers don't add up.

Nelli said...

Yup - I am very glad that my husband and pup can appear so intimidating! I was not looking forward to becoming a grizzly snack.

Anonymous said...

Look what happens when I don't check the blog for a couple days!!!! Not often do tears well up in my eyes while reading it, however. That was too close for comfort for sure. More bear spray, more guns, bodyguards for each of you (including Karta), or whatever it takes to keep you safe would be good.
Love, WI MOM

Anonymous said...

So we don’t all freak out too much, here are some stats on causes of death.

Cause of Death___________Lifetime Odds

Heart Disease---------------------1-in-5
Motor Vehicle Accident--------1-in-100
Assault by Firearm---------------1-in-325
Lightning Strike------------------1-in-83,930
Venomous Bite/Sting-----------1-in-100,000
Asteroid Impact------------------1-in-400,000ish
Fireworks Discharge-------------1-in-615,488

Above data taken from National Center for Health Statistics, CDC; American Cancer Society; National Safety Council; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; World Health Organization; USGS; Clark Chapman, SwRI; David Morrison, NASA; Michael Paine, Planetary Society Australian Volunteers

Bear attack-------------1-in-1,200,000

This was hard to find but… http://www.pediatriceducation.org/2007/06/04/


Granted, there is probably a bit of wiggle room in these stats, and they most certainly change depending on where you live. But hopefully this puts things into perspective…

Regardless, glad the bear did not cross the river. And I bet you guys no longer leave your bear swatters in the raft or vehicle next time.

Josh

Austin said...

Good stats Josh. I'm sure the bear attack odds are higher for someone living in Alaska, but still. A "typical" person may be more likely to die in an accident caused by carrying a bear defense gun than from a bear attack.

Anonymous said...

Odds of fatality from the bear gun may be higher than from the bear, but I'll sleep better at night knowing you all are carrying the gun...after all, you do live in Alaska! And, I trust your gun safety skills...and your sense of when it is and when it isn't needed.

Regardless, given that the bear DID stop this will make a great family story for the ages...even if it's likely to be embroidered along the way.

Love you all,
OR Mom

Austin said...

^ yeah, at least you have control over the gun.