Topic: Make Sure That Bear is Dead....

[Stocker]

This happened Saturday near here, and made the news this morning....
http://www.redding.com/news/2009/aug/18/bear-mauls-bowhunter/


HAYFORK - A bowhunter was mauled Saturday by the 400-pound black bear he thought he'd killed.

Eric Huff, 35, of Hayfork had shot the bear with an arrow after spotting it while deer hunting on opening day, said DeWayne Little, a state Department of Fish and Game warden. Having missed the bear's heart, he let the animal walk down a creek near Hayfork, hoping it would die from its wound.

Huff and some friends tracked the bear, found it and shot it two more times with arrows, Little said. They then went up to the big, cinnamon-colored body lying in a heap.

"They thought it was dead, but as they approached, it sprang up," Little said.

The bear went after Huff, who jumped behind a bush, Little said. The bear went for Huff's neck but sunk its teeth into his left bicep as he put his arm up to block the bite.

Huff pushed the weakened bear off him with his feet, Little said. While Huff was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, DFG Warden Paul Cardova and one of his friends found the bear dead near where the attack occurred.

Little interviewed Huff at the hospital. He was released from the hospital Sunday. Little said the investigation into the attack is still ongoing.

DFG Lt. Scott Willems said the incident is a reminder that wounded animals can be dangerous. He said a similar bear mauling occurred in Igo three years ago.

William Pinole, then 61, shot a bear three times with a shotgun as it raided his chicken coop. The bear charged Pinole and clawed the man's face and left arm and punctured his bladder with a bite to the abdomen. Pinole survived the attack.

"It's the same type of situation, where the bear was shot but only wounded," Willems said.

[*FFC*]

Wow... that's crazy! Good reminder

[toyotamobing]

use a bigger gun

[Tallchevy]

That bear played posum  Didn't they know that Yogi is smarter than the average bear!

Little interviewed Huff at the hospital. He was released from the hospital Sunday. Little said the investigation into the attack is still ongoing.

  What are they going to do, go ask the bear if this is what really happened?

[*ROKTOY*]

That's why it is recommended to not go after your prey for at least 1hr after the shot, to give enough time for the animal to bleed out. If it was a good shot there will be a good blood trail to follow.

[kneedownnate]

Genius    Werd, he probably shoulda waited longer before tracking, but I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts he approached from the front.  Big no no when checking to see if a downed animal is dead.  Plus, had he approached from behind he coulda stuck one last arrow in the spinal cord at the base of yogi's skull and known it was over. 

A 400 pound bear is pretty good size too, woulda been neat to see, especially being a cinnamon!

[kneedownnate]

  you have to click the link and read some of the responses.  The utter ignorance of some people is astounding!  How can somebody who lives in this area be so stupid as to think it's illegal for bear hunting, or so ignorant to think it's bad for the hunter to allow the animal time to go off and die?!  Luckily there are some positive responses too, but those people will always follow the lines of ignorance.  If they were to pull their heads out of their asses they'd find there's a whole big scary world right outside their door, right next to their lovely little fluffy love-fest world 

[kneedownnate]

Some of those people remind me of the genius my friend and I had the pleasure of meeting this weekend.  We went down the road from my house to some blm land that's set up for shooting, but also has a hiking/mountain bike/horse trail going through it too.  My friend didn't want to leave his open blazer sitting there so we decided to just shoot the for a few minutes, had the tailgate down and were checking out his shotgun.

Joe mountain biker rolls by on the trail about 50 feet away and hollers up to us "hey, you know you can't shoot out here, right?" 
I say "oh yea, since when?" 
"since this is blm land and they closed it to shooting.  There's a sign up over there saying you can't shoot here"
"Hmm, well we'd already decided we weren't going to shoot, but I'll be sure to go check that out.  You have a great night!"

Nathan walks over to the sign after telling his friend he knows the area was open for shooting just a few months back, around the time he went to the effort of CALLING BLM TO VERIFY IF IT WAS OPEN OR NOT SO AS NOT TO BE SHOOTING WHERE HE SHOULDN'T BE!!!  And what'ya know, no signs saying anything about no shooting or hunting, so nathan yells back to his friend (hoping joe douchebag biker was close enough to hear him) "that guy's full of , there's nothing on the sign stating you can't shoot here!"

You see, when nathan was educating himself about the area he wanted to shoot and hunt in, he also found out that blm has to keep up signs where you enter blm lands to state whether or not you can shoot or hunt, as well as whether or not you can target practice.  If there's not something stating that shooting or hunting is prohibited on the sign at the entrance to blm lands you're good to go, as we were the other day.  I only wish that jerk woulda stayed around long enough to tell him he was 100% wrong and needed to keep his mouth shut when he had no clue!

[REG535]

bears should be left alone. there is no reason to kill them.  I think its funny that he got mauled 

[toyotamobing]

i cant wait till they open up bear hunting in my county....there are so many!!!!

[Stocker [OP]]

  you have to click the link and read some of the responses.  The utter ignorance of some people is astounding! 

I just went back & looked; there are a lot more comments now than when I posted the link. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions & lifestyles, but it ticks me off cracks me up that so many 'antis' are determined to force theirs on everyone else, often using the most childish tactics...   

[79coyotefrg]

 

[kneedownnate]

bears should be left alone. there is no reason to kill them. 

Despite ever rising quotas allowing more bears to be taken every couple/few years, their population still continues to boom.  When I first started hunting I think they only allowed 1000 bears to be taken each year, and they were talking about how there was a record 10,000ish bears in california.  Now I believe they allow 1500 to be killed and there's between 20,000 and 30,000 bears in california. 

Black bears are highly adaptable and are very opportunistic.  They very rarely will take down game on their own, but you can damn sure bet they'll take full advantage of somebody's deer that got away or hid too well after being shot.  And if that doesn't work they'll just root through your garbage, which actually makes them get bigger quicker than their natural foods, as well as making them breed more offspring. 

There's something about bears that keeps me from being able to kill them, but I'll surely eat their meat if somebody puts some in front of me  :licklips:  It's just a bummer that my stand up freezer just recently took a dump 

[Stocker [OP]]

bears should be left alone. there is no reason to kill them. 

I can only assume you are a vegan, and would never eat any kind of meat from any source.... and that your argument applies to all animals. 

It's been years since I hunted, and I might never hunt again... but a good bear roast is mighty tasty, as is bear stew.   
That, as well as the fact that they exist in large enough numbers and are legal game, is reason enough.

I think its funny that he got mauled 

Meh... maybe poetic justice (or karma...  whatever you like to call it). But funny???  You are a sick, twisted individual if you truly find humor in another person's injury.   

[mudmaster]

Darwin award?? D F

[REG535]

well am starting to go vegan yes, but whats that have to do with killing a bear? I think it sucks. I think it should be the other way around , you are part of nature are you not? person killed bear---bear gets revenge.
and yes i do think its funny

[REG535]

Despite ever rising quotas allowing more bears to be taken every couple/few years, their population still continues to boom.  When I first started hunting I think they only allowed 1000 bears to be taken each year, and they were talking about how there was a record 10,000ish bears in california.  Now I believe they allow 1500 to be killed and there's between 20,000 and 30,000 bears in california. 

Black bears are highly adaptable and are very opportunistic.  They very rarely will take down game on their own, but you can damn sure bet they'll take full advantage of somebody's deer that got away or hid too well after being shot.  And if that doesn't work they'll just root through your garbage, which actually makes them get bigger quicker than their natural foods, as well as making them breed more offspring. 

There's something about bears that keeps me from being able to kill them, but I'll surely eat their meat if somebody puts some in front of me  :licklips:  It's just a bummer that my stand up freezer just recently took a dump 

but yet you have a pic of bear thats killed

[WHITE_TRASH]

The dude was dumb for doing it like he did, granted I'm definitely NOT an expert hunter but if I'm going to go out with a flippin' bow and arrow my fat ass is gonna be packing a 44mag on my hip..

Bear is good meat, I don't see an issue with regulating the species and eating them.  Guess it just go's to show that the human body NEEDS meat...  When you stop eating it you have to take vitamins to replace the lack of proper nutrients in veggies...  

[Stocker [OP]]

^^ I agree with all of that and I bet he would do things differently if there's a next time ...  but I'm quite sure it's illegal to carry a firearm during bow season.  

[kneedownnate]

but yet you have a pic of bear thats killed

Could you explain what you mean?  Did you mean to pull just part of my post to quote to make that more relevant, because as it is it makes no sense.

[REG535]

i was talking about the pic you have in your avatar, anyhow, am not going to post in this thread anymore i made my point. thats all am going to say.

[WHITE_TRASH]

i was talking about the pic you have in your avatar, anyhow, am not going to post in this thread anymore i made my point. thats all am going to say.

Funny, I keep waiting for you to make a point...

[REG535]

I know no one gets me on this board  I just dont like bears getting killed that is all

[ROKTOY829]

bears should be left alone. there is no reason to kill them.  I think its funny that he got mauled 

Bears just like any other animal that can be eatin needs and should be hunted. That way you keep a healthier herd of animals. I was watching spirit of the wild (uncle ted nuget) and he was showing freezers full with animals bear and mountain lion that the state had killed to help control the population. He was raising sand due to the fact the state wouldn't issue more tags for the public to hunt. Think the state was California but I could be wrong. With less people hunting these days due being more other meats to get. Animals  have started getting out of  control and then disease starts running ramped though the herd. Nature will take care of the problem when humans slack on the job. Killing an animal just for it lay and rot or just being mean is one thing but when you hunt to harvest theres nothing in the world wrong with it. fair chase = fair game. If he was just flat being mean to the bear and causing harm to it and he got hurt then he gets what he asked for. But since it was fair game hunting and he got hurt that's just sad no reason to be happy for that reason.

[REG535]

but he was deer hunting was he not so that would make it illegal to shot the bear regardless if he saw him or not. Its like I saw a bear so I shot it. how stupid is that. controlling the population, i say there is less animals than they were a long time ago but thats just me.

[Stocker [OP]]

but he was deer hunting was he not so that would make it illegal to shot the bear regardless if he saw him or not. Its like I saw a bear so I shot it. how stupid is that. thats just me.

If that were the case, then yes, it would be a stupid (and illegal) thing to do. But that's not the way it is at all -- what he did was completely legal, and if he had been breaking the law in any way, you can bet he would have been cited, and the article would have mentioned that. Obviously you need to have a bear tag as well as a deer tag, and if you are deer hunting and have an opportunity to take a bear, it's perfectly legal to do so.

Hope this helps clear up any confusion.

[ROKTOY829]

It depends on if he had a tag and a big game license and it was in season. If he had them and was in law then he was all good. If he didn't have the proper tags then he was wrong. were I live in alabama the state deer population is boooming. Maybe out west where the weather plays into the herd health they are not booming as much as they are here. but just cause you don't see them don't mean they ain't there. What if the bear was charging at him and he shot to protect himself?

[Stocker [OP]]

What if the bear was charging at him and he shot to protect himself?

Virtually unheard of (with black bears) unless you got between a sow and her cub(s), and then it's usually a false charge.
But it would take a hell of a steady nerve to wait & see if she was bluffing.   

[Plekto]

I def second the sidearm comment.  You don't go hunting ANYTHING without a backup plan in place.  It takes 3 seconds to fire off a finishing shot a point-blank range.

Oh and a few years ago I found a dead squirrel here in So Cal in my yard.  Dead of rodent plague(though the county mysteriously denied it and made no mention of it).  The vermin situation is out of control.   In fact, my parents house is literally being overrun with dozens of rats and they're at their wits end because the county won't let them trap or shoot them.(wtf?)

[Stocker [OP]]

I def second the sidearm comment.  You don't go hunting ANYTHING without a backup plan in place.  It takes 3 seconds to fire off a finishing shot a point-blank range.

Once again, a great idea, but carrying any firearm during bow season is a great way to personally help balance the state's budget, and possibly lose future hunting privileges in the bargain.