I'm going hiking this Sunday, what should I do?

[Ranger P229]

Why does it seems the word FATALITY is all that matters?
I'll be honest , I don't care if it's a fatality or a mauling ........ both suck
Are you saying you would be fine with a mauling? Just not a death?
I would find that odd but that's me.
A quick easy links of black bear maulings ...both in PA.... 1 is inside a house , so much for honey boo boo just looking for some honey
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/03/us/pen...a-bear-attack/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1545298

Black bears are large predatory animals , that's the fact.
The fact that neither link provides a death IN PA , probably only makes the people feel so warm inside.
I believe being mauled is more than enough reason to be prepared if one chooses.
If some chooses to not take a gun , that's great , not a single problem there ...... but this myth of nothing to worry about is simply that.
Not a great worry , but it exists based on facts that have happened and again the fact ...... it's a large predatory animal.
Man greatest asset to the claim of king of the food chain is in his ability to kill afar.
Take that away and we ain't got much.
And again , death or just having your face ripped off may be 2 different things ................. but I'll pass on both if possible

Fatalities are important because they're, well, fatal. Sure, being mauled would be horrible, but anything I survive is less horrible than something I don't. That being said, if we add the fatalities and maulings up we're still at the amazingly low number of 3 per century.

Human beings have been only been able to kill from afar for a couple hundred years, and only really effectively for about 100. Our biggest asset is our brain, and our ability to make tools. Human beings have been killing Jaguars, leopards, lions, bears, and Cougars with spears for THOUSANDS of years. Hell, human beings became the most effective species on this planet during a time when they had to use sharpened sticks to kill sabre toothed cats and mammoths.

WE are the super predator in the woods.

[Boondox]

Some Indian dude got eaten by a black bear in Jersey last year.

That is jersey and greatly different than PA.
As the imaginary line between the 2 states clearly show.
Killer bears on one said , cuddleres on the other

[Boondox]

Fatalities are important because they're, well, fatal. Sure, being mauled would be horrible, but anything I survive is less horrible than something I don't. That being said, if we add the fatalities and maulings up we're still at the amazingly low number of 3 per century.

Human beings have been only been able to kill from afar for a couple hundred years, and only really effectively for about 100. Our biggest asset is our brain, and our ability to make tools. Human beings have been killing Jaguars, leopards, lions, bears, and Cougars with spears for THOUSANDS of years. Hell, human beings became the most effective species on this planet during a time when they had to use sharpened sticks to kill sabre toothed cats and mammoths.

WE are the super predator in the woods.

3 maulings a century .............. not so sure bout that.
Matter of fact , I am just going to pretend you didn't say that.
Heck I only posted 2 links.
So rape usually doesn't result in murder as often as not , so we could probably just say women shouldn't shoot a rapist as it's not normally fatal.
And you do not seem to understand the concept of killing from afar.
That involves the weapons you mention , it involves traps , it involves running animals off a cliff. It involves a lot of things.
Putting your naked , upright and hairless , thin skinned , small toothed , weak little fingered nailed , slow running , small muscled self out into the food chain without the ability to kill for afar ................ your position on the food chain drops quit a bit.
You'll find yourself eating more berries and less steak pretty quick.
Luckly for us , we can do this.
NOT killing from afar , involves as an example , you standing naked/tooless next to a deer and me saying .......... "go get it done"
How long you think it's going to be before we get venison?
Only because we can do the things we do ............. most animals can't , at least to the same degree is why we are where we are.
I'm not saying man can't survive without these , but his progress ran the time line with those improvements.
A bear with his eyes in front is beause he is a predator ................. much like yourself.
Those eyes in front with the depth perception it provides isn't because he was born to sneek up on berries.
A number of years ago the game com finally got around to puttingit in print , that bears hunt/eat more deer than originally thought.
Really? now who'd of thunk it.
Now I only assume you CC or OC.
Please keep in mind , most muggings , car jackings , home invasions don't result in death. OH wait , I mean a Fatality.
So the odds are , you'll live , maybe be fed with a tube the rest of your life ............... but alive.
So please think twice before poppin a cap in anyone out to do you or your harm.
As Forrest Gump said ............. I believe that's all I have to say about that.

[Pilot321]

It is rare, but it happens. Animals will be animals on occasion.

A young black bear killed a 5-month-old girl outside her family's summer bungalow in a Catskill resort yesterday afternoon, snatching the sleeping baby from her stroller while the mother took her two other children to safety. The bear ran into the woods of Fallsburg, N.Y., with the girl, but dropped her moments later as horrified members of an Orthodox Jewish vacation colony screamed and chased after it.
The baby, Esther Schwimmer, was taken by ambulance to Ellenville Regional Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival around 3 p.m., hospital officials said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/ny...kills-her.html

[Justin///M]

Bears in PA eat berries, not people. Sure, maulings/killings have happened, but for me, they're statistically not worth worrying about. Every bear encounter that I've had the last 30 years has been watching their asses as they bolt in the opposite direction of me.

That said, if you are going to prepare for a bear attack, you're better off carrying bear spray, unless you think you can put that slug right between its eyes while at full charge with the adrenaline you have pumping through your veins.

I carry a gun in the woods, but it's woefully inadequate for bear defense..., but I don't carry it for 4 legged creatures. If I'm going into a high bear population that is remote, IE Otter Creek wilderness in WV, then I'll carry bear spray.

YMMV

Justin

[scruff]

Who said worry?

Wow, with all of this fear-mongering, you really seem to be obsessing over this. Gnawed-off faces? Dragged from tents? Like Ranger P229 pointed out, we merely gave some advice that the OP should go enjoy himself hiking even if carrying a gun would be difficult or impossible. Bear attacks are so extremely rare in PA that one shouldn't lock himself in a dark closet, curl up into a ball and suck his thumb at the thought of being in the woods without a gun. Carry as big a gun as you comfortably can, wherever and whenever you can, but when you can't, don't let that stop you from living your life.

I typically carry my Kahr CM-9 in the woods. It's my go-to gun for all kinds of outdoor activities where I don't want to be carrying something heavy or bulky. It fits in my pocket when backpacking, since the pack's hip belt prevents me from wearing a holster on my hip. It fits in the pocket of my PFD when I'm kayaking. It fits in a waist pack or hydration pack for trail runs. Is it the perfect bear weapon? Of course not, but there's more to being safe around bears than having a big gun. Things like calling out as I hike into a confined area, and hanging my food in a bear bag in a tree away from the campsite at night. If somebody wants to carry around a big bore revolver all the time, that's great, it's just not for me. I'm not going to lay in my sleeping bag at night worrying about having my face gnawed off, any more than I'm going to obsess over being crushed by a blue ice ball falling from the sky. Could it happen? Yeah. Now get over it.

[wanneroo]

Like I have mentioned before it's all fun and games and statistics until you are the one staring into the mouth of teeth of a pissed off black bear. Reality bites, literally.

I've been around black bears quite a lot with no issues previously but I happened to be at the wrong time and place and probably came a second or two from it all going wrong for me.

[Remington788]

Has anyone heard from Will3212?

[scruff]

Like I have mentioned before it's all fun and games and statistics until you are the one staring into the mouth of teeth of a pissed off black bear. Reality bites, literally.

I've been around black bears quite a lot with no issues previously but I happened to be at the wrong time and place and probably came a second or two from it all going wrong for me.

Yes, everybody here agrees it's possible, even though the chances are infinitesimally small. What are you suggesting we do about it?

[streaker69]

Has anyone heard from Will3212?

Probably eaten by a mountain lion, they'll find his remains 5 years from now and rule his death as died of natural causes.