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Bear sighting
I used to run into bears in the mountains in California. Some of these bears were also relocated bears from closer into the cities and they generally were used to human contact.
One night I was sleeping in the open bed of my pickup truck and it started rocking. My first thought was Earthquake. I woke up and looked around and there was one of the bears trying to get my cooler out from under the truck. He had his mouth around the corner of the cooler and was really shaking and tugging it enough to shake the truck.
The cooler was wedge tightly underneath the truck and I had put rocks wedged under the edge of it to secure it under there. The bear never did get it out or broken open. Finally, he went on his way.
It turns out that some "neighbors" in the campsite area thought that the bears were "cute" and placed food out on rocks right in the middle of about a dozen campsites. We explained to the "neighbor" in the public campsite that they were not only endangering themselves, but the rest of the people in the area. We were there for about four days, and we had bears in the camp pretty much every night.
The "neighbor" had not fed the bear anymore as far as I know, but he kept coming back to see what he could find. Nobody ever got hurt, but I wasn't upset when the bear decided to tear up the camp and equipment of the "neighbor" that had fed him in the first place. That happened on the last night of our stay there. Some lessons come harder than others.
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Bear sighting
I know policemen that have never shot their guns in any place other than the shooting range. But, just because they never felt the need to shoot someone does not mean that it was a waste of time to carry the firearm.
Chief, if I keep a bear and I somehow allow it to kill someone, I can be held legally responsible for neglegent homicide. On top of that the lawyers may be able to sue my pants off for the liability even if someone has to get past multiple levels of protection to pet the "attractive nuisance". If the state protects a bear and then enacts a law that prohibits you from protecting yourself against that bear, the only thing that the lawyers can do is to get the laws changed. The state has no liability in this case and you cannot get compensation. Even if the state officials make an error in their interpretation, they are protected unless there is some other motive as in a bribe or personal vendetta.
I have had close bear encounters. I have only shot once. That shot was placed into a tree about two feet from the bears head. The bang, flash and impact noise a couple of feet away was enough to send the bear packing. He stayed around our camp all night (we could see his eyes with a flashlight in the trees) but he never returned.
I am with F350 I would rather have a 9mm than a can of hot sauce any day. There is an extra amount of shock that occurs when a body gets hit with multiple bullets. It more than multiplies the effect. Poachers in Africa will take elephants with a G3 which only shoots a .308 cartridge, and nobody in their right mind would use a .308 against an elephant, but the G3 can get multiple shots on target and that makes the difference.
I don't ever recommend someone getting a handgun without training in how to use it. Whenever anyone on this forum has asked about guns for self defense at home, I almost always recommend a long gun. Pistols are quite useful if they are properly employed and used safely.
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Bear sighting
The animal responsible for the most deaths in the US is the common deer (mostly whitetail and mule). I am sure that the vast majority is from traffic mishaps.
Tom, please do not take any offense to anything I said. I certainly did not intend any offense, but intent is hard to express in an email. I will continue to "pack heat", but I appreciate your point of view and your valuable insights. It is fine with me to have a well considered difference of opinion.
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Bear sighting
In my direct experience, the bears that I have encountered have been relocated bears with a "troubled" past. In California, bears would come right up to houses in areas like Big Bear (I wonder where that name came from?) and they would be relocated to the Sequoia wilderness areas. As Mark said, these bears (mostly with tags or marking) have already had troublesome encounters with people, regard them as a source of food and entertainment, and are not generally scared to invade your space.
I have traveled extensively in Alaska and I for one was always more cautious with Moose than I was with the bears. I have never had an encounter with a truly wild bear.
Here in NM, I know that there are bears around, but they seldom come anywhere near where I live. With only 2M people in the whole state, there is a lot of open area where everyone can do their thing without conflict.
On my recent Utah trip, I took a firearm because of fresh reports of attacks by bears on campers in the same area where I was going to travel. I never saw a bear on the entire trip and never unpacked the gun. I took a box of "Bird Bombs" which are like big firecrackers that you can shoot from a 12 ga shotgun, and I figured that the noise would be all that would be necessary to head off an encounter.
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10-07-2003, 08:28 
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