Taking photos of a grizzly at 50 meters before being a victim
- Thread starter elker
- Start date
Actually the first time I saw it, the audio was complete and quite horrific, I've seen it twice since and it has been edited.
You and I realize how "way out there" he was, but there are many people who actually listened to what the moron was saying and believed it, even to the point that "The Big Red Machine", the bear that killed him and his girlfriend, was just a rogue and not representative of the species.
They believe that they're (bears) all misunderstood and if you do nothing wrong they won't hurt you. Well there's the proof with this latest photo bug, he was so inexperienced and naive that he didn't even know he was in the wrong.
One thing I will say for Treadwell is he understood bear body language and posture better than anybody. This unfortunately doesn't get learned by the people who just watch his documentary and then go out to photo grizzlies in their natural homes. This is why I think his film is exceedingly dangerous.
I don't think we can account for stupid people watching a show. People watch Dumbass or Jackass and then want to copy their stunts and kill themselves. I'm okay with that.
But the Treadwell documentary is actually quite good in showing a lot of different sides, including interviews with Alaskans calling him an idiot. Smart people will conclude that Treadwell was a loon and dragged his girlfriend out there to get killed. Still it is fascinating to see that he was able to coexist with large dangerous creatures at a certain level and survive for that long before getting ripped to shreds. He was right and wrong. Maybe you can survive 99 days with bears but the 100th day gets you killed. Maybe there are some bears who will never get pissed off at you and some bears who will always get pissed off at you. And smart people would conclude that it's better not to try the odds to find out. I can walk out onto a busy highway to 'co-exist' with speeding cars and probably do fine for many hours until inevitably I end up a bloody smear for several metres. I'm not going to try to do that!
But even before "Grizzly Man" there are countless nature documentaries seemingly showing the narrator close up with a dangerous animal. Attenborough is a lovely man but his crew is shooting the Grizzlies with telephotos. It is human nature for us to believe that a) we are invulnerable b) bad stuff happens to other people c) too bad we can't live like the Jehova Witness heaven with lions and tigers hugging each other and human children playing at their feet. Unlike every other species on our planet for some reason we have tamed other animals and like being around other animals. But other animals do not necessarily like being around us.
But the Treadwell documentary is actually quite good in showing a lot of different sides, including interviews with Alaskans calling him an idiot. Smart people will conclude that Treadwell was a loon and dragged his girlfriend out there to get killed. Still it is fascinating to see that he was able to coexist with large dangerous creatures at a certain level and survive for that long before getting ripped to shreds. He was right and wrong. Maybe you can survive 99 days with bears but the 100th day gets you killed. Maybe there are some bears who will never get pissed off at you and some bears who will always get pissed off at you. And smart people would conclude that it's better not to try the odds to find out. I can walk out onto a busy highway to 'co-exist' with speeding cars and probably do fine for many hours until inevitably I end up a bloody smear for several metres. I'm not going to try to do that!
But even before "Grizzly Man" there are countless nature documentaries seemingly showing the narrator close up with a dangerous animal. Attenborough is a lovely man but his crew is shooting the Grizzlies with telephotos. It is human nature for us to believe that a) we are invulnerable b) bad stuff happens to other people c) too bad we can't live like the Jehova Witness heaven with lions and tigers hugging each other and human children playing at their feet. Unlike every other species on our planet for some reason we have tamed other animals and like being around other animals. But other animals do not necessarily like being around us.
To all the guys running this guy down, there's been CGN regulars that have posted pics of grizzly sows with cubs (Ted & Gatehouse to name 2) at pretty close distances. Nobody is bringing that up, cuz they got away with it.
In this particular case the guy pushed it a bit too far. C'est la vie.
And that's all I got to say...
In this particular case the guy pushed it a bit too far. C'est la vie.
And that's all I got to say...
How close were they? Were they using a tele photo lens? Were they armed? if not then they are stupid... I can watch a bear from a great distance and still feel way to close. But then again I know the warning signs and can read the posturing of the bear.
People have to realize that just because you run to MEC and get all kinds of cool jazzy expensive goodies to go out in the wilderness with, that @ no point are you ready to be out there. Give me my compass and a jack knife and i'm pretty sure I'll be 80-90% more prepared then the new breed of trendy weekend woods warriors with thousands of dollars of equiment I've been encountering in the woods this past decade.
Treadwell deserved his demise in fact he chose his ending, unfortunate he had his girlfriend killed alongside himself. As well versed in those grizzlies as he was, he fully recognised the big red boar as THE dominant male of the whole region and yet he still stayed. He also knew the big boar considered him a rival and voiced this concern. To stay on, knowing what he knew about the big red boar, was just plain suicidally stupid. Bears only have one way of dealing with percieved rivals and it ain't sitting down over a nice salmon and talking out their differences.
I can tell you for absolutely certain that Ted would have had a rifle and he knows how to read a bear, I would make the same assumption of Gatehouse.
It is not necessarily dangerous to be in close proximity to grizzlies, it's dangerous to be in close proximity and not be armed and not know how to read them.
I've watched a few grizzlies up close and there is nothing suble about their warnings, flattened ears, hopping up and down on their front paws, head lowered, popping jaws, low growling, huffing, ripping up tufts of grass, batting bushes etc. all depending on their level of irritation. I am sure this bear went through all or most of these actions before he actually decided to defend himself against the unwanted intrusion. He also quite likely bluff charged a time or two.
But I guess if you know nothing about bears.....maybe he thought he was just putting on a show for the camera.......
Regardless, in your reference to Ted and Gatehouse, there is no comparison between experienced outdoorsmen and hunters and the unfortunate idiot in question.
Boomers got some great close ups of polar bears too, but he works around them everyday, so I doubt there are many who read them better than he. I also know he never leaves the house without a rifle, either.
I don't think anyone is that stupid...My theory is that it was a carefully planned and executed Mafia Hit.
I think that was on an Episode of Longmire.....
Stupidity...Idiot? Douche Bag? That's a lot of flaming rhetoric there..
Little harsh man.
I was simply drawing a comparison. Everybody is an expert and can read a bear until that "Oh ####" moment.
I'm aware that Ted, has more experience with the big bears than anybody not named Boomer.
I also know that Gatehouse has tons of experience with grizzlies and blacks.
The only certain thing with bears is that they are unpredictable.
And how is that we know this guy was a 'Newb' anyway?
Someone has to die, there is no way to avoid it. If this photographer did not get killed, he would live to tell one more grizzly fairy tale. And that story would certainly influence another unfortunate person who would do the same thing to feed a grizzly with own flesh.
Stupidity kills, it is just a matter of when, where, or who.
Stupidity kills, it is just a matter of when, where, or who.
First off, these 3 guys would not be out without a rifle, so the only "OH SH!T" moment would result in a dead bear not both.
Second, we know he was a "newb" because he DIDN'T have a rifle.
LuckyStrike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Happened in Denali Park
Some of you guys missed the part where the incident happened in a park... Only rangers are permitted to carry a rifle.
I also read that it was the first death in that park, but I wonder how many incidents prior?
No doubt it will be a wake up call to a lot of tourists ... the fact that bears are the ultimate preditor, definitely unpredictable, territorial, and hungry (storing for winter) this time of year.
It certainly does help to be prepared, or avoid situations like this.... but human nature keeps putting people in danger. (aka dumb , uninformed people)
There have been a few hunters killed by grizzleys in BC over the years, well armed with rifles, but taken by surprise, and as pointed out , both black and brown bears look sloth like... but can run like a horse and hit like a Mac truck.
Many people just don't know it.
Lucky
Some of you guys missed the part where the incident happened in a park... Only rangers are permitted to carry a rifle.
I also read that it was the first death in that park, but I wonder how many incidents prior?
No doubt it will be a wake up call to a lot of tourists ... the fact that bears are the ultimate preditor, definitely unpredictable, territorial, and hungry (storing for winter) this time of year.
It certainly does help to be prepared, or avoid situations like this.... but human nature keeps putting people in danger. (aka dumb , uninformed people)
There have been a few hunters killed by grizzleys in BC over the years, well armed with rifles, but taken by surprise, and as pointed out , both black and brown bears look sloth like... but can run like a horse and hit like a Mac truck.
Many people just don't know it.
Lucky
Go pound sand.. He was all that I said he was...
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
does it make me a bad person if i feel more sympathy for the bear than the human?
