Tangent of Gorky's Bear Cave Thread

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RobAK

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I didn't want to hijack Gorky's Bear Cave thread, but since I read the post my curiosity has been peaked.

OK, haven't seen any comment on this so was wondering about the logistics and legalities of it (ethics please leave out at this time for simplicity's sake).

Some black bears may still be napping. They live in caves. You know where the caves are. Can you or would you or have you ventured into the cave to hunt one ?
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From my almost complete lack of bear experience I would have assumed going anywhere near a hole where bears are sleeping (possibly waking?) would be the subject of the next Darwin awards and numerous bear defense threads on CGN? By the posts in Gorky's thread from those with experience I'm obviously wrong.
Could someone tell me how it's not suicidal?


Thanks in advance for the insight.
 
RobAK said:
I didn't want to hijack Gorky's Bear Cave thread, but since I read the post my curiosity has been peaked.



From my almost complete lack of bear experience I would have assumed going anywhere near a hole where bears are sleeping (possibly waking?) would be the subject of the next Darwin awards and numerous bear defense threads on CGN? By the posts in Gorky's thread from those with experience I'm obviously wrong.
Could someone tell me how it's not suicidal?


Thanks in advance for the insight.
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I've read plenty of accounts of native people finding dens by seeing vapour trails coming out of holes going to the wholes and stabbing into them with spears.
I personally dont see the point of doing it these days, but I can understand the necessity in the past.
 
this would all depend Rob on how you want us to write out your obituary lol, I relise scientists will go in a den of a collared bear but under controlled sircumstances, the average joe doing it, well ..... guess we will read about it in the sunday paper, there have been numerous attacks on everything from logging machinery to dog sleds from a grizz being disturbed in its den, granted they dont "HYBERNATE" like black bears do but the sows with cubs will, realy would you stick your hand in a badger hole?
 
talk about intense
find me a hole and ill tell you HOW IM GOING to go about it
and if I survive Ill tell you HOW I SURVIVED IT
that would be so cool
 
See and that's what is so interesting about the question - I don't recall any legal problem with it here in AB but maybe they are just relying upon common sense ?
 
I think it's got some problems, and legal is the last of them...

1) Unless you are using a light, you don't know 100% what or where you are shooting

2) you don't know if there is a cub behind the bear you can see

3) They are hard to manouver in, especaily if you have wide shoulders, like me.

4) Who really wants to kill a sleeping bear?


I do recall old stories of guys in yukon and Alaska crawling into grizz dens with pistols, I saw some pictures of them dragging dead bears out of the dens. Not my idea of fun, though
 
Gatehouse said:
I think it's got some problems, and legal is the last of them...

1) Unless you are using a light, you don't know 100% what or where you are shooting

2) you don't know if there is a cub behind the bear you can see

3) They are hard to manouver in, especaily if you have wide shoulders, like me.

4) Who really wants to kill a sleeping bear?


I do recall old stories of guys in yukon and Alaska crawling into grizz dens with pistols, I saw some pictures of them dragging dead bears out of the dens. Not my idea of fun, though
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These are the same kinds of questions I asked in my other thread (sorry if this one got hijacked to RobAK :redface:).

FWIW, I do not think it is hunting in the truest sense either, and there is ALOT that could go wrong.
 
If you can find the den, make a torch and throw it in. Sometimes in the fall you can see where a bear has excavated earth from a dirt bank. After that you'd better be good at hitting a moving target.

Problem # 1 - in most places it's not legal to shoot a sow with cubs, and you might not see the cubs right away.

Problem #2 - entering a bear's den would not be for those of above average intelligence or the faint hearted. I recall reading that some of the old Alaskan grizzly guides like Andy Simmons and Hosea Sarber would go into a grizzly den and roll the bear over so the hide would not be rubbed for the spring clients. If the stories are true, these guys were extremely brave and dedicated. Hosea was a game cop as well as a guide, and was killed by a poacher, but I believe that Andy Simmons reached old age.

Problem #3 - becoming an adrenalin junky can lead to a short life span.
 
How would you like to be so rudely awakened from your slumber by some dumb azz who had great ambitions of killing you in your bedroom. The term total azz woopin' comes to mind. Here's a good point! Animals just don't die immediately after being hit by a bullet...specially one travelling at super high volocity at very close range. He'll be VERY pissed off and you've got to remember that you've got a small hole to get out of in a dahm hurry.

DEATH WISH in my books
 
As far as I know no one would go into a den to kill the bear. But some hunters do this in a two person group. One holds the gun waiting in front of the den, the other gets over the den and makes loud noise to wake the bear up. Usually a bear being waken up is pissed and would come out of the den within a sec to find out who was screwing with him, her or them. By then the shooter could decide whether to shoot or not. The trick is finding the den.
 
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You'd have to be desperate or crazy. Shot placement would be difficult at you'd have poor lighting, possibly no idea of what part of the bear you were shooting into. Little room to manouver or retreat, little chance another member of your hunting party could assist you. One helluva time getting the game out afterwards. How would you know when you killed the bear as you would have trouble observing it or the shot placement. Overall a crazy idea unless you were desperate and your life depended on it.
 
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