Flintlock
Regular Member
imported post
Most Alaskan's that spend a fair amount of time in the wilderness realize that the time may, and probably will, come that they will come into contact with bears, moose, wolves,and other crittersat close range. Most of these encounters will go without incident, but occasionally, encounters do turn into life-threatening situations and cause us to at leastconsider that we don't only carry for self-preservation against two-legged scumbags but also the four-legged kind as well.
In the last five years I have personallynoticed increasedbear attack articles all over the state. Detaileddocumentation of these encounters is much more prevalent these daysas well. I'denjoythis thread beingan ongoing compilation of articles, news releases, and personal ecounter storiesthat are relavent to OC and/or life and death situations where a four-legged critter caused you or someone elseto think about or actually having to use a firearm or some other weaponin self-defense.
I'll start...
Last summer I hadfive encounters with Alaskan wildlife.
First, hiking with my brother on a trail call the Domeon the outskirts of Anchorage. Species was ablack bear that was heading up the trail from the river and veered a corner to our surprise about 30 feet away and coming our way. He was large for a blackie. My brother and I were unarmed. (that will never happen again). Bear turned and headed back the other way. Nothing bad happened, but we exited quickly after he was out-of-sight.
2nd, I was hiking alone on the Rainbow Peak Trail in July. I had a firearm in a chest holster, small pack, and trekking poles. About 300 yards up the trail, it was overgrown and difficult to see very far ahead ( not good). Suddenly through the vegetation I see a very large brown bear ahead of me quartering away at about 30 feet (he was massive). He was blocking the trail (I was concerned because bears have killed moose on the trails at McHugh Creek not far away and attacked visitors in the past)
I was very concerned as he didn't seem bothered by my presence. I clanked my poles and reversed course until I was far enough away to start scrambling back to the vehicle. I warned some would-behikers before I left.
Thirdwas a moose encounter. I was hiking alone on thePowerline PassTrail when a young bull came out of nowhere and startedgalloping towards me at50 feet away. I started taking backward steps, dropped my poles,and put my hand close to my Balckhawk Serpa and prepared to draw.At the last possible moment he veered away and continued up the hill toward Flat Top right when I was about to draw and fire. A little farther down the trail, I realized he had just been kicked out of a moose convention where about 8 bulls were hanging out near the trail and laying in the grass.
4th was another moose encounter.My friend and Iwere coming back from hiking the McHugh Creek Trail and a strange grey colored moose was standing in a small creek near the trail. As we tried to pass, he started stomping the ground as if to charge from 20 feet. I was unbuckling my chest holster and grabbing my weapon when my friend grabbed me and moved me behind a tree. We then made a quick exit to the parking lot.
Last was another moose encounter. I was hunting during the rut in September in the interior. Two bulls had just finished fighting asmy father and Iwere making our stalk. One was a legal bull, the other was not. As we got close, we could here one grunting and thrashing about (angry)and coming our way. We stopped, not knowing which one it was. As he crested a small hill about 10 yards away from us (he was the smaller one), I lifted my rifle and the moose sensed something was wrong and stopped. He was now less than 10 yards awayand could have driven us into the tundra if he wanted to. I clicked the safety offmy rifle and prepared to fire in defense of life and limb. He finally scented us and bolted the other direction. I was stunned.
The adrenaline was flowing on all these encounters and I feel lucky to have not gotten munched and/or stomped last year.I learned from all of them and am glad I didn't have to shoot any of them to survive. Had plenty of other encounters over the course of the yearbut none of them were even close to me thinking about drawing and defending myself.
Please share your stories and any news releases...
Most Alaskan's that spend a fair amount of time in the wilderness realize that the time may, and probably will, come that they will come into contact with bears, moose, wolves,and other crittersat close range. Most of these encounters will go without incident, but occasionally, encounters do turn into life-threatening situations and cause us to at leastconsider that we don't only carry for self-preservation against two-legged scumbags but also the four-legged kind as well.
In the last five years I have personallynoticed increasedbear attack articles all over the state. Detaileddocumentation of these encounters is much more prevalent these daysas well. I'denjoythis thread beingan ongoing compilation of articles, news releases, and personal ecounter storiesthat are relavent to OC and/or life and death situations where a four-legged critter caused you or someone elseto think about or actually having to use a firearm or some other weaponin self-defense.
I'll start...
Last summer I hadfive encounters with Alaskan wildlife.
First, hiking with my brother on a trail call the Domeon the outskirts of Anchorage. Species was ablack bear that was heading up the trail from the river and veered a corner to our surprise about 30 feet away and coming our way. He was large for a blackie. My brother and I were unarmed. (that will never happen again). Bear turned and headed back the other way. Nothing bad happened, but we exited quickly after he was out-of-sight.
2nd, I was hiking alone on the Rainbow Peak Trail in July. I had a firearm in a chest holster, small pack, and trekking poles. About 300 yards up the trail, it was overgrown and difficult to see very far ahead ( not good). Suddenly through the vegetation I see a very large brown bear ahead of me quartering away at about 30 feet (he was massive). He was blocking the trail (I was concerned because bears have killed moose on the trails at McHugh Creek not far away and attacked visitors in the past)
I was very concerned as he didn't seem bothered by my presence. I clanked my poles and reversed course until I was far enough away to start scrambling back to the vehicle. I warned some would-behikers before I left.
Thirdwas a moose encounter. I was hiking alone on thePowerline PassTrail when a young bull came out of nowhere and startedgalloping towards me at50 feet away. I started taking backward steps, dropped my poles,and put my hand close to my Balckhawk Serpa and prepared to draw.At the last possible moment he veered away and continued up the hill toward Flat Top right when I was about to draw and fire. A little farther down the trail, I realized he had just been kicked out of a moose convention where about 8 bulls were hanging out near the trail and laying in the grass.
4th was another moose encounter.My friend and Iwere coming back from hiking the McHugh Creek Trail and a strange grey colored moose was standing in a small creek near the trail. As we tried to pass, he started stomping the ground as if to charge from 20 feet. I was unbuckling my chest holster and grabbing my weapon when my friend grabbed me and moved me behind a tree. We then made a quick exit to the parking lot.
Last was another moose encounter. I was hunting during the rut in September in the interior. Two bulls had just finished fighting asmy father and Iwere making our stalk. One was a legal bull, the other was not. As we got close, we could here one grunting and thrashing about (angry)and coming our way. We stopped, not knowing which one it was. As he crested a small hill about 10 yards away from us (he was the smaller one), I lifted my rifle and the moose sensed something was wrong and stopped. He was now less than 10 yards awayand could have driven us into the tundra if he wanted to. I clicked the safety offmy rifle and prepared to fire in defense of life and limb. He finally scented us and bolted the other direction. I was stunned.
The adrenaline was flowing on all these encounters and I feel lucky to have not gotten munched and/or stomped last year.I learned from all of them and am glad I didn't have to shoot any of them to survive. Had plenty of other encounters over the course of the yearbut none of them were even close to me thinking about drawing and defending myself.
Please share your stories and any news releases...