Holding Bear's Paw (above) These pictures are of a man who works for the US Forest Service in Alaska, and his trophy bear. He was deer hunting last week when the large grizzly charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy emptied his 7mm Magnum semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet from him. The big bear was still alive so the hunter reloaded and shot it several times in the head. The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6'' high at the shoulder, 14' to the top of his head. It is the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world.The Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy, of course; but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport to remind tourists of the risks involved in the wild. Analyzing contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the past 72 hours, including a hiker missing two days prior to the bear's own death. Backtracking from where the bear had originated, the US Forest Service found the hiker's emptied 38-caliber pistol. Not far from the pistol was the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found.Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with four (that the Service ultimately retrieved, along with twelve 7mm slugs, inside the bear's body), it only wounded the bear and probably angered it immensely. Think about this:If you are an average size man, you would be level with the bear's navel when he stood upright. The bear would look you in the eye when it walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, this bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average single story house and look over the roof; or stand beside a two story house and look in the upper bedroom windows.
Can't even imagine what the hiker was thinking after shooting the bear in the head with his .38 and all that's heard is a ricochet.
What one has to remember is that when you are in their backyard you are NOT at the top of the food chain. Seriously, if you "google" a story about a 1600 LB grizzly shot by a deer hunter you will find this "story" goes back as far as 2002. The height and weight change a little bit from one account to another but, If you read it on the internet it must be true
I read a story about a guy that survived a huge bear attack like that. Only had a 22. Quick thinker shot his wife in the knee.
Makes me glad that the only bears I've had run-ins with were black bears. You don't need a gun for those. All you need is an old lady in a house coat armed with a broom and the black bear will run for the hills!
A family story of Great Grandfather leading a wagon train across the plains when a Griz attacked the horses in the middle of the night. The men killed the Bear but only after he had killed a few horses and scared the extended family.
I can't beleeeeve you'd trust an article from The North American Bear Center centered in Ely, MN over the word of The US Forest Service in Alaska!?!?!?
Phantom, We all like a great story. They are more fun if Googled before passing along so there is some semblance of truth to the tales.
