When you're on the menu. What would you do?
- Thread starter Quixoticgeek
- Start date
I have been on multi-day foot safaris in the St Lucia Wetlands and other Reserves in South Africa.
There are lots of potential killers in there ranging from Hippo and Cape Buffalo through to Leopard.
Although we nearly walked into a couple of Buffalo Bulls, were "seen off" by a male Hippo and were, for a short while, followed by a leopard at no time was a firearm deployed.
Yes we had armed Rangers with us in St Lucia - one (two after the Leopard showed an interest in us) armed with old Lee-Enfield rifles and one with a Kalashnikov rifle (a poacher dis-courager) and we spent most nights in hike tents or in the open air some were spent in old RAF radar station block houses (the tents were nicer), we saw lots of "killer" wildlife and had some great times.
Potentially we were "on the menu" but by following good practice and common sense precautions (ie make a lot of noise on the way to the 3 sided longdrop loos to encourage wildlife to vacate the area) we never lost a member of teams on any of the African trips I undertook but saw wildlife - including Lion, Hippo, Buffs, Rhino, Leopard, Crocs, Whales, Sharks and other killers from "up close, on foot".
The most dangerous thing that happened concerning wildlife was when Baboons started throwing rocks at us!
There are lots of potential killers in there ranging from Hippo and Cape Buffalo through to Leopard.
Although we nearly walked into a couple of Buffalo Bulls, were "seen off" by a male Hippo and were, for a short while, followed by a leopard at no time was a firearm deployed.
Yes we had armed Rangers with us in St Lucia - one (two after the Leopard showed an interest in us) armed with old Lee-Enfield rifles and one with a Kalashnikov rifle (a poacher dis-courager) and we spent most nights in hike tents or in the open air some were spent in old RAF radar station block houses (the tents were nicer), we saw lots of "killer" wildlife and had some great times.
Potentially we were "on the menu" but by following good practice and common sense precautions (ie make a lot of noise on the way to the 3 sided longdrop loos to encourage wildlife to vacate the area) we never lost a member of teams on any of the African trips I undertook but saw wildlife - including Lion, Hippo, Buffs, Rhino, Leopard, Crocs, Whales, Sharks and other killers from "up close, on foot".
The most dangerous thing that happened concerning wildlife was when Baboons started throwing rocks at us!
In pretty much all places i'd use copious amounts of DEET, a mozzie-net and tick repelling clothing. Mozzies and ticks are most likely to have you on the menu. And with Lymes etc. also most likely to do you harm.
Here along Texas we have this tiny arachnid called a 'chigger'. You do NOT want to be menu for chiggers. We also have ticks, several types of poisonous snakes, alligators, mean dogs that run in packs, and vastly increasing number of feral pigs.
Our feral pigs are a mixture of domestic breeds plus the German wild boar and the Russian vepr. They are increasing at such a rate that as long as you have a general hunting license, you can kill any feral pig you see 24/7/365 in unlimited quantities using any means necessary. For some reason its illegal to kill them on a road in Texas unless you accidentally hit them with a vehicle. Of the 50 US states, more than 40 are now experiencing feral pig population problems.
They get big too. I saw one dead beside the freeway that a semi hit and from a distance I initially thought it was a dead cow. Yeah, some are actually THAT big, I'm not exaggerating.
For walks and hiking I carry a handgun, except when I'm hunting I carry a shotgun and a handgun or a bow and a handgun.
Further west these days out in the boondocks I'm always armed. In addition to things like mountain lions (puma, cougar), people are as big of a danger as any critter. There is a reason why American forest rangers are typically packing a .40 cal high capacity handgun and 2 spare magazines.
Our feral pigs are a mixture of domestic breeds plus the German wild boar and the Russian vepr. They are increasing at such a rate that as long as you have a general hunting license, you can kill any feral pig you see 24/7/365 in unlimited quantities using any means necessary. For some reason its illegal to kill them on a road in Texas unless you accidentally hit them with a vehicle. Of the 50 US states, more than 40 are now experiencing feral pig population problems.
They get big too. I saw one dead beside the freeway that a semi hit and from a distance I initially thought it was a dead cow. Yeah, some are actually THAT big, I'm not exaggerating.
For walks and hiking I carry a handgun, except when I'm hunting I carry a shotgun and a handgun or a bow and a handgun.
Further west these days out in the boondocks I'm always armed. In addition to things like mountain lions (puma, cougar), people are as big of a danger as any critter. There is a reason why American forest rangers are typically packing a .40 cal high capacity handgun and 2 spare magazines.
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It's generally illegal to hunt anything in any state from a road (assuming you mean a public road vs a private road) It's also generally illegal to even fire a gun within a certain distance of any public road in most states. Private roads are "usually" another matter altogether.
Here in BC, rifles more than 1/4 mile away from the highway. Shotguns OK in the forest beyond the Right-Of-Way (40-50yds?)
I am visiting in the city. The black bear sows with cubs are literally on the other side of the backyard fence which is 16yds from the sundeck.
Black & Grizzly bears & cougars, don't think the Lynx or Bobcats are any real threat.
A really horny and really aggressive bull moose or bull elk in the rutting season is as big as a horse and far less predictable.
I am visiting in the city. The black bear sows with cubs are literally on the other side of the backyard fence which is 16yds from the sundeck.
Black & Grizzly bears & cougars, don't think the Lynx or Bobcats are any real threat.
A really horny and really aggressive bull moose or bull elk in the rutting season is as big as a horse and far less predictable.
When my sister lived in West Palm Beach, no winter visit was complete without a visit to the Okeeheele nature reserve. On rt 882 leading to it, every, and I really do mean every, road sign was peppered with bullet holes. So much for rules.
Must be some really big tough hunters to kill a road sign = they don't even fall over. Same up here.
Of course, I was being somewhat sarcastical in the road comment. But when the brush is thick and you see a 400 pound feral pig walk across a rural road like he owned the place, you know it's tempting.
Yeah, it is indeed. We take stands along private roads when driving deer. Don't know of anybody who hunts hogs with dogs but it would be the same. Sorry I missed the sarcasm; it's obvious now in retrospect.
On rt 882 leading to it, every, and I really do mean every, road sign was peppered with bullet holes.
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Have you seen the YouTube/Facebook interview with the guy who has just survived 2 grizz attacks?
In the same league as a 400lb hog, I would think.
Here in BC, you can't shoot a centerfire within 1/4 mile of designated major highways.
You can use a shotgun beyond the open highway right-of-way, I'll guess thats maybe 30 yrds each side.
So we sit in lawn chairs in the ditches of side roads, burlap camo, and blast the geese as they come by!
It has crossed my mind. Let the air out of a 20lb piece of meat doing at least 70kph.
That lump is coasting in like a Sunday roast, aimed right at my head.
Haven't been hit yet but have felt the breeze as a dead Canada goose shot past me.
In the same league as a 400lb hog, I would think.
Here in BC, you can't shoot a centerfire within 1/4 mile of designated major highways.
You can use a shotgun beyond the open highway right-of-way, I'll guess thats maybe 30 yrds each side.
So we sit in lawn chairs in the ditches of side roads, burlap camo, and blast the geese as they come by!
It has crossed my mind. Let the air out of a 20lb piece of meat doing at least 70kph.
That lump is coasting in like a Sunday roast, aimed right at my head.
Haven't been hit yet but have felt the breeze as a dead Canada goose shot past me.
When you're on the menu. What would you do?
Trip Up Dewi. Maybe throw a bit of tex mex on him before running away giggling.
Trip Up Dewi. Maybe throw a bit of tex mex on him before running away giggling.
I would think the grizzly attacks would be much worse. Hogs have tusks, but bears have teeth, and paws with claws.
There was a guy up in Alaska that was dressing out a freshly killed deer next to a river when a grizzly attacked him. He managed to kill the bear with a Buck 110 lockblade. He was messed up pretty bad. The bear tore his tendons in a way that he couldn't let go of the knife, so he just kept stabbing the bear. Buck now has the knife on display in the company collection.
There was this other guy up in Montana several years ago in the middle of the night he heard a disturbance coming from his chicken coop. So, thinking that a local pesky fox was getting into the chickens again he grabs a single shot, break action .410 shotgun.
He walks out, shines his flashlight and instead of a fox, much to his horror he surprises a sow grizzly that immediately charges him. He instinctively raised the .410 and fired a 'Hail Mary' shot and the bear collapsed dead at his feet. The bear was so close they found the wad from the .410 shell in the bear's nostrils. The shot load went right into it's brain.
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Yup, those things happen. My garbage can is just at the side of my house.
I do not take out the kitchen garbage after dark. Just not worth the risk.
Not even the risk to get gunned up with a 12ga and BBB. Tomorrow is another day.
The whole village law regarding the "discharge of firearms" reads as stupid when the chips are down.
Was a big Black wandering down Dominion Ave in the village this AM. Nice pictures.
Nobody saw any cubs so preobably a male. That's maybe 4-5 blocks south of my house.
In the late autumn, the bears are looking for cheap food to bulk up for hibernation.
Not so much as a calculated fight, more like a tree full of apples.
We still get the stupid mountain bike tourists who imagine that they can out-pace a bear. Wrong.
Over open ground, the bears can sprint at 50kph/30mph.
I do not take out the kitchen garbage after dark. Just not worth the risk.
Not even the risk to get gunned up with a 12ga and BBB. Tomorrow is another day.
The whole village law regarding the "discharge of firearms" reads as stupid when the chips are down.
Was a big Black wandering down Dominion Ave in the village this AM. Nice pictures.
Nobody saw any cubs so preobably a male. That's maybe 4-5 blocks south of my house.
In the late autumn, the bears are looking for cheap food to bulk up for hibernation.
Not so much as a calculated fight, more like a tree full of apples.
We still get the stupid mountain bike tourists who imagine that they can out-pace a bear. Wrong.
Over open ground, the bears can sprint at 50kph/30mph.
I have a friend lives in Montana, she has a 3' square piece of corrugated tin hung on the porch rail along with an old pry bar, she rattles the tin with the bar every time she comes out of the back door, she said it's not to 'scare' anything away that may be wondering around her yard it's just to let them know she's there. She has some fascinating stories (with pictures to back many of them up) as to some of the encounters she's had over the years.....she says attacks generally happen as a result of surprising or accidently cornering something. She and her late husband 'staked' a claim there many years ago, when the kids were growing up anything that wondered into the yard or got itself trapped in the Chicken house or root cellar would become future dinner now that she lives alone she says she has mellowed and doesn't need as much red meat so she tries to 'shoo' them away with a big stick.........
( I suspect cabin fever)
D.B.
( I suspect cabin fever)D.B.
A bear can be a frightening thing, especially the North American brown bear (the polar bear is meaner but you have to be really far north to encounter one of those). The native tribes often referred to grizzly bears as 'demons'.
This is an interesting story that shows what violence those things can do in just a very brief period of time. Basically, this guy up in Canada left the door open on his Toyota Sequoia and a bear got inside. The door closed behind the bear trapping him in. The trapped bear just went nuts inside the vehicle, doing $60,000 in damage in just a few minutes before it smashed it's way out the rear window and escaped.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/trapped-bear-commits-vehicular-mauling-in-alberta-1.765223
This is an interesting story that shows what violence those things can do in just a very brief period of time. Basically, this guy up in Canada left the door open on his Toyota Sequoia and a bear got inside. The door closed behind the bear trapping him in. The trapped bear just went nuts inside the vehicle, doing $60,000 in damage in just a few minutes before it smashed it's way out the rear window and escaped.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/trapped-bear-commits-vehicular-mauling-in-alberta-1.765223
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Despite their rolly-polly appearance, a grizz can sprint fast enough to catch a galloping horse, approx 35mph.
They have the manual dexterity with their claws to open a brass rifle shell casing.
They don't do much bluffing. They don't need to.
Stop to admire a partially buried prey/kill site and the bear will try to kill you.
Get between the sow and her cubs and she will try to kill you.
The only critters that the bears won't mess with are llamas.
They have the manual dexterity with their claws to open a brass rifle shell casing.
They don't do much bluffing. They don't need to.
Stop to admire a partially buried prey/kill site and the bear will try to kill you.
Get between the sow and her cubs and she will try to kill you.
The only critters that the bears won't mess with are llamas.
I was wondering how he could do $60,000 damage to a $45,000 vehicle; then I remembered to convert the currency.
I'd rather not label one species of bear as any meaner than any other. Kodiaks vs Polars vs Grizz vs Blacks.
I do believe that the big issues are the matter of surprise = they don't like to be "shocked"
and instances where humans accidently interfere with their life style (kills & cubs).
Just Grizz and Blacks in my district, together with cougars, lynx, bobcats, wolves and coyotes.
Two(?) winters ago, a cougar killed a deer and stashed it under some brush behind a local village restaurant.
Once again this fall, there are 4 deer that cruise my neighborhood, trimming flower beds and fruit trees.
I expect, as usual, to find their footprints in the snow on my front doorstep. They are so habituated
to village activity that they make for easy cougar kills. The greater concern is that the cougars
probably don't discriminate between deer and small school children. Nobody killed/mauled yet.
I do believe that the big issues are the matter of surprise = they don't like to be "shocked"
and instances where humans accidently interfere with their life style (kills & cubs).
Just Grizz and Blacks in my district, together with cougars, lynx, bobcats, wolves and coyotes.
Two(?) winters ago, a cougar killed a deer and stashed it under some brush behind a local village restaurant.
Once again this fall, there are 4 deer that cruise my neighborhood, trimming flower beds and fruit trees.
I expect, as usual, to find their footprints in the snow on my front doorstep. They are so habituated
to village activity that they make for easy cougar kills. The greater concern is that the cougars
probably don't discriminate between deer and small school children. Nobody killed/mauled yet.
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