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COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD VIDEO
A Hawaii woman was one of two wilderness guides who were mauled by a brown bear as they were leading cruise ship passengers on a hike in the Tongass National Forest.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska >> Authorities in Alaska said a Hawaii woman was one of two wilderness guides who were mauled by a brown bear as they were leading cruise ship passengers on a hike in the Tongass National Forest.
Alaska State Troopers said today the victims of Thursday’s mauling are 41-year-old Anna Powers of Hawaii and 26-year-old Michael Justa of Juneau. A hometown for Powers was not disclosed.
The guides are crew members of the 74-passenger cruise vessel Wilderness Explorer who were leading 22 people on a hike about 30 miles north of Sitka in southeast Alaska.
The guides were rescued by the Coast Guard and were transported to Sitka, where Justa was treated and released. Powers was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for further treatment.
Powers’ condition was not immediately available.
Wish they were smart enough to carry elephant guns. A .4XX slug will stop them cold immediately. It’s on my bucket list.
.4XX or not, you still have to hit vitals. If the animal is on you fast, you may not have time to make ready your weapon. Probably walked up on a sow with cubs. Potentially deadly for both man and bear.
Wish they were smart enough to stay away from the Mama and her cubs. They got caught between the sow and her cubs on
Chichagof Island. Hope she recovers .
Nobody wants to go on a hike where the guides have to carry elephant guns!
The guide, getting caught up in the moment, would likely put a .4XX in one of the 22 hikers, instead of the bear.
Better off carrying bear spray/mace instead. They did a study and found a 50% injury rate when carrying a gun against bear attacks, while having 0% injury rate with people carrying bear spray to protect themselves instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_spray
THere’s a lesson to be learned here: Don’t go hiking where bears are. And, if you do, stay away, far away from the bears.
Man must have felt like watching the movie “Revenent”. Hope Anna recovers soon. Yes Bigdog Brown Bears are extremely fast,more so with cubs.
Malama Pono, Ms Powers.
Was thinking exactly about that movie. Wonder how they were able to train that bear to attack. The Academy Award should have been given to the animal.
Duh, the bear in The Revenant was CGI.
“In January, the movie won an Annie Award, presented annually to honor the best animation work of the year. In this case, it came in the category of Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in Live Action Production — and it was for the bear.”
http://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2016/03/how_revenant_bear_scene_was_shot.html
Need to be alert and armed when in the wilderness. Rough season for bears with the warm weather. Some did not hibernate or mate. So not a good season to travel unarmed w/o a BIG Glock.
A hiking group in bear country should have had several hunting dogs leading the way. The dogs would have smelled and encountered the bear hundreds of yards ahead, and the barking would have alerted the group to turn back to the boat for safety. As for arming the guides with anti-bear weapons, I think most people would say that they should have carried 50 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers. For me, if I couldn’t run away and had to defend against a bear attack, I would get a 50 caliber Linebaugh, which would be lighter than the S&W. The Linebaugh has only 5 bullets in the cylinder (just like the S&W), but the muzzle velocity is like a rifle, at over 1,000 feet per second, so any shot hitting the bear will be devastating. The guides would have to train properly on how to shoot such powerful handguns.
Not sure on details but the comments say they were between mama and cubs. Bad luck. As to packing a piece, not very bright. The spray annoys and worries them more. A bear traveling at you at 30 mph? Even a head shot won’t stop them.
Nice to hear all the arm chair experts but when a bear appears at 30 yards, life is real. You have one second.
Hike at home, not in a bear infested island? Hope Ms Powers recovery is fast.