While grizzlies are widely thought much more dangerous than black bears, his data showed them in a close finish regarding attacks: 72 by wild black bears, 80 by wild grizzlies. A study completed by Canadian journalist Mike Cramond in 1980 put more than 250 attacks in his files, dating to 1929: “about as far back as reliable sources go.” There are gaps in the records, he noted, primarily from parks. Bear attacks have long earned headlines but only survivors can tell what happened, and in many reports the cause-even the bear species-remains unclear. “I want to keep working for the U.S.G.S.”įrom such tales spring nightmares. Cynthia was strong, but she’d lose both arms in surgery. When he did spot her, he had to fetch help. Her call had reached camp, but when Ed arrived he couldn’t see the prostrate woman in the brush. “Ed! Come quick! I’m being eaten by a bear!” Then the beast pounced again. Cynthia got her left hand to the torn pack pocket and keyed the radio. After “almost a half-hour,” the bear paused. The animal then grabbed Cynthia’s arm and pulled her into the brush, periodically licking blood from her wounds. I heard the bear’s canines crunching on my skull.” “I was conscious of my flesh being torn, teeth against bone. When it paused, Cynthia reached for her radio-futilely, with her pack on. It bit deep into her right shoulder and shook her. Landing face-down, she willed herself not to move. She was struck “a staggering blow” and thrown forward. The bear didn’t move off it came toward her, stealthily. I looked up and saw a black bear rise just 10 feet away.” She yelled, waving her arms. Cynthia stopped to chip a shard from an outcrop.

Camp’s radio, tended by Ed’s wife, was 80 miles away.Ī trail through the brush made walking easy. Pick-up would be eight miles down-country. She wore a rucksack with lunch and a rock hammer, and a radio in an outside pocket. “Our supervisor said guns added more danger than they might prevent.”Įarly on August 12, 1977, chopper pilot Ed Spencer delivered Cynthia to a ridge 60 miles out of Fairbanks. Though her team commonly split to work alone, 30-year-old Cynthia Dusel-Bacon carried no firearm. She saw her first grizzly from a helicopter during her third year of field mapping for the U.S.G.S. So what will you do about a bear about to do you in? By Wayne VanZwoll, B&C Professional member, Regular Contributor, Fair Chase Magazine From the Fall 2020 issue of Fair Chase Quick, accurate pointing, with heavy bullets, makes carbines of modest power effective bear-stoppers.

Trail carbine vs brush gun