My bear encounter (not for the weak)

[RoadRaven]

Saw that Timothy Treadwill - the doco that was released as a feature in the cinema and the 1 hour one made afterwards. That guy certainly loved animals, but he had no respect for them and seemed to lose his grip on reality the further in the filming/time frame (ie, the closer he got to being dead).

DonnaMBR, that coroner acquiited himself well and made sense as he spoke. it was good to have a few people like that in the progs that had their heads screwed on sensibly!

And Chick... how come you were in the woods with a shotgun? Or did you have solids loaded? I would not go somewhere like that without a high calibre rifle... yup, I hunt too, though only deer, possums and rabbits - hunting is about conservation in this little country.

Besides, nothing big and dangerous to be worried about here. The most dangerous thing you'd find in our bush and forests are stags or wild pigs!

[TrekJeni]

Glad you two got out of that one alive.

Tell me a little more about your 20g. I'm shooting a cheapie break action that needs to be retired. One of my girlfriends, just bought this sweet Binelli 20g semi auto that handles like a dream. I always wanted a Ruger Red Label in 20g or 28g for quail hunting.

Whenn I'm not riding my bike, I can be found hanging with my hunting dawgs or judging pointing breed field trials and hunt tests.

Jeni

[snapdragen]

Gee CWR, I didn't mean an up close and personal story....

I understand the cake baking thing too. When my Dad ended up in the hospital for an emergency double bypass, I went home and made dinner for mom, brother and sister-in-law, a huge stew. Poor SIL thought I was nuts, I think she finally understood it was my coping mechanism. (Dad is fine btw)

[margo49]

Yeeowwww!!!!
You gotta have kids and then tell *their* kids that story!
Start tonight!

[KnottedYet]

Whoa. Wow. Whoa.

<dang, girl, that's quite the story!>

[short cut sally]

oh my god, i was sitting on the edge of the chair as i was reading that, and to be here to tell us that is just amazing..hope you never encounter that again..

[bcipam]

Chick after reading your story looked to see where you lived and saw Alaska and realize you meant the bear was a brownie... thank goodness you guys are OK.

Had a friend who lived in Anchorage. Would visit each summer. We both loved to hike and mountain bike but I never got over my fear of running across a brown bear or a moose. Both very big, very scary animals. I dream of living in Alaska but know it can be dangerous. You guys stay safe.

And don't apologize for hunting. Most folks in Alaska do and I know its for meat not sport. I've never condemn the act of hunting but will condemn the sport and methods of some. If the animal is killed humanely no complaints. If torture is involved, then its wrong. Good hunters never torture their animals.

[7rider]

Oh. My. Freakin'. Lord!!!
I am so glad you both held it together. I suppose a little bird shot in the face of a 12 foot grizzly is no more annoying than a few mosquitos. The loss of a couple of brants was a small price to pay, and I wonder if that cake lasted more than the amount of time it took to cool. Can you say "nervous nibbling"?
Man!
That is one for the records.
(and folks wonder why I don't want to move up to our regional office in Juneau - sheesh!)

[mtbdarby]

Amber YOU ROCK! Way to keep your cool girl. Sure makes my black bear in the back yard seem like childs play, geezh.

I saw the Treadwill bit as well. Dude wasn't right. Although he was an expert on the bears, he lived dangerously around them. From what I've read, this would NOT be the time of year to be purposely getting close to them.

Thread hijack - anyone see Men in Trees this week? I thought of you up there Amber. Maybe I need to come visit

[chickwhorips]

Amber YOU ROCK! Way to keep your cool girl. Sure makes my black bear in the back yard seem like childs play, geezh.

I saw the Treadwill bit as well. Dude wasn't right. Although he was an expert on the bears, he lived dangerously around them. From what I've read, this would NOT be the time of year to be purposely getting close to them.

Thread hijack - anyone see Men in Trees this week? I thought of you up there Amber. Maybe I need to come visit

didjaknow that brown bears will kill a black bear. thats why you never see them together.

what is "Men in Trees" about? haven't even heard of it.

[mtbdarby]

Men in Trees - a new show about Alaska (CBS or ABC, regular night will be Fridays). A female "relationship expert" goes there to give a lecture and on the flight out there discovers she has taken her fiance's laptop instead of hers. As she looks through the pictures of them on the computer she comes across him smooching another woman - someone she knows! So when she gets to Alaska (don't remember the city), she gets licquored up before her talk, blows the talk, goes back and gets liquored up, tells the bar folk about her life, discovers she's surrounded by men, and decides to stay to write the third book she was gonna call "I'm getting married and so can you". My guess is, it will now be called "Men in Trees". As she was walking down the sidewalk she almost gets hit with a pine tree branch. She looks up and sees two guys trimming said tree and looks back to the sidewalk to see a sign "Men in Trees"..

Within her first few days, she discovers a racoon in her room eating her designer shoes, then her expensive wedding dress, borrows a "ride" (an old bike!) and rides around the gorgeous countryside, takes off in search of a pack of cigs and ends up falling through the ice (rescued by some ruggedly handsome guy who warms her up for the night). I'm getting it's about getting back to being happy with who you are, simplifying your life, and enjoying the beauty in this world, which really appealed to me. Of course, being in a town with a bunch of cute guys would be ok too! Check it out if you get a minute and tell us how accurate it really is.

All I could think about after the show (I was trying on my new leg warmers I had just got ) was if I went to Alaska what would I pack? What cycling clothes (layers), which bike (Baloo, the mtb), jeans, sweaters, take the dogs or not, etc. Guess I could be ready to visit you on short notice!!

[mary9761]

I am so glad you two made it back alive to tell the tale I'm not sure how I would have handled the same situation. I'm so glad I don't live anywhere with dangerous wildlife. Dangerous Wild LIFE is bad enough around here..
And I also say no worries about the hunting. I know that living up there in the wilds you aren't hunting for trophies. You have to eat and if you can get your own food, you save money.

[chickwhorips]

And don't apologize for hunting. Most folks in Alaska do and I know its for meat not sport. I've never condemn the act of hunting but will condemn the sport and methods of some. If the animal is killed humanely no complaints. If torture is involved, then its wrong. Good hunters never torture their animals.

thank you. there are some people that i've come across that don't understand hunting and get offended and think i'm trying to do bad things or i'm a bad person. we have a bunch of "sport hunters" in town right now. now them i would love to personally give a lecture to and a good swift kick in the shin.

Oh, I meant do you live near Chicken, Alaska.

didn't even know of the place till now. they are in the interior part of alaska. you can actually drive there by car, here you can't drive anywhere except to nowhere. we are the last city on the peninsula before the aleutian islands start. we are waaaaaaaaaay out here.

anyone is more than welcome to come visit. i'll show you a "real alaskan experience".