Just thought thought I'd share this experience as a tale of caution for people to file away in the back of your mind about the kind of strange things that can happen.
Was fishing in this stream by my father's house in Alaska. We've seen bear in the area, and make a practice of carrying around there, or pretty much where ever we go outside. This stream is a relatively popular destination for tourists/travellers but at the moment we were there by ourselves. I walked up just around the corner when I hear "Bear!" from my sister. I turn around to see her literally face to face with a large Black bear.
My back had been to them both, and she had her back to the bear. It seems what happened is when she turned around she was startled by the bear. When she screamed in the bears face, it got startled too.
So at her scream I went for my gun and had it in hand and loaded before I was turned around, was about to chamber a round but bear turned away and jogged up the stream the other way. I kept and eye on it (but kept my distance)for a minute as other people were around by this point, but hadn't noticed it yet. Bear just swatted at a salmon picked it up, and ran off into the woods to eat it.
In the end it was kind of fun, because we got to see the bear come back to fish for another 30mins or so, (we stayed on the other side of the creek, alot closer to the car
) got some good pics, and no one and no thing ended up getting hurt. But I learned a few good lessons, and learned em well. They are all things I've heard/read before but just didn't sink in, I suppose.
1)Situational awareness: I was snuck up on by a bear who wasn't trying to be sneaky.
2)Situational awareness: I backed myself into a corner without noticing it. At the time I walked over there it didn't seem that bad. As I was staring at a bear that was in between me and my only way to go, the point was driven home. On two sides were a shear rock wall face that I couldn't have climbed up quickly on a good day. I watched the bear go up and down effortlessly. Up the river were slippery logs and large fallen logs. I could have made my way through but not as fast as that bear.
3)Defensive preparedness: Didn't hesitate to pull the gun into ready, didn't fumble with mags, steady hand, didn't panic. I was proud of myself for that, but I have no way of knowing how I would have done had the scenario "played itself out".
4)Equipment:
A) Holsters: I need something else. I have an XD-9 and the holster and mag holder that it came with. They are adequate for transporting a firearm on one's person, that's it. Poor for concealment, and frankly I don't like having to draw quickly from it, I couldnt get the angle I'd like for my hand to fall to.
B) Cothing: Not just from this event, but from hiking around with it in the woods I also found my clothes tended to ride up and allow the equipment to get caught on branches and crap. It was irritating to have to adjust my gear every few minutes, would have made it worse if I was hiking around people/tryign to stay concealed. I need to find some clothing that allows for better concealment in more "active" environments. What works when walking around the apartment doesn't always translate well into the great outdoors.
C) Firepower: With 32 rounds of 9mm available I wasn't exactly feeling exposed. However - I'm not ruling out choosing a stronger caliber. I probably wouldn't buy a new gun just for this alone. But after seeing a bear up close, if I had something bigger, I'd strongly consider carrying it. Range has to be close enough with a bear I wouldn't be concerned about missing so much, or needing to fend off multiple bears. I'm no bear/ballistics expert so there is no more value to this than what you've payed for it, but I just felt like something bigger than 9mm would be preferable.
Thats all I have to say for now. If I think of anything important I forgot, I'll add it later.
Was fishing in this stream by my father's house in Alaska. We've seen bear in the area, and make a practice of carrying around there, or pretty much where ever we go outside. This stream is a relatively popular destination for tourists/travellers but at the moment we were there by ourselves. I walked up just around the corner when I hear "Bear!" from my sister. I turn around to see her literally face to face with a large Black bear.
My back had been to them both, and she had her back to the bear. It seems what happened is when she turned around she was startled by the bear. When she screamed in the bears face, it got startled too.
So at her scream I went for my gun and had it in hand and loaded before I was turned around, was about to chamber a round but bear turned away and jogged up the stream the other way. I kept and eye on it (but kept my distance)for a minute as other people were around by this point, but hadn't noticed it yet. Bear just swatted at a salmon picked it up, and ran off into the woods to eat it.
In the end it was kind of fun, because we got to see the bear come back to fish for another 30mins or so, (we stayed on the other side of the creek, alot closer to the car
) got some good pics, and no one and no thing ended up getting hurt. But I learned a few good lessons, and learned em well. They are all things I've heard/read before but just didn't sink in, I suppose.1)Situational awareness: I was snuck up on by a bear who wasn't trying to be sneaky.
2)Situational awareness: I backed myself into a corner without noticing it. At the time I walked over there it didn't seem that bad. As I was staring at a bear that was in between me and my only way to go, the point was driven home. On two sides were a shear rock wall face that I couldn't have climbed up quickly on a good day. I watched the bear go up and down effortlessly. Up the river were slippery logs and large fallen logs. I could have made my way through but not as fast as that bear.
3)Defensive preparedness: Didn't hesitate to pull the gun into ready, didn't fumble with mags, steady hand, didn't panic. I was proud of myself for that, but I have no way of knowing how I would have done had the scenario "played itself out".
4)Equipment:
A) Holsters: I need something else. I have an XD-9 and the holster and mag holder that it came with. They are adequate for transporting a firearm on one's person, that's it. Poor for concealment, and frankly I don't like having to draw quickly from it, I couldnt get the angle I'd like for my hand to fall to.
B) Cothing: Not just from this event, but from hiking around with it in the woods I also found my clothes tended to ride up and allow the equipment to get caught on branches and crap. It was irritating to have to adjust my gear every few minutes, would have made it worse if I was hiking around people/tryign to stay concealed. I need to find some clothing that allows for better concealment in more "active" environments. What works when walking around the apartment doesn't always translate well into the great outdoors.
C) Firepower: With 32 rounds of 9mm available I wasn't exactly feeling exposed. However - I'm not ruling out choosing a stronger caliber. I probably wouldn't buy a new gun just for this alone. But after seeing a bear up close, if I had something bigger, I'd strongly consider carrying it. Range has to be close enough with a bear I wouldn't be concerned about missing so much, or needing to fend off multiple bears. I'm no bear/ballistics expert so there is no more value to this than what you've payed for it, but I just felt like something bigger than 9mm would be preferable.
Thats all I have to say for now. If I think of anything important I forgot, I'll add it later.
