Danger of Predators in the Outdoors

[Hudson69]

I beleive preparation is key, just like with the martial arts if you are doing it so that, if you are going backpacking into bear country, take a gun, a big gun that will make a bear understand you are not lunch (and a previous poster mentioned moose; they can be very mean and onery, watch them as well). If you are going into lion country take a medium to large sized gun.

If you dont like guns bring track shoes, sat phone and a trauma kit. I dont even mean for anyone to shoot a wild animal but you do what you need to do to survive. If cracking off a .44 mag in the air will stop a bear do that, if a cougar could care less about your .357 going off then put one into his body or head and he will leave you alone.

I like animals and nature and would never want to kill something unless it is on a licensed hunt (which is fairly rare when I will even do that) but I always have something that will sling lead when camping, fishing (in the mountains) or hiking. I prefer large caliber revolvers......

 

[MA-Caver]

If you dont like guns bring track shoes, sat phone and a trauma kit. I dont even mean for anyone to shoot a wild animal but you do what you need to do to survive. If cracking off a .44 mag in the air will stop a bear do that, if a cougar could care less about your .357 going off then put one into his body or head and he will leave you alone.

Well not necessarily... you hit it wrong and you just might piss it off... want to tangle with a pissed off 130 pound cat? :lol: neither would I.... so sacrifice a hand and stick the barrel into it's mouth THEN pull the trigger... bear, cougar, whatever!

I like animals and nature and would never want to kill something unless it is on a licensed hunt (which is fairly rare when I will even do that) but I always have something that will sling lead when camping, fishing (in the mountains) or hiking. I prefer large caliber revolvers......

True... but give the animals a chance... wear a annoying loud bell on your pack to give it warning that something annoying and loud is coming their way... odds are in your favor that it'll skedaddle long before you even realize it's there... especially momma bears with cubs... they'd rather get out of YOUR way than you get into theirs... which would be a very bad thing indeed.
Hang your food up out of reach of animals when camping. If it's too tall for YOU to reach then go up another 2-3 feet if possible to make it out of a 7-9 foot tall bear's reach.
Use common sense and be alert ... you can still have a good time out there in the wilderness.
I usually do.

 

[Hudson69]

I for one would rather have it (a gun) and not need it than need one and not have it. As far as what MA-Caver mentioned wearing bells in bear country is part of the preparation and having more than a single shot firearm that you have trained with is another part of that equation. But to each their own.

 

[Tez3]

Er, we have the Loch Ness monster and on the coast some predatory seagulls?
Hiking here sounds so much less 'fun'! the biggest problem we have to contend with, and it is a killer, is the weather. Up on the moors, hills and mountains we have sudden changes of weather and idiots who go out unprepared.
We don't have any dangerous animals though we have one poisonous snake, the adder, which you'd be very unlucky to have bite you. No rabid animals either. However a woman did get trampled to death by a herd of cows up near me recently. Turned out she was a veterinary surgeon and should have known better, she took her dog into a field with mothers and their calves.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jun/22/woman-trampled-cows-yorkshire




Your big cats, bears and wolves sound far more exciting!

 

[jarrod]

"america, **** yeah!"

wild animals, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightening & wildfires do make things more interesting, imo.

jf

 

[Tez3]

I suppose I should have mentioned the wild haggis up in the Highlands of Scotland, a bit of an endangered species these days but ferocious all the same if cornered. Worth hunting though as the tame ones don't taste the same.

 

[Cirdan]

The mosquito up in nothern Norway.. they are so big they work in pairs where one holds you down and his buddy sucks you dry!

Anyway the fear and stupidity of tourists in the mountains never cease to suprise me.. one guy spotted some tracks the thought was wolverine (fox actually)and ran all several miles back to the hotel fearing for his life and thinking the bloodthirsty animal was following him. (fat chanse, they can smell you literally miles away and avoid people)
Two women decided to climb a peak wearing dresses and high heels. When it started to rain they got stuck up there. A helicopter had to bring them down, luckily they were spotted from the air because they had undressed and spread the bright red dresses over the rock.

 

[Tez3]

The mosquito up in nothern Norway.. they are so big they work in pairs where one holds you down and his buddy sucks you dry!

Anyway the fear and stupidity of tourists in the mountains never cease to suprise me.. one guy spotted some tracks the thought was wolverine (fox actually)and ran all several miles back to the hotel fearing for his life and thinking the bloodthirsty animal was following him. (fat chanse, they can smell you literally miles away and avoid people)
Two women decided to climb a peak wearing dresses and high heels. When it started to rain they got stuck up there. A helicopter had to bring them down, luckily they were spotted from the air because they had undressed and spread the bright red dresses over the rock.

I think they go on holiday in Northern Scotland!

I know Sweden does but don't if you do, have problems with elks wandering onto the roads? Huge things to bump into! I'm not sure how they do it either because from the article I as reading the roads in northern Sweden are quite deserted and there's huge areas of wilderness yet the elks manage to find the one car that happens to be travelling to get knocked down by.

 

[Cirdan]

I know Sweden does but don't if you do, have problems with elks wandering onto the roads? Huge things to bump into! I'm not sure how they do it either because from the article I as reading the roads in northern Sweden are quite deserted and there's huge areas of wilderness yet the elks manage to find the one car that happens to be travelling to get knocked down by.

We got the Elk problem here in Norway too, not just up north but also a bit in the south. The elks appear to love crossing roads in the morning when people are driving to work. Nearly hit one myself once. They generally are moving foreward so you should aim for the elk`s *** and you will not hit anything.. unless you really want your car destroyed and a ton of elk meatballs.

Magnificient animals by the way, used to run into the odd wandering one back when I was a kid growing up in the country. Oh, and elk sausages taste great.