[Malum Prohibitum]

Warning: Sad story follows.

An 11 yr old boy was dragged from his family's tent and killed by a black bear. At about 11:00 last night, he was with his mother, stepfather and 6-year-old brother in a cabin tent that has multiple rooms. The bear clawed through the tent and dragged the boy out in his sleeping bag. 2 hours later, the boy's body was found about 300 yards from the tent.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1363845

The Forest Service recommends anything but a gun.

 

[pro2am]

The Forest Service recommends anything but a gun.

Whew...good thing black bears only have 1 1/2" front claws, that way only the vitals near the surface will be punctured and torn apart.

It's news like this that makes me (want to) take a gun, no matter how small, into the tent with me, misdemeanor not withstanding.

 

[ptsmith24]

Curl up into a ball? :roll:

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Follow up story. Earlier camper shot at it with 9 mm.

The family heard the boy's screams but couldn't find him outside . . .

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,665194896,00.html

 

[Adam5]

I carry a 9mm, but if the few times that I've been wilderness camping, I kept a good rifle handy.

 

[Mobster989]

That's horrible. Even if the parents were armed what could they have done in the middle of the night? They said they could hear him but they couldn't see him. I doubt they would have just sat back and watched the bear maul their child even if they weren't armed.

That definitely makes me want to not go out into the woods to camp. Being ripped from your tent in the middle of the night is different from seeing a bear during the day or while walking around at night because you could actually get to your weapon before you get your face smashed in by 300 lbs of furry killing machine. I guess I'll never camp out in Georgia again. That is no job for a pistol, you need a rifle for those furry killing machines.

 

[Sharky]

I carry a 9mm, but if the few times that I've been wilderness camping, I kept a good rifle handy.

+1

 

[zookeper]

i always carry a gun camping/hiking, i was camping near blood mtn. this past weekend, the caliber i take (9mm) might not be enough to drop a bear but hopefully the report would scare it. maybe i'll win the ruger .454 for my new camping piece, that would probably change his mind