Would you help a friend fight off a grizzly or would you run off to get help?

[Independent voter]

I was reading this article and I thought, "why didn't his friend help? Together they might've scared it off." I guess it's too easy to judge from the comfort of your easy chair.









http://www.adn.com/nation-world/2016...national-park/



Treat died Wednesday afternoon after being attacked by a grizzly bear just south of Glacier National Park. Though he had maintained his athleticism — he was riding his mountain bike, after all — Treat, who was just 38 years old and a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service, couldn't escape his fate.


But his companion did. Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry told the Associated Press that Treat and another man had been biking near Halfmoon Lakes when they came across the bear, surprising it. The other man escaped unscathed and sought help while the bear knocked Treat off his bike.



Help arrived too late, and Treat was declared dead on the scene. The bear has not been found, though authorities are searching for it, and campers were briefed on the incident.



Treat's death marks the seventh grizzly fatality since 2010 in the Northern Rockies, though the decade's previous incidents have all occurred within the greater Yellowstone area. In fact, Treat is only the 11th person to have died from a bear attack in Glacier National Park since its creation in 1910. Park officials said that, roughly once or twice a year, visitors have non-fatal encounters with the bears, but according to the AP, the last death from an attack happened in 1998, when three bears killed a park vendor employee.



The numbers seem to suggest that bear attacks are on the rise, and most scientists agree that the tension between man and bear will continue to grow. A Casper Star-Tribune story from September 2014 noted that the number of bear attacks in Wyoming that had been reported so far in 2014 was roughly equal to the average number of reported incidents in a year. With regard to black bears, one study found that 86 percent of all fatal recorded black bear attacks between 1900 and 2009 happened after 1960.



The explanation is simple: "We have more people, we have more bears, and we have more people living in bear habitat," John Beechem, a research biologist who studies interactions between bears and humans, told National Geographic in 2010.

[Justpassing]

'mo friends, 'mo problems.

[May90]

Get help, definitely. There is no way two humans without firearms can beat an adult Grizzly!

[hachidori]

Sticking around to help is kind of pointless if you don't have anything on-hand that will, you know, actually help. Grizzly bears have a notorious lack of fear compared to other bears. Shouting with your arms out, waving fire at it and it even shooting it isn't likely to make a grizzly go away.

I know he was on a bike but this is why you should bring a gun to that sort of wilderness.

EDIT: Bear spray is better than guns, actually.

[vindicatorx]

Not a yes or no question pal. However I will still give an answer I'm fat and out of shape so it's fight time.

[Gamdwelf]

Get educated on bears if you're gonna hike/bike in their habitat.

Leaving was a death sentence for the one guy.he had a better chance if his friend stayed.

[zenkai]

Id go get help, there's a story where someone was attacked by a bear, and other people died trying to stop the bear, there is no way in hell you can fight of a bear unarmed.

Also your poll doesn't make sense with the 2 questions

[Deleted]

I would run like I had never run before. Ain't no way I going against a grizzly bear with no gun. Anyone who says they would are either lying, or have never seen a grizzly bear.

[Cosmic Janitor]

We shot the last wild bear, he was called Bruno. I'd advocate for doing it again :P.

[Schattenlied]

If I'm anywhere that bears are a possibility, I carry a firearm specifically for that reason, something high caliber meant to be able to take large animals like bears (and if firearms aren't allowed I don't go there), so... yeah, I would.

[Gamdwelf]

All the people thinking fighting the bear is the only option are all wrong.

[Nanaboostme]

Reminds of the recent Istanbul Airport attack; how the person caring for a handicapped senior in a wheelchair abandoned him after the attacks went off.

[shadowmouse]

There is no way two humans without firearms can beat an adult Grizzly!

I have torn up my knees enough, I don't run. If I'm going into an area where I may need something to balance the odds, I'm packing bear/pepper spray as fits. Bear spray in national parks, pepper spray in East St. Louis.

[Dug]

If a bear is in attack mode there's nothing you or your friend could do to stop it, especially if you're not armed (and I'm talking serious firepower). All you can do is get away and try and get help

[Cosmic Janitor]

He should have played dead while his friend went for help.

Afaik that is a myth, bears maul their prey and bury them because rot makes it more tender.. I see no reason why playing dead would work.

[Argarock]

Depends on the friend..

..what? Some of my friends I would be willing to risk my life for, some not.

also, "fight" probably not, "distract so my friend wouldnt get his face eaten" is more like it.. you don't simply fight a 600kg ball of rage,hate,fur and claws, bearehanded.

[Alvito]

I would run like I had never run before. Ain't no way I going against a grizzly bear with no gun. Anyone who says they would are either lying, or have never seen a grizzly bear.

You are also not going to outrun it. Just blindly running off just means you are going to die tired.

- - - Updated - - -

Going some place that has dangerous wild life and not educating yourself on what to do if you cross paths is beyond stupid.

[Cosmic Janitor]

You are also not going to outrun it. Just blindly running off just means you are going to die tired.

According to the premise the bear is currently busy eating your friend.

[Tijuana]

I was reading this article and I thought, "why didn't his friend help? Together they might've scared it off." I guess it's too easy to judge from the comfort of your easy chair.









http://www.adn.com/nation-world/2016...national-park/






The numbers seem to suggest that bear attacks are on the rise, and most scientists agree that the tension between man and bear will continue to grow. A Casper Star-Tribune story from September 2014 noted that the number of bear attacks in Wyoming that had been reported so far in 2014 was roughly equal to the average number of reported incidents in a year. With regard to black bears, one study found that 86 percent of all fatal recorded black bear attacks between 1900 and 2009 happened after 1960.



The explanation is simple: "We have more people, we have more bears, and we have more people living in bear habitat," John Beechem, a research biologist who studies interactions between bears and humans, told National Geographic in 2010.

Really article writer? Bear vs man tension? Who hires these people, honestly?

[lonely zergling]

I would pull out my smartphone and google: how to survive a grizzly attack.

Or create a thread on MMO champion asking for help, as we all know MMO champion is full of experts.