Bear Mauling Denali Highway

toedtoes wrote:
Update

Apparently the man and his companion were hunting bear when he got mauled by the bear...

Spring bear hunts....many reasons they are a poor choice. Especially in the far north.

naturist wrote:
Hey, while we're on the subject of bears, if you are going camping in bear country, USE THE FLIPPING BEAR BOXES or learn how to stow your food in the trees.

I'm camp hosting in May in a National Forest Service campground in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just like I did last year, and you wouldn't believe the people who simply do not believe a bear would bother their tent, their campsite, their cooler. Be safe, don't feed the bears. And save yourself the several hundred dollar fine for leaving food around your campsite where the bears can get it.

While I agree with you, I don't remember ever seeing a bear box in Alaska.

People need to understand that if you're hanging your food, do so a couple of hundred yards, a long way, from camp. Otherwise you just have a very frustrated bear in camp. In real bear country you set up a separate cook camp a hundred yards or more from sleep camp.

Well...guess the bear showed who was boss.

Update

Apparently the man and his companion were hunting bear when he got mauled by the bear...

What formal campsite was the victim staying at? I seem to recall a "resort" about half way along, can't recall the name.

Hey, while we're on the subject of bears, if you are going camping in bear country, USE THE FLIPPING BEAR BOXES or learn how to stow your food in the trees.

I'm camp hosting in May in a National Forest Service campground in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just like I did last year, and you wouldn't believe the people who simply do not believe a bear would bother their tent, their campsite, their cooler. Be safe, don't feed the bears. And save yourself the several hundred dollar fine for leaving food around your campsite where the bears can get it.

I don't know if it's true, but I have been told that dogs attract bears. The bears see them as possible lunch.

tonymull wrote:
There aren't any deer in that part of Alaska. Maybe a small caribou? Sounds like a fresh kill though.

Ahh, didn't know that. Must have been.

There aren't any deer in that part of Alaska. Maybe a small caribou? Sounds like a fresh kill though.

Unnerving!

I spent the night at a pull off along the Denali, truly amazing place to stay, once the traffic dies off for the night, it is SO QUIET!

On a little walkabout not far from the road, I came across a freshly gnawed deer carcass, blood was still red, hardly any insects. No scat nearby, not sure if it was bear or wolf that had dinner. My malamute didn't seem concerned, not sure if they have a sense of these things or not. He did spend the night inside the camper with me just in case.