Bear charges Bowhunter....

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This. Billy the kid has nothing to do with it, but situational awareness and priorities do. He was more worried about that video than his life.....and that was obvious. He obviously was not hunting bear or he would have shot it with his bow while it was at a safer distance before it closed the gap. I'm no Billy the kid, but I'm no dumbass Canadian either. He should have put down the bow and camera when he saw the bear and picked up his sidearm. Go Canada, apparently I value my life more than you do yours.

Canadians don't have sidearms.

I'm going to assume you've never hunted with a tradbow, as a 10-15 yard shot is in the wheel house of most. Your not going to shoot a bear that size quartering to you at 30 yards with a trad bow.

I cannot explain why he freaked out like that though instead of shooting it at 10 yards


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Well, you are wrong. I have more than one recurve and my kids shoot a recurve. I have no problem with close.....but I'm not a dumbass either. I have shot deer at 45 yards with my recurve on more than a few occasions. I have never taken a bear with a recurve. I am hunting bear now though. In fact.....leaving the house in an hour.....waiting for my partner to get off work and get over here. I mostly hunt with firearms though. I'm really not a bow guy. All I'm saying, instead of worrying about a video.....thus guy should have been more concerned with his safety. Yes, I agree though......he should have taken the shot....if there was no cub present.
 
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Canadians don't have sidearms.

And thank god for those laws that protect those poor souls up North.

All sarcasm aside, I am so glad I just picked up a 10mm Clock 20 for situations just like that. A couple of warning shots, but once the beautiful bear was within 20 yards, I would be inclined to start shooting. Thoughts anyone?
 

Bulldawg

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1. He had the camera mounted to his body so it wasn't like he had his hands full with a camera trying to get the shot, he just had it on and it was able to get everything that's pretty cool for this
2. If you were trying to hunt a bear with a bow, when that bear came within bow range do you say crap I need my pistol? No you wait for the shot, then bear charged and he didn't have time to do anything else except hit it in the head with his bow which I thought was hilarious

So my billy the kid comment still stands because most are not going to be fast enough to drop the bow, draw, aim, and fire. And most would not have the capacity to keep cool to even go for the gun


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tater

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Pre-Flight Check List:
Canadian:Check
Trad Archer:Check
Whole life spent around bears and bear hunting:Check

Here goes. The thing to remember with bears (and humans too) is all behaviour has meaning. When he alerted the bear to his position he made two mistakes: He did it too late (a bear's personal bubble tends to be 30-50 meters) and he did it with the bear facing towards him. That meant the bear was surprised and it had to ensure it's immediate space was secure. This is a riskier time of year than fall to surprise bears (rut is starting).

Black bears will very seldom maul. They want to ensure safety of themselves and their cubs (which this one did not have), but they are not "in it to win it" the way a Grizzly is.

Like the Stranger in the Big Lebowski says "Some days you git the bar, and some days the bar gits you..."

I accept the risk hunting bears spot and stalk with a longbow (i do get close-my hunting partner has pics of me at 9 yards from a bear that he took through his spotter), but i also am aware of body language and bear behaviour. Judging from the language i am guessing the bowhunter in the video is from NE Ontario (near Quebec border), and is probably Cree and has likely spent his whole life in the outdoors and knows bears.

I would strongly encourage people to carefully reflect before engaging in monday morning quarterbacking when they have probably never played the game they are watching.
 

JWP58

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So my billy the kid comment still stands because most are not going to be fast enough to drop the bow, draw, aim, and fire. And most would not have the capacity to keep cool to even go for the gun


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You would be suprised. Even from a retention style holster firing two rounds in 1.5 sec or 4rds in 2 seconds at close range is not too difficult. Not to mention most won't be carry a retention style holster on a hunt (simple kydex would be fine).
 

sneaky

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You would be suprised. Even from a retention style holster firing two rounds in 1.5 sec or 4rds in 2 seconds at close range is not too difficult. Not to mention most won't be carry a retention style holster on a hunt (simple kydex would be fine).
Are you assuming a zero second reaction time? Totally irrelevant to this encounter anyways as handguns are illegal up there. You can what if this for forever.

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You would be suprised. Even from a retention style holster firing two rounds in 1.5 sec or 4rds in 2 seconds at close range is not too difficult. Not to mention most won't be carry a retention style holster on a hunt (simple kydex would be fine).

99.9% of the population cannot go from fully holstered with a bow in their hands to firing 4 shots, accurately in 2 seconds. That's not realistic.


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JWP58

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99.9% of the population cannot go from fully holstered with a bow in their hands to firing 4 shots, accurately in 2 seconds. That's not realistic.


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Even though this discussion is moot since this took place in the draconian land of the canuks, I'll partake.

1. I don't know of anyone that carries a holstered handgun on their support side (support hand would be holding the bow)
2. Two seconds is longer than you think. If someone is carrying a handgun for defense and can't clear their holster and fire (at least a round) in two seconds, they need to reevaluate their training....or actually train.
3. In this situation if this fella wasn't going to attempt to shoot the bear, and didn't have a gun, he might have wanted to think about his next move (make loud noises, wave arms, deploy spray) before the bear was 3ft away from him.
 
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Even though this discussion is moot since this took place in the draconian land of the canuks, I'll partake.

1. I don't know of anyone that carries a holstered handgun on their support side (support hand would be holding the bow)
2. Two seconds is longer than you think. If someone is carrying a handgun for defense and can't clear their holster and fire (at least a round) in two seconds, they need to reevaluate their training....or actually train.
3. In this situation if this fella wasn't going to attempt to shoot the bear, and didn't have a gun, he might have wanted to think about his next move (make loud noises, wave arms, deploy spray) before the bear was 3ft away from him.

1. I switch hands carrying my bow, I doubt anyone carries their bow 100% of the time in a dedicated hand, but in this instance I agree. Although an arrow is nocked so I assume his right hand was on the string, I didn't catch if he used a tab or not either.

2. I'm a firm believer that if your going to carry a gun you should be very proficient with it. I practice weekly. Outside of Leo's not many people do (I am not a Leo, but grew up as my father and grandfather were both mil, then Leo's.) most people unfortunately have a hard time hitting a silhouette at 20 feet 4 times in 2 seconds, much less in a high pressure situation with cloths they more then likely did not practice in.

3. Agree completely, I'm not sure what happened but it looks like he got caught in a situation and freaked out when he realized the bear was to close for his comfort. I was certain he was going to shoot the bear but didn't.


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