Missing hiker found dead of suspected bear attack in Glacier National Park

noise is such an important part of it. i grew up in and did a lot of hiking in the rockies and even when i was alone i'd talk out loud to myself. i might've looked insane to anyone i came across but it worked well 99% of the time

yeah, always always wear noisy little bells on your clothing so as not to startle bears that aren't expecting you. and without exception, always carry pepper spray in case of bear encounter. watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. also, recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear dung: * black bear dung is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. * grizzly bear dung has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

The first time the wife and I hiked in Colorado, cannabis had just been legalized, so we smoked a little and hiked. We came across a dude with a speaker around his neck blasting rap. We were like “hey, whats that all about?” And he said “Oh, I like to make noise to scare off the bears!” And we laughed and kept going on our way. About two minutes later, we were like “bears?!”

Yep. I've spent a lot of time solo camping in bear country, both black and grizzly. If I don't have a partner to talk to as I hike, I'll regularly clap or call out "hey bears! Don't want no bears!" I've certainly had a few bear encounters over the years that have gotten the adrenaline pumping, but I've never come around a blind corner of a trail to find myself five feet from a surprised bear.

My wife and I hiked in the Tetons and we were making noise the whole time. Whistling, clapping, talking louder than necessary. We didnt see any bears, but there were definitely some spots thst just felt like a bear could easily be nearby

Yea this is great advice. When my girlfriend and i hiked through Yellowstone we would clap as we walked, never encountered any wildlife.

How can you tell brown bear scat from black bear scat? Black bear scat has bits of fur, nuts, berries etc. Brown bear scat has bells and smells like bear spray. /s

Especially make noise when you are around moving water, which masks noise. That's where bells help. 

300 ft sound bubble at all times, slow down around blind corners 

This. I’ve carried bear bells on my backpack ever since my first visit to Yosemite. It allows wildlife in the area to adjust to my presence long before they see me. 

Bear spray is extremely effective too so its the best way to get away safely, even from big brown bears and grizzlies. Just remember bear spray expires, usually in 3 to 5 years so keep it up to date

\> This is great advice. I am also from Fort Lauderdale and we do not have bears here. Yes, but you have gators, and spray doesn't work on them.

At the gift shop? Ooof.  Go to Costco and you get 2 cans for less than the price of one anywhere else. 

I don't have to be faster than a bear, just faster than you.

Go hiking with a FAT person! Having a buddy who is fire arm trained can make a difference when encountering a bear!

Bears are always active in Glacier. 

Hiking alone at 8pm?! F***.

I've been in Glacier alone at that time of the day in October on going to the sun road doing night photography. It is creepy as you are completely alone with not a person for miles. I left my car running and lights on with music playing just in case. I also never stepped past 5 feet of my driver side door.

My family took a two week trip to glacier when I was 11. I bought that book at the gift shop the day we arrived. I was the loudest kid on the trails those two weeks, let me tell you.

Looks like it’s out of print, I wanted to buy it

They released a movie about this a few months ago I believe

Classic. I first heard that from some kids working at the KOA in St. Mary.

This is wonderful information and I feel it’s pertinent to add my little tidbit as respectfully as possible: There are a lot of black bears that aren’t dark enough to appear to be a black bear and they are considered to have a “cinnamon/brown” coat. Some people call them cinnamon black bears. They are very common and often are mistaken for grizzlies. They look like mini grizzlies and you can only tell the difference by their smaller size, getting close enough to see if they have a pronounced shoulder hunch, or recognizing a straight facial profile or very curved claws. We get a lot of local facebook posts in Idaho from tourists about “young/baby” grizzly bears with pictures of cinnamon black bears attached and then everyone educates each other in the comments.

Black bears are like dogs on my experience. Most of them don’t give a shit about you, some might be curious, very few will attack you for seemingly no reason whatsoever but it’s usually because they’ve been habituated to humans and feel entitled to their food. There’s also the case of getting between a mother and her cubs so if you ever come across a bear cub, GET THE F*** AWAY FROM IT ASAP

There have definitely been people killed by black bear. You don’t want to play dead when attacked by black bear the way you would if you were attacked by a brown bear. Black bears are more shy than brown bears, and are more likely to run away when they see a human. So if a black bear attacks you, it likely wants to eat you. So you want to make yourself look as big as possible and if necessary, fight back.

Great info! They both sound horrific.

god i hope it was after. that's a horrible way to go.

This sounds far more logical than my train of thought and not at any more comforting.

Unfortunately Bears typically don't wait until you're dead to start eating you. Cats like to kill you and then eat you, bears just like to hold you down and go for it

The ol self defense claim huh..

I do carry bear spray. I’d rather not shoot a bear if I don’t have too.

Glock 20 vmos with a red dot sitting on top. Fairly light so it’s good for hiking.

Wasn’t there another bear attack at Yellowstone NP this week tho? Not deadly but major injuries.

Iirc, that study (or the studies that folks often refer to on the topic) was, at least arguably, rife for misinterpretation. From what I remember, it boiled down to: "For every hundred times bear spray was used, X people got mauled; for every hundred times a gun was resorted to, Y people got mauled". So the question is, what context either was being used in. Same exact situation for both? Or.....was there bear spray being used frequently in situations that wouldn't have warranted shooting at a bear anyways? And maybe that bear didn't even get hit with it; it was just doing a mock charge. Like, if I was out stomping around in brown bear territory and came across one that was following/circling/displaying but not actually charging? I wouldn't go shooting at it, but I damn sure might pop off some bear spray if it was getting uncomfortably close. On the other hand, if some 800lb bear is running straight for me at 35mph with no signs of it being a mock charge? Yeah, I'm not dicking around with bear spray; that f*****'s getting as many brenneke slugs or 300gr-400gr-ish solids as I can pump out before I get mauled. The other thing is that people have an exaggerated opinion of how strong/easy to use bear spray is. Yeah, getting a faceful of bear spray is no fun at all (I have firsthand experience....long story) but it's no damn stronger than any other peppers spray; there's just a bigger stream & more volume. And it's a hell of a lot more dependent on the wind speed/direction than a bullet is; it's entirely possible that you'd miss Mr. Bear entirely, but get enough blown back into your own face that *you'd* be incapacitated rather than the bear. Takes a while to really mess you up, too; if you used it on a charging bear and hit it square in the face, doesn't do much good for you if that bear already reached you, smacked the shit out of you before its eyes got blurry, and then had to go wait it out for a few hours. Just sayin'. Full disclosure: Am not anti-bear, nor am I pro-bear-hunting, and I personally find bear (not to mention wolf/coyote/fox) hunting distasteful....although I do realize that some folks consider bear meat delicious, and I don't doubt them on it.

I've been to a bunch of national Parks and have never seen a no guns sign. I think you are thinking about state parks. Under the Obama administration we became allowed to carry in national parks