Has anyone seen this? An outrage.

[Baffman]

[url]http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/eastern- ... akes-basin


Update:

http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/eastern- ... r-shooting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Throw the book at him. Defending what? His damned sandwich?

Baff

[AldeFarte]

Nice bear. Good color. Don't see any obvious rub marks. He'll probably have to forfeit the hide, tho. If I knew that was the obvious case, I wouldn't skin it. I'd tell the gamy "It's your bear, You skin it". Too bad stupid people caused this bears death. Like at the zoo, "Don't feed the animals." Probably wasted the meat, also. What a shame! That is outrageous.

[Hetchy]

I agree it is an outrage. I just spent the last 5 months living on the Pacific Crest Trail. Everytime I was near a town and ran into "locals" they would inevitably ask if I was carrying a gun. In Washington a couple of us ran into a group of bear hunters.. It was funny cause when they asked us if we had seen any (bears) my buddy Birdman had the best reply.. "Good Luck Man the last bear I saw was 1500 miles back!"
Poor AVO ran into a lady that railed at him saying:"What no gun?! You hikers are so ignorant. If you get eaten by a mountain lion it will serve you right!"
Unbelieveable!
There is a tremendous amount of fear and misunderstanding regarding bears, Mountain Lion and wild places in general.
Heck, I was stealth camped at Lost Lake in the Blue Lakes Basin and I watched a guy "patrol" the edge of the lake with a large pistol strapped to his hip. I had to laugh cause there I was laying on my little plastic ground sheet exposed to any "dangerous animals" with only my Victornox Mini Classic to defend myself.. (The Classic has a blade 1 inch long). Hey I figured if one of those Man eating bears everyone was armed against came to get me at least the bear could clean it's teeth with my knifes built in toothpick when it finished dining on my skinny Giardia infested butt.
My uncle Wayne put it best. When people asked what he did about the bears he would reply; " What, Those scrawney things? They look like sick dogs."
I was totally blown away when I returned to find that apparently a law has been passed allowing people to bring loaded guns into national parks!!
Can anyone imagine Yosemite Valley, on the fourth of July, at night, filled with visitors some of which have loaded firearms.. Brilliant recipe for disaster IMHO.
What will become of the bears when you have armed scared people?!

[balzaccom]

A really sad story. I have never felt as threatened in the wilderness by wildlife as I have by some of the idiotic people I've run into. What a jerk.

[mokelumnekid]

Agreed, sad and disgusting. Shouldn't this be moved to the 'Campfire' section of the forums?

[Baffman]

Feel free to move it, my fault.

[hwy395lvrz]

Lake Mary??? A landlubbers paradise,lots of women and children.It has condos on its shoreline for chrissake! What is that idiot doing discharging a firearm in a populated area.Not that it's warranted in unpopulated areas as well.That Lake Mary/Twin Lakes/Lake George area is among the most notorius areas for bear activity in the Sierras.Throw 'da book at 'im.

[Strider]

Agreed, sad and disgusting. Shouldn't this be moved to the 'Campfire' section of the forums?

We need a new category: "Douchebags" for pictures of wanton killing, dirty campsites, off-trail damage, etc. My pet peeve is live branches being hacked off trees for their dubious value as firewood.

[gcj]

Very sad. I've had several bear encounters over the years and found that the usually scare away pretty easily. But, if they get to your food, take some pictures and enjoy an educational wilderness experience. If someone is afraid to visit the wild areas without a firearm, then they should really consider staying home.

[dave54]

I sometimes carry a handgun, but it is for two-legged critters not four. Although I personally have not had the need to fire at an animal, my wife put two shots into the ground in front of a mountain lion that was showing too much interest in our small dog. Then it quickly scampered off.

There have been a few times when others we met on the trail gave us the willies, and she rested her hand on the hidden quick release pocket in her fanny pack (where her gun is kept). Once in Lassen Park.