Joseph Kiedrowski was tracking a wounded elk in Montana when he was attacked by a grizzly. The bear chomped on his hand, then retreated. The hunter had a rifle, but chose to use bear spray instead. From krtv.com:
He put up his arms to fend off the attack, but the charging grizzly bit his right wrist. He threw himself on his back and rolled to his stomach so the bear would maul his backpack instead of his ribs.
The bear backed off and circled back into the brush, out of Kiedrowski’s sight, which he said gave him time to ready his bear spray.
“I got really quiet because I knew it wasn’t over yet… You could hear him huffing over behind where he originated from… and then all of a sudden it came around the exact same way but this time I was actually ready for him,” he said.
Kiedrowski sprayed the bear as it charged a second time, covering the bear’s face and getting some on his own as well. The grizzly shied away and circled back again.
As it came back a third time, Kiedrowski realized his bear spray was empty. With his face “on fire,” Kiedrowski threw the empty can at the bear, causing it to back off into the brush, he said,
Kiedrowski said the entire attack lasted about two minutes.
He readied his rifle and made his way up onto a ridge, where he had a better view of the surrounding area. He stopped to assess the situation and made a call to his brother, Zach Kilwein, who was about three miles away.
“I just got attacked by a bear,” he said to Kilwein.
“How bad is it?” Kilwein asked.
“It’s pretty bad.”
It is hard to know if Kiedrowski was carrying his rifle at the ready. Most hunters do so when tracking wounded game, but some do not.
Two months previously, a woman was mauled in the same area. Companions used bear spray to drive off the bear after the woman was chewed up. That mauling was close to the carcass of a cow.
Some people claim the bear spray worked exactly as intended. It saved the life of the bear. Even though the hunter (and earlier the woman) were seriously injured, requiring hospitalization, they survived, and so did the bear.
At some point the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) advised people to chose bear spray or a large caliber pistol. From KRTV.com, attributed to the FWP:
– Carry bear spray or a large caliber pistol, know how to use it, and keep it on your hip or somewhere equally accessible.
Some people carry both. If you have a rifle in your hand, it offers another option. That’s according to one of the major proponents of bear spray. From hcn.org:
Here’s the problem, according to Brigham Young University professor Tom Smith. In an interview with Sports Afield, he said, “If I’m actually out hunting and I have a gun in my hands, and suddenly a bear comes at me, do you think I’m going to lay the gun down and pick up bear spray? Are you out of your mind?”
We do not know how Joe Kiedrowski was carrying his rifle, or how he was carrying the bear spray. He did not use either in the initial attack.
©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Dad’s OK, kid went to higher education that brainwashed him into the mediocre mentality that is easily swayed by the Demon-cratic party propaganda wing! and being PW by his wife /Girlfriend/boyfriend that doesn’t like firearms,
He’s the kind of hunter that wears bear bells, carries 5 cans of Pepper spray, and a KA -Bar for down in the dirt after his head is ripped off! yet doesn’t eat meat maybe a closet Vegan and animal activist! Griz bears got a right to life too ya know
Griz bears got a right to life too…unfortunately, all too often, the life they want is YOURS.
Bear spray works. I know thats hard for some gun lovers to understand. Shooting a bear can kill the bear but not right away. Bear spray causes an unignorable barrier between you and the bear.
I live in bear country and carry both bear spray and a a Ruger Alaskan. If the bear is within 20 feet then spray is your best option. If you shoot the bear and it doesn’t go down right away you are as good as dead.
Best thing about these publicized attacks is it keeps the riff raff out of Montana. Come here and you will be torn limb from limb by a 30 foot tall beast from hell.
That said, all you keyboard commandos can jump in here with your dreams of how you would shoot the bear dead in the 1.5 seconds before the attack. Looking forward to reading your fairytales.
Take it easy, Sam.
Our beef isn’t with you or anyone who wants to carry bear spray. We can read as well as anyone so we’ve seen the same articles and testimonials touting the effectiveness of spray.
Our problem is with the self-described intellectuals who hold up bear spray as a reason why no one needs a gun. You know the sort, the true “keyboard commando” who has never wielded a real gun outside of a video game and thinks nature is what they see at their gated neighborhood park.
Since you carry both spray and a gun, we know you’re not in the same league as those ivory tower twits, but please don’t assume that were against you for being practical.
????
Here in Montana we sometimes track wounded game for miles. In the Eastern half of the State, cover is sparse and far between. This man did not have the rifle in his hands at the first attack. I have not heard why, but after the first half mile or so, most of us sling it over the shoulder.
I, personally, shoulder sling a rifle muzzle down, as it is much faster to get into action that way. One also has better control over the muzzle.
“…and Virginia is once again one of the largest suppliers of crime guns on the East Coast.”
Wow! The crime rate in Virginia must be absolutely insane!
What?
It isn’t?
But all those guns……
Yikes… That man-child is pretty cranky… Greggy must have missed his soy-milk break… Someone should really kick-start his nuts before they shrivel up and fall off completely…
With any luck the next time we hear of this clown. It’ll be in a Montana paper. “Local Fudd discovered in pile of bear scat.”
tablet online purchase http://www.fireflyrestaurant.com/graphics/pharmacy/risepro.html cost generic.
Hunters know that high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic rifles are unnecessary for our sport.
And that’s why the first ten Amendments to the Constitution are commonly known as The Bill of Needs…
You tread on dangerous ground when you start dictating to other people what they should find necessary. I could say guns aren’t necessary for hunting at all, one could use a bow and arrow or a spear. I mean, that’s what humans have used to kill with for thousands of years. As well i could say he doesn’t need to drive that polluting Prius, he could ride a donkey to work.
What I’m saying has already been said in this comment section, and will probably be said many more times; We’re not paranoid, we’re realistic. Bad shit happens, and I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Would these people consider those who own fire extinguishers and alarm systems paranoid? What about people who lock their doors?
Just an FYI, Colorado is a “Point of Contact” state, meaning backgrounds are run by Colorado Bureau of Investigation before going to NICS. CBI was not scheduled to open until 9am Black Friday. Four hours after Cabelas opened. Cabelas also went to a Firearms Sales Associate program which allowed corporate to cut staffing in Gun Departments.
“Question of the Day: Are Gun Owners More Frightened Than Non-Gun Owners?”
Of…???
“When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation…that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.”
Mark Shean
It’s a well-known effect: unexpected associations spill over. One classic demonstration is a simple, written test task after passing someone old n shuffling or young n spry in the hall. Guess who was quicker on the test? (Cialdini’s books on “influence” are excellent – empirical, well-designed experiments, careful interpretation.)
So, “conservatives” after the batshit crazy programming responded like “liberals” in the wild. Who’s “the reality-based community” again?
So to be a liberal, you just have to live in an imaginary world where genie’s exist and you are completely safe? Sounds about right, until it’s not. Did the participants start blaming everyone else (preferably the Russians?) but themselves when they weren’t safe or when things didn’t go the way they wanted?
Bear spray is not a gun, I hate bear spray, only a libtard pos prog anti 2a would depend on bear spray. Guns is the only answer to bears or any other creature that lives to attack 2a advocates. Mr Bear, meet Mr.AR Bearkiller it’s got Lazer sights, 6×18 Swarvoski scope, hi cap mag and a flashlight, and you Mr. Bear don’t have a chance.
I like to think we have more situational awareness then liberals which prepares us for more possible real world experiences rather than dreaming we can fly like Icarus till the wax melts.
As the the old lady with the car full of guns told the state trooper when he asked what she was afraid of: “Not a f***ing thing”.
Lurch? What’s Wednesday packin’?
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a0/00/fb/a000fb928c4a5ee77394298e574c0292–family-tv-adams-family.jpg
Interesting comments. There is possibly nowhere safer to live than where I do, in New Zealand, and yet every year people manage to die in new and baffling ways. There are idiots everywhere, and no amount of education will save them.
Like many other Kiwis, I consider it my God given and male tradition right to possess and use firearms, but this is not related to any concerns for my safety. I rely on common courtesy, common sense, and if necessary, I am big enough to look after myself. We have no predatory animals save great white sharks, and the majority of us are related to each other somewhere in our history. A strong shared culture is your best protection. Maybe it’s time we all spend more time in our neighbor’s houses (by invitation, of course).
Who the heck picks flying or being invulnerable? I’d pick a real superpower – Vaporizing anyone who annoys me or creating anti-matter. Why think so small and selfishly:p
The “Trump Slump” is and has been a myth. Look at the NICS numbers. They are the same or greater (record breaking) than before. That means volume (quantity) is still up. What is down are the prices. So the “slump” is profits. Why is this? Because companies were riding the gun grabber gravy train for the previous 8 years, selling at way more than their products actually cost to manufacturer. Now the capitalist pendulum is swinging back to the consumers side. Many companies will either go out of business or be bought by bigger companies because the gravy train is over. The will have to survive on what the market will pay or go the way of the dodo.
Does anyone else know the joke about how you determine whether you are in black bear country of grizzly bear country? It also talks about wearing bells and carrying bear spray.
What should we do if we’re going into bear country?
Carry bear spray, and wear little bells to warn the bears that you are around.
Does that help?
Depends on whether it is black bear country or grizzly bear country.
How do you tell what kind of bear country it is?
Well, you pick up any bear s__t that you find, and examine it.
OK. So how do I tell what kind of bear the s__t came from?
Oh, that’s easy. The black bear s__t is full of grasses, berries, and stuff like that.
And the grizzly bear s__t?
It will be full of little bells and smell like chili peppers.
I don’t think gun control advocates are any more or less afraid than anyone else. But they’re in love with fear; they use it to try to take away liberty.
They can’t even see the contradiction clamoring about the violence and a deep need to control it and yet telling people to trust government to protect us.
Morning? I thought this was still Saturday night!
No guns were used in the 1861 civil war, the bloodiest in American history. The north & south just traded insults. Words hurt you know…
“Remington Adds Three 1911 R1 Limited Double Stack Models Just in Time for Christmas”
More lipstick on the pig(remington)