In the Heart Of Stone category comes this predictable outcome:
Lance Crosby wanted to be at one with nature, choosing to rely on his senses rather than carry bear spray or his mobile phone…
…and it goes without saying, “or a gun”, so:
…that decision was to cost him his life after he was eaten alive by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. The 260lb adult female bear, along with her cubs, feasted on the 63-year-old from Montana.
So he became “at one with nature” all right, by becoming bear nom-noms, kinda like berries.
I’m just amazed that being from Montana, he didn’t understand the situation vis-à-vis bears, but apparently he was a nurse from Billings (and not some hippie from Missoula, which would have been my bet). And at 63, you’d have thought he had more sense, but he didn’t.
The worst part of all of this is that the rangers tracked down and captured the mama grizzly, tested her to see if she was the actual Lance-eater. And when they established that she was, they slaughtered her and sent her cubs off to a zoo.
So because of one moron’s starry-eyed stupidity, everyone came out of this sorry episode just fine and dandy.
Makes me want to find his grave, and pour a pint of gin over it.
After first passing it through my kidneys.
why did the bear get executed for doing bear stuff?
Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Crosby got what he deserved.
Whoever said that he wouldn’t amount to bear shit were wrong
“why did the bear get executed for doing bear stuff?”
That’s a REALLY good question. My guess is the theory that once predators have tasted human flesh, they go after it more. I have no idea whether this is true in general, although it’s an indisputable fact with the larger cats (lions, tigers, leopards etc.).
The bear has lost much of its fear of humans, and that fear is a large part of what keeps us the apex predator.
Markm and Kim,
So what? I see man eating animals as doing a service to society by removing imbeciles from the gene pool.
After COVID and hearing about Californians trying to pet the fluffy cows at Yellowstone and other National Parks, I’m cheering for the virus and the animals now.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. We need more of that.
And proving his father wrong when Dad pronounced, “You won’t amount to shit in this life.”
Well, Sonny boy is shit now. Bear shit.
You don’t get to be much more “at one with nature” than ending up as bear shit.
“Bear’s gotta eat, same as the worms.”
-outlaw josie wales
But…but…but… it knows I mean it no harm….CRUNCH.
Into the wild and out the ass.
We live in TinyTown™ here in NW Wyoming, and are within extended hiking distance (50 miles) of the Park boundary. Since I hadn’t seen anything about a recent bear attack I went to the article, and found out that this had happened in 2015.
But I’ve considered getting a firearm for bear defense, something on the order of a .44 Mag, and have decided against it. I’ve done a lot of research on successful grizzly defense, and the numbers seem to indicate that for something that can reasonably be carried (pistol) the caliber almost (note, almost) doesn’t matter. People have successfully used .22 LR to drive off grizzlies, and while that’s certainly not recommended, it’s still better than nothing.
I’m not getting a .44 for a variety of reasons, number one being that with full-bore magnum rounds I develop a terrible flinch after just one cylinder full. They’re extremely uncomfortable to the point of painful for me. The second reason is that I am DONE with caliber proliferation. I’ve got what I hope is a life-time stock of .45 in steel .50-cal ammo boxes and I’m not going to start stocking yet another caliber.
My standard carry is a 1911A1 in .45 ACP with 230-grain HP’s. 7 rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber, and a spare 7-round magazine gives me a total of 15 rounds…but in the event of a charging grizzly you’ll never have time for a reload. Since this is my every-day carry it’s also good for social purposes. It’s a CCO-style pistol (aluminum Officer’s-size frame, stainless Commander-length 4.25″ slide and barrel) and a 230-grain HP probably isn’t going to expand anyway when it hits a grizzly, but since you’re after penetration rather than wound-width that doesn’t matter.
If I knew I would be encountering a bear while, say photographing or fishing, I wouldn’t go! But if I was forced into it I’d be carrying my Mossy 12-gauge with the 18″ barrel stoked with 5+1 1-ounce slugs. As it is since carrying a shotgun all the time is a little inconvenient I’ll just take my chances with the .45 and keep my eyes and ears open and my nose to the wind (I’ve smelled bears before I’ve seen or heard them in the past).
my elder daughter lives just outside Whitefish (when she’s not working in other parts of the world) on a typical suburban street. last time we visited in the early fall I saw a bear (tailend, didn’t take the time to check the species) just ambling down the middle of the street: midday
we lived between Portland and Mt Hood on a moderately large piece of property; we had ( I think only one) bear and one cougar; never saw either, just spoor and tracks when out hunting the annual deer in thick Doug fir