On Saturday a young man and female companion were attacked by a black bear 20 minutes from Yellowknife NT Canada. They both were admitted to hospital and the female was released with minor injuries and the male succommed to his injuries. They were camping for the weekend and the bear came into camp about noon. I don't have any other information and will update this as I receive more information. The bear was wounded with a small calibre firearm (pistol???) by a conservation officer. The bear has not been recovered as of yet. Smokey

Hi Smokey
Is it forbiden to carry gun during camping in Canada? I've heard the gun laws are verey hard over there, am i right?
Br
Danny

Your right, no guns when camping, unless you're hunting something in season, and then it had better be a caliber that is allowed for what you're "hunting". Of course no handguns. They are for cops and C.O.s.

it seems the animal's life is more worth than humam's over there. A great victory for animalism and lost for humanism.Anyway It is the same almost every where. first animals right then humans.what strange is our world? poor youngsters had no chance to defend themself against a hungry beast.
danny

John Y Canuck. In Ontario you might not be able to carry a firearm while camping. Here in the NWT, Alberta or British Columbia we are able to carry a firearm any time of year as long as we have a valid hunting licence. There does not have to be a season open for anything. I am now going to carry my model 94 in .375 Win from now on whenever I am in the bush. I haven't figured out how to carry it in the canoe except on the wet floor but it will go with me anyways.

The latest news is two bears were shot today and the assumption is one of them is the guilty bear. Should no for sure tomorrow. The fellow did not make it to the hospital I have since found out that he died at the scene. The �uthorities" had brought in a team of dogs to track the bear, numerous police and CO's and a helicopter with heat sensing equipment to try and track the bear. What I can't figure out is this is not in the back yard of a major metropolis but a small city in comparison to most and is the most northerly city in Canada. Why all the fuss? Isn't this why we are here to experience the outdoors and wildlife? Don't get me wrong I have a lot of sympathy for the victim, and I would not wish this on anyone. But considering where we are I am surprised by the manpower and resources used to find this bear. (if they got the right one) Smokey

When a killer bear is involved, massive efforts must be made, and a swift bear death must follow. It is strictly a public relations ploy, got to keep the couch potatos convinced that deadly wildlife will be dealt with. There will be an announcement that one of the dead bears is the culprit. The fact that there are two leads me to think that they don't have any idea.

Sounds like a typical bureaucracy, they won't let you protect yourself, and they won't protect you - but they'll spend thousands doing the paperwork and whitewash afterwards!

Don

Thanks for the correction, in Ontario, carrying a loaded firearm in an area inhabited by game is considered proof of hunting.

J. Cannuck,

Not to be a smart aleck, but is being in posession of an unloaded firearm still "proof of hunting"? Curently it is a semantic question for me, but if allowed to be in posession of an unloaded shotgun I would sleep a little easier in bear country...

Well it is not that uncommon. We had three bear attacks in Wis last year. I try to only camp in areas of the country that allow the carrying of firearms national forest state lands ect. It is not only 4 legged ones you have to worry about. As we can tell the good country up north is going to the dogs and antis.

MarkWhite
I think we are into one of those grey areas. I'm not a C.O. and not qualified to answer.
Personally if it was in a case, and unloaded, I don't see how they could nail you. But how much good is it in a case?
I camp in bear country all the time, and not just in parks. If you keep a clean camp, put your food up a tree at night (swinging from a rope) the bears pretty much leave you alone. There are those trouble bears though, the ones conditioned to find food with humans. They are in need of a lead pill IMHO. Unfortunate that people feeding them garbage, and leaving messy campsites is the real cause.
I guess like humans you could also run into a bear that is just plain mean. I never have, most run at the sight or smell of man.

Can't carry a gun in the woods? Wow. That bites, John. We can carry a long gun in BC whenever we want to while hiking.

Incidently, there was a non fatal grizzly mauling near Bella Coola on Sunday. 100 stiches, though. Unfortunately it's going to take a few more maulings before people realize their ISN'T a shortage of bears in BC and hunting them is a good idea.

Clarke

I should have a better update later today or tonight when our weekly newspaper comes out today. Neither of the two bears they shot so far are the guilty ones. The AUTHORITIES are still looking for the guilty one. Smokey

They have finally killed the guilty bear. They shot it Wednesday morning and with jaw measurements and a previous bullet recovered from it they have declared this the right bear. Smokey