+5000 gnar points if you take a bear with your daughter in a pack
Ya, I think she has gotten over it… after talking with friends and reading some of these posts hahah.
You were hunting with a boe when thsat happened? Black bear attacks are not common but they do happen. Usually a bear attack is set off by the human surprising the bear, especially one with cubs. I would not take a three year old hunting in country where I might run into a bear especially with a bow if I bow hunted. Rare as a black attack is, they do happen! With just that bow and attacked from 20 yds how you gonna protect yourself much less the three year old on your back? As I said pretty rare to have a black bear attack but it's the rare attack you should consoider. black bears have killed people. I'd suggest a book to you; "Alaska Bear Tales" by Larry Kaniut. Only one or two black attacks in it but a black though less likely to attack can kill you as dead as a grizzly. Wild animals are wild animals and a three years old needs to learn to give then all space. I chringe when I see photo's of people kids playing with them like pet's. Wild animals are wild animals, treat them as such!
I think that relating to auto accident's just doesn't cut it. Consider the number of kids exposed to auto's every year as opposed to encounter with wild animals! Most wild animals given the chance will avoid humans of any size. Key word here is MOST!
"Wide Open Spaces" is absolutely super. Black attacks are indeed rare but not unheard of. A mauling by a bear is a mauling by a bear no matter the type bear! Wild animals, they are wild animals and you should never forget that regardless of how cute they seem! 25 attacks in the last 20 years doesn't seem like much unless, your one of the 25! Wild animals!
This is patheticly irresponsible!
I think we tend to get kids out to early to follow in our steps. To take a three year old out in a pretty safe enviorment is fine. Kid that's interested will find it fun spotting a rabbit, never heard of a rabbit mauling anyone! Also take a kid out that can make the walk on shorter bird hunt's introduce's hunting. Not necessary to take a kid into wilderness to expose it to hunting. But if you really want to expose them, avoid all those computer games, my experience with them is they overwhelm a kids mind and they become all important. It is certainly possible to get kids out and interested in hunting without going into wilderness where dangerous attacks could happen. Now could happen means maybe and maybe not, that's the risk you take choosing that country to go into. How much risk you willing to risk with a kid? My son started going along on bird hunt's pretty young but he had to be able to walk along. Then the bird hunt became second to me to getting the son out and about. He used to hunt for things he called fox holes, he saw a hole it was a fox hole! Going into country that is potentionally dangerous is not to teach the kid anything but rather to sooth yourself.
there have been TOTAL 25 fatal black bear mauling's in the last 25 years, US + Canada. CO alone has millions of user visits a year.And you live in Boston. I have lived in Colorado, Montana, Alaska and now in a very civilized Oregon.
There is no where in CO I would hesitate taking a kid hiking because of bears.
I put my current location of residence in my profile that is correct.
No I am not apathetic about any danger nor do I ignore any danger when it comes to my family. The danger of black bears is so minimal that it isn't a concern. Our kids and grand kids are in danger all the time and we all have to decide how much risk is worth taking. You can look up the statistics on how kids get killed and "killed by wild animals is so far down the list that it is of no statistical relevance. If you do find a case of a kid being killed by a black bear it probably happened in his back yard. Cars are the main killer of kids but we all take our kids out in cars. Swimming and boating kill lot of kids each year but we let them recreate in and on the water. No worries. Many kids killed by guns each year but I have never seen anyone on any hunting forum ask the question " Is it worth the risk to have guns around kids?" The chance of your kid being killed by a bullet is ridiculously small yet still thousands of times greater than the chances of your kid being killed by a bear even if he or she spends every day out in bear country. Realistically your kid is more apt to die by your own hand than by a bear. Sorry to rant but it drives me crazy that people choose to fear a non danger while knowing that life is full of real danger that they just live with because it's just part of everyday life. Having said all that, I did know a guy who proudly showed, anyone who wanted to see, the scars he wore from a black bear attack when he was 15. But even he admitted that maybe shooting a bear with a .22 then trying to run it down wasn't the brightest thing to do. Even he didn't worry about bears after that and his kids grew up running around, mostly unsupervised, in the forest full of bears just because that is where they lived.
