|
Myself
and four friends decided to take a leisurely stroll across
Kodiak Island after a long summer of commercial fishing. A few
of us including myself had some backcountry experience in
Kodiak and were well aware of the number of bears, and their
incredible size. I had personally ran into about 7 other bears
in hikes and sport fishing trips on the island. Every
experience ended peacefully with the bear usually fleeing
after spotting us. I had talked with numerous people who had
done hikes on the island without a firearm and felt reasonably
confident with the size of our group to leave the rifle
behind. One of my friends thought otherwise and decided we at
least needed a can of UDAP pepper spray. We all laughed at him
for "wasting" his money. The hike which was to last
12 days began wonderfully. The going is tough in the Kodiak
bush for there are no trails. Fortunately there are so many
bears on the island for we fully utilized their vast network
of highways. We were approaching Uganik Lake which was to be
the end of our journey and pick up spot. I was somewhat
disappointed that we had seen no bears on the trip, but that
was soon to change. As we descended down into the Uganik
flowage we were following an old trail through some thick
alders on a very steep incline. I was at the front of our
group bushwhacking with my machete as I came into a clearing.
About 150 yards straight down a brown flash caught my eye. I
was ecstatic finally a bear and at a relatively safe distance.
The bear moved slowly into the clearing sampling the air as I
began to excitedly call to the rest of my group and grab for
my camera. Before I could get my camera out I saw another
smaller ball of fur join the mother. The sow took one more
sniff and began bounding up the ridge, as I began too shout
loudly. Now the time frame which all the events took place in
has been long disputed by every member in our group
(adrenaline tends to skew time like that). Within a few
seconds she was halfway to me. I became increasingly
nervous and yelled at the top of my lungs. The sow continued
up the ridge with incredible speed and agility. I quickly
decided I was not going to stand there by myself. I figured my
odds would increase from nothing to one out of five if I could
get back to the rest of our group, who were a few yards behind
me. We huddled together jockeying for position (believe me no
one wanted to be at the front of our pack). We must have
looked as large as a boar with all our packs and gear, and I
felt somewhat confident that the sow would be deterred, as we
yelled every obscenity imaginable to her. We eventually lost
sight of the bear, but she remained within hearing distance as
she rumbled and crashed through the thick alders. The sow
eventually worked its way above us and began to descend upon
our steep perch. She got within 15-20 feet and stopped briefly
to snarl, snort and bounce upon an alder that was separating
her from us. At this point I attempted to light my flare as a
last defense. It was a dud, maybe I was just too nervous and
figidy, but I'd like to think it was the latter. There was no
time to reach for another so I stood poised with my machete.
The only thoughts going through my head were "I wonder
what this is going to feel like." At this point fear
wasn't even an option, the adrenaline had induced a slow
motion type of analysis and curiosity. The sow bounced on the
alder a few times and made her final charge toward us. I had
completely forgotten about Todd, and his bear spray, but
luckily for us he stepped up and sprayed, the approaching sow
with a large misty cloud. The sow which was only about 10-15
feet above us stopped directly in her tracts, snorted,
sneezed, pawed at her head and eyes then turned directly
around and we didn't see her again. We hurriedly continued to
the welcomed refuge of the cabin at Uganik Lake and enjoyed
the rest of our vacation. I just want to reiterate that UDAP
Bear spray is for real, I'm a walking living testimony to its
success. I won't go into the bush without it and require
anyone else with me to also have a can. I'm afraid of what
would have happened if we had a rifle, for there would
probably be a dead bear on our hands and an abandoned
cub. If this spray can work against some of the largest bears
in the world I'm convinced it will work in almost any
situation. Thanks UDAP for making a lifesaving good product.
(UDAP
Pepper Power EPA Reg. No. 72007-1)
One
happy camper
Sincerely, Pat Goodwin |
