RE: [Paddlewise] Polar bears along Nunavik (E coast Hudson Bay, Hudson Str) & Labrador?

At 10:44 AM 10/30/2003 -0500, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote:
>Mike, need more info...  How familiar are you with guns?  Are you highly
>experienced with them, or just slightly experienced?  What about the
>people you will be traveling with - how much firearms experience do they
>have?

I grew up with guns on the farm and did a lot of small game hunting but 
have only went deer hunting a few times. So in general, I'm very 
experienced with shotguns and small caliber rifles but I don't know very 
much about bring down a polar bear. If I take a gun it would most likely be 
a 12 ga or 16 ga pump shotgun with buckshot and slugs. I carried a shotgun 
on a Greenland paddle trip once but never saw any bears. I have one other 
person interested in the trip but mostly likely would be a solo trip which 
I know is a lot more dangerous in terms of avoiding bears but I have a long 
habit of traveling solo.

>... There is no substitute for local knowledge.  The
>locals who live there said take a gun....   Who has the better
>understanding of the environment and the probability of a bear
>situation?  My money is on the locals ....

I've only talked to a few people up there and maybe for them it's just 
natural to carry a gun but I really hate packing a gun in a kayak or even 
on deck. I've paddled up and down SE Alaska and only had one encounter with 
bears (brown) and that was in Glacier Bay where guns aren't allowed anyway. 
I would like to get a better idea of how many bears there are along the 
coast I will be paddling. My impression is that there are very few on the E 
coast Hudson Bay. The other concern is that polar bears seem to  have 
nastier reputations than grizzlies.

>Can you take an experienced local with you, who has encountered polar
>bears, learned to spot them, handle them, avoid them, killed them and so
>forth?  That may be better protection than a gun.

This is a good idea but again I'm inclined to go solo and figure things out 
on my own. Ideally I would first like to learn from the locals or other 
experts how to avoid polar bears rather than carry a gun.

>...  The likelihood of
>my getting in a car accident is pretty low too, but I buckle up every
>time I get behind the wheel.  Accidents and bears don't have to be
>"common" - they just have to happen once. If you are in bear country,
>expect to encounter a bear and be prepared (and prepared doesn't mean
>shoot it the minute you see it - that's an absolute last resort).

I see your point but I still think an encounter is a lot less likely than 
having an auto accident since there are not many bears up there. And i will 
have some knowledge of how to avoid them... therefore I don't need a gun. 
The hard question to answer is how many polar bears are there along the 
coast in summer. I believe most follow the melting ice north for the summer.
Thanks for your comments.
-mike
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