[Jeff Higgins]

What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. This is, however, always in the background when we are out in bear country. The bear had no malicious intent, he or she was simply doing what comes naturally - defending a hard earned kill. Anyone who spends any time in good bear country always has this in the backs of their minds. His number was up. Not much anyone can do about these things.

I've spent an awful lot of time in "good bear country". Backpacking in our Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges during the summer and fall, fly fishing our wilderness streams and rivers, that kind of stuff. And yes, well, when younger, I hunted them with enthusiasm. Took many trips to Alaska to do just that. And I took my fair share of bears. In retrospect, probably more than my fair share. My attitude about them has changed as I've aged... I would rather just watch them now then shoot them - that particular "thrill is gone".

They are very, very impressive animals when you start having to deal with a big one that you have taken. Their muscle mass is simply astonishing. There is absolutely no way I would ever want to be faced with dealing with one that is upset with me. Even the biggest rifle would feel like a little Red Ryder with one of those bearing down upon you. I used the venerable old .375 H&H magnum, shooting 300 grain bullets at .30-'06 velocities and, even then, sometimes they wouldn't even react to the first hit. Or the second... These are very tough animals. Fortunately, every "close encounter" when I was not hunting them (and therefor wholly inadequately armed), they were, indeed, more afraid of me than I was of them. I've separated several momma bears from their cubs, supposedly the most dangerous encounter possible - and they have uniformly left me with their cubs and scaddadled. I have even been run over by an escaping bear, intent on getting as rapidly as possible to where I wasn't. The thing bowled me over only because I was blocking his escape route. Never entered his mind to hurt me in any way.

They are all, like us, individuals. The most sure fired way to find yourself in trouble with one, however, is just what this poor guy did. There is no predicting it, either. Just plain bad luck.