[Jeff Higgins]

I've studied these animals all of my life. Not just grizzlies, but every other "big game" animal on the North American continent. And I've hunted most of them as well. The brown bear remains one of the only ones I have not taken, and likely never will. Immense respect and admiration for these animals. Oh, I have gone after them, years ago, but never did manage to find one worth taking. In retrospect, I'm glad I never did.

I have been in this close of proximity to them in the wild. While hunting them, and while fishing "their" rivers. I've never seen them in this kind of a territorial/mating "battle", however. That said, I have been this close to two rutting and similarly "fighting" bull elk. And mule deer bucks, and whitetail bucks. This sort of a contest is far, far different than a real "fight" wherein they are actually trying to kill each other. The level of aggression is far, far lower.

This guy was lucky enough to catch some incredible footage. This is one of the better contests that I have ever seen captured on film, and I very much enjoyed watching it. And yes, this commentator has been up there observing these guys for quite some time. So have lots of other people. And I've watched other video, listened to others' comments and narration, who explain what we are seeing in a far different way. They explain what we are seeing correctly, as a mating/territorial contest. This guy over dramatizes the whole thing - these two bears are not trying to kill one another. Yes, they get injured. But both survive. Both have survived these kinds of contests before, and will survive many more.

The narrator is playing to a less than knowledgable audience, trying to wow and impress them. I finally turned the sound off on his narration and simply enjoyed the show for what it was. It was actually far more impressive without his distracting narration. Just because he has been up there for 20 years doesn't necessarily mean he knows what the hell he is talking about. I mean, just look at this very forum - would anyone consider Dipso an "expert" on California? Stuartj an "expert" on Australia?