Bear Attack at Red River Gorge in Ky

[Scott Lehr]

A hiker was attacked Sunday at the Red River Gorge geological area in eastern Ky by a black bear. The extent of his injuries havn't been released but officials have closed the entire park until further notice. Seems a bit extreme, but then again its the first ever bear attack in Ky.

[Steven McAllister]

I read that the bear ran away when another hiker jumped into the action.
Poor bear will be dead by morning:-(

[Hikin’ Jim]

Poor hiker.

[Joe Clement]

Just gonna get worse. Too much food for predators.

[Scott Lehr]

The only bad part is Eastern ky, where Red River Gorge is located, is inhabited by typical ky rednecks that you see in the movies.They have lots of guns and shoot most animals that move, so the small bear population will be gone after this weekend.

[Chris Morgan]

Ah, RRG. Maybe this will scare away all the irresponsible campers.

"…says he was about to stab the bear in the eye with his pocket knife when another hiker threw his day pack and distracted the animal.

Springfield resident Tim Scott told The Associated Press on Monday that the bear had his teeth in his thigh and was shaking him back and forth when the other hiker threw the pack and knocked the bear sideways."

[Tom Clark]

Come on, that's a lot of pre-judging and stereotyping. We can do better than that.

[Thomas Hood]

I guess everybody that owns "lots of guns" is a redneck and all us gunowners just shoot every animal that moves. I guess the fact that i am a law abiding gun owner and hunter doesnt matter. I am on this site to learn about light weight backpacking, not to constantly hear guns and hunters berated.
I love this site but sometime the ignornace on certian subjects makes me wonder why the hell i pay money to belong.

[EndoftheTrail]

Interesting topic, but why is it here in the G Spot?

[David Olsen]

That backpack must not have been SUL if it knocked a bear aside.

[Mat Tallman]

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[Mat Tallman]

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[Mat Tallman]

"I guess everybody that owns "lots of guns" is a redneck and all us gunowners just shoot every animal that moves. I guess the fact that i am a law abiding gun owner and hunter doesnt matter. I am on this site to learn about light weight backpacking, not to constantly hear guns and hunters berated.
I love this site but sometime the ignornace on certian subjects makes me wonder why the hell i pay money to belong."

True story.

Those who vilify guns generally do so out of ignorance.
The same is generally true of hunting. Most often city dwellers who have no exposure to either. Hunting, in most regions of the country, is vital to the management of certain species. Without hunting, my region would be overrun by deer. Unless natural predators are reestablished in many places, hunting will remain essential.

To the topic at hand, this is a protected park, so to assume that a mob will be out to kill all local bears seems somewhat presumptuous. If human-animal contact is frequent enough, eventually predators will come at humans, that's nature, isn't that what we go to state/national parks to see?

[Ike Mouser]

ACtually what is happening in Kentucky is bears are moving. They are moving from the north eastern part of the state to central, and south eastern kentucky. This change has been noticed in the past few years are citizens in places surrounding hardin county have reported black bear sightings, even making the front page of the local newspaper. As their habitat is invaded and the weather patterns change,they will move to whereever they like, this is a result of that.

[Scott Lehr]

From what i was able to gather, there have been only 5 reports of bear sightings in the past 20 years in the Red. And anyone who has any experience there, knows there are far to many careless rednecks toting guns in the area who have no concern for animals, living in a restricted area or not. The forest service is alomost a joke there due to the extreme lack of man-power. I have yet to spend a weekend at the gorge over the past 15 years where i didnt see or hear a gun going off. I just hope some innocent hiker doesn't get shot by some irresponsible person with a gun, when they hear a noise and shoot at "The Bear". I hope the bear population grows and drives away all the so called "campers"(locals) who have given the Red the bad rap it has recieved over the past few years.

[Ike Mouser]

Maybe im not ordinary, i do sleep like a rock, literally, but i spent 9 days in the gorge last year, didn't hear a single gunshot. I went in fall and winter.

[Chris Morgan]

According to the hiker:

"The bear had a really good chunk of my leg in his mouth and was shaking me," Tim Scott told The Associated Press on Monday, after receiving 50-60 stitches and being released from a hospital.

"He was trying to subdue me, and he was focused on nothing but doing that."

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources says the incident Sunday was the first recorded bear attack on a person in the state.

Wildlife Division Director Karen Waldrop said the agency's policy is to kill any bear that behaves aggressively toward humans, and officials have closed the popular scenic area inside the Daniel Boone National Forest and set traps to try to capture the animal.

Scott, 56, of Springfield, was hiking in the Red River Gorge Geological Area ahead of his wife and son on Sunday when he spotted the bear about 25 feet away. He said it appeared to be about 150 pounds and he took a few photos with his cell phone until the bear disappeared under a ledge. Scott said he was about to call his wife to tell her to take another trail when the bear reappeared.

Scott said he yelled and dropped his belt bag hoping to distract the animal. But the bear sniffed it and continued approaching Scott, who grabbed a rotted branch.

Alone, Scott hit the bear with the flimsy branch, but the animal kept coming.

"It was literally disintegrating as I was retreating," Scott said, describing his encounter in matter-of-fact terms.

Eventually, the bear "lunged forward and grabbed me a bit but let go."

Scott tried to move behind a tree for protection a couple of times, but he said the bear grabbed him by the leg and threw him into the woods. Then, it sank its teeth into his thigh and shook him.

Scott said he tried to think of ways to fight the bear off, reaching into his pocket and finding his 3-inch pocket knife.

He was preparing to stab the bear in the eye, not sure what the animal's reaction might be, when a group of hikers who heard the commotion arrived.

One of them took his day pack and threw it at the bear, knocking the animal sideways, and prompting it to release Scott.

Scott said he crawled over to the other hikers and the group backed down the path for a quarter mile, with the bear following them.

Scott, an avid hiker who has a property management company in Lexington, said he supports efforts to repopulate the woods with the animals, and he doesn't want people to think all bears are bad.

"This was a private incident between me and a bear," he said.

"I was chomped on by a bear, and he was a bad bear, but that doesn't speak of all bears."

[Ike Mouser]

"I was chomped on by a bear, and he was a bad bear, but that doesn't speak of all bears."

niceeeeeeeeeeee =]

I would have pulled out my 6.5 inch fallkniven and rammed it in that bears eye/throat repeatedly if he got me down, but thats just me.

Say, does anyone know where to get bearspray (not online)

[Scott Lehr]

"Maybe im not ordinary, i do sleep like a rock, literally, but i spent 9 days in the gorge last year, didn't hear a single gunshot. I went in fall and winter." –

Seriously? I spent 46 weekends there last year and close to 20 so far this year and i have yet to "Not Hear" a gun shot. Yes it is possible that it could be coming from outside the park boundary, because it is surrounded by private land, but a few were far to close for comfort. The spring and summer are the worst, but i have came face to face with numerous heavily armed "hunters" during the winter (my favorite season) quite a few times. I spend alot of my time in the Osbourne Trail area and it seems to be getting worse around there for sure.

[Scott Lehr]

Say, does anyone know where to get bearspray (not online)-

We sell bear spray at the Trail Store in Westport Village in Louisville.

[Juston Taul]

"The only bad part is Eastern ky, where Red River Gorge is located, is inhabited by typical ky rednecks that you see in the movies.They have lots of guns and shoot most animals that move, so the small bear population will be gone after this weekend."

No point even responding to this nonsense.

[Chris Morgan]

The fact is, there are a lot of irresponsible hikers/campers/backpackers in the area. A lot of partying goes on down at the gorge. This makes us locals a little wary of stories like this, as legitimate as they may be.

More details from a local who talked to the forest service:

"One bear… a large bear that stalked the hiker for over an hour before attacking him and dragging him into the brush! Fortunatly other hikers were nearby and beat the bear off him. This bear is believed to be the same bear that chased 2 hikers at Natural Bridge earlier in the week. The bear was not provoked,feed or otherwise harassed by this hiker, according to reports last night from the scene. The hiker was just hiking…alone, when he notice the bear was following him. The bear doesn't appear to be sleeping,constantly moving,several siteings…Battleship Rock,Rock Garden,Koomer Ridge and Rough trails. This is a problem bear, very dangerous. Sometimes animals,like humans go bad. This animal may be deseased and poses a real threat to hikers and campers.This is the first offical bear attack in Kentucky in nearly 100 years the Forest Service told me sunday night. No bunch of hunters…professionals trying to trap if possible,( for testing,) and prevent another attack."

[BlackHatGuy]

"Sometimes animals,like humans go bad."

And not just animals and humans….

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[Ike Mouser]

Oh you work at the trail store! I bought soem inov-8 boots there last winter, loved em. I will be up there friday to get some bear spray before i do the at/bt loop.

[Ike Mouser]

lol, great comic.

[Author]

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