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Joe Nava, CMP Alaska State Junior Director
The Bear Necessities
I will relate a story told to me by a lady I will call Melanie. Melanie says:
I was doing my work for a State Agency in remote Alaska. I had taken
a Bear Safety Course from Joe Nava. After that course, I decided to
buy a .44 Magnum revolver and practice with it (like Joe said). I carried
the gun in a holster on my right hip. I practiced drawing and firing
the gun as fast as I could. I learned to just point and shoot as if I did
not have time to aim the gun precisely. I practiced a lot with an empty
gun. I am glad I did.
One day, while working, I was walking through a relatively brushy area.
I was not making any noise as I walked along. Most often I do talk or
sing as I walk along in brushy country, but at this time I was silent. I
carried my notebook in my hand for taking notes related to my work.
All of a sudden I heard and saw a commotion at the edge of the brush
and a big Grizzly Bear came running out of the brush toward me. I
dropped my notebook and started backing up while drawing my gun.
I only had time to draw the gun and point and fire it once, and the
bear fell dead almost at my feet. It actually fell between my notebook
and me. After my knees stopped shaking, I went and got some of my
working partners and we skinned the bear and turned the head and
hide over to the Fish & Game Department. That's the law in Alaska.
I believe taking that Bear Safety Course saved my life. I still
work in the brush in Alaska, but I make a lot more noise than I used to.
That is one of the success stories I have heard from my students. I have been
teaching a self-designed class called Bear Safety for about 40 years in Alaska.
I try to teach about bear behavior and human behavior so that the killing of either
can be avoided. I teach the use of a gun as a last ditch choice. Most of my
students who encounter bears act correctly so that neither person nor bear
gets hurt.
Rarely, the bear gets killed. But I have never had a former student tell me they
were killed and eaten by a bear. So what I teach must be right.
This is an example of teaching marksmanship skills and safety for self-protection
purposes. I teach the use of the shotgun or the handgun for personal protection
against the furry beasts. We use the classroom and the range to become very
familiar with these guns. I have taught over 6,000 students, and I hope I have saved
many lives (both bears and humans). I know I have passed on a lot of
marksmanship and gun safety knowledge and skill.
I am now doing this training for many federal and state agencies that do not want
the liability of sending their employees into the Alaskan "Bush" without adequate
protection against a known danger.
By the way, Melanie's .44 Magnum bullet went right through the skull of the
Grizzly Bear, making it a certainty that the bear never heard the shot that dropped
it in its tracks. I was a lot happier for Melanie than I was sorry for the bear.
Joe Nava
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