Boy Scout leader under investigation after shooting bear

[perdidochas 658]

The big question is why the leader had a gun in camp to begin with? Certainly is a no-no locally; and we have had people banned from outings in our council due to violation of this rule. Of course, besides the fact the scouts ignored the safety deterrents by leaving food on the tables, was there any attempt to simple scare the bear off and report it to camp leaders? Without the total story of course, we cannot know how great the perceived threat actually was. But it still remains that there were some obvious misjudgments or poor adherence to simple protective actions.

The man who shot the bear was the Camp Director. I don't see anything wrong with him having a firearm.

[perdidochas 658]

"For the safety of all of our youth, which was about 500, we had to take the bear down," said the Scout Executive, yet the troop was asked to leave? Sounds like the SE was more upset over leaving the food out, granted that is a big issue the bear never should have been shot.

 

From the G2SS:

 

"Except for (1) law enforcement officers required to carry firearms within their jurisdiction, and (2) circumstances within the scope of the BSA hunting policy statement, firearms should not be in the possession of any person engaged in camping, hiking, backpacking, or any other Scouting activity other than those specifically planned for target shooting under the supervision of a certified firearms instructor. (Among the purposes of this policy is to prohibit adult leaders from bringing firearms on BSA camping and hiking activities or to unit meetings.)"

 

Wonder how long this guys is going to be a leader? This is a clear G2SS violation.

It was a Camp Director. The troop was probably asked to leave because of the dangerous situation they caused by leaving food out.

[click23 66]

"For the safety of all of our youth, which was about 500, we had to take the bear down," said the Scout Executive, yet the troop was asked to leave? Sounds like the SE was more upset over leaving the food out, granted that is a big issue the bear never should have been shot.

 

From the G2SS:

 

"Except for (1) law enforcement officers required to carry firearms within their jurisdiction, and (2) circumstances within the scope of the BSA hunting policy statement, firearms should not be in the possession of any person engaged in camping, hiking, backpacking, or any other Scouting activity other than those specifically planned for target shooting under the supervision of a certified firearms instructor. (Among the purposes of this policy is to prohibit adult leaders from bringing firearms on BSA camping and hiking activities or to unit meetings.)"

 

Wonder how long this guys is going to be a leader? This is a clear G2SS violation.

Ah, did not catch the mention that it was the camp director that pulled the trigger.

[NJCubScouter 1389]

There really isn't enough information in the article to tell whether the camp director actually tried all available alternatives before shooting the bear. But sometimes it does come down to people or the bear, although that showdown can often be avoided if the people had been more careful in the first place -- which seems to have been the case here. I have read several articles about human-bear interactions in northwestern New Jersey (where there are still a lot of wooded areas and many Boy Scout camps, and used to be a lot more) and there have been a number of instances in which bears "had to" be dealt with in this manner. It always seems that food, left by humans where bears can get at it, is the crucial element. Whether it's on a table on a porch, or on the ground, or in a flimsy garbage bag outside that is not properly protected, the bear is going to decide that this is where the restaurant is, and isn't going to go away. This tends to produce an unhappy ending for the bear, who while he/she may possess formidable strength, does not own a gun, or know someone who does.

 

I have never had a bear actually enter a campsite while I was there, but I have seen them in camp generally, and yes, that was in New Jersey. In fact, there was one particular camp where my council always has its Cub Scout weekend family camping trips, and not once but twice, we who arrived on Friday afternoon to set things up were greeted by a large black bear hanging out either on the parade ground right in the middle of camp, or in the woods nearby. It really shouldn't have been a surprise -- after all, this was in the fall or spring, and nobody had been camping there during the week, and it was natural that a bear would wander in with nobody there to bother him, to go fishing in the lake, or whatever. Once the arriving people had made enough noise and commotion (often directed at the bear itself, though from a safe distance), the bear decided to go check things out at the next lake over. As soon as the bear figured out we weren't feeding it, he/she wanted nothing to do with us or our camp. But these incidents did sort of underline that you don't leave food lying around, which is what Scouts camping in bear country are taught anyway.

[packsaddle 753]

There really isn't enough information in the article to tell whether the camp director actually tried all available alternatives before shooting the bear. But sometimes it does come down to people or the bear, although that showdown can often be avoided if the people had been more careful in the first place -- which seems to have been the case here. I have read several articles about human-bear interactions in northwestern New Jersey (where there are still a lot of wooded areas and many Boy Scout camps, and used to be a lot more) and there have been a number of instances in which bears "had to" be dealt with in this manner. It always seems that food, left by humans where bears can get at it, is the crucial element. Whether it's on a table on a porch, or on the ground, or in a flimsy garbage bag outside that is not properly protected, the bear is going to decide that this is where the restaurant is, and isn't going to go away. This tends to produce an unhappy ending for the bear, who while he/she may possess formidable strength, does not own a gun, or know someone who does.

 

I have never had a bear actually enter a campsite while I was there, but I have seen them in camp generally, and yes, that was in New Jersey. In fact, there was one particular camp where my council always has its Cub Scout weekend family camping trips, and not once but twice, we who arrived on Friday afternoon to set things up were greeted by a large black bear hanging out either on the parade ground right in the middle of camp, or in the woods nearby. It really shouldn't have been a surprise -- after all, this was in the fall or spring, and nobody had been camping there during the week, and it was natural that a bear would wander in with nobody there to bother him, to go fishing in the lake, or whatever. Once the arriving people had made enough noise and commotion (often directed at the bear itself, though from a safe distance), the bear decided to go check things out at the next lake over. As soon as the bear figured out we weren't feeding it, he/she wanted nothing to do with us or our camp. But these incidents did sort of underline that you don't leave food lying around, which is what Scouts camping in bear country are taught anyway.

I've had similar experiences, NJ. There's something mysterious about those monkey-looking creatures standing so far away and yet able somehow to reach out an hit with rocks. There's not much as frightening as a shower of stones projected from a dozen arms at a distance. It worked for my troop when I was a boy and we were camped for a week in the Smokies. A few years ago, I whacked the heck out of a black bear with my hiking staff. We both retreated, completely surprised by the outcome of the encounter. I like bears.

 

Raccoons, on the other hand.....