The Lion Knife

[Dr Ray]

Hello fellow hunters and adventurers,

That was an excellent account about a brave man of action - the world needs more of them today.
Seems like I also once heard a story about Paul(?) Kruger surviving a lion attack by fatally sticking it with a kitchen knife.
Likewise, there is a story here in Alaska (within the recent few years) of a man in his sixties defeating a grizzly in this very same way.
He was field dressing a deer or carrying fresh deer meat or at least deer hunting anyway when a bear attacked him.
Before the white man, it was the custom of more than one indigenous tribe or language group if you will, for an individual hunter to torment a bear until it attacked and skewered itself on the hunters very stout spear.

The idea was to sit down at the last moment and plant the butt of your spear on the ground, so the in-coming bear impales himself.
The Athabascan's in the Copper River drainage (present day Cordova, Alaska) used spruce as the shank and slate or shale at the point.
The Inupiaq Ekimo of the Shishmaref Village area I think used spruce as well for the shank and they used bear femur bone or walrus ivory for their point.

In both instances, these "bear spears" were relatively short and were made with a very thick shank (about 3" thick).
A fellow from Shishmaref (Garret Nyukpuk) told me that one of his ancestors had taken so many polar bears in this way that he was a bit of a legend in the area.
He also said that polar bear do not usually charge straight in and smash into you like grizzly do.
Instead, it is more like they are stalking prey as they close in.
As they get very close, if you lay down, they have the great failing of then raising up on their hind legs to pounce on you with their front paws, like a wire haired terrier catches a mouse.
That's when you suddenly snap your spear up, so that the butt is on the ground or ice, and he impales himself on the way down.

Tough guys, all of them.
Wollhurter and these others are just what every country needs as leaders.
But instead all we get are pickpockets, robbers and carnival clowns.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Well I sure won't be doing that

 

[Shootist43]

WOW!! This is the first time I've heard and or read this amazing story. Thanks everyone for sharing. Those grandpas were certainly some "tuff old buzzards."

 

[Art Lambart II]

Great story, so much for carrying a 4" knife in the bush

 

[Rob404]

First Class