I wouldn't look to confine the bear, simply set traps for it.
If the men run away initially, they can set up a very simple but effective baited trap.
Have one man lure the bear towards the others, who will lie in wait with pointed sticks dug into the ground. The bear, being massive, will then be inpaled upon the makeshift spears by its own momentum.
How are they going to safely gather and sharpen the sticks? How are they going to anchor them in the ground well enough? To kill a bear the sticks would have to be of a minimum diameter and strength and secure enough so that they wouldn't just sink into the ground but also won't fall aside. You'd have to have them at just the right height too. I mean, it's possible, but it's not easy especially when you're also evading a fucking bear! Plus, the plan would have to go exactly right or else at least some of the men are going to be very vulnerable! What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen? What if the sticks fail?
I've been thinking about this question for a while! I can think of some tricks and traps but everything I think of seems to be quite difficult given the circumstances and/or maybe not quite enough to get a bear. The best idea I can come up with would be to create or find within the landscape some sort of a bottleneck type trap, lure the bear in somehow and be able to shut off the exit. But this too is a lot of work and exploring so would they be able to do it with the bear lurking, I'm not sure.
I'm going to keep thinking about it. But I'm leaning towards the bear. The men may even evade the bear for a while but survival itself (food,water,shelter) and having the energy, morale and focus to keep fighting the bear, who will have little or no problem surviving, is probably going to be their downfall if nothing else. It's going to take them at least a little while to observe the bear to get a feel for how it moves and thinks so that they can think up the best traps since the 'average man' doesn't typically know anything about hunting or bears.
I wonder if the trap depicted on Bärenjäger would be doable?
First of all say thank you for actually putting thought into this. Most people simply go with their gut reaction.
The stick idea may very well fail. That was just meant as an example, but I'll try to address the concerns anyway.
They can gather the sticks for one simple reason: Polar bears aren't hunters in the sense that humans are. They don't kill simply for the sake of killing and so a bear that isn't all that hungry won't give chase to ten humans it has no interest in eating.
I agree that some of the men in this situation are going to be VERY vulnerable and some will likely die. On the other hand, bears may be fairly intelligent creatures, but they are not accustomed to really fighting anything else for survival, especially not animals in packs, like these humans.
Due to this, the humans have a very easy element of surprise.
"What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen?"
I would suggest throwing a rock at the bear and then running like mad with it chasing you. Maybe not the wisest suggestion, but it may work.
Also, thank you for actually bringing up the morale and sustenance issues. I doubt food and water would be an issue. I doubt this would take longer than a day or two. Morale is tricky and I think it depends on how these men got into the situation in the first place. If it was a Hunger Games style situation, I think it would be fine but in the case of just a random happening, it would be a large problem.
Finally, what is this Bärenjäger? Google says it's some kind of drink that means "bear trap".
Bärenjäger is a honey liquor and on the label it has a picture of a man trapping a bear.
I live in an area that has a bear population, so I know a little bit about them...not a lot, I'm no expert by any means but I do know some things. They are extremely smart, very fast and they're killing machines. They're quite unpredictable too. Bears do frequently charge and attack for no (apparent) reason. You should never run from a bear, that guarantees you'll get chased and hurt or killed. Bears can outrun humans easily. They can also be shot several times and not be taken down, so killing one without a gun is just....WOW. I don't think most people here understand how hard it is to kill a bear even in the BEST of circumstances. I mean, clubbing or stabbing it isn't going to do anything besides piss it off. A pissed off or slightly injured bear is an even greater threat.
All that factored in, this is why I'm pretty positive the men would HAVE to trap the bear in order to kill it.
If the men started out trying to assault the bear, it's not going to work and they're going to witness fellow men getting savagely killed. What will this do to the remaining men? They might learn something but they also might become too afraid to do anything. Or they might get vengeful and stupid, or maybe vengeful and smart. It's hard to say. Another man sure as hell won't walk up near the bear again though!!
"humans have a very easy element of surprise"
I think the bear has the advantage here, for the most part. Since average men don't typically know anything about bears, trapping or hunting they have to learn quickly, if they can. Everything the bear does (or doesn't do) is essentially a surprise. The men may think they came up with an ingenious idea only to find it *surprise* doesn't work on bears. Everything they do will be trial and error. And take a LOT of energy which requires extra food and water. Oh, and a lot of risk too.
I'm sure the bear could win in a day or 2 but for the men to win I think it would take a whole lot longer.
I really think the bear would win in the end, all things considered. If it was me out there, I'd stick with the bottleneck trap idea, that's the best I can think of at the moment. But I'm not a man so I can't go fight the bear. Boo.
Polar bear or 10 men?
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"Easily" set up a "simple trap" that would contain a bear that you'd then be trying to kill? Just out of curiosity, can you outline this "easy" plan?
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I wouldn't look to confine the bear, simply set traps for it.
If the men run away initially, they can set up a very simple but effective baited trap.
Have one man lure the bear towards the others, who will lie in wait with pointed sticks dug into the ground. The bear, being massive, will then be inpaled upon the makeshift spears by its own momentum.
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wigsplitz
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How are they going to safely gather and sharpen the sticks? How are they going to anchor them in the ground well enough? To kill a bear the sticks would have to be of a minimum diameter and strength and secure enough so that they wouldn't just sink into the ground but also won't fall aside. You'd have to have them at just the right height too. I mean, it's possible, but it's not easy especially when you're also evading a fucking bear! Plus, the plan would have to go exactly right or else at least some of the men are going to be very vulnerable! What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen? What if the sticks fail?
I've been thinking about this question for a while! I can think of some tricks and traps but everything I think of seems to be quite difficult given the circumstances and/or maybe not quite enough to get a bear. The best idea I can come up with would be to create or find within the landscape some sort of a bottleneck type trap, lure the bear in somehow and be able to shut off the exit. But this too is a lot of work and exploring so would they be able to do it with the bear lurking, I'm not sure.
I'm going to keep thinking about it. But I'm leaning towards the bear. The men may even evade the bear for a while but survival itself (food,water,shelter) and having the energy, morale and focus to keep fighting the bear, who will have little or no problem surviving, is probably going to be their downfall if nothing else. It's going to take them at least a little while to observe the bear to get a feel for how it moves and thinks so that they can think up the best traps since the 'average man' doesn't typically know anything about hunting or bears.
I wonder if the trap depicted on Bärenjäger would be doable?
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First of all say thank you for actually putting thought into this. Most people simply go with their gut reaction.
The stick idea may very well fail. That was just meant as an example, but I'll try to address the concerns anyway.
They can gather the sticks for one simple reason: Polar bears aren't hunters in the sense that humans are. They don't kill simply for the sake of killing and so a bear that isn't all that hungry won't give chase to ten humans it has no interest in eating.
I agree that some of the men in this situation are going to be VERY vulnerable and some will likely die. On the other hand, bears may be fairly intelligent creatures, but they are not accustomed to really fighting anything else for survival, especially not animals in packs, like these humans.
Due to this, the humans have a very easy element of surprise.
"What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen?"
I would suggest throwing a rock at the bear and then running like mad with it chasing you. Maybe not the wisest suggestion, but it may work.
Also, thank you for actually bringing up the morale and sustenance issues. I doubt food and water would be an issue. I doubt this would take longer than a day or two. Morale is tricky and I think it depends on how these men got into the situation in the first place. If it was a Hunger Games style situation, I think it would be fine but in the case of just a random happening, it would be a large problem.
Finally, what is this Bärenjäger? Google says it's some kind of drink that means "bear trap".
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Bärenjäger is a honey liquor and on the label it has a picture of a man trapping a bear.
I live in an area that has a bear population, so I know a little bit about them...not a lot, I'm no expert by any means but I do know some things. They are extremely smart, very fast and they're killing machines. They're quite unpredictable too. Bears do frequently charge and attack for no (apparent) reason. You should never run from a bear, that guarantees you'll get chased and hurt or killed. Bears can outrun humans easily. They can also be shot several times and not be taken down, so killing one without a gun is just....WOW. I don't think most people here understand how hard it is to kill a bear even in the BEST of circumstances. I mean, clubbing or stabbing it isn't going to do anything besides piss it off. A pissed off or slightly injured bear is an even greater threat.
All that factored in, this is why I'm pretty positive the men would HAVE to trap the bear in order to kill it.
If the men started out trying to assault the bear, it's not going to work and they're going to witness fellow men getting savagely killed. What will this do to the remaining men? They might learn something but they also might become too afraid to do anything. Or they might get vengeful and stupid, or maybe vengeful and smart. It's hard to say. Another man sure as hell won't walk up near the bear again though!!
"humans have a very easy element of surprise"
I think the bear has the advantage here, for the most part. Since average men don't typically know anything about bears, trapping or hunting they have to learn quickly, if they can. Everything the bear does (or doesn't do) is essentially a surprise. The men may think they came up with an ingenious idea only to find it *surprise* doesn't work on bears. Everything they do will be trial and error. And take a LOT of energy which requires extra food and water. Oh, and a lot of risk too.
I'm sure the bear could win in a day or 2 but for the men to win I think it would take a whole lot longer.
I really think the bear would win in the end, all things considered. If it was me out there, I'd stick with the bottleneck trap idea, that's the best I can think of at the moment. But I'm not a man so I can't go fight the bear. Boo.
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It's just how the question was initially phrased. I'm sure you're a wonderful bear fighter.