Thaninator, thank you very much for the information. I'd heard such about the polar bears, but having first hand knowledge is another thing. My father-in-law came home with 100's of pounds of extremely tasty halibut meat two years ago, and I've been dying to make the trip up ever since.

DeerThug, Very nice, but you need to add some buckshot into the mix somehow, you know maybe a shot-up pit-bull running away. Just brainstorming.

Blain, Don't you get it they're not laughing with you they're laughing at you. Don't you get the band camp remarks? The other posters are suggesting you've lost your credibility with your insistence on the buck shot even though you've never personally used it to knock down a very large bear. Didn't you read the first page of posts, they knew this tirade would come about. I've never shot at a bear which is why you read that none of my posts suggest a weapon or bullet of choice. In fact I never would have posted a single thought if it hadn't been so funny that virtually all the other posters agree to disagree with you, the lone dissenting vote. In fact they have been very, very polite and I commend them. Obviously some of these hunters have been in situations requiring said weaponry and we have to trust their opinions. I personally don't want to be tracked by a griz while I'm riding my ATV, so those individuals who've been there must have more credibility than you or I on the topic of this forum.

Regarding the UFC, following the Dan Severn, Pat Miletich fight we went to the club (with local talent) that was promoting the event in Davenport, IA (Miletich's training facility is nearby). I can give you names of other attendees, and I can start to scrounge around the house for the pics too. I'm not saying Dan was taste testing the talent but he was definitely there. This isn't a urinating contest but you can get the information for my email address by clicking on my name at which point I'd be glad to give you more information on flights and things out west. You're absolutely right I didn't fight in the professional ranks, the going rate was roughly $50 to fight and $50-100 more if you won. I'm no dummy but I make more money as a doctor than as a UFC fighter, even though I really like to match skills in the ring. However, I did spend countless hour sparring and training with the likes of Ben Greive(sp) (was an up and coming UFCer) who was a good kickboxer but couln't grapple his way out of a phonebooth. The last time I talked to Ben he was going back to kickboxing because the fights paid in the $700-800 range. Write me an email so I can give you all sortid details without boring the guys who want to learn about hunting/defending against bears.