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The Silvercore Podcast explores the mindset and skills that build capable people. Host Travis Bader speaks with hunters, adventurers, soldiers, athletes, craftsmen, and founders about competence, integrity, and the pursuit of mastery, in the wild and in daily life. Hit follow and step into conversations that sharpen your edge.
We're doing something a
little different today.
For those who may not know, silver Core
Club members have access to a private
weekly podcast called The Outpost.
It's super simple to access.
You log into your account
on the Silver Core website.
You grab your private podcast link and
you add it to your podcast player From
there, it downloads automatically each
week as long as your membership is active.
The outpost was created
as a space for reflection.
It's where I share lessons from the field,
experiences that linger, and thoughts that
don't necessarily fit in the public show.
It's more personal, it's more direct.
It's sometimes practical, sometimes
philosophical, but it's always
grounded in real lived experience.
Today you're going to hear
one of those episodes.
This one is called Bear With Me.
Now that spring is here and the weather's
warming up, many of us are turning our
thoughts to the back country, whether it's
chasing spring bears or turkeys foraging
fishing, or just camping under the stars.
With this in mind, I want to talk
about something that keeps a lot
of people from fully enjoying
the outdoors bears and fear.
Fear of what might be out there,
fear of what might happen, and how
that fear, if left unchecked, can
dictate the borders of your life.
But first, who remembers this
one for Silver Corp Podcast?
Episode nine.
Sometimes I tell the
story without any grief.
Other times a bit more painful.
I thought the spare was just gonna
walk right by, and I remember
thinking just step into the bush.
Typically, you hear of people getting
thrashed by a grizzly and then left alone.
And it just seemed unrelenting.
Like he, where was the point
where he is supposed to stop?
I've got all the horrible thoughts.
Um, bye to the wife and kids.
The grating of his teeth on my bone.
I thought, man, I can't play
dead screaming like this.
I've gotta get my knife.
And then I stabbed with all the strength
I had into his neck, I said aloud at that
point, now you're bleeding too, bear.
That was Colin Dowler, someone who was
actually attacked by a grizzly bear
while alone in the remote BC wilderness.
When I recorded that episode, it
was early in my podcasting journey.
I flew into Campbell River to
sit down with Colin in his home.
What I thought would be a fascinating
survival story, quickly turned
into something much deeper.
What you didn't hear in that
episode were the long silences,
the tears, the heaviness of it all.
At that time, I edited much of that out
thinking I was preserving his dignity.
What I've come to understand since
is that those pauses were the
story that trauma and honesty made
a survival all the more profound.
Colin didn't just want to tell a story.
He wanted people to learn from it,
and that stuck with me ever since.
So what did we learn from this?
Colin was under prepared.
He had bear spray, but left it at home.
A cook at a logging camp gave him
some, but he lost it during the hike.
And when he was attacked by a young
grizzly, likely an adolescent testing
his boundaries, it could have been a
very different story if that bear had
taken a face full of spray early on.
During the attack, Colin remembered
other bear survival stories.
He tried poking his thumbs
into the bear's eyes.
That didn't work too well for him.
It wasn't until he recalled a story from
one of Gary Shelton's books of a person
who fought a bear off with their knife.
Colin uses one free arm, grab the
cheap folding buck knife his father
had gifted him and stuck it in the
bear's neck with all his might.
What I find interesting here
is when the pressure is on, we
revert to what we know to be true.
What we have internalized through
past experience or exposure and
what Colin knew was true was that
he could fight and he could survive.
Inputting these key survival thoughts in
our minds now is a surefire way to ensure
we have them at our avail in the future.
Now, let's explore a story
that happened to me, which I've
shared before on the podcast.
I was up north heading out a
few days early for a moose hunt.
I had my son with me 10 years old.
At the time.
It was a special trip, just
him and I spending time in
the back country real time.
No screens, just stories, laughter,
and the kind of bond you only get
when you're far from cell service.
We had a converted utility trailer
that we'd sleep in, and when we got to
a rough little trail, I unloaded the
side by side and gave my son the radio.
I asked him to scout ahead and
find a flat spot that I could pull
the trailer in without having to
reverse a rig down a narrow trail.
He took off on his own 10 years old,
but already confident in the woods.
A few minutes later, he radios back.
Dad, I found a spot.
It's perfect.
I trust him.
And sure enough, he was right.
Great spot.
We got the trailer parked just
as the sun was going down.
I hadn't even fully unpacked
just enough to get set up
before the light disappeared.
He parked the side by side about 20 yards
from the trailer and we crawled inside.
The kind of dark fell that's so complete.
It presses up against the windows.
No stars, no moon, just black.
He's sitting beside me, chattering
away about comics and video games,
things that occupy a 10-year-old mind
and I'm making us a little dinner.
Then we hear it.
Click, click, click sharp,
deliberate against a trailer window.
And before I even consciously process
what I'm doing, I realize I'm holding
my Mossberg five 90 and loading slugs.
My son pauses mid-sentence.
Dad, what are you doing?
I think we've got something outside.
Son.
Just stay calm then.
Bang, bang.
The side by side.
We hear it getting torn apart.
Seats ripped out.
Plastic snapping the back
hatch torn off like paper.
At this point I know we've
got a bear, a big one.
I hand my son a can of bear spray.
You know how to use this?
Yeah, I think so.
Alright, let's go through it.
I showed him how to remove the safety cap.
We practiced once.
He nearly sprayed it in the
trailer, caught him just in time.
I said, only use this.
If something is actually coming in
the trailer, you stay right here.
And I might get loud.
I put him in the back
corner and gave him a job.
Hold the spray.
Don't move unless I say.
I threw on my headlamp, but
the batteries were dying.
The beam was weak.
Just enough to illuminate the
front side of the shotgun, not
enough to see what was out there.
I cracked the door.
I peeked out.
I checked, left, checked, right, quiet.
Then I see it.
Two glowing saucers
staring back in me eyes.
Either this bear was standing on
top of the side by side or was up
on his hind legs, leaning over it.
I shouted.
Nothing shouted again, louder.
Still nothing.
I didn't want to shoot.
I didn't want to hit the vehicle
or worse wound a bear and have
a disappear into the dark.
So I stepped out.
I walked forward, shouted one more
time, and this time it flinched.
I could finally make it
out, a large black bear.
It turned slowly and
walked off into the trees.
I exhaled a big breath.
We're good.
In the morning, I walked the site.
The side by side was shredded.
The tent in the back of my pickup
had been pulled out and torn open.
Huge paw prints circled the trailer,
and just beyond the tree line.
I saw it a moose hide,
a gut pile, a game pole.
Someone had field dressed to moose and
left the remains right beside where
my son and I had unknowingly parked.
That bear wasn't looking for trouble.
It was guarding its food, and we
had accidentally set up camp right
in the middle of its kitchen.
Now, looking back on that night,
there were a few key takeaways.
Things I think are worth sharing
so that others don't have to learn
them the hard way, like I did.
First, make sure everyone in
your group knows how to use the
safety gear before it's needed.
I handed my son bear spray in the
heat of the moment and thankfully we
had time to do a quick run through,
but ideally that should have been
done earlier in calm conditions, so
there's no hesitation when it matters.
Second double check your equipment.
My headland batteries were dying.
The light was barely enough to see
past the front side of my shotgun.
Since then, I've mounted a dedicated
surefire light on the shotgun,
specifically for bear defense redundancy
in the backcountry is your friend.
Do a full site survey before
setting up camp in daylight.
I would've seen the gut pile,
the moose hide the game pole.
I would've known right away that we were
smack in the middle of a bear's larder.
A quick walk around might've
saved us a whole lot of stress.
Keep a clean camp and stow attractants,
even though this wasn't our kill.
The lesson still holds odors.
Draw wildlife, food wrappers
anything with a strong smell.
It all matters.
Always consider bear defense tools
as part of your immediate access kit.
I had my shotgun ready and that
was the right tool for the moment.
But I was aware of the legal and ethical
responsibilities around discharging it.
Be trained, be confident, and
understand your local laws.
Bear spray is still your first
line of defense in many scenarios.
And finally, talk through the
what ifs with the people you're
with, whether it's a partner.
Your kid or a friend.
It's a huge advantage to have a
basic emergency plan in place.
Even a 32nd chat around if this
happens, here's what we'll do
can make a huge difference.
I want to be clear.
These stories aren't told to scare you.
They're told to prepare you.
We live in British Columbia.
It's wild, it's beautiful, and yes, we've
got a lot of bears, but even here, the
odds of a bear attack are extremely low.
That said, the odds do increase in certain
conditions spring and fall, especially
when bears are hungry, territorial,
or feeding hard before hibernation.
And if you end up where a bear is
already feeding or protecting a food
source, things can escalate quickly.
That's why I share stories like
Collins and my own, not to make people
nervous, but to shine a light on what
can happen and how simple awareness
and preparation can keep you safe.
Fear is a signal.
It's your mind saying pay attention,
but it doesn't always mean run.
Often what we call fear is just the
absence of knowledge and knowledge.
Like fresh batteries in the
headlamp cuts through the dark.
So don't let fear shrink your world.
Reframe it.
Let it become curiosity.
Let it become respect.
And sometimes I'll even remind myself
fear and excitement physiologically.
They feel almost identical.
The heart rate, the alertness,
the buzz in your chest.
So I ask myself, am I
afraid or am I excited?
That question reframes everything.
If you're heading out this spring for
bear hunting, camping, foraging, or
just getting off the grid, here's a
few practical tips to keep in mind.
Keep a clean camp.
Smells linger.
It matters.
Store food properly and
away from where you sleep.
Carry bear spray and know how to
use it, not just that you have
it, but that it's accessible and
everybody in your group has practiced.
Have a defense tool ready, but
know your legal responsibilities
if you ever need to use it.
Know the signs of bear activity.
Fresh scat tracks, claw marks,
overturn logs, and dug up earth.
Deactivated logging
roads are bear highways.
Walk them to spot bears or avoid them
if you're not looking to south Facing
slopes warm faster and grow better.
Forage bears, love them.
Work.
The wind bears sense
of smell is legendary.
Hunters know to state of the high ground
in the morning to work the antibiotic
winds as a ground heats up and low in
the evening To take advantage of the
atic winds, your scent travels with the
temperature glass cut blocks and berry
patches at first light and last light.
If you're hunting.
Talk to the locals, guides, trappers,
foresters, and landowners often know
exactly what's been moving through and
above all, respect the animal, whether
you're hunting it or hoping to avoid it.
And if you want to take it even further,
silver Core Club members get free
access to our online bear safety course.
It's the same one used by industry
and government across Canada and was
created to be practical, not preachy.
It's there for you 24 7 on your schedule.
Now, here's where you come in.
If you've got a bear story, whether it
was intense, hilarious, or somewhere
in between, I'd love to hear it.
Shoot me an email at podcast@silvercore.ca
or tag us on Instagram or Facebook.
Share your tips.
Your lessons learned, your
experiences in Bear Country.
This club isn't just about
learning, it's about sharing.
And just like what happened to
Colin, your story might be what helps
someone else take the next step.
With more confidence and less fear.
Until next time, stay sharp, stay
safe, and I'll see you out there.