Has anyone had a close encounter with a bear?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Has anyone had a close encounter with a bear? (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 12/25/2015 10:51:38 AM EDT

Where, what kind of bear, and what was the outcome?

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:00:13 AM EDT

[#1]

I worked on Pennsylvania's Black Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black Bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

Bears are very curious, yet wary. Usually, they take off at one whiff of you. They can see reliably to only about 20 yards.

It's the habituated bears that scare me. The ones who live off of a steady diet of pork chop bones and bird feeder offerings. They will parallel you in the woods, waiting to see what you offer up. They are not scared off too easily. Those are the dangerous ones.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:01:11 AM EDT

[#2]

Daily.

Oh wait...you said bear, thought you said beer.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:02:02 AM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
I worked on Pennsylvania's Black Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

View Quote

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:02:07 AM EDT

[#4]

About 6 years ago, I was fishing in the Ocala forest.went to a sink, was checking it out, heard some splashing,looked over the bushes,there he was about 15 feet from me. About 200 lbs, I was armed with a Mitchell 300 spinning rod, but didn't have to use it. He was just swimming around having a good old time, I watched him for about 10 minutes til he winded me, so I crept back up the hill and left, no harm done. Damn camera was in the truck though.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:02:15 AM EDT

[#5]

Black bear, 15 feet away from me, walked out of the bush while I was sitting on a rock. I just slowly backed up away down the trail in the other direction. When I got far enough away I turned a ran back to my house. I was maybe twelve.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:03:08 AM EDT

[#6]

I accidently walked into a Gay bar looking for some girls that said to meet them downtown.

Big hairy guy asked if he could buy me a drink and if I wanted to dance, Nope,.........that's the only close encounter with a bear I have ever had.

J/K.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:03:26 AM EDT

[#7]

The ex, nuff said.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:03:56 AM EDT

[#8]

Not very often. The ones in the area of WV around where I go are pretty timid as the buba's run the hell out of them with dogs all the time.

The ones I ran across hiking in PA weren't scared of you but didn't pay much attention to you either. They just kind of ignored you.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:05:26 AM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I worked on Pennsylvania's Black Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

Honestly, usually nothing. I've only had one bad run-in with a mother and cub where I was false charged. That sucked.
But as the area grew and the developments boomed. The habituated bears made me start carrying my pistol occasionally. Bear spray works way better.

In all those years, working with the Game Commission and on the project, plus my time in the field and all the time spent out backpacking, flyfishing, etc., I can say that it's not as big a worry as most members here will try to tell you it is. There's a fantasy here that everything and everyone is trying to kill you every day.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:07:58 AM EDT

[#10]

I see them in my yard . A few a year. They look for trash or bird feeders around here. I dont have bird feeders because of them. They keep pretty hidden from people. Just big scavengers.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:14:44 AM EDT

[#11]

Had them close several times. They always moved off when they seen what I was. On two occasions I've come upon mothers with cubs, they didn't back off. One came up the trail after us, we exited the scene quickly, it happened so fast anyway. The other stood her ground, finally treeing after seeing my dog, she was getting ready to ruin our day before he showed up.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:17:31 AM EDT

[#12]

Had them come through camp backpacking in remote areas, or sniffing around remote cabins. I usually just open the door and make some noise, flashlight etc scared them off.

They are looking for easy food, not a fight. They spook easily.

Habituated bears should be your biggest worry... They are brazen

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:18:26 AM EDT

[#13]

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:22:43 AM EDT

[#14]

The one's in the woods are in thier own little world. Fun to watch from a distance.

Of course I carry bear deterrent.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:23:36 AM EDT

[#15]

See avatar. Had a couple close encounters at work, fires make animals a little crazy.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:24:58 AM EDT

[#16]

My dad's first shift in a tiny 4 bed ER as a doctor out of medical school in Kitimat, Canada a guy came in who had be scalped by a grizzly.

He had to fly with the guy to Vancouver on a small privet aircraft. This was 40+ years ago before life flight stuff.

Hell of a first night.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:26:20 AM EDT

[#17]

What is a "close encounter?"

When I lived in West Milford, New Jersey, the bears were all over the place. They stayed away from people most of the time, but I had to look around when I went out just to make sure if there was a mother and cubs around.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:27:47 AM EDT

[#18]

About 10 years ago, while deer hunting on some old paper company land in Northern WI. I was walking down an old dirt road, and heard something tearing-ass through the bushes to my right. I had the gun up, thinking "Here comes a nice buck", when a big female Black Bear bursts out onto the road. She put on the breaks real fast when she saw me, and turned around before I even had time to react. I started backing down the road as she was trying to get away. Definitely more scared of me than I was of her.

I listened to her run away for a minute or so, then went on with my walk. Only close encounter I've ever had with one.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:27:52 AM EDT

[#19]

Saw lots of grizzlies and blacks when I lived in Montana. Closest encounter was when the wife and I were hiking Iceberg Lake trail in Glacier National Park. We rounded a bend in the trail and ran smack into a Grizzly sow and two cubs.

I was carrying bear spray and a .454. We froze, and I took the safety off my can of spray. The bears just walked off into the brush keeping a close eye on us. The sow never acted aggressively. When they got about 30 yards off the trail we hurried past and finished the hike without incident.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:28:32 AM EDT

[#20]

We had a black bear come into camp early one morning. He dug around through the empty beer bottles, chewed at the plastic potty bags, and then stole the new Folgers container. Here's my thread with pics of the Folgers tub.
https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=10&f=1&t=674835

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:28:38 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Where, what kind of bear, and what was the outcome?

View Quote

50' from a 500 lbs brown this spring. Nothing between us but a trash can.

I didn't pee. I'm proud of that.

I headed back into the cabin and pondered how thin the door was.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:28:50 AM EDT

[#22]

Yes , black bear , several close encounters , I've also seen more bear than I can count, it's a normal occurrence here in Northern NJ , , they just move along most of the time , once had a juvenile male bluff a charge . I live in the most densely bear populated area of NJ in Sussex county.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:29:46 AM EDT

[#23]

3 times.

Two of them got lucky and one of them died.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:30:55 AM EDT

[#24]

Solo backpack hike in Alaska (yes, I used to be insane as a young man).

Walked up on a big (yes, "big" by Alaskan standards) brown bear, pawing for grubs in the brush.

Luckily I was downwind of it and it hadn't scented me yet.

Backed away real slow, then made a huge dog leg detour around it.

Big Smith and Wesson wheelgun on your hip will suddenly feel VERY small in that situation.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:31:10 AM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
I worked on Pennsylvania's Black Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black Bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

Bears are very curious, yet wary. Usually, they take off at one whiff of you. They can see reliably to only about 20 yards.

It's the habituated bears that scare me. The ones who live off of a steady diet of pork chop bones and bird feeder offerings. They will parallel you in the woods, waiting to see what you offer up. They are not scared off too easily. Those are the dangerous ones.

View Quote

Yep them and the problem bears and their well trained offspring transplanted to other areas of the state with an even higher human population/acre compared to where they came from.....

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:33:27 AM EDT

[#26]

We were riding motorcycles in the Smokies a couple of months back and going back from Gatlinburg to Townsend there was a small cub standing on the side of the road. The 2 cars in front of us of course had to stop and take pictures blocking traffic and all we were thinking sitting there on the bikes was get moving! Mama bear is somewhere close and we are sitting ducks on these bikes!

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:34:34 AM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
I worked on Pennsylvania's Black Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

Pretty humorous anecdote in the hometown forums.......

Checking bear baiting and loading them up with fresh bait....gentleman used an airhorn to scare the bears away that might be lurking there or following him into the woods
while he was carrying full bait pails....

Worked well at first until the bears got used to it and then began to react to it as if it was a "dinner bell"....

Bring enough gun and working communication tell someone your plans then stick to those plans

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:35:19 AM EDT

[#28]

I had a couple grizzly bears circling my camp when I was working for the Forest service. Woke up to them snapping branches and I could hear them grunting. After I got the fire stoked they left the area. Lots of tracks were found when it got light out.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:37:05 AM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:

Yes , black bear , several close encounters , I've also seen more bear than I can count, it's a normal occurrence here in Northern NJ , , they just move along most of the time , once had a juvenile male bluff a charge . I live in the most densely bear populated area of NJ in Sussex county.

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I'm currently in Morris for the holiday

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:41:33 AM EDT

[#30]

I charged a grizzly bear once.

I was mountain biking with friends on the inside road south of
Polebridge in Glacier NP. I was a couple minutes ahead of the rest,
feeling good, cruising at about 20mph. The road was a gravel dirt
double track used enough to keep to grass down but still not real wide.

As I came over the top of a little rise the road turn slightly to the
left and started down hill into the next drainage. I sped up to maybe
25 as the road left the trees and opened out into a clearing with a
pretty large berry patch.

I barely clear the trees when this 4 or 500 pound grizz startles and
jumps out in the middle of the road about 30 or 40 feet in front of me
facing straight at me, OH SHIT.

Not much room on either side but it really didn't matter because I
totally target fixated and grabbed two handfuls of brakes and headed
straight for him. Probably not the best choice but I may have been
slightly bui.

As I slid to a stop there was a wave of gravel kicked forward from my
tires onto the bears legs and feet. My handlebar just a foot from his
face.

It seemed like a minute but I'm sure it was less than a second and he
spun in place 180 and took off down the road. I had view of him for
about 200 yards as he went up the ridge on the other side of the
drainage and he covered it in 10 or 15 seconds.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:41:52 AM EDT

[#31]

Two feet. Black bear. Huge, prob 400lbs.

I work out at night, and I was waiting for my wife to come home so I could leave for the gym. Right when she is due to arrive, I hear the garbage can being rattled, figured she'd come home and was chucking a bag into the can. I grab my stuff and walk out the door directly into the bear, which was on his hind legs with his head in the can.

I stopped dead in my tracks, I'm already four or five feet from the door, and he's now looking directly at me. I can hear him breathing.

I don't move. He doesn't move.

Finally, he plops down on all fours. I can feel his front feet hit the ground.

He turns away and starts walking towards the woods. No clue why, but I yelled "HEY BEAR!" and he fucking bolted for the woods like a Mack truck.

My wife pulls in, doesn't really believe me until the next morning when we find his paw prints in the fresh mud around my new swimming pool, pie platter sized prints.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:42:31 AM EDT

[#32]

Tuolumne Meadows, the high country to Yosemite. Only brown/black bears

Sister left a bear box open, and a bear grabbed a cornbread mix. She sees the bear wix the mix 30ft away, and thought who left their bear box open

Tons of bears up there, just scare them away

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:43:39 AM EDT

[#33]

Hunting white tail in the UP of Michigan, late November two or three years ago. Set up on the ground at a crossroads of a rub line and a major runway. Good location, perfect wind.

Was warm that week, probably what woke up the black bear. I heard something coming from my back right. Should be my buck checking his rub line. Nope.

Bear was on a bee-line to me, almost walking the trail I took in on. Shouldn't have been able to wind me from where I was in relation to the bear. Just kept coming right at me.

At about 50 yards, I stood up. Bear doesn't see me or doesn't care that I stood up.

10 more yards in and I start waving my arms. Still coming.

25 yards I draw my pistol and shoot a couple rounds in the ground towards the bear. Bear perks up and circles around me. Now it knows I'm there for sure.

Bear stands there looking at me. My only option left if needed is my .270 if the bear charges.

In one last effort before I have to consider shooting this bear, I put my rifle above my head, yell at the bear and take a few quick steps toward it. It runs off like its ass is on fire.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:44:13 AM EDT

[#34]

Quote History

Quoted:

I'm currently in Morris for the holiday

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Quoted:

Quoted:
Yes , black bear , several close encounters , I've also seen more bear than I can count, it's a normal occurrence here in Northern NJ , , they just move along most of the time , once had a juvenile male bluff a charge . I live in the most densely bear populated area of NJ in Sussex county.

I'm currently in Morris for the holiday

Morris county also has its share of bears , Jefferson , Oak Ridge , Sparta

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:44:15 AM EDT

[#35]

About 50 years ago, as a child vacationing in CO, I ran out of a park restroom and immediately ran head-on into a bear. I was knocked backward to the ground & I screamed my head off...the suprised bear immediately turned and ran. I still remember sitting on the ground seeing nearby campers running toward me as the bear ran away. Probably few people alive today who have physically ran into a bear and lived to tell about it, let alone not be injured.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:46:39 AM EDT

[#36]

Been plenty close to numerous black bears in the MN northwoods. Never had an issue with them. Most would run at first sight or smell. Occasionally I run across a curious one. I had a staring contest and a game of chicken with one a few years ago over who had the right to a berry patch. I won. Never even unholstered. I often have my dogs with in the woods. 2 40ish pound brittanys. Bears really seem to hate dogs. My oldest has treed a couple, the youngest decided to stir up a very large male who was sleeping /hibernation. I thought he had a racoon or porcupine trapped, nope. Large bear.

If we had brown bears here it would be a different story.

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:46:57 AM EDT

[#37]

Had black bear tear apart a campsite and get a food bag we had in a tree while canoeing on yeah Adirondacks. Woke up, saw the bear and went back to sleep, never came near the lean to we were staying in.

Also had a black bear try to tear open a wooden enclosure where trash was kept at a place I was working. I heard screams so I ran to my car and retrieved a rifle I had in the truck. But when I got there the bear was just messing around trying to get in the shed so I didn't shoot it. I just stood there until it gave up and went back in the woods

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:49:21 AM EDT

[#38]

Eight hours away from home, solo backpacking, and saw some bear scat on the trail. It was really windy that first night, and I didn't at all for fear that a bear would be shaking the tent next.

That's my closest encounter with a bear.

Does that count?

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:53:05 AM EDT

[#39]

Quote History

Quoted:
I accidently walked into a Gay bar looking for some girls that said to meet them downtown.

Big hairy guy asked if he could buy me a drink and if I wanted to dance, Nope,.........that's the only close encounter with a bear I have ever had.

J/K.

View Quote

was this the "bear" in question?

Posted: 12/25/2015 11:58:44 AM EDT

[#40]

I also had a black bear break into my cabin when I worked for the forest service. My dip $hit room mate left the window open (couple inches) and didnt take out the trash. The bear opened the window and ate the trash. It then threw up all over the place, tore up some stuff and left.

Crazy thing was when I came home I noticed the mess. The windows were closed so I thought it was still in there. Turned out when the bear when back out through the window, it closed. Why it didnt close when it opened it up to get in I have no idea.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:00:00 PM EDT

[#41]

Quote History

Quoted:

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
I worked on Pennsylvania'the lack Bear program for six years in the field.

I also ran 35,000 acres of property for a company for 13 years.

Been around a lot of them, because the area I'm from has the largest concentration of Black bears in the world....and we grow some of the biggest, also.

Bear spray, gun, or both for protection?

I have had them around my campsite twice and once on my porch. The ones in my camp sites fled immediately when I stood up and made noise. One of those times I woke up just at dawn when I heard them. There were two. They ran away, but not far away. It was a car-camping site and they hung around near the cars for a bit until the other people woke. The other bear was solo and I was backpacking alone and out deep in the wilderness. I never cook or eat in the same camp I sleep. The bear took off running as soon as I shouted and stood up.

The bear on my porch was a habituated bear and known in my little mountain town. I was reading when my cat alerted. The bear stuck his massive head around the corner and looked right at me through the front door. He wasn't concerned at all about the ruckus I was making. I opened the door just enough to stick my arm out. He started retreating casually when I opened the door. I got him on the left side of his face with a big blast of bear spray. He peeled out and left in hurry then. I got him good at too close a range.

I always carry both in the woods. Spray is more effective most incidents. But it won't help much when you're in a tent. A wounded bear could be very dangerous and unless you're carrying a .454 or .44 mag with hard-casts and get a good shot you nay only wound it. A big cloud of blinding spray is easier to hit with and makes the bear run away. But I always have both. I really view the gun as protection from two legged problems though.

Cheers!
-JC

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:00:40 PM EDT

[#42]

I took a 15 day trip In the Brooks Range, Alaska. We started at the headwaters of the North Fork of the Koyukuk and travelled to Bettles.

We made lots of noise so that we didn't suprise any bears up close. We saw lots of grizzly (and wolf) signs, We also saw grizzlies and wolves off in the distance.

One morning a sow and her cub came into our camp. We yelled at them and they walked off. It turned out well because we did not leave any food out, kept our campsite very clean, and because this was such a remote area, the bears viewed humans as a curiosity, not a food source.

I have seen cars that were trashed by bears while parked in the Sierra-Nevada mountains in California because people left food in them overnight.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:01:52 PM EDT

[#43]

Yes a 350 pound blackie. It did not end well for the bear.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:05:02 PM EDT

[#44]

Yes, it was a moment I will never forget. It is burned into my memory and was something of a religious or Zen moment.

Was hunting in Alaska and stupidly went alone, walking down a trail early in the morning some movement caught my attention and I instantly froze just as a huge, massive sow grizzly with two cubs looked up at me.
She was coming up the trail from the other direction and I stopped just before she saw me. She stood up and just stared at where I was standing and started sniffing and moving her head from side to side.

She was about 35 yards from me, close enough I could hear her sniffing the air, and I told myself there was no way I was going to get a shot off before she was on top of me. She kept sniffing and then dropped back down on all fours and grunted at her cubs and they scurried off the trail. She kept looking in my direction and I thought this is it, hopefully it will be over quick, at least I told my wife where I was going.

She didn't charge though, she ambled off into the brush with her cubs. I stood perfectly still for several minutes just listening and finally moved. I reflected on that moment a long time and decided to quit bear hunting. I wasn't scared of bear hunting anymore I just felt like I was given a chance so I took it and just spent the rest of my time in Alaska hunting moose and deer but I stopped bear hunting. I just enjoyed watching them from a distance after that.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:07:11 PM EDT

[#45]

Kenai Alaska brown bear came across the river at us while fishing. We yelled and screamed and he turned away. Thank God. He was big and I didn't want to try and shoot him. Never carry a 44 mag for bear protection. It isn't enough gun in retrospect.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:07:39 PM EDT

[#46]

Had a black bear come up to the truck one night on the Black River. My 8 and 10 year daughters and I were sleeping in the bed. My daughter woke me and said "there's a bear in camp." Sure enough he was not only in camp, he was right next to the truck bed. I had a 44 mag Super Blackhawk so he would have got a bullet between the eyes if if would have tried to climb in the bed with us. He walked around the truck for a few minutes. My daughters thought it was one of the coolest things they had ever seen. He then decided he needed my Coleman latern case more then me and picked it up in his mouth and carried it off, never to be seen again.

Now when we go fishing on the Black River they are disappointed when they don't get to see a bear.

ETA- Fishing was good

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:09:19 PM EDT

[#47]

Many years ago, I was probably about 20, one of my friends and I left after work to go spend a long weekend hiking and trout fishing in N. GA. We got stuck in traffic on the way up, it was too late to start the hike in that night so we decided to sleep in the car, a 1969 Pontiac Bonneville. I had the windows cracked open enough to allow a little fresh air in.

Lying awake going over our provisions in my head I wondered if my friend had brought a can opener because I knew I didn't, I whispered his name to see if he was awake. His response was, "Yeah, I heard that too". "Heard what?", I asked about the time a huge bear head appeared in the front passenger window right above my head. The bruiser ran his paw up the window and clicked his claws across the edge of the glass then stuck his nose in the opening, I still remember the sound of the claws on the glass. I immediately spun around and fired up the headlights and started blowing the horn which startled the bear and it disappeared back into the woods. That was a fun night.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:09:42 PM EDT

[#48]

Fishing on the Newhalen River in AK, she took our fish on the first day after that we would filet the fish and through her the carcass.

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:09:49 PM EDT

[#49]

Several. 3 did not survive the experience

Posted: 12/25/2015 12:12:20 PM EDT

[#50]

Quote History

Quoted:
I also had a black bear break into my cabin when I worked for the forest service. My dip $hit room mate left the window open (couple inches) and didnt take out the trash. The bear opened the window and ate the trash. It then threw up all over the place, tore up some stuff and left.

Crazy thing was when I came home I noticed the mess. The windows were closed so I thought it was still in there. Turned out when the bear when back out through the window, it closed. Why it didnt close when it opened it up to get in I have no idea.

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I'd just be happy that it worked out that way.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Has anyone had a close encounter with a bear? (Page 1 of 3)

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