flintlocke; Top of the morning to you my cyber friend, I hope you're keeping the fire fed today and the woodpile is in good shape if you're getting this latest blast of Siberian Summer.
Thanks for the intel on how problem bears are dealt with down there, it's always of interest to me to see how "problems get solved" in different locations.
Here in BC they're pretty careful about where they release bears now, as we released a problem grizzly - complete with the BC MoE ear tag - near the divide between BC and Alberta, after which said bear went down into Banff and killed a lady jogging. I worked with her nephew for a bit actually.
Anyways as you can imagine there was whole lot of pooh flung over that, so now it might be that sometimes the release is a bit more loud and permanent. I don't know, I've never been there and if I was I wouldn't say online anyways...
Then too, sometimes I've heard that locals will deal with local issues in an expedient way.
We're lucky here in that black bear season is April 01 to June 30 and then opens up Aug 01st to 31st on private land and Sept. 01st to Nov. 30th on public and private land.
Sometimes bears that just won't listen to reason end up feeding someone's cat or dog - of course one needs to cook it first because of trichinosis risk, but big pots simmered for 3 hours with a wee bit of beef stock seem to work well. I mean that's what I've heard....
Again the folks who live in urban centers seem not to care much about rural problems, though they surely do want the fruit, vegetables, meat and wine which is grown out here where the farmers and ranchers contend with all the Mother Nature throws at them, you know?
KillerB, do you have that gun with you when archery hunting deer.
Good morning jaguartx, I hope your Sunday is going great, getting ready to watch the GOAT play this afternoon.
To answer your question, no I do not carry my defender while bow hunting deer, because I bow hunt deer on farmers properties, specifically farmers properties that have been growing barley that year, as deer that eat barley are exceptionably delicious. I have never seen any bears where I hunt for deer in those areas.
Where I hunt for deer during the rifle season, I am already carrying a firearm.
I carry my defender when I am bow hunting bears, or when I am bowhunting Elk in bear country. I actually carry the bow on my back in a sling, and have the defender in my hands, when I see an elk the defender goes into the sling.
I also always carry my defender when I am bow hunting moose. I bow hunt moose alone and my defender is a backup incase the situation gets out of control. I have called in many bulls in full rut, closest was 15 yards. Very intense situation, never fails to get the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention lol and definitely not a sport for the timid lol.
Thanks, great info. Where do you archery hunt elk that OKs carrying a firearm if I may ask.
I'd be kicking my ass if the encounter below had ever happened to me while bow hunting and my pistol was back at camp.
I learned that it's hard to get a killing shot on a moving bear coming for you in the rough country. Luckily my arrow clipped the zygomatic arch of the bears left eye and it decided to break off the attack. Of course it could have been my hollering and screaming and smell of my pants that made it turn away.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
Bearanoia is way over-rated. Like Rost says - trust (with some doubt) but verify,
They are highly individual so if you don't know that individual, hope for the best and plan for the worst.
That's my advice- I don't always follow it myself.
I think I posted about this one some years ago:
April, maybe? Or late March.
Snow had crusted over, ice still safe on lakes, so I took my Lab and the wiener dog out for a walk on the wild side, visiting an area I had scouted on snow machine a couple weeks before for moose hunting that fall. I totally forgot about a winter - killed cow moose I'd found on the first trip. Or wolves, maybe- she was pretty far gone.
Passing on the other side of the bog- maybe 100 yards from the cow, We was just past when I saw a good sized brown bear on the lake ahead, some 500 yards away, and stopped to watch him/her with the binoculars. Beautiful dark brown, not quite Hershey bar shade. It had the leg bones - still attached to each other from the pelvis to the hoof and was playing with them - tossing them in the air and trying to catch them, or away, then pouncing on them and shaking them, just like a dog would do. Repeat.
The Wiener dog got impatient and barked at me, and I made a hurried retreat, only to have the Lab clue in when we were maybe 50 yards or so down our backtrail and bark a warning (not needed, dammit!), and here came the bear. It veered off before it got to us and headed for the carcass. By that time, we had another 100 yards on it.....
First time I got caught without a gun in hand on a bear encounter but not the last.
Nor the last time I've gone out and about without a firearm and NOT met a bear. I worry more about people, and tend to go armed more often when frequenting areas that have a higher frequency of low class people than bears of any sort. I have brown bears in, through, and around my yard frequently, but usually aren't strapped when out of the house and in the yard, or walking the dogs around the neighborhood. The dogs know enough to leave moose alone, tho we have sometimes been followed home by cows, apparently curious about the Wiener dog ("What the hell IS that thing???")
A friend of mine when I was in college worked summers in Glacier NP, both before and after those girls were killed.
He told about the time (the summer after the girls were killed, IIRC) he and a permanent Ranger took horses into a back-country campground through snow pack to repair and prep the campground for the summer. The Ranger went to take a dump in an outhouse that the bears had ripped the door off, and while he was sitting there, a Griz sauntered by and stuck his head in the door in passing.
Jim said that cleaned the Ranger right out!
Hahaha. Great stories, las and thanks.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
Dwayne, Always good to hear from you...and yes the woodpile is catching billy hell, although the end is in sight, supposed to get a high above freezing tomorrow...ahh the sunny land of fruits and nuts. Complaining to a Canuck about cold, how droll. Sometimes these problem solving events have some humor involved. A friend of long acquaintance had a chicken enclosure completely destroyed by ol' Blackie and the second night my friend arose, grabbed his problem solver, a mag lite and sallied forth in his underwear to right the misdeeds of the previous night. Confusion, stumbling, falling, flashlight gone galley west, a shot fired, despair, return to bed. Upon inspection at daylight my friend was horrified to see the wild shot had kilt ol' Blackie...not good. There is no power or telephone to this part of Calif, so it was impossible to get a depredation permit in a timely fashion. So my friend hooks on to Blackie's carcass with his pickup, this is in a coastal river canyon, one road in, one road out, and proceeds to tow Blackie to a bluff suitable for hiding the carcass. Except here is a trail of blood, fat and black hair on the only road, which seldom sees anything but the mailman. Today of all days the game warden appears, busts my friend on a dozen charges, seizes the .30-30 problem solver, puts sticker seals on his only running pickup, asks him to sign the ticket, my friend refuses, a minor scuffle ensued, my friend gets hauled to the nearest jail 60 miles away where he spends 30 days. After all was said and done, my friend claims he now has a chicken pen worth 6,500 bucks, and no firearms in possession until the court reviews his case at the end of his probation. Bears do cause problems.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
Thanks, great info. Where do you archery hunt elk that OKs carrying a firearm if I may ask.
I'd be kicking my ass if the encounter below had ever happened to me while bow hunting and my pistol was back at camp.
I learned that it's hard to get a killing shot on a moving bear coming for you in the rough country. Luckily my arrow clipped the zygomatic arch of the bears left eye and it decided to break off the attack. Of course it could have been my hollering and screaming and smell of my pants that made it turn away.
Different areas in Alberta, like Wilmore Wilderness Park, Hinton and west of Sundry in the foothills.
If I had a cat do that to me it would have been dead! Most people think a bear will charge in aimlessly, fact is that they will walk right towards you like that cat did and as I mentioned they get 1 or 2 verbal warnings from me, that's it!
We spend the month of September hunting in bear country. Around West Yellowstone, Montana, the most common bear is a grizzly. I don't know that I would call them bad, as they only know one thing and that is to eat to stay alive. Avoiding the dining pleasure of the bear, keeps you on your toes as you spend the days looking for elk in grizzly country.
There are some big boys out there, we photographed them on a dead elk we found while hunting...
I would have thought that could have been what I would consider to be a "bad bear" if it so decided.
I would consider the bear which apparently killed two campers in their tent in the story recently posted on the Fire to be a bad bear.
I've had cases of bad colds and bronchitis and I accept that there was nothing personal behind the microbes attempt to do me in.
Those were great pics on that thread you posted with the dead elk and I'm glad you didn't have a bad encounter with that bear.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
This good black bear was a chicken eater. A friend of mine asked me to come get him so I went up on a Saturday morning and found him a few hours later, a mile or so up the canyon. He was tearing apart a log making all kinds of racket that was his undoing. He came to a deer bleat. No more tearing apart the chicken coop after he was gone.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
"Warning shots are for people that think they work. That bear didn’t respond to that sound any more than a woodpecker on a dead tree. I don’t think bears hear a gun shot and analyze it as a threat, the noise may be disturbing, but it is just as likely he will eat you with or without the noise…"
That's been my experience, also.
I've a big blackie that has a bed under the overhang of my remote cabin - I've posted about that, with pictures of the bed, before.
I call him my watch bear - he keeps the other troublemakers away.
He vacates (a bit put out, I'm sure) when we are in residence, and has never been a threat so far. He does come back and check every couple days, the dogs tell me, tho I seldom see him around the cabin. Saw him (I think him) sunning himself on the bank of the river, a mile or so downstream the last time we left there. Impressivly large.
One evening I went down to check the boat before turning in, and came back to find him in front of the cabin door. Wife and son , and more importantly, the rifle, were inside the cabin.
We had a stare off for a bit, then I did the only reasonable thing. I charged him. He ran off about 20 yards and looked back with a "What the hell is wrong with you?" look on his face. I still laugh about that look.
Needless to say, I now do the boat checks with heat. Funny once, not twice.
Jaguartx: My theory is that Bear had his "nose out of joint" and can't be held responsible for its actions. Seriously, I see that Bear has a really disjointed snout? Or was the picture skewed badly. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
I’ll say this. Don’t read the book Bear Tales of Alaska at 2:30 in the morning in a tent 100 miles from the nearest light switch on Moose/Caribou hunt in Alaska.
One of stupidest things I’ve ever done. At least I didn’t bring it, my hunting partner did.
Everybody needs to read that book, if nothing else you’ll learn things about bears!!!
I’ll say this. Don’t read the book Bear Tales of Alaska at 2:30 in the morning in a tent 100 miles from the nearest light switch on Moose/Caribou hunt in Alaska.
One of stupidest things I’ve ever done. At least I didn’t bring it, my hunting partner did.
Everybody needs to read that book, if nothing else you’ll learn things about bears!!!
Thanks about that tip, I will buy it tomorrow as me x-mas present to myself
Jaguartx: My theory is that Bear had his "nose out of joint" and can't be held responsible for its actions. Seriously, I see that Bear has a really disjointed snout? Or was the picture skewed badly. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
So would that excuse a lot of Dimocraps?
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
Of course, anti hunters would not call this a bad bear.
Doesn't crap lways happen when hunting when you lay your weapon down. This poor guide was very unlucky one day with an apparently worthless sport for the hunt.
Too bad the video was poorly made for the story.
Last edited by jaguartx; 01/22/23.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
I’ll say this. Don’t read the book Bear Tales of Alaska at 2:30 in the morning in a tent 100 miles from the nearest light switch on Moose/Caribou hunt in Alaska.
One of stupidest things I’ve ever done. At least I didn’t bring it, my hunting partner did.
Everybody needs to read that book, if nothing else you’ll learn things about bears!!!
Do you mean: Tales of Alaskas Big Bears by Jim Reardon? Its a series of short stories of alaskan bears. A good book.
I could never live in bear country because I couldn't trust myself to not kill them on sight. Same for wolves. I think I was born 100 years too late. People used to know how to handle predators.
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