Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Black Bear problem

Read an interesting article the other day chronicling the history of death by grizzly bears in Montana. The total deaths was around the mid 30 range.
The really surprising thing was how many attacked campers in tents. I know certain campgrounds have hard sided camper rules only, kinda makes a fella think twice about pitchin a tent in a high grizzly density area?

My neighbor spotted a griz on the hill behind the house the other day and has another on a trail camera. Guess I should pack when I go out in the yard?

Closest encounter: I once peered into rotted out hole at the base of a stump while elk hunting above timberline. At a distance of around three feet I realized there was moving bear therein. The first revelation was that I'm quicker than I thought and can run across slope through a boulder field doing the 100 in around 6 seconds flat. The second, when I finally paused to look back, was I've got a loaded 7 Mag in my hands.

Took around 1/2 hour for my heart rate to get back to normal.

Close encounter I won't soon forget:

While on a guided Canadian bear hunt I was instructed to remain in the stand until the guide returned. It was understood that it would be well after dark.

It was at least an hour after dark when I saw a cub sprint past my stand and head straight to the bait pails which were no longer visible at 20 yds. Within a minute, another cub ran on the same path to the pails. Shortly after I saw a huge mass move in the direction of the cubs. I could hear the bears knocking the pails around and heard the meat bag getting ripped out of the tree.

I could only see a small patch of grass that grew under an opening in the canopy, nothing else. It was very dark but I eventually saw the large mass walk across the grassy spot and towards my stand. It was lost in the dark again but I knew it must be heading my way. My rifle had been unloaded and cased for over an hour. I pulled a tactical light from my pack and just held onto it while trying to detect the bear's position. Soon there was a big tug on the metal ladder stand and I realized that the bear was on the base of the ladder.

I never felt the bear climb so I just held the light which was still off and hoped for the best. Waited about a minute and switched the light on to see down the ladder. To my amazement, there was a huge bear head right between my boots!!! Scared the living sh__ out of me. Fortunately, the bear was so frightened by the blazing light in her eyes that she dropped all the way to the ground and ran through the brush crashing into everything. The cubs followed her.

Interestingly enough, the cubs returned and resumed eating the sweets that were in the small pails. I put the light on them several times but they would not leave. I assume that the sow remained close.

If anyone ever tells you that a bear can't climb a metal ladderstand, I'm her to attest to the opposite!

BTW - I was sprayed head-to-toe with a commercial scent blocking product and the stand was heavily camouflaged. Nothing beats a bear's sense of smell.

Bears always ruin my turkey hunting.
Turkeys hate bears.
Last time I was sure I had a great spot I arrived to find a sow shaking the bejezus out of a gambles oak and her cubs scurrying around collecting the acorns that were dropping.

When I was a kid no self respecting bear would ever come around HUMANS!
Yep I've seem many but when they see me they always run the other way.
That has changed in Montana and mostly everywhere else.
I have been run out of hunting spots from Black Bears and Griz but mostly Blackies.
I don't know if animal attitudes in general have changed but they are way meaner than they used to be.
Alamosa I used to hunt around Alamosa every now and then and got run off a clean kill by Griz.The game wardens at the check station said bears get first choice,if you lose a tag we will replace it but don't kill our bears without big time provocation.
Bear spray is cheap compared to a hospital bill or a funeral cost.

Sign me up for bare wrasslin'...

I have had my dogs point bears in dens a few times. Never was bothered about being within a couple feet of the bear.

Had a bear drag off a dead calf into a forty acre four foot high hay field. I started following the mashed down hay. Every 20-30 feet and the drag would tend to make a right angle turn. I got about a hundred feet in and the though occurred to me that this could be the sow with a couple cubs that had been hanging around. About another two feet and the though came to me that she might just be laying up on that calf with the cubs, and walking around a corner in the trail onto them probably wasn't a good idea. I backed out slowly and carefully. I don't know for a fact she was there, but a lifetime in the woods told me I wasn't alone in that hay field and without a rifle I didn't want to get any closer. Black bears just aren't a problem.

My only bear encounter didn't involve a bear at all as far as I knew. Turkey hunting, walking down a dirt road and off to my right in thick brambles maybe 15-20 feet away, I heard a loud "chuff" and something large run away. No one had ever seen a bear in those parts before, so the only thing I could think was it must have been a feral hog?

Later that year a black bear tore a hole in the side of the house (cabin). The height of claw marks and scat with "dropping" near the size of a beer can was an eye opener. A bit later it dawned on me my feral hog probably wasn't.

Other than that, I've only seen them out a car window and have no issues keeping it that way.

This just occurred up this way ... pretty relaxed young lad.

I'd like to know how and why someone was in a position to film that.

Pussy. .

Last fall the rifle was a bit away in the boat while I set up camp. I defended myself with my "backup" camera in the left hand, and bounced the more stout 1st choice binoculars off a sow Griz at 9 feet with the right hand . She wasn't serious, and I did not shat my pants.... nor have much choice.

I posted pics and an account then.

I also moved camp.

And these are the most dangerous little bastards around- they cause problems, as they did above, racing down the sandbar right into me.



that was the before - I much preferred this after;;

Hey - whacking an oncoming bear at 10 feet with binoculars worked for me! (The camera was backup...).

Don't knock it until you have tried it.....