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Joined: Dec 2020
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Yeah He was Hangry!
Your a Smart Man!!!
HS 58
I Learned a long time ago to Separate My Want's from My Needs!
A man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do!
Know Thy Self!
TRUMP DID WIN!!!
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,177
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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The wrist rocket is a fun and useful tool and I have used one on everything from rabbits to range cattle, and one time, on a small black bear. I was working for the forest service at the time; maintaining and improving remote campsites. I drove into one seldom used site and found a young bear, maybe a 100 pounder, halfway into a tipped over garbage can (these often contained fish parts which are irresistible to bears). Anyway, he paid no attention as I drove in. I got the wrist rocket out and hit him right in the butt with a 45 caliber lead ball. He hit the bottom of the barrel hard enough to flip it around. It took him a second to get out of the barrel and get his bearings, but when he did, he lost no time getting away. I figured this might have been an educational experience for the bear and it was entertaining for me.
I often met up with black bears in my travels. I started carrying the wrist rocket and a cut down 45/70 behind the seat after an encounter with one which was quite aggressive and would not back down (I retreated into the truck). I never used the 45/70 and only shot the one with the wrist rocket. The aggressive bear was killed by a guy from a nearby logging camp, so I didn't get to try either one on him.
Several years prior to the fellow getting killed at Liard, a geologist went missing in that same general area, I believe. He was believed to have been killed and eaten by a large black bear, which was the only bear in the immediate area. His boots and some other clothing was all that remained. GD
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491 |
There seems to be enough experts on here with opinions gleaned from reading numerous stories written by experts that adding mine would be superfluous. Who is this interloper who could be so bold? 🤣
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,538
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2006
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My experience with black bears are that they are a lot easier to intimidate. When our kids were small we had a very remote camp on the Black River, above the Arctic circle and a mile from the Yukon border. Black bears were a constant nuisance and used to sit just inside the timber watching our two children play. Occasionally they would openly threaten us but standing your ground, sometimes threatening them by aggressively walking toward them while maintaining eye contact, always worked. And when the turned to flee an ounce of 7 1/2 bird shot in their rear helped them remember.
One morning my wife and I were sleeping in a small tent at Llaird river hot springs and heard a bear outside. I got up and went out. It was acting aggressive with head low, ears down and circling toward me. I had my M70 .375 and a wrist rocket with a handful of glass marbles so decided to shoot him with that. He was only 5-7 yards away and when I hit him you could tell he was pissed but I took another step toward him and hit him again.
This time he slowly backed off into the timber but continued glaring at me.
Less than a week later we heard a camper at that campground had been killed and partially eaten by a black bear.
I have had numerous similar encounters over the past 44 years with Brown bears as well and while they tend to be a bit more social and less threatening, a few have acted predatory like that black bear , but by maintaining eye contact and standing my ground and slowly backing away I have only been forced to kill one bear not previously wounded by a client. Have you an opinion regarding the general attitude of inland vs. coastal Grizz/Browns? Seems like there are news articles and/or threads on this site regarding folks getting mauled/killed by Grizz in MT/WY almost every year, sometimes 3-4/yr. I'm wondering if in your opinion the interior bears are more aggressive or is it just that MT/WY has just a plain higher rate of people/bear interactions? I could also very well be asking the wrong question by relating inland bears to MT/WY bears. My actual grizzly/brown experience doesn't extend any further than Clyde @ the Bismarck ND zoo when I was a kid.
I can walk on water.......................but I do stagger a bit on alcohol.
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Joined: Feb 2010
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
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Thanks for that entry 458Win. 900 lbs or 90 lbs, any bear old enough to survive without momma is strong enough and has the tools to tear us limb from limb.
NRA Life,Endowment,Patron or Benefactor since '72.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,938
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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My experience with black bears are that they are a lot easier to intimidate. When our kids were small we had a very remote camp on the Black River, above the Arctic circle and a mile from the Yukon border. Black bears were a constant nuisance and used to sit just inside the timber watching our two children play. Occasionally they would openly threaten us but standing your ground, sometimes threatening them by aggressively walking toward them while maintaining eye contact, always worked. And when the turned to flee an ounce of 7 1/2 bird shot in their rear helped them remember.
One morning my wife and I were sleeping in a small tent at Llaird river hot springs and heard a bear outside. I got up and went out. It was acting aggressive with head low, ears down and circling toward me. I had my M70 .375 and a wrist rocket with a handful of glass marbles so decided to shoot him with that. He was only 5-7 yards away and when I hit him you could tell he was pissed but I took another step toward him and hit him again.
This time he slowly backed off into the timber but continued glaring at me.
Less than a week later we heard a camper at that campground had been killed and partially eaten by a black bear.
I have had numerous similar encounters over the past 44 years with Brown bears as well and while they tend to be a bit more social and less threatening, a few have acted predatory like that black bear , but by maintaining eye contact and standing my ground and slowly backing away I have only been forced to kill one bear not previously wounded by a client. Have you an opinion regarding the general attitude of inland vs. coastal Grizz/Browns? Seems like there are news articles and/or threads on this site regarding folks getting mauled/killed by Grizz in MT/WY almost every year, sometimes 3-4/yr. I'm wondering if in your opinion the interior bears are more aggressive or is it just that MT/WY has just a plain higher rate of people/bear interactions? I could also very well be asking the wrong question by relating inland bears to MT/WY bears. My actual grizzly/brown experience doesn't extend any further than Clyde @ the Bismarck ND zoo when I was a kid. I am convinced that bears that live in densely populated areas where adequate food is available are, on the whole, less aggressive, or less territorial, than bears who are constantly wandering in the search of food.
Phil Shoemaker Alaska Master Guide, Alaska Hunter Ed Instructor FAA Master pilot www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.comAnyone who claims the 30-06 is not effective has either not used one, or else is unwittingly commenting on their marksmanship.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,177
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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On a hike up the Fox River (northern Rocky Mountain trench) we saw little bear sign and nearly foundered on huckleberries. I doubt that bears up there were likely to be too aggressive, although I could imagine one craving a little protein; I know I was! Here, in the Kootenays (south in the trench), there are many bears, the berry bushes are often eaten down to the ground, and I think the bears might be a little more inclined to be more brazen. By the way, I have roughly .01% the experience with bears as does Mr. Shoemaker, so take it for what it's worth. GD
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 961
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Posts: 961 |
I've hiked a couple thousand miles in grizzly habitat, and that and more through black bear ground. The most spooked I've ever been was by a black bear boar, which midday was on a collision course with me on a trail. He wasn't yielding, not one bit. Me and my hiking buddy jumped up and down screaming enough for him to finally lay down his hair, and grudgingly detour just a bit off the trail to pass us.
Griz, even a sow with a grown cub, have always run from me. But it might just be that I've never run into an alpha griz I didn't give notice to, or a starving one.
I've also met the Wyoming game warden that Joe Puckett is modeled after (Joe of the books, not the stupid TV series), and he has spent plenty of time with both bears. The only one he ever had to shoot was a big black bear that had gotten very aggressive in a couple camps. He gave it a full can of bear spray in the face, and it just stared back at him as if saying "is that all you got?" He answered the query with a 300 Win. Mag.
Griz are very tough on each other in the northern Rockies. There is never enough food here for them as they gorge in preparation for a long winter hibernation. Just as they are highly territorial with each other, they are with humans too. If you come across a beta griz, you can fart and make them run. If you come across an alpha griz, you better not act the competitor in any way, intentional or not.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 15,666
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 15,666 |
I’ve only seen a handful of black bears while elk hunting in Colorado but the one that really spooked me was one I never saw.
I was elk hunting with a guide north of Pagosa Springs and we were working our way south along a north-south ridge. The slight breeze was from the southwest or our right, 2:00. We were seeing a lot of bear sign and we came to a spot that was really thick with 8-10’ high spruce saplings, so thick we had to push our way through them.
We were about half way through the little thicket and all of a sudden something went crashing off, running through the brush maybe 5 or 10 yards to our left 8:00. I’m sure our eyes were like saucers but after a few minutes of quiet, we eased over to where the sound came from.
As you see often in the mountains, there was a flat spot on the uphill side of a mature spruce that was kinda mashed smooth and sure as shootin’ there were bear claw marks that were left in the moist dirt as it took off running away. The bear had been bedded on that flat spot.
Looking at everything, the bear had waited and listened to us pushing through the young spruces until the southwest wind gave him our scent. Had it decided to come after us there wouldn’t have even been time to say, “oh chit!”
NRA Life,Endowment,Patron or Benefactor since '72.
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Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 587
Campfire Regular
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Phil, bless you for putting up with us. I don't claim to know much about bears, although we now get black bears walking thru our yard. (semi-rural area) This was unheard of a few years ago. Human nature, I do observe thou. While on a TOUR BUS thru Denali we came upon a large (I think) Brown Bear sniffing a road grader parked along the road. The Driver demanded we be silent, so we just watched the most self confident creature I've ever seen. Two CAMERA GEEKS on the bus wanted to be let out a short distance away. The driver said the rule was 2 miles. They got out, planning to walk back to photograph the bear.
"not too grumpy"
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,938
Campfire Tracker
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Phil, bless you for putting up with us. I don't claim to know much about bears, although we now get black bears walking thru our yard. (semi-rural area) This was unheard of a few years ago. Human nature, I do observe thou. While on a TOUR BUS thru Denali we came upon a large (I think) Brown Bear sniffing a road grader parked along the road. The Driver demanded we be silent, so we just watched the most self confident creature I've ever seen. Two CAMERA GEEKS on the bus wanted to be let out a short distance away. The driver said the rule was 2 miles. They got out, planning to walk back to photograph the bear. That bus tour through Denali NP is a fantastic way for tourists to really see a lot of wildlife in a spectacular setting.
Phil Shoemaker Alaska Master Guide, Alaska Hunter Ed Instructor FAA Master pilot www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.comAnyone who claims the 30-06 is not effective has either not used one, or else is unwittingly commenting on their marksmanship.
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Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 482
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 482 |
I don't think animals spend much time analyzing their motives. I always imagined that if detailed communication were possible, they'd say. "I did what I did because that's what I do."
Caution, vigilance, and acknowledging that unpredictability trump's expertise is likely a good frame of mind well in the lair's shadow.
Last edited by Earlyagain; 06/20/23.
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 11
New Member
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New Member
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 11 |
Hi folks,
If interested in the topics of bear maulings, the trilogy of books noted above by Dwayne (BC30) by James Shelton are a must-read. And not for the reasons one might expect, like avoidance and tactics.
Rather, Mr Shelton was ahead of his time by 50 years or more on bear management and policy. With our universities having been lost to the post-modernists as far back as perhaps the 1970’s, even if we correct their collectivist ways in the next 10-20 years it will take time to shake the anti-human ethos that has been reflected in our laws now.
Mr Shelton was using the terms “disinformation” and “misinformation” long before the corrupted media of today. His take on policy alone is worth the read.
Good on ya Dwayne for linking Shelton’s work!
Buffy
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