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(If you are not afraid of bears would you camp or walk alone in a remote wilderness area without firearm, axe or spray, relying only on making yourself "big"?)

"Afraid" is the wrong word for those of us who live with bears all the time.

And no I don't. Usually. Well, not anymore. Well, hardly ever....

Heck, going unarmed down to check my boat 70 yards from my remote cabin turned into an an adventure last time up there. Hope he's been keeping an eye on the place since, since he was bedding under the cabin over-hang out of the rain before we got there.... and since, no doubt.

Got me a watch bear... smile


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

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About one in ten black bears will be a problem, trouble is they are not numbered. Most serious encounters are stumbling into a bears cache or surprising one. A good personnel policy is to shoot first and ask questions later, especially if they are in your 'space'.

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Less than 1 in 100... probably closer to 1 in 1,000. And you are in their space, not otherwise

For every time one is aware of a bear, one has encountered at least 10 bears not seen/ heard. And damned few of those encountered are ever a problem if they are wild bears, and not human aclimatized. Or even if they are.

The very rare exceptions make the news. And maul/kill/eat people.

Look at it this way - How many people live in Baltimore? How many people were shot this week?

And yeah, if I was foolish enough to go to Baltimore, I'd pack heat.

I'm likely safer wandering around in bear country unarmed, than I am armed in Baltimore. Or DC. Or Chicago. Or any large city. (It ain't my habitat, for one thing, and the law there isn't on my side, perceivably....)).

That's my perception anyway, but then I like to think I can read bears better than I can those unpredictable humans.

Hell, I know I can. Maybe it's a matter of attention... My wife, on the other hand, being a 40 year Special Ed educator, will have your number nailed within 60 seconds...

But she's also been known to think the Dachshund is the pathfinder.... smile

She has also talked a brown bear sow (with 3 cubs in the yard) off the deck stairs while holdng the .338 WM. Uh - she had the rifle- not the bear...

Last edited by las; 05/26/15.

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Originally Posted by jwall
HuntnShoot - nor to be argumentative but..

Originally Posted by Northman

By making himfelf "larger" he scares the bear.. and previously stated when hunters raises their rifle to aim, they make themselves smaller, making the bear attack.


IMHO - that at least borders on the ridiculous and could encourage the 'uninformed' to act foolishly.

I don't think I would do anything to make any bear feel I was challenging it.


I disagree completely. After many, many hundreds of up-close brown bear encounters I can say the likelihood of a problem from a mature bear is remote. Problem bears are trying to figure out what their space is in the species dynamic of their ranges. Few feel the urge to press anything they are not sure of.

Having pushed more than a bunch of bears back when they got too close by looking big I can assure you it makes a difference.

Despite the clowns insisting charging bears should be shot under the chin... we stand much taller than bears normally. Spreading your jacket to look wider with the taller will get a young bear's attention right now!

A poster from here was fishing the Buskin River right next to the Kodiak airport with me several years ago. A medium-sized boar came into our hole unannounced at very close range. I pushed him back and he did not just run away like they usually do... I was unarmed but knew the bear and was not too concerned.

Then the bear blew a cloud of bad guts that was unreal! Painting brush and sending us gagging at considerable distance. Then I realized this was a bear I should not have been pushing simply because he was not happy already!


Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Originally Posted by las
Less than 1 in 100... probably closer to 1 in 1,000. And you are in their space, not otherwise

For every time one is aware of a bear, one has encountered at least 10 bears not seen/ heard. And damned few of those encountered are ever a problem if they are wild bears, and not human aclimatized. Or even if they are.

The very rare exceptions make the news. And maul/kill/eat people.

Look at it this way - How many people live in Baltimore? How many people were shot this week?

And yeah, if I was foolish enough to go to Baltimore, I'd pack heat.

I'm likely safer wandering around in bear country unarmed, than I am armed in Baltimore. Or DC. Or Chicago. Or any large city. (It ain't my habitat, for one thing, and the law there isn't on my side, perceivably....)).

That's my perception anyway, but then I like to think I can read bears better than I can those unpredictable humans.

Hell, I know I can. Maybe it's a matter of attention... My wife, on the other hand, being a 40 year Special Ed educator, will have your number nailed within 60 seconds...

But she's also been known to think the Dachshund is the pathfinder.... smile

She has also talked a brown bear sow (with 3 cubs in the yard) off the deck stairs while holdng the .338 WM. Uh - she had the rifle- not the bear...


Yup...


Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Originally Posted by Snake River Marksman
Well, I was just at "guide" training up in Yellowstone last week and the bear expert was there. He seems like a practical guy and not the least bit "green". Making yourself "big" is a part of scaring off a CURIOUS bear. However, if you startle a bear, or if the bear is attacking out of defense, he recommends bear spray backed up with a firearm.

Incidentally, he said the new model for grizzly counting shows approx 1172 griz in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Up from the old, more conservative, 752 grizzlies predicted by the previous model.


"Model"....

Up it by 50%, unless it is done with multi-year, hair-snag DNA sampling. Here on the Kenai, the "official estimate" nearly doubled (what all of us knew all along) once they got the funding to do the DNA thing. Even then many think it's a might low, but better than it was!

One of the things I find most hilarious about Yellowstone "protected" bears is how most of them leave the Park come hunting season. Gut piles..... smile

They ain't dumb, you know, and they are eating machines.

Mess with their food, mates, cubs, or surprise them at close range and you might have problems. Not to discount the very rare rogue who just wants to eat you..

Mishei found one of those over in Kamchatka. And he wasn't no Treadwell.


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Sitka Deer--

Okay I defer to your personal experience.

OTOH I still would not feel comfortable 'appearing' to challenge any bear.

I know that running away triggers the 'prey' response so IMO that's not an option either.

Have a good day Sitka!


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I have been involved with numerous black bears throughout my life time, if they are close enough I talk to them in a low voice. The nearest incident was a sow with two cubs, she bluff charged, went up on her back legs, chomping her teeth while I stood still explaining to her that the 300 WM I was carrying trumped her silly antics. After a few min, she called the cubs down and left. Years later a large Cougar at 17 feet unnerved me also but I was above it and did look large as I am assuming the muzzle of the WM did to the cougar. That one did unnerve me for a couple of hours. Both of these events in Idaho a few miles apart.

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I don't think looking big means a thing to a boar. You're still going to look like a weak human to the bear who knows it can eat you.

It might also look like a sign of aggression to the bear. Maybe it will work on a young bear, but I wouldn't count on it for a mature boar.


Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
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Funny how many know the mind of a man-eating bear just by his appearance/size.


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You want to take chances with a big boar? For me it's bear spray, or a gun. I'm not depending on looking big to scare it off.

You're free to try though.

Sorry if you weren't talking to me.


Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
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