Surprise.

[Dusty_Traveler]

Moral......Keep an eye out for wht is around you while out there. Best to have a gun with you same as did our early woodsmen.

Agreed. Situational awareness and a big sidearm close at hand will save your life in many scenarios.

 

[2 shots]

Agreed. Situational awareness and a big sidearm close at hand will save your life in many scenarios.

also agree , bears are not the only predators living in the woods these days.

 

[ravenousfishing]

also agree , bears are not the only predators living in the woods these days.

I like hunting where I'm on top of the food chain.

 

[SOLANCO]

Here in Pa. , we are over run with bears. The hunting season for them is intentionally set at an inopportune time for most people , the week days before Thanksgiving. By Monday night , there are almost no hunters in camps , as they have families , and must prepare for the holiday. All that said , the reason for keeping the bear population high , is that using the Pa. Blame Commission's own statistics , bears eat half the deer fawns born each year. That's the real reason for the intentional surge in large preditor introductions here. Hybred larger coyotes , bear population redistribution , and another unsucessful experiment we won't discuss . I have been around bears in the woods most of my life. I've learned to keep a watch on them when they are near to me, A local berry farmer was minding his own business , and noticed about a 200 lb. bear , with cub in tow , charging toward him, The trees next to the field were too thick to easily climb , and he could gain only a few feet elevation when the bear grabbed him from behind. She bit him on the butt , then on the top rear of the calf , and tore the skin from back of knee to ankle. Farmer was able to find a club to defend himself , and hit the bear across the nose and eyes. She left. The guy was in rehab for six months getting his health back. Another event was when , at dark , an archery hunter had lowered his bow to the ground , and climbed down to the ground to leave. A bear , probably with a cub , ran from the darkness and grabbed the hunter. Bear and hunter went to the ground , with hunter going into a self protecting ball motionless. After chewing on the hunters parts or a moment , all got quiet. The hunter figured bear had left , but when hunter moved , bear got him again. Again , all got quiet , hunter waited listening , and got up w/o interruption , and walked to a farm house for help. Hunter needed 75 stitches , and 5 days in hospital to begin his recovery. ...............Moral......Keep an eye out for wht is around you while out there. Best to have a gun with you same as did our early woodsmen.

There is an appeal to having a large, and potentially dangerous animal, sharing your turf in the PA Deer woods. Might put a damper on the opening week of deer season drunks.
Southeast part of the state. Lancaster county rural area. Get a bear siting every once in a blue moon. Would not mind there being more.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Was doing an environmental study on some forested areas west of Wilmington, NC, back in 2005. Came around a big clump of blackberry vines and met up with a black bear about 300 lb. I froze, the bear bolted off into the deeper woods. Heart took a while to get back to normal.

 

[Appowner]

I was in my deer blind before daylight this morning. It is a ground blind and only about 1/4 mile from my house. I sit on a metal folding chair facing west, my back against a large sweetgum tree. I have several shooting lanes cleared through the brush in front of me. Behind me is a thick tangle of underbrush. I don't watch that way.

I had been sitting, mostly unmoving, for a couple of hours, my eyes scanning the forest before me. About 8:45am I finally had to stand up and stretch.

I leaned my long rifle against a log, and I stood up. There was a "snap" of a breaking stick behind me. I turned quickly, and there, only about 10 feet away, was a bear. It turned and ran off, quickly disappearing in the underbrush. Other than that one snap of a breaking stick, the bear hadn't made a sound.

It wasn't a large bear, only about 150 pounds in my estimation.

Pretty cool, I think. I hadn't seen a bear around here for a couple of years.

Soooo! What are you doing the quarter mile in these days?

 

[Appowner]

Bow hunting in Michigans U.P. many, many moons ago. I broke into a modest clearing of some 20 feet the same instant a Black Bear entered from the other side. We both did a 180 and slinked out as fast as we could.

Stationed in Alaska we stopped one day at a raspberry patch not far from one of our off base sites. Picking and eating I got to the top of the small hill the patch was on. Only to spy a large Brown on the other side munching away on berries. Again I slunk away!

Called out one night to that same unmanned off base site. I parked the truck, opened the door and the light shone on some very large wolf tracks in the fresh snow. A screw driver with a very long blade came out of my tool bag. Next day we showed the prints to the Commander of the Security Police. After which he authorized us to carry personal firearms in a government vehicle. Never saw another track.

 

[azmntman]

See them nearly once a year. Never a close encounter but almost. Walking dogs in popular aspen area as the first in that spring morning with my two german shepherd (husky mix) and my daughter and her lil pound puppy. I thought a Saw a bear standing up like 40' away but when I looked back nothing. Suddenly all three dogs stopped and sat down in the trail so we couldn't move. I then saw two lil black basket balls who uponsilencelense being broken by a "whhhhooooff" skittled up tall treestress and we saw mama hauling arse north as we spun to haul arse south. End of story. Cbuddy'save been sooo much worse if the cubs were behind us.

Best buddys Grandson saw a bear at his water hole this season and I guess got like 100 pics on his phone. Then theyelkt and he got a spike last day of season road hunting (yuk, remember those days too well). 12 yrs old has a turkey, ekl and deer! My son did that when he was 10! He now owns a vet clinic and too many euthanasia's have retired him from hunting.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

Was doing an environmental study on some forested areas west of Wilmington, NC, back in 2005. Came around a big clump of blackberry vines and met up with a black bear about 300 lb. I froze, the bear bolted off into the deeper woods. Heart took a while to get back to normal.

got a feeling after i encountered that bear i would need to wash my pants

 

[Edm]

That’s a neat experience! Not many black bears in Mississippi, the few we have stay in the counties along the river. But the population in Louisiana has grown fairly well. W&F says they will plan for a lottery limited season next year.

We would see them once in a while near Port Gibson, and where I grew up in Vicksburg.

 

[Dobegrant]

Well that’s pretty cool, two years ago hunting in Montana walking slow came across a sow and 2 cubs