Black Bears and Fear

[Etter]

Bears are just too special to kill without any understanding of them. Just me I guess.

[Wandering Archer]

Am I scared of blackies? No.
An I afraid of getting in a car accident? No, but I still wear a seatbelt.
That being said, we aren't alloud to carry any gun while bow hunting in CA, so I don't have a choice. If I could carry, I would, but not being able to isn't stopping me. I'm literally on the road to go bear hunting this weekend as I type.

If I could CCW in CA I would, but not being able to doesn't stop me from going outside. I think you assume too much. Most people wouldn't shoot a posturing bear, but who wants to be that one guy a year to get mauled?
Like the guy down the street from my mom who got mauled when he walked out his front door 3 weeks ago.

I think a reasonable piece of advice would be, whether one is armed with spray, sidearm or bow, just because you may see a bear, by a wide margin, that does not mean that you are in danger and need to fire on the bear. A typical over reaction that I witnessed.  Two guys from Missouri were on the motor legal part of Basswood Lake in the Bdub.  They were cleaning a couple of smallmouth bass on the landing of an unoccupied campsite, (a major no no in Bdub etiquette), while one cleaned his bass the other kept a long barreled 357 pointed at the woods. When the other was cleaning his, the other held the pistol and fired a couple of warning shots into trees just be sure. They were staying at a resort and used the motorized portage service to get to that lake everyday. Another major no no was going on at times.  Shell casings in all of the campsites on that lake, bore out the evidence of the rumors. When bears would come around they would get gut shot with 22s, so they would run off and die somewhere else.  As one person that I knew from northern Minnesota said, "I say are you a fraidy bear or a pesky bear, if they don't leave, and I mean quick, they get shot in the guts or the ass to speed them up." I told him that he had no business ever going into the wilderness again. Sometimes people do some really cruel and dumb things, when motivated by fear.

[NBK]

Exactly one year ago tonight I was with two buddies and a hound trailing a big boar I hit at dusk.
It was a thunderstorm and the rain was coming down sideways as we hustled on the track before the blood and scent would be washed away.
It will always be one of the most disappointing and yet awesome evenings of my life.
The correlation here is that at one point as we were plowing through thick spruce like a wardrobe,  intermittent Lightning like false daylight, the hound bayed and we heard a crash ahead.  My friend with the dog, a die hard bear hunter, turned and said, "time to draw your guns fellas".  

I'm not afraid of bears. I walk in the dark without looking over my shoulder. But when I'm bear hunting my Glock 20 is on my hip for situations just like that and I think it'd be foolish not to.

Considering how I shoot a pistol, when trailing a freshly shot boar bear in a situation like that, I think something more like a pump 10 gauge or a 308 automatic Remington would be better.

[NBK]

Originally posted by pavan:
Considering how I shoot a pistol, when trailing a freshly shot boar bear in a situation like that, I think something more like a pump 10 gauge or a 308 automatic Remington would be better.

Agreed.

[Mryan2176]

I've never seen a bear in the wild here in NY state where I live. There numbers are definitely increasing. I think my natural instincts will have me somewhat afriad. I mean a bear definitely has the capabilities to kill or maul me, and I have never been face to face with one. I know for a fact I wouldn't shoot first and ask questions later. I would only take a shot at one if  I was being attacked. Bear season is open here now and it coincides with bow season. My hunting partner saw.one last year on the land we hunt, so it just a matter or time. I may shoot one someday when I can afford to have a bear skin rug made, but honestly I've tried bear meat and I'm not a fan, so I would let him walk if at all possible. Seeing a bear around here is a big deal, they still put it in the newspaper. I hope I am lucky enough to see one while out deer hunting, I just hope it doesn't try to get in the blind or tree with me.

[monterey]

I've had only a few up close and personal encounters with bears over many years in Colorado.  Actually so few as to be disappointing.

OTOH, while growing up in the UP encounters with bears were common for me.  Most of them beat feet immediately and probably many more that I did not see.  The "problem" bears were the ones that the tourists would feed surreptitiously while staying in the local cabins and other tourist lodgings.  They would often approach the house looking for food.  The only way to deal with them was extreme aggression toward them.  That DID NOT involve firearms.  Shooting them with intent to kill or discourage them was not considered acceptable.  I saw my cousin who briefly visited from Cleveland try to scare one off by fireing a rifle over a bears head.  The bear ignored the gunfire.  When that failed I ran at the bear with a beach ball and when about twenty feet away kicked it at the bear.  That bear kicked up dirt turning to run.  It did not come back.    

We had bear attacks in a large state park where my dad worked.  One killed a woman who was feeding it along the road.  When she ran out of food the bear got pissed and swatted her.  The bear then just walked away.  Did the bear intend serious harm?  Was the bear showing mild disappointment?  Who knows, but it was enough to kill her.

I think every POV expressed in this thread has some merit.  If one is concerned about bears then they should do something to alleviate that fear even if it is not very practical.  I have never carried any kind of bear protection in black bear country.  Just not something I even think about.  I do have a handgun in my camp while on non hunting trips where there are a lot of other campers.  Some of the people in those campgrounds creep me out!

If I Carry a handgun while hunting, it is for potting small game for camp food.  And the extra weight usually seems not worth it.

[monterey]

Originally posted by Etter:
I was hoping to see that more people are on the same page as me.  I dont wear chain mail when I go to the beach even though my odds of behing attacked by a shark are thousands of times higher than when I am in black bear woods. Perhaps there are risks with any wild animal but they are considerably less when Im in the woods than when Im sitting in my own home behind locked doors.

Enjoy your hunts.

I would say your odds of being attacked by a shark in the black bear woods are right at zero!  

[Rob DiStefano]

to some this is a very subjective thread, while to others it's a no-brainer.

we're all adults, make yer own choices when going afield and live with the outcome ... if you live through that 1 in 10000  black bear attack like that feller in nj failed to have happen.

topic closed.