Do you look behind you in the bear woods?

[Biggie Hoffman]

There have been alot of serious threads on here lately. Lets lighten up a little.

I don't want to do a poll on this but to get on the lighter side, when leaving a bear bait in the dark, do you look back when walking out?

Let's see how many liars we have here........

[JC]

Yep...walked backwards some and still checked my backtrail...or would that be my front trail?   :confused:    

[bayoulongbowman]

is that what they call,,,the biggie moonwalk!!!:)watch ur six........cha cha cha..

[northland archer]

I tend to walk and turn....walk and turn.  My pace seems to quicken too.

[DRR324]

My only experience was hunting with a buddy in Canada.  I was camera boy for 2 nights, never been in serious bear woods before- so he is razzing me the whole time on the trip up.  One thing I did find out about this buddy- he's either smarter than me, or a chicken squat.  Once we got out of the stands- he was quick stepping like I've never seen.  Of course he has to make 2 steps to my one, so keeping up was no big deal for me.  The "canadian quick step" was my moniker for it.  I did make mention of him never turning around to check on me- just head down marching, "if you'd have fallen- I'd have heard you yelling at me to stop", also, I asked him who the idiot was that thought of putting the bait between the stand locations and the route to the cabin,,, doh, never thought of that he says.......

[TimDougan]

My dad always said i am not scared just real concerned and i only got to run faster than you. TD.

[Brian Krebs]

Actually not very often. I have more problems walking up on cow moose with a calf; and that will put some spring to your step.
 I was once knocked down by a bear while walking out in the dark; but it was not really an attack; he thought I was a sow.
 I actually would have preferred him biting me.

[mooseman76]

I shot a bear in New Brunswick about 4 years ago.  I got out of the stand and started crawling on my hands and knees following the blood (it was just a faint drip).  I only made it about 20 yards when I heard what I now know is the death moan.  I about crapped my pants, got up and hightailed it back to the pickup point and waited for the rest of the group to get there.  Had to wait nearly 1 hour on high alert.  I never clicked my flashlight off and on so many times, lol...Mike

[woodchucker]

Only if I've got donuts in my pockets.....

[ChuckC]

Not really, but I did get a bit antsy.. in broad daylight... as I was packing out some leftovers of an elk and wasn't carrying anything weapon like except my little pocket knife.  This was in Colorado... not grizzly country, but there was very fresh bear sign throughout the drainage.  

It is amazing what nerve you get when you have just a simple weapon to (try) to protect yourself with.

Darkness makes it worse.
ChuckC

[ChuckC]

One that was not bear related.... but near got the same result as Moosemans adventure...  

a long.. long time ago, I got up a tree very early on a cold fall morning.  I was hunting in a small Osage, no place for a stand, so I sat on one branch, feet on one below me.  Just before it started getting any light at all, one of those big green "apples" fell from above, hit the branch I was sitting on, fell to the ground and rolled down the hill... right thru all the dried leaves and twigs...  oh,  and did I tell you about the damned Robins that were roosted all over there that took flight too.

That flashlight went on and I am surprised a pilot didn't try to land his plane there with all my swirling and flashing lights.  

I do believe that is where they got the idea for light saber fights in the Star Wars series...

And no.... I didn't shoot a deer.  Tough to do that when you are holding on to the tree with both hands.

Man that was a tough morning.....
ChuckC

[dino]

Nope, don't look back when walkin' out.  But several years ago I was deer hunting up in the U.P. Michigan when were have on and off run ins with local bears.  One night I was walking back to camp and walked into a dip in the road were it was pitch, can't see your hand in front of your face, dark!!  I was walking real slow, and by memory or the road, and very cautious because of the bear sightings that we had had and listening very intently.  I got to the bottom of the dip and kicked a ruffed grouse up.  Scared me to the point that I nearly passed out for sure.          I actually sat down on the ground right there to catch me breath and then laugh a little.

Ok second bear story!!

Same place the year before, a buddy that I was hunting with was sitting in a stand of hardwoods overlooking a large ravine.  He had sat there for about an hour on an old stump motionless.  It was a very calm quiet afternoon were you could hear the deer come crunching from a ways off.  He felt warm breath on the back of his neck and when he slowly turned around there was a couple hundred pound blacky staring back at him.  Freaked the crap out of him!!  He did walk backward all the way out of that one and couldn't get him to hunt from the ground anymore either.  

[Brian Krebs]

AF

[Izzy]

Yes, to see what the bear Im dragging is hung up on.  

[akbowbender]

My brother and I were dragging a deer off of Admiralty Island. Admiralty Island is brown bear country, and guys have been attacked while dragging out deer.

Anyway, as we pulled the deer over a log, air was forced through the deer's vocal cords, making a low, bear-like growl. Talk about making your hair stand on end!

[ishiwannabe]

Heck I have a hard time walking to my stand at oh dark thirty. One opening day, the bear struck...garbage, bird feeders. Walked out anyway. Half way, I heard something sounded like bone on bone. I stopped, it stopped. I started, the noise would come again....I almost ran to my stand. I figured if I got to it I would atleast be up with only one direction of possible threat. I never did see the bear, but while in my stand before it got light I got the strongest whiff of garbage...
On the way out I found 4"+ tracks. Now I just need to get an arrow into em...

[SERGIO VENNERI]

Yup ! Been hunting them for over 30 years and still flash my light all around as I'm walking out. But my biggest fear is being shot by some gun hunter as i step out onto the logging road from my trail! Thats why i usually wait 'til dark and step out waiving my flashlight up and down the road. Only been treed by a Bear once in all this time and i still cannot figure why that 120# bear rushed at me. The spruce boughs did more damage as i went up the tree than the bear!

[Jon Stewart]

Only if I am walking behind my very large and slow running hunting partner!!!!

[bowdude]

The ones that get me are the ones that know the whole setup.  I had a large one by the tracks he was leaving at the bait, sit out in the bush estimate about 80 to 100 yards by sound judging and snap and pop his teeth and groan / growl.  This would go on the last hour or so each night I sat the stand.  Get down in the dark with that going on when he knows you are there and not look behind you?  Yeah right!

[Mike Bolin]

About 20 years ago, I had a sow and a cub come in late........waited till I couldn't hear them or see them with my maglight and climbed down for my half mile walk to the truck. About 300 yards out from the stand, I heard a noise on the left side of the trail, then another noise from the right side. First thing I thought was that I was between a sow and her cub! I stuck the maglight in my mouth and nocked an arrow and cautiously made my way down the trail. The brush to my right moved and I spun and drew my bow at the same time to see......a big skunk!! Next thing I knew, I was in the truck. Never seen a skunk look so good! Mike