Pesky Bear

[Recurve50LBS]

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure to finally go hunting with my friend Bentpole. We arrived at our destination early enough to drive around the perimiter of the public land and get the lay of the land. After we chose an area we parted ways with the plan of hunting from the ground for ease in moving around if need be.

I quickly disappeared into a wood lot next to a clover field and soon found a small clear area to set up on. I set up my stool and hung my bow up waiting for the sun to rise.

After sitting there for about 5 minutes I heard some thing walking through the woods approaching me from behind me (down wind of me). I knew that it could be 1 of 3 things, deer, another hunter or a black bear. I soon let out a shout that I was there in case it was another hunter. No answer. The footsteps kept getting closer.

 It was then I noticed a large black shape moveing in the brush not 5 yards away from where I was standing. Then with my head light beam I saw a large black bear. I say large because it was much larger than I am. I quickly looked around for cubs while saying a slient prayer. :pray:I quickly nocked an arrow in the pitch dark as fast as I could, just in case. Never taking my eyes off the bear.  

I started shouting at the bear to let it know I was a human. I've learned that when you come upon a bear  you should let the bear know you are a human and that they will run away for the hills to get away from you. Yea right! Any way this bear hung around me for 30 minutes. He spent most of his time inside of 10 yards from me. During this time I was shouting at this bear, throwing rocks and hitting it with sticks to try to get it to move along and leave me alone.

I didn't bring any food into the woods with me because I was supposed to meet Bentpole at the truck at 9:30 to discuss what we saw and to refine our game plan.

This bear made no agressive moves towards me. No jaw popping or false charges. I don't know why he did what he did. Maybe he was just courious or he had lost his fear of humans.

After 30 minutes of dealing with this bear I was exhausted but very happy the bear moved off with out me having to shoot a broadhead into his hide.

It was a win win for both the bear and myself. This is not the first time I've encountered a bear in the woods but it is the first time I've had to deal with such a stubborn one.

I want to add a note here. On my way out of the woods I took a quick recon of my area to see if there were a bait pile of some kind of food but I found none at all. I also saw no deer that morning either. I wonder why?    

Has any one else here had a simmilar experiance happen to them? Any one have any advise for me or any constructive critisism? I am now seriously thinking of buying some bear pepper spray. What do you folks think?

[jon]

I've hunted black bears for around 15 years now and have taken 5 with a bow. The ones that show no fear once they know you are a human really scare me.
I had one walk up behind me a few years ago while I was slowly walking along the top of a ridge. I just happened to turn around to backtrack to my truck and nearly tripped over him. Never heard a thing. It was daylight and he would have had to have known I was human. I puffed myself up and started talking to him telling him "go away bear". He stood there looking at me for another 45 seconds and then turned and loped into the woods.
Thinking it through later, I have often wondered what he was up to and what would have happened if I hadn't turned around. I was out scouting just before the season and had only a pocket knife on me for a weapon.
These days, I don't leave the truck without my Gary Reeder .45 Colt:)

[WESTBROOK]

Make a guy wonder what it would have done if you did stick him. Would it take off or get in your face?

Eric

[knife river]

When black bears look at you as their next meal, there's no display -- no woofing, no jaw popping.  They look you in the eyes, sum you up, might walk around you a bit to look for a weakness.  When they decide to come in, it's hard and fast.  They mean business.

With grizzlies, it's often best (not always) to be as subordinate as possible.  Not with blacks -- be big, loud, and dominant.  If you acted submissive to a stalking black bear, you'd be the entree all the faster.  Sounds like you did the right thing in a very dangerous encounter.    

[whitebuffalo]

Man this is exzactly what I
m starting to wonder too,, I hunt state land primarily and in the morning darkness I'm always wondering if a bear will walk in on me,, You have comfirmed my worst fear in the morning woods so I'll be pickin up some pepper spray for sure,,LOL,,call me a wuss if ya wan't but I don't want to shoot a bear cause I think he's going to do me harm,,wouldn't be right in my mind. I would rather detour him from me with spray but push comes to shove something will give,,If I was in your boots I probably would have made a poor desision because of my lack of experience I have with bears and I'm just being honest,
I'm glad you got out of that deal unscathed,,Good post to inform folks on bears,,Anyone else have any info to share,,would lke to read more,,Take care JB

oh yeah almost forgot to mention,,The last place I scouted I found a bear baiting station,,It was real abviouse cause there was a burried holoow log wich inturn had a heavy log over it,,got my picture taken too by the camera,, Me a Drew poused for the next picture,,LOL,,It looked very inactive with no bait and the stump over the hollow log but still,,Someone knows they are there,,J

[Curveman]

I once stepped off the trail into the woods to get around a blowdown and a bear was just sitting there watching me. He took off but it was a little unnerving to know that a bear had been just watching me stroll by. The bear that I killed in Quebec this year came quietly and directly to my stand (below) and just as he looked up at me a squirrel jumped on the bait behind him and he chased it off. He then continued to chase off critters in different directions including once just past my stand! I was not confident that that bear was going to let me cross his area to get back to my truck. That's when I decided that: "so THIS will be the bear I take!"          

 A guy was just badly mauled in Washington state a few weeks ago while bike riding with his dogs. Generally bears will leave you alone so that one that hung around was definitely sizing you up in my opinion and you did just what you are supposed to do!
   

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Originally posted by Recurve50LBS:
 He spent most of his time inside of 10 yards from me. During this time I was shouting at this bear, throwing rocks and hitting it with sticks to try to get it to move along and leave me alone.                                             What do you folks think?

Inside 10 Yards...      The bear would not have had a good day if he had gotten that close to me.   :eek:

[bamboo]

thats jersey!!!
  pretty good pucker-factor!!larry
 on the jersey opener this year i had 3 cubs gallop into my set-up [on the ground] and you know who showed up as soon as i shouted!!!after 10 or 15 second stand-off they bolted!!i was dozing off--when i heard them galloping in-if i hadn't heard them the cubs might have past me and that would have placed me between them and mama--i'm sure there would've been a rucuss!!![my spray is with me now!!!]

[Wulomac]

Bears will come in for anything smellable.  Several backpacking trips in the mountains with my scout troops confirm bears will come for scents the are not used to.  And it always gets exciting when they arrive!

[paleFace]

that's a little to close and personal. doubt i would have been able to keep from launching my quiver full at him.

[vermonster13]

Brought to you courtesy of the no bear hunting laws of New Jersey's Governor.

[ishiwannabe]

Sounds like Knife River nailed it. I need to find my magazine articles....I read that balck bears attack to eat you , where as griz attacks usually to defend(kills, cubs, etc.)
Anyway, the article I refer to also stated the ratio of fatalities....blacks kill more than grizze each year.
I know....I need to find the article. I cant remember what mag it is in but I will look for it.
It put black bears into a whole new light for me.
Ever see that video footage of the bear following the guy?
Sounds like it could have gotten a lot worse Recurve....also sounds like some pepper spray might not be a bad idea.
I know I have seen more bears in NJ than here in NY....Ft Lee, Picatany(sp?) arsenal....bears all over.
Good luck on future excursions.

[Recurve50LBS]

I can honestly say that I was more afraid to shoot this bear because of what had happened to a hunter I know last deer season.

He shot a doe and while field dressing it some thing told him to turn around. When he did there was a bear 6 feet from him.

He quickly ran the bear off and went back to dressing out the doe. It was then he was knocked to the ground, travleing 10 feet from his doe from the force of the blow from the same bear he just ran off.

He quickly picked up his compound and nocked an arrow and then sending the arrow through the bears boiler room.

Thinking he did the right thing he reported the incident to the game warden, brought him to the spot where the state did a CSI investigation of the scene.

The game warden later told him that he did the right thing that day only to return 2 months later with a court summons for killing a bear out of season.

This court appearance cost this guy a lot of money for a defence lawyer and the fine he had to pay.

There was no way that I wanted to shoot this bear just for that reason. I'm pretty sure that if I had to shoot the bear I sure as heck would not tell a soul out of fear of being draged into court and be forced to spend money I can't afford to spend in the first place.

[Recurve50LBS]

I think it's sad where a person has to fear doing the right thing to protect himself to be politically correct. But such is the way of life here in New Jersey.

Makes me wonder what would have happened if our govenor Corzine were in my shoes. The bear would probally be riddled by NJ State Trooper bullets, and the govenor sped away at a high rate of excess speed. I'm sure that he would receive no court summons either.

[bjk]

I hunt in Jersey, so feel for ya (I might even start to carry bear spray)...but my nature normally gets the better of me...

"After sitting there for about 5 minutes I heard some thing walking through the woods approaching me from behind me (down wind of me). I knew that it could be 1 of 3 things, deer, another hunter or a black bear. I soon let out a shout that I was there in case it was another hunter. No answer. The footsteps kept getting closer. "

I chuckle everytime I read this...

[woodchucker]

I think "adkmountainken" has the best "bear protection" going

(have you ever seen the KNIFE that boy carries?????)        

Let some procecutor try and convince a jury that the bear wasn't getting "up close & personal"

[Crazyhorse]

There seems to be more and more of a trend these days from Black bears to consider people as a meal rather than as a curiosity.
One time we were told to adopt the fatal position and take a few bites from an agressive bear. Now adays the Bear Awareness Programs are telling us we must distinguish if a bear is attacking out of fear or if he is hungry. One we curl up into a ball, the other we fight for our lives.
It is a hard choice to make and many hunters and fishermen are being faced with this decision more frequently.
I don't think that it is a problem I will ever worry about, it is right up there with being struck by lightning. But it is always in the back of a persons mind.

Daniel

[bentpole]

Vermonster hit the nail on the head.Our Bunny Hugging Governor NO BEAR HUNTING IN JERSEY.AND by the way if he has his way he wants a commitee of his cronies on the Wildlife management Board instead of an equal board of half famers and half hunters. He wants to hire all his bunny hugging cronies.,  Last year it was canceled at the last minute again.Problem bear where do they dump them on Wildlife Management Areas. The first time I had a bear follow me around 1985 or 1986 I realized I had Snickers in my pocket my fault . since then I had at least two dozen experiances.There have been break ins of homes by bears which is probably the only time they'll take one out. What do we Jersey hunters have to do get maimed by one. Like Larry described about his buddies case, the Game Warden told me the same thing you have to prove that the bear posed a threat and did bodily harm or caused  injury. OK well then how can I defend myself if the darn thing kicked my butt already or worse. Larry it could have happened to you no doubt. I could see it pretty well shook you up.

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Maybe Somebody should take the Governor Hunting...      

[bentpole]

Can't Ron he's recovering from a near fatal car accident.The Jersey bear has NO natural enemies. We can't carry firearms in the woods during bow season, pistols wooo faaa that's another story.Any of you folks hear of a Momma Bear having FIVE cubs !!?? Well a few years ago there was a picture of this particular momma bear with her FIVE cubs in the NJ Fish , Game, and Wildlife Compendium. Where was it taken? Good Old Delaware Watergap National Recreation Area. A few weeks later Bucky and I were hunting the area and saw MOMMA with four cubs one must have gotten killed .  I think us Jersey Trad Gangers should all order and start carrying Shrew Hawks and machetes besides their bows!