The Death Moan

[Whitetail Addict]

I'm no big bad bear hunter. We can't use bait here in NY, and I've only managed killed a couple bears over the years.

I've had them make the death moan, but one of them sobbed just like a man after he'd been hit, and made it out of sight. I'm assuming he was down at this point, but like I said, I couldn't see him.

When I say he sobbed like a man, that's exactly what I mean. If I'd heard it under different circumstances, I would have been convinced that there was a man crying, just out sight of me through the woods.

Have any of you more experienced bear hunters ever heard a bear do this? Is it common? I've told several different people about what I heard, and All but one acted like they thought I must be lying, and I think the other thought I was crazy.

Bob

[Izzy]

I've heard it, another reason I'm not keen on killing more bears.

[David Mitchell]

Yes, it is very sad to hear for me.  I had to finish one off up close and it was very hard to stand there and hear it as it went on for several seconds.

[goingoldskool]

The last one that I killed almost sounded like a deer snorting, or like a sneeze.  4 times in fairly rapid succession.  

A friend of mine filmed his and it wasn't a death "moan", but a hair raising growl! Very,  very  spooky!
 
Best of luck and God bless,

Rodd

[Brock]

My bear in June was down in 10 seconds and made no noise at all.

The "Death Moan" is an involuntary action as air escapes the lungs and moves past the vocal chords sometimes.  Not all bears do it apparently when fatally hit.

If someones bear was sobbing like a man...that is not a death moan...which is a single (usually) low gutteral moan.

Heard bears do lots of things...teeth clacking, snorting, huffing, roars, growls and the hyperventilating styled quick successive short bursts......

[Whitetail Addict]

Your post reminds me of a buddy, Brock. We were up north hunting, and he was carrying a gun. When I heard him shoot once, I just assumed he'd killed a deer. We weren't far apart, and when he shot, I waited a few minutes and headed over that way. He'd actually killed a nice bear. He was all excited, and straddled the bears back and sat down. When he did, a burst of air came out the entrance wound, making a loud hissing sound, and my buddy went about three feet straight up in the air.    

Bob

[Whitetail Addict]

Originally posted by David Mitchell:
Yes, it is very sad to hear for me.  I had to finish one off up close and it was very hard to stand there and hear it as it went on for several seconds.

I agree. It wasn't something I'd ever expected, nor will I ever forget it.

like I said, I don't have a lot of experience with bears and wondered how common it was. If you and Izzy have both heard it, as well as myself, it must be a fairly common occurrence. Or not uncommon, at least.

Bob

[damascusdave]

The problem of attributing human characteristics to animals is in large portion why we have so many animal rights activists...the more I am around non human animals the more I am convinced they do not feel pain the same way that we do...I am also convinced that an arrow in the right spot is a very uneventful death compared to the way many animals die...the only bear I have shot lived close to a major highway and my guess is that had I not shot it it could very well have eventually been hit on the road...that often results in a prolonged death

DDave

[Whitetail Addict]

Originally posted by damascusdave:
The problem of attributing human characteristics to animals is in large portion why we have so many animal rights activists...the more I am around non human animals the more I am convinced they do not feel pain the same way that we do...I am also convinced that an arrow in the right spot is a very uneventful death compared to the way many animals die...the only bear I have shot lived close to a major highway and my guess is that had I not shot it it could very well have eventually been hit on the road...that often results in a prolonged death

DDave

After re reading my original post, I realize that I should have worded things differently. I didn't intend to give the impression that I think animals have human characteristics. I don't. And I didn't mean to imply that I thought the bear was actually crying as a person would. Only if others had had a similar experience. I don't know what the sound means coming from a bear, though it may be. And I agree with you in regard to an animal shot in the right place, being an uneventful death. I'm often surprised by how little reaction is actually shown, when my presence isn't discovered by an animal at the shot. I've had deer jump at the initial sound/impact, go back to feeding, or to slowly walk away as if nothing happened. then fall over a short distance away.

Bob

[Izzy]

Originally posted by damascusdave:
The problem of attributing human characteristics to animals is in large portion why we have so many animal rights activists...the more I am around non human animals the more I am convinced they do not feel pain the same way that we do...I am also convinced that an arrow in the right spot is a very uneventful death compared to the way many animals die...the only bear I have shot lived close to a major highway and my guess is that had I not shot it it could very well have eventually been hit on the road...that often results in a prolonged death

DDave

A sound is a sound, if it sounds like a human made sound, thats how Id describe it. If the bear had pretty brown eyes , long, blonde, wavy hair, red lips and an Adams apple Id say he looked like Bruce Jenner.

    I don't think Bob was humanizing his bear or implying that the moan was due to pain, but the sound sure reminded him of one. I totally agree.

    Ive killed 3 bears, one was brain shot so no sound other than skidding in the leaves, one was 150 yards so I couldn't hear what sound he made if anything. The last was a big boar and did hyperventilate and finished with again, a most human like moan. Ive seen and heard a lot of ugly things in my life and that moan was one of them regardless if it was pain induced or not.

[Whitetail Addict]

Exactly Izzy.  

Bob

[Cavscout9753]

Never heard of this, interesting. The first buck I killed with a bow I was 16 and alone. Good hit, and he took off. Didn't go far. When I found him I took my belt off to wrap around his modest rack in order to drag him up to a trail so I could walk back home and get the tractor. I got it around him and gave a tug and thats how I learned about a death moan. Scared me crap-less. I assumed what it was after a minute or two of thinking. I know that story has little to do with what Bob described here, except to say that it would be unnerving. Anything anthropomorphic about an animal can be I would suppose. Like said, not sure it means the bear is suffering per say, but all the same I'd take the angry growling like a coyote I arrowed last year. Now anger, that I understand.

[Cavscout9753]

[Etter]

Im assuming that those of you who separate humans from "other animals" are religious. I wont try to debate you but we are all animals and black bears are on a level that is nearly as highly evolved as us. They are the only other animals that regularly adopt young of non related individuals and show extreme caring for each other for no reason that has anything t do with their own survival. A death moan is the result of a bear knowing that it is dying.  They also make similar sounds when a cub is killed or a multitude of other sorrowful events. Black bears are as intelligent as the higher order primates.  

I still hunt them but I respect them more than anything else out there.  A deer is a pretty stupid creature. A bear lives in a world much like ours. It involves emotion.

Anybody who wants to learn about how highly cerebral they are should read Ben Kilham's books.

[Etter]

Originally posted by damascusdave:
The problem of attributing human characteristics to animals is in large portion why we have so many animal rights activists...the more I am around non human animals the more I am convinced they do not feel pain the same way that we do...I am also convinced that an arrow in the right spot is a very uneventful death compared to the way many animals die...the only bear I have shot lived close to a major highway and my guess is that had I not shot it it could very well have eventually been hit on the road...that often results in a prolonged death


DDave

Wrong

[Tim]

I shot a nice bear in Minnesota several years ago.  Watched him for half an hour before I was given a good angle at about 7 yards.  Beautiful animals and yes I heard the death moan.   It was very errie, almost spooky.  I don't have an interest in shooting another one.  I didn't really care for the taste of the meat and that is why I hunt.

[curlis]

Bear are my favorite to hunt. Have heard them make lots of sounds. They are the most interesting animal in the woods for sure.

[Brock]

bears are something I would hunt more if able....  in their absence it is deer and hogs instead...but something about being that close to a large bruin with a longbow, wooden arrows, wearing plaid wool clothing, and taking the shot without it knowing what happened...and then hearing it crash less than 10 seconds later...  very emotional and very exciting all at same time.

[John Scifres]

This is a great campfire discussion.  Not so much here though.

[Olin Rindal]

My Wife and I were in a tree next to each other and she shot a bear it died at the base of the tree and it gave a death moan. It was kinda sad to watch. Had to step over the bear to reach the ground. We gave it an extra minute or two to make sure the bear was dead.