Bear attack

I had a sow bluff charge me last fall. She was with her cub. They were milling around the deer I had just downed. She ran at me 3 or 4 times. I had my 30-06 with me and a hand full of cartridges. All three times she ran towards me from about 200 yds to 100 yds then retreated. I really didn't want to shoot her because of the cub. So I left the area and eventually they did too. I enlisted a buddy to "cover me" as I retrieved my deer. My heart was pounding the whole time. It was an amazing experience.

you did what is the best to do: retreat. she was not interested yet by your deer but more worried by her cub. in the same time you give a lesson to the cub for the future and avoiding human meeting ...

if a bear is claiming your prey it is no more yours ....
 
Closest calls with black bears was twice in a week I met a sow and 3 cubs, close... First time was about 40 feet in dense low spruce, I saw them a couple seconds before they knew I was there and had my rifle up and ready. She came back that evening and was clicking her jaws in the thicket below my stand, not a good feeling.

A week later I met them again just above the same stand mid morning probably 20 feet this time, again I saw them first and had the rifle ready, one cub went up a tree and she hollered for it for a long time, still have the video.

Another time I was in a ground blind and a small bear ( I called him little stupid as I had run into him previously) and he came strolling down the hill to me after making a ton of noise destroying something up the hill. I was on the far side of a grassy road and had a carrot bait pile to my left 40 yds away. He walked down straight to me, got on the road and I figured he would go to the bait but he kept on walking to me, didn't know I was there, very relaxed and munching the grass. He kept on coming and now I was curious to see how close he would get.

I think it was 6 feet when I told him to "back up!" I had a 12 gauge slug aimed at the area where a bear's thinker should be but perhaps a shot in the head might not bother little stupid! After very quick deliberation he decided backing up was a good thing, he swapped ends and hoofed it back up the hill huffing like an ape.

Sure wished I had an action camera for some of these.
 
ya.... i need a go pro
I wish i had footage of the wolves rushing me in pemberton a couple er so years ago. was exhillarating :D

in other news, I caught #### from the local CO today. Seems the neighbor down the road has been seeing the same bear as I have been meeting in my yard and called him out. Stopped in my place while i was mowing and asked me if I had seen it. Said sure, he's walked right passed me in rock lobbing distance 3 times in the past couple weeks. Told me I couldn't shoot it on my property and I argued that if i stick him with a crossbow bolt I'm sure it's legal LOL ..... he was pretty grumpy today and last thing he said was if i see it again I best be calling him.
WTF is that? maybe i need to read up on crossbow use regs but this is hunting country so I think he's full of #### on that one.
 
ya.... i need a go pro
I wish i had footage of the wolves rushing me in pemberton a couple er so years ago. was exhillarating :D

in other news, I caught #### from the local CO today. Seems the neighbor down the road has been seeing the same bear as I have been meeting in my yard and called him out. Stopped in my place while i was mowing and asked me if I had seen it. Said sure, he's walked right passed me in rock lobbing distance 3 times in the past couple weeks. Told me I couldn't shoot it on my property and I argued that if i stick him with a crossbow bolt I'm sure it's legal LOL ..... he was pretty grumpy today and last thing he said was if i see it again I best be calling him.
WTF is that? maybe i need to read up on crossbow use regs but this is hunting country so I think he's full of #### on that one.

In most municipalities there are laws other than "discharge of firearms" that come into play in that scenario... safe use of a firearm (crossbows fall under the "firearm" definition in most, but not all statutes), hunting inside city limits etc... best check with your municipal office.
 
When I was a kid in northern BC late 70's couple kids in the neighbourhood had a fort in the bushes behind their house. They had been out there the day before and left some food which drew the bear in. The bear showed up when they did and one of the boys 8 years old got mauled very badly. Neighbour came out and shot the bear. Huge injuries, ever since then I take no chances with bears. I've had a few unhappy bears charge and play some games but I've always been prepared to unload if need be. Haven't had to shoot one yet, knock on wood. Some people down play what a 300 lb black bear can do. If you're going to carry a firearm forbears or anything else that might want to take a bite out of you, practice with your gear and make the rounds count.. fast is good, but it means nothing if you're missing.
 
No bear is purely carnivorous, except polar bears, and only then when they're out on the sea ice. While on land, the white bear will eat seaweed, grass and berries, but they, like all bears, are opportunistic feeders, that tend to eat any form of nutrition that can't outrun them.

I like this video because it illustrates that blackies can act violently towards people without provocation, a belief I've held for some time. Many old timers consider the black bear far too timid for this type of behavior, since a blackie, being a forest creature, learns at an early age that danger is best avoided by disappearing into the thick stuff, whereas a grizzly has no place to hide, and uses aggression, size, and strength to survive. Perhaps as forested areas are opened through logging, fires, and oil/gas/mineral exploration, black bears like their dish faced, hump-shouldered brothers, could become confrontational. All species of bears are highly adaptable, and changes in behavior due to changes in the environment are not out of the question. For example, grizzlies become more social when food is plentiful, and less so when times are tough.

There's an old saw that goes, "black bears don't attack, they feed," fortunately that was not the case this time. Only luck prevented the attack from becoming predatory once contact had been made; a bear attack by any species of bear can become predatory, regardless of the reason for the initial contact. Bears don't like being punched in the nose, and that might have been what drove him off. I could see Hoyt giving a bear a rabbit punch in the beak when it climbs the tree to sniff his crotch.:cool:
 
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In most municipalities there are laws other than "discharge of firearms" that come into play in that scenario... safe use of a firearm (crossbows fall under the "firearm" definition in most, but not all statutes), hunting inside city limits etc... best check with your municipal office.

no municipalities around here man LOL
Like I said, this is hunting country.
 
Government Conservation Science Manager ..... god damn it that's funny.

Many around my area (who should know better) have this naive understanding that black bears are more afraid of you than you of it. I tell the old ladies who go for a stroll in the woods they might want to rethink that. Just because nothing's happened for years doesn't mean nothing ever will.

It's not difficult to understand. Black Bears are easily startled but they ain't afraid of you. Things happen fast and they don't listen when you ask them to hold on until you get to the gun safe, take off the trigger lock, look for the ammo, load and chamber. They're not quite that polite...

Be prepared for RIGHT NOW. And when one is charging at you screw the damn laws (short of shooting at one when someone is behind it sorta thing). That's when Shoot Shovel Shut up comes into play. Sorry, but your life means a whole lot more to you & your loved ones than an MNR prick with an attitude problem.

Just telling' it like it is.
 
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