Bear Hunting 2013

[dthunter]

We have seen about a dozen different bears this last week. One boar was nearly big enough to shoot! He had a heavy frame, big head, smaller ears, and gorgeous hide! My guess is about a 350-400 pounder.

I have shot bears of this size before with various firearms/bow/ etc. I am hoping to find a bear in the 20"+ Size.
Not many Big bears sighted this year.

We had one bear exhibit some weird behavior!
We spotted him feeding along a pipeline about 100 yards away. We stopped and were initially field judging him to see if he's big enough to consider. He saw us and walked all the way up to the truck and started to circle it. We drove ahead a ways thinking it would scare him. No dice! He just walked back to the truck and started to circle it again!

This bear seemed a little aggressive, but he may have had people feeding him before. He was too small to shoot, so we continued on our way.

This is the picture of the bear that was acting a little strange.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Do you drive a Ford by chance?
Maybe he was wondering if he could try a Ford on fer size....
Seriously though, I agree that is some odd behavior for a Black Bear, then again maybe
he just woke up and was feeling a tad ornery that he was being watched.
Tight Groups,
Rob

 

[Redbearded1]

While seems odd to have a bear act so "friendly", I don't think it's really odd bear behaviour. It's my understanding that younger bears are the curious ones, investigating everything they see, smell or hear. Eating anything from road garbage to gas cans. I've always been told that young bears and really old bears are the dangerous ones. Young bears because they don't fear man yet. And old bears because they become desperate for food sources.

But I'm no expert. Just relaying what the old boys told me.

 

[NShunter1254]

More likely that there were cubs very close and she was trying to either scare you away or kick your ass. Was there any swatting the ground or jaw popping going on?

 

[dthunter]

No the bear was quite silent. The look in its eyes was not normal at all! Really staring directly at us for prolonged periods. Like it was considering some options.

I have seen hundreds of bears over the years, and this is only the second bear that showed this kind of body language. The first one I encountered died at the bait site trying to climb my tree. That bear was just a smallish boar(200-250lb), that appeared to be COMPLETELY unafraid of me! I yelled at him to scare him off, but he didn't even blink at the noise. He received a 200 Grain Round nosed projectile from my .357 Maximum Contender Carbine at about 2 feet (just under the stand base). I just didn't trust that particular bear!

I have never seen a sow "with cubs" act quite like this. Most would normally pop their teeth and huff a little.
In my personal experience, I think paw swiping and ground clawing is usually a boars type of response. But I am sure that's not always the case.

More than a few times I have walked into bait stations with a sow and cubs on it. I just aggressively announced my presence, and confidently walked directly towards the bait barrels. They "ALWAYS" backed off into the background. I wouldn't rush in, but just walked in slow and steady. I would then unload the bait out of my back pack (watching closely of course), and then leave just as purposefully. I never had any problems with them. I ALWAYS had my slug shotgun ready.

One time I did this when I saw a lone bear at a bait station. As I approached the bear it really didn't seem to want to leave. I just walked straight at it with my gun at my shoulder and very aggressively yelled "Bugger Off"!!!!!! (Censored)! LOL! The bear ran a short distance away and paced back and forth popping its teeth. At this point I had enough, and smashed a slug into a tree by the bear. The bear really ran away then!
I waited a few minutes and proceeded to unload my bait. I had the back pack off one shoulder and was lowering it to the ground when I heard a noise above my head! It was two cubs 15-20 feet above me looking terrified! OOOOPS!!!

Poor little guys! I quickly wrapped up and left slowly watching my back trail for a ways. A few days later I saw the family together again, and they gave me lots of space! LOL!

Bears are very interesting creatures! One of my favorite game animals to watch/and or hunt.