Had to fire a warning shot at bear

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xcaribooer

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Had a nice little bear encounter yesterday. Went for the big hike near Harrison lk for opening day of Blacktail. We hiked for about 4 hours to get up to the high country.Once we go to the top of the mountain we stopped on the high side of a fairly new cutblock to have a bit of lunch.After sitting for about 20 mins we were starting to get ready to hit back down when we notice something large moving thru the 4' high brush directly towards us. this was at about 50 yards.it kept coming directly at us stopping now and then for about 10 seconds. it got to about 20' away and stopped.I had my rifle ready with safety off.I knew that whatever it was was fairly large but acting very stealthy.I was actually thinking cougar at this point.After about 10 seconds of waiting it took the last few steps to emerge from the thick stuff at about 15'. I was literally face to face with a good size black bear.He wasnt acting in a way that I was comfortable with and it seemed like he was about to take the last few steps to make contact so I fired a warning shot over his head.He did not react for a few seconds and I was ready to put the next one into him when he dissapeared back in the direction that he came.
It was pretty cool but also a bit spooky.I have read all of gary sheltons bear aware books and this had some of the signs of a predatory encounter.
He could have also just smelt our lunch and was coming in for a bite or mabee it was just curious? what do you think? either way it was a bit too close for comfort.We were looking over our shoulders for a while on the way back down. Saw lots of deer tracks but no deer. It was a beauty day just the same.
 
I think that bear encounters add much to any outdoor experience. You acted correctly, and your description of the bear's reaction seems to follow my experience, in that live fire doesn't impress them much, but they do find it unpleasant at would rather grudgingly move away than hear it again. Was it predatory? Who knows, but certainly a bear encounter that begins as curiosity can turn predatory.
 
In retrospect, I do not want to give anyone a feeling of false security. But, do you guys notice, there are fewer aggressive bear encounters, reported in Nova Scotia? Maybe I am wrong, it seems the western/central provinces, report more of this behaviour on the news networks?

Am I wrong on this fellas?
There has got to be SOME eastern bear hunters/guides out there, with better information than myself.
 
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Brutus said:
In retrospect, I do not want to give anyone a feeling of false security. But, do you guys notice, there are fewer aggressive bear encounters, reported in Nova Scotia? Maybe I am wrong, it seems the western/central provinces, report more of this behaviour on the news networks?

Am I wrong on this fellas?
There has got to be SOME eastern bear hunters/guides out there, with better information than myself.
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No bear problems here in NB either. Here in NB there are tons of black bear, but you just NEVER see them. I've seen exactly two since moving here in 1985.


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SuperCub said:
No bear problems here in NB either. Here in NB there are tons of black bear, but you just NEVER see them. I've seen exactly two since moving here in 1985.
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Last year I seen two bears within 10 minutes, along the same track, near Sheerbrooke.
I stopped at a small local motel, and enquired. Seems the only reason the bears, often crossed the opening was for a free meal at the local landfill.
Gatehouse said:
Can't take a walk without tripping over black bears here..populaiton has exploded.
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Ditto when I lived in Cold Lake. While helping a friend mill lumber outside, we often had a lever gun handy, just in case. I also remember more than once or twice black bears, and cubs moving across the Cold Lake outdoor range. This is while we were sighting in out rifles.
 
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I've never seen a bear in the area where I hunt, locals all said there are none, until my trail cam took a bunch of pics of a big black bear near my corn feeder. My buddy who owns the property was very surprised as was his family.

I'm guessing since I have never seen one all these years that they just get out of our way when they smell or hear us in the woods, but after the last few months of hearing about the black bear encounters out west, especially the one today with the guy in his friggin boat getting attacked, I have to say I really am more cautious in the woods knowing there is this big black bear around.
 
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