Ever run into a bear in the woods?

[nursers]

http://www.snopes2.com/photos/deadbear.htm

[Sylver]

Such a shame that such a increadable animal met his end. But, I guess if it was charging me, I shoot it too.

[Rog]

I wouldnt shoot it, I'd get Dix to do it for me, but only if it was bearing arms ;)

[offramp]

No, but I saw the Pope there once...

[Tedly Nightshade]

What a magnificent creature- I would be deeply honored to me mauled and preferably eaten by such an exalted bear. No kidding. I'm confident that the bear would not have been concerned with a custody battle for the head or hands of it's honest meal- I bet it was out deer hunting too. Maybe moose hunting! Ted

[thisDude]

That's one Big Dipper. :D

[max]

i wish someone would shoot that bloke in the head with a semi-automatic cheers max newcastle, oz

[Wewus432]

Do you know where I can find a picture of Ted getting eaten by a bear?

[Dwarf]

[quote]Originally posted by TheWewus: [b]Do you know where I can find a picture of Ted getting eaten by a bear?[/b][/quote]I always used to kid an old girlfriend about how much she resembled a bear when I was eating her. :thu: -- Rob

[audiofreek]

My Dad got charged by a grizzly.He was on a game trail,moose hunting,When along came this grizzly.It was headed full-out on the game trail,coming straigtht towards him.These animals can do over 45mph,and take about 2 seconds to get up to full speed.He didn't even have time to chamber a shell into his rifle.Luckily the bear just veared around him and kept on going down the trail,like he was out for a jog or something. Last year another old time mountain man,and friend of my fathers,had the honor of being killed by one of these magestic beasts,he was 81 years old and died with his boots on.My dad was about 75 yrs old when he had his experience.He's 82 and still moose hunting by himself. A.F.

[Philip OKeefe]

Man, what a beautiful creature. That's the biggest bear I've ever seen. And I had the head of a 900 pound Kodiak Brown mounted on my bedroom wall as a teenager... Here in California, I never go into the woods without being armed. Unless it's a National Park, where that's a no-no. Anyway, our bears are pretty small - 300 pounds is a pretty big black bear, and a well placed shot with a .45 will do the job... but bears are harder to kill than a lot of animals. Backup handguns for brown bear come in two sizes - way too little and barely enough. The bigger the caliber the better. Better yet, a shotgun or magnum rifle. But the gun I carry isn't out of fear of the bears - it's the cats that concern me. A 150 pound mountain lion can be far more aggressive and you're more likely to be attacked by a cat than a bear. Fortunately, they're an easier kill than a bear is. Not that I WANT to kill one, but if it's it or me, and I can't get away, kitty kitty's going to lose all 9 lives in one big hurry. I've never personally had a close encounter with a bear in the wild. I've seen plenty of them, but I always try to steer clear. Most Black bear won't bother you unless you're between them and their cubs, or are too close to their food. But you never know... like I said, steer clear and stay downwind if possible. Funniest bear story I have happened up in Yosemite several years back. My grandmother walks around one side of a large rock, as a bear walks around the other side... and they literally come face to face. Grandma yells, bear rears up and growls, and both turn tail and run in opposite directions simultaneously. Funny in retrospect, but at the time.... :eek:

[Tedly Nightshade]

"Last year another old time mountain man,and friend of my fathers,had the honor of being killed by one of these magestic beasts,he was 81 years old and died with his boots on.My dad was about 75 yrs old when he had his experience.He's 82 and still moose hunting by himself." Well, I'd just as soon wait until I'm 80, but no kidding, beats a car crash any day of the week. To live on as the biggest beast in the jungle... Phil, I live in the midst of mountain lions, and they will not attack anything that doesn't look like prey to them- crouching adults, or little kids. They do damned little of this, but why be the first? My neighbors shoot them because they eat some livestock now and again, but hell, if I put a chocolate cake in your refrigerator I'm not going to shoot you when you eat it. Still when I do have to crouch outside at night, I experience some primal fear... Still, I'd be honored. Not a lot of people get that particular honor, in Oregon no one has ever been killed by a big cat. I've heard a few have in CA. Ted

[Tedly Nightshade]

I had an oldtimer neighbor, a forest worker for many many years, whose dog treed a big male mountain lion recently, and at dawn there was the cat, up a tree. My neighbor was delighted, and spent the morning gazing in wonder at the cougar, ten feet away up the tree. His quote: "a class act." Finally he sent the dog inside and left so the cat could come down, and he saw it meet it's mate and disappear into the woods. He knew no fear, only awe. Fear might have gotten a different reaction out of the big guy. Ted

[not coaster MODERATOR]

Phil, we had some kind of local mountain lion problem around her a few years back if I recall. I can't remember any details but it made the news for awhile. Was it Orange County?? I don't want any part of that bear in the photo. That's gotta be the very top of the food chain right there.

[audiofreek]

Occationally,around here, cougars can be found sunning them selfs in peoples drive-ways.This makes people with small children very nervous,and animal control officers will usually catch them and relate them.

[Deathtoallwhoopposeme]

I used to live in the Anchorage area of Alaska and have had a few close run ins with big Brown Bears as well many encounters with Black Bears. The Black bears are easy to scare off most of the time by yelling waving and jumping up and down but Brown bears in AK..That's a different story all together. I will say this About ANY Alaska Bear...they are BIG..Even the Black ones...We had a black Bear tha kept coming in the neiborhood, messing with people's garbage, getting aggressive with pets and kids, and generally showing no fear toward humans...Was becoming a real problem and he was not scared and could not be chased away..Eventually several men got together and had to shoot the Bear..In Alaska this is Legal if they are endangering you and your family on your property....Anyway, The men found the Bear, the Bear charged, the Men shot(ALL with high powered Rifles)....When it was all said and done the Bear did not go down until it had 40 rounds or so in it!@!!! INCREDIBLE animals, and it makes you think about how safe you really are if they attack you..EVEN if you are armed....I have had several Brown bear encounters as well...the First summer i arrived up there they had to close the Hiking trails in Chugach State Park due to a Brown bear Mauling and killing a Mother and son while jogging one morning...The Grandkid, got away by climbing a tree...I first encountered Tokalat Grizzly in DENALI NP..I went up there to camp, and hike the back-country for 6 days. While hiking I came in Plain view site of a sow with 2 cubs..THANK GOD it was at about 80 yards or so and i just backed up, went back around the corner of the trail where i was hiking then high tailed it outta there!!! The next time was in Eagle River where i lived, outside of Anchorage. We used to hike up this Peak called Baldy..My cousin and I hiked up and were scared to death by a Moose Charging otta the brush!@!! anwyay we were sitting atop the peak, contemplating the hike back down when I spotted something down below us on the trail...Even a good deal higher up that we were we could Plainly see it was a Grizzly..It was scrary and sobering...What we didnt' realize was that it was 10:30pm already!!! the sun was still shining Brightly and we had lost track of time!!! It was June in Alaska!! Animals come out more in the evening hours and even though it was still light, they seemed to still have their internal clocks set correctly! Anyway, we waited it out and finally had to go back down that trail as it was the only way off the Peak!!! We took it slow and made a lot of noise. when i got to the spot where we had seen the Bear, the Tracks were HUGE and there were other signes as well...Nothig more sobering than seeing a BIG Bear...Now, lets talk about being armed while outside...I'm ALWAYS armed..I'm do not subscribe to the notion of being unarmed in Bear Territory without at least SOME form of protecton as a LAST resort. I asked the Fish and Game people what they carried and they told me the most effective weapon is a 12 guage automatic with 00 buck, Slug, 00 Buck, Slug, etc etc........This with a 44 Magnum or another large calibler Handgun for last line of defence...I carried my Wincherster 12 guage with slug, buck alternating as well as a 45 cal. semiutomatic with hollow point, armour piercing rounds...I figured if i was going to get taken out by a Bear, I was going down fighting!!!! thankfully I never had to use any of this, but I have met a few Alaskans who survived Bear attacks up there ONLY because of being armed and prepared.....

[Tedster]

Sven... I used to live in Anchorage as well. Know what they say about Kodiaks...if you carry a .44 magnum...you'd better file off the front sight. That way, it won't hurt so much when the bear shoves it up your ass... :D :D :D

[SFOracle]

When I was about 20 I was tracked by a grizzly in northern BC. We were moose hunting on horseback. We had shot a moose, quartered it and were hauling it out when my brother and my father called us on the radio from across the valley. They could see a griz following about 1/4 mile behind us, down wind, tracking us. My buddy had a .308 magnum which could drop a griz, (my rifle, a .308 winchester is not suitable for large bears) but we decided to leave a front quarter for the griz just get the hell out of there. Apparently it worked.

[Lee Flier]

I've run into a lot of black bears in the woods here in Georgia, but they're generally shy. When I've gotten up close to them all we do is stare at each other - in admiration on my part, on their part it's really hard to say. :D I haven't had a close encounter with a brown bear, and yes they are magnificent animals.... but Ted, do us all a big favor, and if you do get charged by one of them, don't let yourself get eaten if you can avoid it. Not like I don't believe you would live on, but I don't think bears can play 32" kick drums. :D --Lee

[bohemian]

Out climbing yesterday in Shenandoah National Park, heading in on approach through a hemlock forest full of ferns, I smelled something, turned to the right and watched a 2 year old black bear stand up to get a better look at us from about 15 yards. We hadn't see/him or her in the 4 foot tall ferns. It took a smell at us then dropped and walked off across the meadow through the columbine. I'd rather be a meal for a grizz that to get hit by a truck and suck oxygen for a month. A food chain kind of thing... c.

[bohemian]

Out climbing yesterday in Shenandoah National Park, heading in on approach through a hemlock forest full of ferns, I smelled something, turned to the right and watched a 2 year old black bear stand up to get a better look at us from about 15 yards. We hadn't see/him or her in the 4 foot tall ferns. It took a smell at us then dropped and walked off across the meadow through the columbine. I'd rather be a meal for a grizz that to get hit by a truck and suck oxygen for a month. A food chain kind of thing... c.

[bohemian]

Out climbing yesterday in Shenandoah National Park, heading in on approach through a hemlock forest full of ferns, I smelled something, turned to the right and watched a 2 year old black bear stand up to get a better look at us from about 15 yards. We hadn't see/him or her in the 4 foot tall ferns. It took a smell at us then dropped and walked off across the meadow through the columbine. I'd rather be a meal for a grizz that to get hit by a truck and suck oxygen for a month. A food chain kind of thing... c.

[Tedly Nightshade]

There is an amazing book called, I think, "Grizzly Years", definitely by Doug Peacock, a Viet Nam vet who has had some serious close encounters with bears, very inspirational. He says that Grizzlies usually end up killing people over some dispute or confusion, but never hunt people strictly for food. Nonetheless, they kill a lot more people than black bears. However, on those rare occasions when black bears kill people, they are usually hunting them as food! Ted

[Middle Man]

My bear story.... While in college I worked in Glacier National Park on a vegetation study for the University of Idaho. My buddies and I were sitting around one afternoon around 5PM killing off a pitcher of beer at the end of a hot day. We were at the West Gate of the park. One of these guys was working on his masters in wildlife, doing a grizzly study in the park. After 3 beers the subject of bears came up and he asked the rest of the group if we would like to see some grizz. Feeling no pain from the beer and with mildly intoxicated courage we decided that looking for grizzlies sounded like fun. We drove a few miles towards Huckleberry Mountain and hiked about a mile across a meadow, then into a dense patch of huckleberries much higher than our heads. The patch was so dense you could not see the person 3 feet in from of you. This went on for about 15 minutes and we eventually found the trail head going up one side of a valley to the top of the mountain. About an hour into the hike we approached the top of the mountain but had seen no bears. We came to the conclusion, now that the beer had worn off, that the prospect of being in grizz country as it turned dark was not a good idea. As the group turned and decended the trail I stayed behind to lace up my boots. I could see everyone dissappear behind a turn in the trail and suddenly I heard a snort. I looked up in the woods and about 10 yards above me was a huge Grizzly with his paws resting on a cut off stump. He looked down at me intently then looked toward the other hikers then back at me. I called out to the group figuring if he was going to eat me then I was going to at least give him a choice for dinner. The group came up quickly and the bear looked confused as if the tables had turned. He slowly turned and walked off. As we decended the mountain we could see his eyes glowing in the dark as there was a bright moon out. He followed along side about 15 yards up in the woods. This went on until we reached the Huckleberry patch and then we all burst out running. I kept thinking I was going to reach out and touch that bear on the nose. Finally we hit the meadow and saw the car in the distance. You have never seen 4 more scared and sobber sprinters in your life.