Bear Encounters

“My wife and I went to Rickett's Glen to go hiking. We camped on site. The first night we encountered a black bear. I had been preparing for another trip later in the year to an area heavily populated with black bears, so I'd been reading about them quite a bit lately. I learned preparation only gets you so far.

It was night about 9:30. We had been enjoying the fire. At one point I shined my light into the forest and saw two "eyes". I thought at first maybe it was my imagination. Looking again with the flashlight I couldn't find them again. A little later we were going to bed (putting stuff in car). I shined my light into the forest (heard a noise). About 30' away I saw "eyes" looking right at me so I put on the spot light. My wife was about 8' closer than I was washing her face. I told her to go in the car because when I put the spot light on ... I saw a black bear.

It stood up. Finally went away (after few minutes) when I slammed the car door. I saw it go away, but could only watch it so far. We sat in the car about 10 minutes or so. We finally decided to go into the tent ... figured he was gone. After about 4-5 minutes of being in the tent, we heard something walking around right by us. He had to go right by our tent (over the tent ropes even) to get to the picnic table and car. We were very quiet ... After about 8 minutes of this my spot-light/lantern burned out. Blew a fuse! We were never really sure something was out there ... hard to tell in the forest. So ... I had to get this smok'n lantern out of the tent .... so I went out to put in to the table. After doing so I put the flashlight toward the forest. Saw "eyes" looking at me about 25' away ... stooped very low. Man I was shak'n ... My wife was in the tent still only about 15 feet from this "stalking" black bear. I fumbled around trying to get the bear spray in my hand and simultaneously open the car door (I know how fast they can be) Finally got the nerve (stupidly in hindsight) to tell my wife to come out and get into the tent. After yelling at the bear to "go away", he did just that.

We sat in the car for 2 hours (about 1:00am). I was waiting for a park ranger to come by. You're supposed to notify them anytime you have trouble w/ bears. None came by. We finally decided he was gone (after checking with the headlights many times) ... so we went into the tent. We were too tired to be scared at this point. I was thinking if we did find a ranger he would say "don't worry about it" ... but at the same time ... I know it can be a serious situation.

We had eaten in the area, but by that point the food was in the car, which is exactly where the bear wanted to go. We had Honey Teriayki Chicken. You think that had something to do with it? It's the food ... that's what they're interested in. He just thought we still had some ... I think he figured out on his 2nd trip by that it was gone.

A couple of thoughts went through my head after we saw the bear:

1. where the heck is the park ranger?
2. bears want food, not us ... should I really be worried?
3. this is embarrasing
4. this could be serious
5. do we hang out in the car with the food and be uncomfortable ... or in the tent unprotected?

I can't believe how nervous I was after all the reading I did about them. I don't think I had thought about trying to protect another person until the situation arose.

Lessons learned:

1. Bears are scared of noise. Make some!
2. Teach everyone ELSE about black bears if you're heading into their territory.
3. Don't take Honey Teriyaki Chicken camping.”

“It never hurts to be careful, they are wild animals and unpredictable in any given situation.

Your right though, he wanted your food and blackies generally don't wanna go to toooo much trouble to get it, exceptions to the rule apply though.

Hey, at least you've got a good bear story to tell now.”

“Make a lot of noise and even throwing rocks and sticks at the bear work well. Make the bear uncomfortable to be around you. A bear that looses its fear of humans ends up dead.”

“Check out http://bears.areaparks.com.”

“In my deer hunting days (which I don';t do anymore) I came across a few bears.
Barking/growling like a dog made them run like h3ll!
I have not seen one camping or hiking yet.
If I do, I will become scooby dooby doo real fast!”

“Don't run, that is taboo. Stand your ground because most of the time their charge is a bluff. Just make a ton of noise and fight them off if they actually make contact. Which is really rare.”

“if you fight them off....
Use straight jabs and circle to the left not too many bears are southpaws....LOL”

“Not sure if just getting in your car will fully protect you. An excerpt from www.sierrawildbear.gov:

Clever Tricks Black Bears Will Perform To Get YOUR Food

When traveling to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, expect black bears to attempt amazing acts to obtain your food. Sierra bears have gained the well-earned reputation of being "geniuses." Most bears will exhibit incredible strength, persistence and surprising ingenuity to find and get at food that was thought to be well hidden. Consider the following "bag of tricks" that bears in the Sierra have mastered:

Car clouting - every year, hundreds of visitors to the Sierra have their vehicles' window glass broken out, window frames bent down, camper shells popped open, trailer siding clawed through, and wooden trailers clawed open by bears seeking food inside.

Trunk Entry - many more have their vehicles broken into by methods mentioned above and have their back seat clawed apart so that food left in the trunk can be removed.”

“if the jabs dont work, try combinations and undercuts.... worse come to worse kick him in the jimmy :-)”

“kick him in the jimmy :-)"
SNAFU29
03:07:20 PM


LOL”

“snafu, check out the new thread. its for you”

“I've seen footage of bears in action at Yellowstone. They can pop a car open like soda can, and just that fast too. Ever since, when I leave my car at a trail head I always remove anything that might smell. I don't want to come back to find a redecoration job I didn't authorize.”

“tech, check out the other bear thread. it may save your life.”

“The Yosemite folks now recommend hiding even empty coolers from view. Apparently, even though there might not be any food to smell, the bears recognize what a cooler is for, and rip the cars open even if there isn't any food in them.”

“What state is Rickett's Glen?”

“those idiots at yosemite have never seen the video on the other thread either.

shame on them.”

“Putting food in your vehicle doesn't keep a determined bear from it. I think making noise was your best bet. If the bear kept coming back, I think I would have left if my vehicle was right there. So called "nuiscance" bears are trained by humans who are making food easily available to the bears. Unfortunately, it's the bear that suffers. Relocating bears has proved extremely unsuccessful and they are nuisance bears are usually killed before the problem ends. Because black bears are so smart and remember food sources, they learn to associate humans with food. It's really a shame.”

“Rickett's Glen is in Pennsylvania.

Awesome short hike if you're in the area.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/rickettsglen.aspx”

“So perhaps the answer is to breed the bears for stupidity? It'd probably be easier than teaching people not to leave food out for bears.”

“bit, but the breeding for stupidity seems to work with people! Did I say that out loud?

Thanks for the tip MacGyver.”

“NEVER put the food in your car. ALWAYS hang your food and cooking equipemnt and follow the rules at least 10' high and atleast 6' out on a limb from the tree trunk. Also use a tree thick enough that the bear can't just snap the tree and bring it down. And make sure it is 75 -100 feet from your tent so he can frustrate himself all night and you can still sleep (you probably will not even hear him)
Also, if car camping put your tent between your car and the food bag hanging tree. That way you can get in the car and leave w/o having the bear between you and the car. Face the bear and SLOWLY back toward the car. Do not run. No need to lock the car. That way you can get in quicker w/o stoppong to unlock. Play safe and don't feed food or youself to the bears .”

“AJ - What is messed up is I knew all that, but I incorrectly assumed that because it is a busy family park with lots of car parking, the bears would shy away. Not so!

Anybody have any encounters of their own??

(by the way, I had searched the forum for a "Bear Encounters" thread, but didn't realize until afterward that you have to specify which categories to search. Sorry for the duplicate thread.)”

“I had one standing over me once while on a solo backpacking trip in the Sierra. His face was in my pack which was empty and open on a log right next to me. He had to step over me to get to it. My food was all hung safely out of his reach in a tree.

I couldn't figure out why it was so dark when I woke up and couldn't see any stars on a clear night.

Lesson learned. Human screams scare the hell out of bears. I rolled over and went back to sleep after seeing how fast he ran away!”

“TROLL!”

“Just whip out your Soviet made Iraqi RPG and blast the imperialist bear to bits.”

“What is messed up is I knew all that, but I incorrectly assumed that because it is a busy family park with lots of car parking, the bears would shy away. Not so!

Yeah, Man Those are the places that attract MOST bears cause they are full of amatuers who leave their food in cars and do not hang it etc. Have you ever seen those movies of bears peeling open car dors? It gets so that the bears can recognize different makes and models by which door is easier to tear open”

“The problem is that Rickett's Glen is a protected area from hunting and the animals know it. The bears have most likely become too accustomed to the free handouts at the camping area. Most black bears in PA are in a state game land area where they are not protected from hunting and have a healthy fear of humans.

The bears at Rickett's Glen could become a serious problem (if it isn't already). If I had a choice, I wouldn't camp at the Glen since you're gonna be cooped up with scads of other people in the designated camp areas. You may want to consider camping out at World's End state park (only about twenty minutes away) since Rickett's Glenn is really best for dayhiking only.”

“Blame the parks AJ. THEIR literature says to put your food in your car trunk.

From the DCNR website: "Store all food items inside a car trunk. If a car trunk is not available, suspend food between two trees, ten feet in the air and three feet from either tree."

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/rickettsglen.aspx

They shouldn't tell you to put it in your car at all.”

“WTF?

"...and they are nuisance bears are usually killed..."

I think I meant to type "and the nuisance bears are usually killed"

bitpusher, I think you are absolutely correct...it would be easier to selectively breed bears for stupidity than to get humans not to be stupid. Sometimes, I think certain humans breed for stupidity.

We could correct that by allowing natural selection to take over by just removing warning labels.”

“10 feet in the air ??

15 or 20 is more like it.

10 feet is a tease for the bear, like a pinata just out of reach.

I use a black nylon stuff sack (harder to see and bears have poor eyesight) lined with a ** NEW ** plastic garbage bag liner to reduce smell for each trip. 100ft of parachute cord and 15 to 20ft in the air should be easy.

Yes, met black bear on a few occasions, Pennsylvania bears are gone as soon as they are aware of your presence, NJ bears couldn't give a hoot. NJ just had its first bear hunt in 30-40 years last year, it will be interesting to see how long it takes to modify behaviour.”

“But it was a pleasant one. I was taking a photo of a cascade on Anthony Creek when a young black bear ran off the bluff to my right. He came down, trotted across the creek, looked my way, and kept going. He was a good looking youngster. Just old enough not to be hanging out with mom any longer. I tried to get a picture of him, but he was moving too fast!”

“Stop me if you heard this...aw some of you have, but

canoing in Quetica, one campsite had a pole between two trees. It was up high enough so we hung our food properly there. Appearently the pole was not placed by the rangers, but rather the bear. It brushed up against our tent on the way to one tree. Up the tree, cut the line on the food bag. Thud. Also managed to break loose one of the day packs. It had a fine meal. No amount of yelling would chase the bear away. It then proceded to fall asleep in our camp site. Near dawn when it was light enough to see, I crept out and saw bear sleeping heavily. I grabbed canoe paddles and started banging on the canoe. It woke with a start and I continued banging on the canoe. It finally left with the day pack. Not long after it returned!!! We were able to scare it off again. Thankfully we were able to break camp before it came back.

So the yelling & making lots of noise doesn't always work.”

“Are you going to Quetico this year? It's been a long time since I have been there, but would love to go again. If you don't mind traveling with a very laid back older guy (56, but feel like 18), let me know.

AJ”

“My bear skin rug used to scare the bejeezus outta me.”

“Glad you came thur that ok.. a few friends of mine were camping at Black mtn campground and a bear came right up into the campsite...and..went for the beer cooler.. go figure.

My friend said that was when they got upset..but once the bear couldn't get into the cooler he went away. He was big...I have a photo somewhere...when I find it I will post it.”

“A woman from Susquehanna County and a black bear met face to face in her backyard Tuesday. Now, she's in the hospital. It's the first bear attack reported this year in Pennsylvania. Neighbors said it comes as a shock.

Full Story”

“Funny... The only time I've had a black bear encounter in the backcountry was after eating Teriyaki Chicken. Interesting...”

“Nothin in the works right now.
:-( But you got me thinking.

I'm laid back, just a couple years younger than you and feel a few years older than 18.”

“I've only encountered problem bears in heavily populated spots where people have fed them. Never had a problem in 35 yrs of hiking/bp'k in the less traveled arera's. Peeing outside your tent seems to help & I do eat bear stew.”

“I've been fortunate enough to have 70 - 80 sightings. While backpacking, I won't go anywhere without my camera. A couple weeks ago in Sequoia you could see a half dozen at a time in some meadows. Here's some of the results.









This Bruin ended up laying on the trail for a spell.











I'm watchin the bears in the meadow (3 of them at the time) and this bear shows up behind me.











This was one of the bolder ones.
”

“Dunk, how did you deal with that bold guy? With your experience, what advice do you offer? Thanks.”

“I am curious how you dealt with that bear on the move... don't think I would have gotton a photo..”

“He came towards me slowly, but not in a stocking manner. It was more like I was an obstacle between point A & B. When I took this picture, I was backing up. About this time, he veered off to the right and went back to munchin' on the grass.

The thing about Black Bears are that each one is different (hence bears are unpredictable). While many bears bolt at first sign of people, others won't. When I see one, I generally slow down, stop and get my camera out while trying not to startle the bear. Startling it almost always results in the bear taking off. (BTW, it's most impressive watching a bear at full sprint). I think calm and cautious behavior can result in a most excellent wildlife encounter. Respect and enjoy your encounters.”

“I was just returning from a 4 mile walk around the neighborhood and I look to my left and there was a very large black bear about 40’ from me we looked at each other and we both changed direction and made a wide arc around each other while keeping an eye on one another. It was like we both had the same thought about getting to close.”

“Most of my bear encounters are from a distance (other than my backyard). Most of the time in the woods, I only catch a fleeting glance at them as they take off.

One time I was bushwhacking & a bear bluffed charged me up a hill. I'd like to say my reactions were superb but they were anything but. Even though I had a .22 auto pistol (lightweight) I didn't pull it out. I know..... what are you going to do with a .22 ? I have seen big game dropped with one, but my thought was that it was a decent noisemaker & scare him away. I had pepper spray which wasn't easily gotten too. It was in a zippered compartment with other junk on top. So basically, I just stood there in amazemment (& panic). HE (black bear) came charging up about a third up the steep embankment & turned around. Maybe I looked huge to him because I was on such high ground. Seems "she" was protecting her den. The only way down (bushwhacking) was through the rocks & very near the small opening of her (obviously) active cave.

Never heard or saw anything else, but I took my digital FM earbuds out for a while.”

“catskhiker - I hang my pepper spray from a belt loop on my pants using a key ring strength(cheap) Carabiner. It is quickly available.

I go in the woods to hear the natural sounds of wildlife, the wind, the melodies from rushing water and, in the fall, the sounds of falling leaves. And that last item is not silly. Falling leaves can make lots of noises during their encounters with other leaves and branches and upon ground impact. I hope you were only checking the weather forecast with your earbuds.

I recommend upon your next bear encounter that you hold your arms high, trying to look as large as possible and make as much noise as you can. And, good luck.”

“I went hiking once with a friend (yes, I do have a few friends). When we broke for camp he pulled out a .22 pistol from his pack as casually as one would pull out a toothbrush. I was a bit shocked, never having seen someone on a backpack trip packing heat! I mean I am not a big anti-gun person, I just never thought to pack a gun on a backpacking trip.

I asked my friend why the gun? He replied that he had heard reports of rabid animals in the woods of Michigan that year. He said that if we encountered a rabid bear that he would feel better knowing he had the pistol.

I begged him, PLEASE ... if we encounter a rabid bear that you not shoot it with that pea shooter. You will only really piss it off and it will hurt us all the more.”

“no kiddin!

first bear i saw was about 60 yards away on a trail, going the same direction i was only slower, so I caught up to her. She stood up, looked me over and then dropped back down and headed on up the trail - with her two cubs. Very exciting - then she left the cubs hidden in some brush and went downhill of me to tear up a big log.”

“I was once kiaking down a very narrow river, and suddenly to my left, no more then 15 feet away was a cub. What didn't help was in shock I tipped my kiak. Thankgod the mother didn't see me....”