Tell me your bear stories

“Coming from a country where bears have been exticnt for more than 100 years I am interested to hear stories from hikers encountering bears in the wild. Do you have a story to share or a photo of 'your' bear to show off?
This summer I spent a night at a wonderfull backcountry campsite in the Great Smoky Mountains. My friend, a backcountry experienced US hiker, asured me not too worry about bears, as they are more scared of us than we need to be of them and it would be extremly unlikly to ever spot one.
We had just set up our tent and turned around to go for a walk befor sunset and there he was sitting, right in our camp, a black bear, sniffing the air for our food bag, hanging a couple of meters up in the trees. Only reluctantly would the bear leave, after my friend made a lot of noise, shouting, waving arms, banging sticks. Though I was greatly worried the bear might return in the dark, while we were rolled up in our sleeping bags, I am certainly glad my friend had such a bear deterrent voice :-)”

“do a search on "bear".

there are several thread already addressing your question”

“the bears are on a bye this week...they'll be back next week against the 49ers”

“I've seen a lot of bear crap in West Virginia in remote parts of the Monongahela National Forest.
They probably watch us from a distance but are not the kind to even venture into camps.”

“The only time I've ever had any sort of knowledge of a bear in the same area as me was when I hiked the Fox River Pathway, (UP, MI) w/ Ewker and Cowpatty two years ago. We got to a gorgeous lake and started looking for a camp spot. Ewker dropped his pack and said he wasn't moving from that spot. I looked at the base of the tree next to himand there was about ten piles of bear poo. We all moved about 200 feet around the lake. That night the bear walked close enough to our tarp to feel his footfalls. All he wanted was to get by. There were enough blueberries that year to keep the bears fat and happy.
I also saw a momma and cub in Colorado as a child, walking down the road.”

“The best bear story I know is that experienced by Simer190. If you're lucky, he'll chime in.”

“Almost every bear sighting I've had has been pretty much the same. I see a black mass crashing through the woods away from me.
I did have one encounter that was different. A few years ago when I thru hike the Northville-Placid Trail in the Adirondack Park of New York State, my cousin and I were staying at a lean-to on Cedar Lakes. We had planned to get an early start the next morning, because reading in the log book some one said that the trail from Cedar Lakes to Wakely Dam was all blowdowns and it taken the author 8 hours to hike the 9 miles to the dam. We were meeting up with a friend the next day around noon to pick up supplies, so we set the watch alarms for 4am. Well both of us slept through our alarms, but were awaken by a high pitch squeal at around 4:15 from behind the lean-to. We didn’t know what it was; our first thought was bobcat or fisher.
My cousin went to get the food bag while I went to water some plant life. In mid stream, I hear, “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” from behind the lean-to about 20 feet away. Followed by some groaning from a different direction behind the lean-to. My cousin’s dog the great protector that she was, cowered behind me.
After that the woods went silent. What we heard was a bear cub’s distress call and them momma calling it back to her. If it weren’t for the bears we would have ended up late for our food trop. It was nice of Mother Nature to provide us with a wakeup call.”

“If I tell, y9u'll never buy my book of bear stories.”

“Where's Bearmagnet??

I saw a black and a cinnamon colored black bear in Mount Rainier National Park, one on either side of the mountain.
Both were yearlings and I got real close to the cinnamon for photos.......and then scooted.”

“Everyone's already heard that one about you and Goldilocks.”

“The vast majority of my black bear experiences have been a glimpse in the distance. They have always been very quiet vocally & moving thru the woods.

I had one in my yard for a while. Used to steal my HEAVY compacted garbage bags until I realized it by finding them in the woods. He used to sleep under the neighbors overhang. My wife & her friend would always be waving their arms at night since my patio lights were on motion detectors. They were getting nervous late one night drinking out there. This year I added a wall light (& switch) close to our picnic table & another deck light even though I found their antics comical.

Bushwhacking one time a bear startled me. I was listening to my radio & wasn't paying attention. I had ventured close to it's den among some big rocks. It had charged up a hill towards me & stood. I had pepper spray & a .22 auto (for loud noise) but was too shocked to reach for either. It left the area with me doing nothing other then looming high above it. I was VERY nervous travessing those rocks over the den but there was no other easy way out.

I've watched them run across the road after raiding the local trout hatchery. These bears had VERY shiny fur.

I stopped to watch a bear cross a back road in my car. A motor cyclist stopped (probably to offer me assistance) when the bear stood up right behind him. Didn't know whether to shout to him or not. Never even rolled my window down. (didn't want him to stay unaware) He drove away (prob annoyed with me) not knowing there was a bear right behind him.”

“I've kissed a bear or two but what happens in The High Peaks stays in the High Peaks.”

““I've kissed a bear or two but what happens in The High Peaks stays in the High Peaks.”
bearmagnet
8:17:56 AM
10/24/06

LMFAO!”

“NimbleWeenie, that's GrayLocks to you, ya dang Q-Ball!!”

“Catshiker: "I've stopped to watch a bear cross the road in my car".

Damn smart bears where you live. Did you give him permission or did he steal it?”

“Bears , bears , bears...lots of bears in Sequoia National Park!!!













”

“WW did you take those? Incredible!!! WOW!!

I'm thankful I don't have a bear story!”

“What moonglo said.


WW GREAT pics, as usual.”

“Wow! Impressiv pictures.

WW what sort of camera did you use - traditional anaolog or digital cam? Which lense did you use for those shots?”

“THOSE ARE SOOOO COOL”

“Here's my story:

I was hiking with several TTers in Yoho NP a few years back, and we arrived at a lake where we would camp for 2 nights (Yoho Lake?). It had been a relatively warm day, so I went down to the water, took off all my clothes, dove in, and swam around for a while.

Why is it that you wanted bare stories again?”

“Why's that grizzly flashing you, WW?”

“Is that making you hungry and/or thirsty, bm?”

“Those are all black bears bearmagnet. There aren't any grizzlies in CA.
last edited: 10/24/06 10:36:05 AM”

“Almost every bear sighting I've had has been pretty much the same. I see a black mass crashing through the woods away from me.

lumbering ax murderer
5:18:05 AM
10/24/06

Same for me. The only time I've had a near-bear experience was this past August in North Cascades National Park. As we rounded a bend in the trail, the three of us were surprised by a mama black bear and her cub standing in the trail about 50 yards ahead. The cub immediately scampered up a tree, while mama grunted and took a couple steps toward us.

We backtracked down the trail and waited about 10 minutes, then timidly peeked around the bend, and they'd departed. We spent the next mile or so yelling "hey bear" every couple minutes, but never saw them again.”

“Close encounters are as close as I have gotten since I was old enuf to know you don't mess around with bears. The one that sticks in my mind was not too terribly long ago. I was following a stomped trail through some berry briars trying to get to a fishing spot I wanted to check out. As I snaked around in the briars I came upon a large flattened out group of briars. In the middle was a huge shiney wet pile of jet black scat. I don't think it was steaming still, but it certainly was not old. I decided that I did not need to encounter the depositer of said scat in the middle of the berry patch. So I turned immediately and went back the way I came.”

“I chased a young black bear down a FS road at 1 AM..................with my car until he wised up and veered off.

Run, mother#&%!$er!!!!

Yee Haw!!”

“She does knid of have big ears for a grizzly, eh? At a quick glance I thought there was a bit of a slope from the forehead to the snout but still....I hang my head in shame and head back to training for a refresher...


http://fwp.mt.gov/bearid/”

“80%. Some of those be hard!”

“93%, I went a little click crazy with the last one.”

“87% Last time I took this, some time in the spring, I got a 67%.”

“Gack... 87% with no training. Just a guess and click. Oh well, I don't hunt bears anywho so Monatana is safe from me no matter what.”

“I think they should have more frontal shots, standing up, bearing teeth, charging, etc. I'd like to know if I crapped myself for a really good reason or just a good reason.”

“Its the potential for that shot from INSIDE the bear that bothers me.”

“Bear spray and bells are considered important tools to have in the wilderness but equally important is the identification of "sign"

Black Bears leave scat that is full of nut shells and twigs and smells like berries. Grizzly Bears leave scat that is full of little bells and smells like pepper spray.”

“Damn Ramblinrev beat me to it.

8p~


I love telling that joke to newbies
last edited: 10/24/06 1:27:17 PM”

“how many variations of the bear scat joke are there?”

“In Shenandoah, about five years ago in November. I was sleeping under the stars since it was a mild night, and there was a meteor shower set for that night. Around 6 am, still dark, I heard a bunch of noise at the base of the tree where our food bag was hung. Shortly after my friend popped up to go take a leak, but I stopped him with a "Hey, don't move, I think there's a bear over there". The tree wasn't more than 30 feet away (I know, it should have been 100 yards). We waited a while until there was enough light to see and then woke up the rest of the group so we could all investigate. Sure enough, what was left of our bag was on the ground - he managed to untie it, the line wasn't damaged at all. 50 feet away was the first pile of mangled trash, 50 feet after that was another pile and a pile of scat, and as I went to retrieve the final pile 50 more feet past that I looked up to see our friend staring back at me, again about 50 feet away. I shouted to everyone "hey, the bear is still here!" and we promptly ran back to camp (yeah, dumb move, I know). Grabbed some pots and scared him off. I kept a plastic bottle he mangled as a souvenir. Luckily it was Sunday morning and some of our final meal was untouched in cans so we didn't go hungry. Got a large lunch on the way back home.”

“A friend who works as a veternarian nurse in a major zoo was once the caretaker for the polar bears. He always got a sense of the willies from them. He found it very unnerving to be in the enclosure and know they saw him as nothing but dinner.”

“This hunter is in the mountains one weekend when he sees this Bear a good distance off. He takes aim and BOOM...he fires. When the dust settles he can't see the bear, but then he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns around to find the HUGE Bear standing there.
"You were trying to shoot me?" The Bear asks. The guys stutters a reply.
"Well compadre here is the choice. A. I Maul you, B you drop trou and take it like a man...if you get my drift.' The bear explains.

The indignity happens. The bear leaves, the hunter goes out and gets a larger rifle. He returns with a vengence. After a day or so he sees the bear, takes aim and BOOM. The dust clears...no bear, then the inevitable Tap on the Shoulder. The bear is there...the guy plays punk again.

Now he goes out and gets a .50 cal Military rifle. Spends a week hunting the bear. Sees bear, takes shot, trees split...dust clears...revisit the last two incidents.

The HUNTER is exploding with anger, he goes out gets a missile launcher and returns to the woods. After a couple of the days he finds the bear at a half mile off. He takes aim and squeezes the trigger. Half a mountain vaporizes. The dust takes a full half minute to settle. The hunter looks on satisfied. Then he feels the tap on his shoulder.
In shock he turns and there is the bear, bigger and meaner than ever. The bear gets a thoughtful look to his face and says,"I am just guessing, but YOU aren't doing this for the hunting are you?"”

“hee hee, another classic.”

“LOL..thanks Lumber, I really need to get a clear weekend when I can go out, sit around a campfire with some people and tell bad jokes...(the best part of backpacking.)”

“dang that was funny”

“I heard a request for a bear story, as mentioned by Nimbleweenie, here is my story, as written for a college comp class in high school:

http://www.geocities.com/camp_menogyn17/thebear.html”

“Oh yeah, click on the picture of the bear to get the entire story in a text link.”

“I see bears almost every time I go to the DWG. They mostly run away, but some stare at you as you pass on the trail.”

“I hate Wind Walker, I really really really do.

:)”

“I've had bears tear up my deer stand set up in the Ocala National Forest (FL) after having left for the night and forgotten to remove the apples in my jacket pocket. The bear destroyed my stand's seat.

The last time I hiked The Wonderland Trail I saw a bear over my right shoulder and about 50 yards away as it ran uphill and through a berry patch. I'm not sure, but I recall the seeing the bear going up to Golden Lakes. . . I believe it was.
last edited: 10/24/06 5:26:54 PM”

“So XL, are you still hunting that bear?”

“I was trout fishing early one evening on a small stream, with 2 fair sized trout in creel, had just approached a pool and retrieved the spinner a time or 2, decided it was time to leave, turned and there was a bear as big as a Volkswagen, not 10' from me, sitting on a rock, grinning.

But when we made eye contact, the bear suddenly seemed very embarassed and went right up a bluff by the creek with the least of effort and out of sight in short order, I mean fast.

It was a very nervous walk down that creek back to my vehicle.”