Bear Stories

[Ed Fowler]

Another thread talks about a good defensive round for bears. I have a few bear stories and I imagine others do. Not wanting to hijack his thread any worse, here is one.

I was about 14 years old when a distant cousin from New York City came to visit family in Idaho Springs Colo. He was in his early 20's and decided to go for a walk in the surrounding mountains. Just in case he needed protection he stopped at Monty's Sporting Goods store and bought a .22 Colt Woodsman (semi auto handgun). He had never shot a firearm, Monty showed him how it worked and he went for his walk.

He came across a bear rolling in some kinnikinnick walked up to it and shot it with the pistol. He returned to town asking for some help bringing his harvest home. My father laughed and sent me to help him, figuring he must have shot some critter but not a bear. At the time you could shoot a bear anytime, anywhere legally.

I took my knife and went with him, the bear turned out to be one of the few grizzlies in Colo. at the time. It was huge and the largest bear I have ever worked on. His hide measured about 6 feet from nose to tail. We skinned him and brought home all the meat we could pack in the jeep. When we got to town, no one could believe he had shot the bear with the pistol. His response was "When you shoot something it dies, everybody knows that!"

While the boys down at the pool hall (Idaho Springs Cultural Center and home of the universal authorities of every small town) claimed it was impossible, they could not convince him.

He was lucky - shooting from point blank range he shot the distracted bear in the back of his head, the bullet went between the first cervical vertebrae and skull just severing the spinal cord.

Somewhere in New York City is a tanned bear hide, bleached out skull and quite a story that few probably believe.

My grandmother who could cook anything cooked up a meal that I still remember as one of my best.

 

[LMT66]

Here is a great book that most folks I've loaned it to found hard to put down. It is a great read and kid friendly and you get a clear understanding that bears are unpredictable creatures driven by their constant search for calories.
The Author is Ranger David E. Young, former Ranger for the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
http://www.copperconnection.com/true-bear-tales-p-167.html

 

[thebladerunr]

WOW ! While it may be hard to belive I would have to say that it is possible. I myself have never been that close to a bear but.... theres alot I have done that people wouldn't believe. Good story Ed.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

OK, so I have this friend who isn't a hunter. I knew where there was a bear (black bear) cave and he pushed me to take him out to it. Middle of NOWHERE, 2 miles of backbreaking brush busting. We get there and he says "now what?" I pull my .45 out of my pack, grab a flashlight and say "I'm goin in!" He claims I'm F'n nuts. I creep up to the edge of the cave, flick on the light and in the front is a sleeping cub! As I rapidly retreat whispering "Get the hell out of here!" we hear momma waking up in the back. After about a half mile, we slow down and he says "I'm glad you had a gun, but equally glad you didn't have to shoot the mother bear!" to which I replied "The gun wasn't for the bear! I was going to shoot you in the kneecap and run like hell!"

Lost a very good compass that day, but decided going back to look for it probably was not a good idea.

Carl-

 

[Dannyboy Leather]

Post expired.

 

[*snowflake*]

great story for sure mr. Fowler! I have never heard of any bear being taken with a .22 pistol. especially with one shot and a grizzly bear at that. although i must add that i believe the original colt woodsman to be an excellent firearm indeed. I too love bear meat, its some of my favorite meat.

you are correct that your cousin was extremely fortunate for sure.

do you remember approximately what year this was?

thanx,
colt

 

[brians]

Here's my bear story from TODAY

Black bears are everywhere here in PA and NJ.

Here's the blackie I practically tripped over on my morning walk to the next door coffee/deli shop this morning. This is the third bear I've seen this week

When I flashed my shaving-sharp, mammal-deanimating mini-griptilian, he retreated to the deli dumpster from wherst he came

 

[x39]

I had three bear encounters in the summer of '08, all in the same area, probably the same animal. The most interesting occured as my dog and I were walking on a dirt road boardering a blueberry field, with thick woods on the other side. Honey bees are brought in every year to help polinate the harvest, bears find the larva irresistable. Approaching a cluster of hives which had obviously been visited by a bear very recently, my attention was focused on the very agitated bees, as I had to pass close by them to get where I was going. While sidestepping past the hives, my back to the woods I suddenly I heard a "wooof" behind me, and turned to see a black bear about fifteen feet away. As soon as we made eye contact, he high tailed it into the woods. Lesson learned, the most obvious problem isn't always the most imminent one. In many years of tramping the Maine woods, I have never had wildlife of any sort threaten me. When I carry a firearm for defense (which is seldom), it's for two legged varmints.

 

[sodak]

My wife and I visited Glacier National Park in the summer of 1993. At one of the restaurants they had a local paper that had the happening's going on, and some funny stories from times gone by.

Back in the early 1900's, the Park Rangers would patrol a section of the park on horseback. Sometimes they would meet in the evenings and camp together. Two rangers did that, and one morning awoke to a bull moose who was cranky. One ranger scampered up a tree, the other dove into a cave. After about 5 min, the cave-dweller poked his head out, and asked, "Is he gone?" The ranger in the tree replied "NO!" Five minutes later, the cave-dweller did the same thing, and the ranger in the tree said "NO!" Five minutes later, the ranger in the cave poked his head out, and asked a third time, "Is he gone yet?" The ranger in the tree replied, "No, and if you don't quit coming out of that cave, he's never going to leave!" The ranger in the cave replied, "Well, I'll try, but there's a bear in this cave!!!"

I still laugh at that one....

 

[Ed Fowler]

Great stories gentlemen, just what I wanted to read!
Snow flake: as close as I can recall it was 1952 or 53. In many encounters it is self confidence that wins, while I doubt that it applies to this situation too much, it sure did not hurt.

 

[11x11x]

I got bear sh.it in my front yard... There common around here. End of story.

 

[x39]

I got bear sh.it in my front yard... There common around here. End of story.

They prefer my back yard. Before I got a dog I often had problems with bears in my trash.

 

[udtjim]

I took some fisherman up to Canada one year to fish at a Camp in Northern Sask. One morning I got up about half asleep and started up to the outhouse. As I walked by the trash cans I heard the lid on one of them fall. I was ten feet from the Black Bear that was standing up on his hind legs looking right at me. I swear he looked as big as Gentle Ben. In about three jumps, I was back in the cabin where I took a better look. It turned out to be maybe a big yearling but take by surprise, He looked huge at the time. It didn't scare the Crap out of me, but darn close.

Later that week, I shot what may have been that ones grandma. About 500 lbs. I guided the three guys fishing to pay for my bear hunt which was still pretty cheap in those days.

 

[kgd]

I was about 18 at the time (>2 decades ago). My buddy and I decided to drive out to a cabin our family rented on a seasonal basis in the winter outside of Sudbury, Ontario. We had our snowshoes with us, a map and a planned route that was half on the lake with a cut through the forest to the road and back to camp. It was just a day trip, we packed lunches, drove out to our spot and had a great hike.

As we entered the forest from the lake, the snow became noticeably deeper and airy making snowshoeing a little tougher. Thankfully we were wearing the old style shoes that I find provide better flotation than the modern ones. These were shaped were the style shaped like a tennis racket. Anyhow, I was sweating up a storm. My friends companion, a little white mutt named Crystal, was gingerly following our tracks not wanting to venture the unpacked snow on her own.

We both decided it was time to take a break, crack open out thermos of lipton noodle soup and dig into our sandwiches. My friend pointed out to a large blown over tree that looked like a good spot. As my friend started unpacking our lunch, I walked around back to take a pee. I walked over to the base of the tree where the roots were sticking up in the air from being blown over. Not thinking much about it, I opened my zipper and started to urinate.

As I glance down where I'm peeing, I see this big furry shape appear at the base of the tree. It makes a startled noise and the black bear starts making its way out of the den. I'm just as startled and instinctively step backwards. Bad move stepping backwards in tennis racket styled snow shoes. The ends of the shoes dug into the snow and I ended up flat on my back. At this point the bear is now out of its den and its for paws are straddling my snow shoes. It looks a bit confused but also pissed.

Crystal came to my rescue here. She just started yapping and nipping at the bears hind quarters and the bear wanted nothing to do with all this. It let out a little annoyed sound and took off with Crystal pestering it closely from behind. The main thought that kept screaming though my head during all this excitement was 'My God, my fly is still open!'.

Well Crystal came back and we moved along foregoing lunch until we were outside the site of the den and downed tree. This is still one of my favorite camp fire stories to tell. The bear wasn't all that big. I think it was somewhere in the 95 lb range or so. I've encountered lots of black bears while in Sudbury and never once experience an aggressive encounter.

 

[Ed Fowler]

Danny Boy- you should have seen it in the late 40's into the late 50's. The mines (gold and silver) had dried up, retired and disabled miners daily filled the pool hall, their stories and knowledge filled me with wonder. The surrounding towns were all but ghost towns and those who remained yearned for conversation and friendship. My dog and I spent many hours on those mountains harvesting rabbits we sold and many times gave to 'old age pensioners'.

Good times, but when I left I swore never to return, the good times were replaced by city folks and my true friends were gone. The glory is still here, but the mercury vapor lights changed it for me.

 

[J_Curd]

I've don't have any "stories" but I've been around a bunch of black bear in the Appalachians and I respect their power, and I would never underestimate one...I'd wet myself if I stumbled on a BIGGER bear.

 

[coyotebc]

The largest grizzly bear ever shot in Alberta was taken back
in 1953 by a 63 year old Native woman. As the story goes,
Bella Twin was picking berries near Slave Lake when she
encountered a huge bear that had obviously decided the
berries were his for the taking, and his alone. Defending
herself the only way she could, Twin lifted the rifle she
always carried, pointed it quickly and fired. The great bear
fell to the ground, stone dead, a single shot to the brain.
To this day, Twin's grizzly stands as the longest reigning
provincial big-game record in Alberta, and it may well never
be broken. There are varying accounts of the incident, but
all agree on one thing: Twin did the job with the humblest of
rifles, a single shot .22.

The Boone and Crockett score for her bear was 26 5/16, only
one point below the world's record grizzly bear.

 

[haggismonger]

I got bear sh.it in my front yard... There common around here. End of story.

Aha!! Your yard must be the proverbial 'woods'.

I was hiking in the Jewel Basin, started at Camp Misery and headed to Big Hawk lake. About a mile past Crater lake, I was hiking along a seldom used trail, and up ahead in the overgrowth, I heard a rustling. I assumed it was a bear, but didn't see it. I had a pistol with me, and had it ready. I rounded a section of trail and right up ahead of me on the trail was a yearling grizzly. He heard me, then saw me, and hauled ass down the way. The trail skirted a steep mountainside, up on one side, down on the other. There wasn't any other way to go, really, so he just trotted his way ahead. I thought I'd seen the last of him, but after a couple hundred yards, I rounded another blind corner and there he was again. This time I came to within probably fifty or sixty feet, and neither of us were all that happy about it. He trucked on ahead, not so much sprinting as before, but matching my pace. I certainly wasn't going to make a point of gaining on him, and he wasn't waiting around for me. We kept about a hundred feet between us for two miles, me with my hand on my pistol, and he constantly looking over his shoulder, making sure that the courtesy boundary wasn't getting any smaller. The terrain opened up a bit, and he took that opportunity to amble up the hillside and on his way. We hiked together for about two miles. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

 

[x39]

kgd, great story! Reminded me of an experience I had a few years ago. A friend of mine from So. Cal. was visiting and I'd taken him shooting at a range I belong to. As we were leaving, I stopped the truck to lock the gate to the facility. He remained in the truck, and when I returned he said he'd seen a "large, dark animal" cross the road and disappear into the underbrush about a hundred feet up the road. I'm thinking that being a city guy he might be exagerating, so maybe it's a porcupine. To that end, I was off to where he said it went, on my hands and knees crawing into the thicket to find the critter, while my friend kept his distance looking at me like I was a bit crazy. Never did find anything, but several months later another friend of mine was hunting coyotes with his dogs and came across a small black bear hibernating under a brush pile about 200 yds. from that spot.

 

[LMT66]

Aha!! Your yard must be the proverbial 'woods'.

I was hiking in the Jewel Basin, started at Camp Misery and headed to Big Hawk lake. About a mile past Crater lake, I was hiking along a seldom used trail, and up ahead in the overgrowth, I heard a rustling. I assumed it was a bear, but didn't see it. I had a pistol with me, and had it ready. I rounded a section of trail and right up ahead of me on the trail was a yearling grizzly. He heard me, then saw me, and hauled ass down the way. The trail skirted a steep mountainside, up on one side, down on the other. There wasn't any other way to go, really, so he just trotted his way ahead. I thought I'd seen the last of him, but after a couple hundred yards, I rounded another blind corner and there he was again. This time I came to within probably fifty or sixty feet, and neither of us were all that happy about it. He trucked on ahead, not so much sprinting as before, but matching my pace. I certainly wasn't going to make a point of gaining on him, and he wasn't waiting around for me. We kept about a hundred feet between us for two miles, me with my hand on my pistol, and he constantly looking over his shoulder, making sure that the courtesy boundary wasn't getting any smaller. The terrain opened up a bit, and he took that opportunity to amble up the hillside and on his way. We hiked together for about two miles. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

You Sir, have nerves of steel!