Bears in the Adirondacks

[mete]

I've been very close to bears and never had any problem ,they weren't interested in me.
Bear spray can be caried but I have no personal experience. I have a whistle , "Storm" , the loudest one made .I used that for a young bear hanging around the house.
If you carry a gun don't be trigger happy !!! Attacks by black bears are very rare !

 

[reconranger]

Again....a firearm is a last resort, after you have tried making lots of noise and throwing rocks (has worked for me so far!), sharp pointy sticks, and spray...and they have failed!

I know nobody in here thinks there really are bears in California (also lived in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia for a number of years, and dealt with BIG bears on a daily basis), but what I carry right now for car camping here in black bear/lion country is the very compact Ruger SP101 (.357). It is small enough to have on you all the time (even in a pocket), but is certainly to heavy for backpacking. For backpacking, I picked the ultralight scandium/titanium S&W 360SC "kit gun" (.357).

In the future, I plan to step up to a .44 seeing there are now several choices in both compact (Ruger Alaskan/S&W 629), and ultralight (S&W 329 Night Guard) models available.

For sure....don't underestimate the possibility of 2-legged predetors, that might be out there!!!

 

[brians]

They can get easier meals than you. Make some noise and enjoy yourself.

 

[mtwarden]

I wouldn't be worrying too much about black bears, knowledge is power.

Keep a clean camp, hang your food properly, carry spray (and know how to use it) and stay somewhat aware while on the trail. 99.5% of bear "encounters" end w/ the bear running off. If you fall into that very small fraction where they don't- try slowly backing away (still facing the bear), if that doesn't work- stand tall and act aggressively towards the bear- yelling, flailing your arms, etc, and if he still approaches- stand your ground and get ready to use your spray.

There are a lot of good online resources, which I encourage anyone heading into bear country to read thoroughly.

 

[jackman2]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I liked the idea of having a shorter weapon, which could be used as well for defense from smaller annoying animals that could be a nuisance in camp. I carry a smaller set of knives. My Game Warden is the biggest. I carry a pocket chain saw and a small hatchet. I do not need a large knife that could double as an axe or protection. So I was trying to come up with an idea for a longer shorter weapon that would be light and effective.

So I was a little bored today and made this little spear. I used the ESEE arrow head (Thank you gold membership.), a dowel and some paracord to make a small spear with a nice handle.

It was fun to make and easy too. I drilled the hole for the arrow head and used a miniature shim to wedge the point tight. It is solid at a rock. The arrow head can be removed for travel. When you get to camp, just insert the arrow head and carve your self a tiny new shim. I use the screwdriver on my SAK and the back of the hatchet to drive it in. I figured you also have an all purpose stick to use. It could help with cooking. And you can always use paracord. It weighs next to nothing as well.

Not the greatest of self defense weapons and I shutter to think of facing a bear with it. Haha. But was fun as hell to make and made good use of the arrowhead.

Never posted with pics before, so we will see how it goes.