New Bear Thread

I've had several bear encounters throughout the US and Canada while backpacking over the years. Almost all have been benign, but a few stand out for one reason or another.

The only injury I've seen firsthand was in Algonquin Park in Ontario where I saw a guy in his canoe moments after his shoulder had been torn up a bit by a bear. (During the same trip I chased a bear out of a newlywed couple's tent. They were totally freaked out, but it was comic.)

I was in Glacier Nat'l Park many years ago at the same time one or two women backpackers had been killed by a grizzly that was attracted by one of the women's scent during her menstrual cycle. That was the only fatality that I know of when I was in the vicinity.

In Yosemite Valley in 1975 I had a black bear come into my camp where I was sleeping on the ground in a bedroll under the night sky. It was pitch black (no Moon that night) and the bear put his paw on my shoulder and I could smell and feel the heat from his breath. Not a pleasant moment, but it went no further. He did leave some bite marks in my pack and water bottles.

In the Adirondacks in the 80's a bear came into my campsite where I had backpacked in with three buddies. (Slant Rock near Mt. Marcy)
The bear climbed a tree, cut my parachute cord, dropped my food bag, rummaged around in it for a minute or two and then proceeded to take a big dump. That was the gift he left as he proceeded to make off with all of our food.

Next day after climbing Mt. Marcy, I decided to try to track the bear and see what I could salvage. I found our stuff. He had eaten or destroyed everything except some chili sauce, a can of pineapple rings and a bottle of Jack Daniels. That was what we survived the rest of the trip with except for a few handouts from other backpackers.

Who says bears don't have a sense of humor?
 
Reading Rusty's narrow escape in Yosemite valley in 1975, brought back to memory my only other bear encounter. It was just a few years before Rusty's maybe '72, I had been on a serious fast for six days and decided to hike up into Shenendoah National Park to get away from people with food, so I had none, good for me. I was sleeping in a one man tent, not much bigger than a sleeping bag. I woke up in the middle of the night listening to some thing or one moving around around the tent, I stayed real still listening, and heard progressively closer heavy breathing and grunts. It was right next to my head. After a few minutes that seemed like hours he went on about his business, much to my pleasure.
 
Rusty had one in '75 also? Small world.

My experience mimics yours very closely, Black Bear.

I heard what I thought were footsteps approaching my site. (I had been warned about some thieves in the area and so I thought I'd get the upper hand by jumping up and startling the peckerwoods with my flashlight and large hunting knife.)

Well, I jumped up, all right, and turned on the flashlight only to see two ominous orbs shining back at me. Those eyes weren't no human. ;)

So, I jumped back down on top of my bedroll and listened as the bear, panting and woofing, made his way over to check me out. That's when the whole "stank" thing happened. Anyway, as I say, it turned out okay, and I still have the pack and the water bottles. In fact, I brought them to NC with me last week when I hiked the Smokies with my wife.
 
I was thinking about to many different things while I wrote that post in response to yours. I had just been wondering if Rusty had put his cyber vehicle back together. The moose story was a good one to. I'll try to focus next time.
 
We had a place in NC, across the road from a 500 acre game preserve. Deer in the yard were common, and my Dobe and Dobe-Lab mix were almost used to the visitors. One evening at bedtime, however, the Dobe and I went out for "bedtime outies", with him on the leash, in a pea-soup ground fog. About 10' from the steps, he turned and almost took my shoulder out. A 120 lb. patrol-trained Dobe, shaking in his shoes? I let him back in, got my "friendly .45", and went back out. At about the same point where Trooper had bolted, it hit me - BEAR STINK !! Next morning, our neighbor lady came by, and asked us to come over - she wanted to show us the mess Trooper and Cocoa had made in her garden. Upset, but not nasty - just wanted us to be sure she had a legitimate complaint. Whe we got there, her husband was almost rolling on the ground. He hadn't seen the reason for her complaint before she left, and couldn't wait to show us the 4"-wide "dog tracks" in her carrot bed. We had both dogs with us, and neither one wanted to follow the tracks - got right back in the truck :D
 
This is not another bear story but its pretty good. When I was about 14 and I lived way out in the boonies, I had a cousin from the the big city, born and raised, who had gotten a BB gun for Christmas. So when they came for a Sunday dinner visit my cousin wanted us to go in the woods to try out his new BB rifle. we were sitting at the edge of a field with our backs to the trees shooting at some cans. I thought I heard something above me, I looked up in this tree and there was some critter with his butt towards us, at first I thought it was a coon, and I pointed him out to my relative who right away decided he was the great white hunter and started shooting this poor beast in the rear. after the first shot it spun around with a BIG open mouth full of shrp fangs, it was a big Bobcat, r-i-g-h-t o-v-e-r our heads. I'm trying to stop the dumb *#*&%#* but he kept moving away from me and shooting the cat. Well I just backed away, way away, waiting for the cat to pounce on my cousins head. And he did and ate him right there in front of me. No not really but it sounded cool didn't it. The bobcat got tired of being shot and lopped off into the woods. Never took my dumb cousin shooting again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top