Timberjack86
Senior Member
I live 400 yards from the national forest boundary here in Tn. Bears are part of living here. Always carry, never worry about a problem bear but if I have a problem I have a problem solver.
A good bit of Black Bear live in and near the Okefenokee Swamp.Yep. Saw the folks in Destin freaking out about the bear in the ocean just last week. Bears are everywhere. H22 has seen them in South Ga. while hunting. He and brother-in-law both.
Same here in the efge of the GSMNP. I don't worry about national forest bears, they act like they're supposed to and usually run like a scalded dog when they see or smell a human. The national park bears and the urban bears like are all over in Asheville, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge are a different story. I don't trust them. They have absolutely no fear of or respect for people.I live 400 yards from the national forest boundary here in Tn. Bears are part of living here. Always carry, never worry about a problem bear but if I have a problem I have a problem solver.
The "shark viewing" tourism in some places really ain't helping with shark conflicts, either. "A fed bear is a dead bear," but a fed shark is seen as profit.Bears aren't bloodthirsty monsters by any means and they do try to avoid people but any predator is still a potential risk. People need to be aware. If they want to have a go at you they are fully capable.
Now a days people take the attitude that sharks... in particular large GW sharks are just big puppy dogs that "don't see people as prey". I call bull on that I'm sure we're way way down on the totem pole but if you've been in the mountains all day you get back to the truck and there's a half a slim Jim in the dash board it tastes pretty good. Same thing.
There's a video of some dude on YouTube who just got fully eaten by a GW off the coast of Sydney Australia a couple months ago. Sure attacks are rare but how often are people actually swimming in the same water as a large GW who is actively hunting? Too many videos of spear fisherman dodging bullets... I mean most the beaches in Australia have shark proof nets and they still have a huge prevalence of attacks. The sad thing is the Australian government mislabels attacks especially when people just disappear after being eaten. I don't advocate killing the sharks for no reason but at the same time let's be real here they are covering up and mislabeling a lot of the information on shark attacks
There ain't hardly a year goes by without somebody getting drug out of a tent and mauled in the GSMNP. It just gets kept quiet most of the time.Folks think them GSMNP bears are in a petting zoo
No thanks
The "shark viewing" tourism in some places really ain't helping with shark conflicts, either. "A fed bear is a dead bear," but a fed shark is seen as profit.
I'd rather fight a chainsaw than a bull shark!There are people starting to free dive with great whites now. One woman even swam with Deep Blue in the open ocean. If I remember right she even reached out and held on to a fin on that shark.
I haven`t heard of anybody free diving with bull sharks though. Not on purpose anyway. With scallop season coming in a lot of folks will be though.
I went pig hunting along the edges of nation forest along the Ochlockonee river just above Sopchoppy one night. All set up in a stand watching 5+ full size bears surround my location. Not sure what exactly they were after, but my comfort level got way too low. I fired a round to scare them off then eased 1/4 mile to the truck. It took another round to get to the truck as 2 of them were following. There have been several attacks over the years since then.It`ll end up happening somewhere along The Forgotten Coast before it`s over with. There are a pile of them in the Panhandle and the population is rising.
Believe that! They can get thick along the river north of forest road 13 too. All of the forest land is designated still hunt along there.....they escape the dogs during hunting season running on the east side of Smith Creek Rd.I went pig hunting along the edges of nation forest along the Ochlockonee river just above Sopchoppy one night. All set up in a stand watching 5+ full size bears surround my location. Not sure what exactly they were after, but my comfort level got way too low. I fired a round to scare them off then eased 1/4 mile to the truck. It took another round to get to the truck as 2 of them were following. There have been several attacks over the years since then.
between silver lake and roberts landing.Believe that! They can get thick along the river north of forest road 13 too. All of the forest land is designated still hunt along there.....they escape the dogs during hunting season running on the east side of Smith Creek Rd.