Bear protection

zedex

Gator Bait
Many people are concerned about a run in with a bear while out hunting or hiking. In some areas its not really a concern. In other areas, its much more so.
Where I live now, its a real issue. same with where some of you live down there.
It is said that bear bells work by creating noise to run them off. True, but not always.
A handgun? Sure, where legal. It aint legal here and where some live. If this is your route, youre in luck as long as the gun has real knock down power. Anything less could make a bear a bit madder. It takes a lot to stop a charging bear.
While bears often make a false charge, do you really want to wait to find out?
Bear spray... This stuff tickles me. Why? Because every parameter must be right in order for it to be effective. What if you are downwind? The spray comes back at you. One of two things will happen: the bear will attack while you are blinded or the bear is going to be laughing at you. If the wind is going sideways, neither of you are affected.
Whats the proper recourse? Walk loudly and carry serious fire power.
Being as we cant take a handgun in the woods here, I choose to take only one rifle with me. I bought it after watching a friend drop a running griz with a single shot. The 45-70. While I was busy making a mess behind me, he was cool and collected. One shot and it dropped and rolled never to get up again.
My gun of choice is the Marlin guide gun. its 8 pounds and short enough for heavy brush maneuvering.
My opposition to bear spray comes from a report of a woman attempting to use it during an encounter. The wind caused her to spray herself. The bear never touched her. Maybe he was laughing. Maybe he doesnt like spicy food
What do you use?
 

ripplerider

Senior Member
Nothing. Our bears mostly have a healthy fear of humans. We dont have Grizzlies. If we did I'd probably carry bearspray. The country around here is generally heavily timbered and we dont usually get the heavy winds you have out West so I dont think blowback would be as much of an issue here. As it is, I hike/scout/walk all the time with only a sharp knife on me and think nothing of it. I agree the 45/70 Marlin would be bad mojo for an angry bear.
 
This subject is always one that draws contrasting opinions; those who use ridiculous comparisons to say how remote the chances are for an attack. Ever hear the old "more dangerous driving to your hunt" or "better chance of lightning striking you" arguments?

Having spent over a week deep in the Alaskan bush on a drop hunt for bear with two days spent alone, I feel it prudent to simply understand that the possibilities exist and to keep that in mind in all that you do. I never allowed my rifle to be more than an arms length away after seeing the first black bear (cub) of our trip at 10 yards with my rifle farther away than that in the opposite direction.

I'd call it prudent to carry a decently powerful handgun with good loads along in bear country. Actually, I carry one typically every time I'm in the woods keeping two legged predators in mind.

A prominent Alaskan guide recently "saved" his clients (man & wife) and himself by shooting a charging grizzly with his 9mm handgun stoked with good hardcast loads (BB). Many tout pepper spray as the ticket, but after reading about a bear hunter who used it only to get a facefull himself, I'd at least want to have a firearm along with the spray.

While the possibilities are pretty low for a fatal attack, or any bear attack, it's a fact that the state with the second highest amount of deaths by bears since 2000 happens to be my home state of Tennessee. And it's also a fact that there was a fatal attack in the last few years in, of all places, New Jersey (11/25/14).
 

BeefMaster

Senior Member
I concur with ripplerider. I have never had an aggressive encounter with a black bear which is what we have here. It seems that they are reasonably skittish here and the ones that I have happened upon while fishing normally tuck tail. Barring getting between a sow and her cubs I don't have any fear of black Bears here. My Sunday school teacher grew up in Wyoming and 45-70 is what they carried when out and about. If I lived in Grizzly country I think 45-70 (hot loads with solids). A Ruger guide rifle in 416 or 375 Ruger would be good bear medicine too. I would not want to face down a griz with a handgun of any caliber if I could avoid it. However, that would be preferable to taking one on armed with bad breath and a unsavory disposition.

I carry in the woods (always have) but it's normally in case I stumble upon two legged varmints who have intent to do wrong in a do right zone.
 

ryanh487

Senior Member
Black bears attack and kill more people every year than grizzlies, though I would expect that's largely because of probability. There are simply more black bears in more places resulting in more encounters. That being said, an angry momma bear or a fed bear are dangerous bears, and the possibility of an encounter should not be downplayed.
 

PappyHoel

Senior Member
Every black bear I've seen while hunting in north ga runs the opposite direction when they know you're there.

My uncle lives close to west Yellowstone and he carries spray in his back yard. I think he said there were 7 attacks last year from grizzly bears. He sees them regularly when he floats the river.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Statistically, black bears are much more likely to stalk, kill, and eat you than a grizzly. There have been a few fatal predatory (bear eats victim) attacks in this area, and scads of maulings. You are not likely to be attacked by a bear, but if you are, a bear isn't anything to mess with. A black bear can easily kill a grown cow, and can rip the doors off a car if he takes a notion to. I've seen dogs ripped apart, and decapitated cows over the years. A black bear can make pieces out of you pretty quick if he wants to.

Here in my area, we supposedly have the highest concentration of black bears anywhere in the lower 48. I have lived around them for over half a century. Here are my thoughts:

I have seen/encountered probably well over a hundred bears in my life of roaming the woods here. Only a couple of them have acted at all aggressively, and those were at campsites in the national park. A wild bear somewhere like the national forest or rural private land is nothing to worry about running into 99.9% of the time. Most of them will hightail it as soon as they see or smell you-which is usually before you even know they are there. The one exception is a sow with cubs. It's best to give them a wide berth, because they can get aggressive.

Bears in the national park or urban areas can be downright dangerous. They have no fear of people, and often relate people with food. In the GSMNP, there are usually several bear attacks every year, and they have ranged from minor to fatal. Backcountry campsites and areas are closed almost every year due to aggressive bears.

All in all, I honestly don't worry at all about bears, unless I am camping backcountry in the national park-and not much, then. You can't carry a rifle there legally, but you can carry a handgun with a CCP. A 10mm or .460 Rowland on a 1911 frame, loaded with solid lead bullets would probably be the best deal in that situation.
 

Killer Kyle

Senior Member
I encounter loads of bears every year. I see them starting in turkey season, and spend many, many summer nights watching them in the food plots just to observe. I think I saw something like 40-50 this year before the archery season began. Two years ago, I saw +-40 bears the first week of archery season while I was on vacation and hunted eight days straight. Aout half of those were repeat bears that I had seen on previous days. I won't say I've had a truly aggressive encounter, but I've had bears chomping their jaws at me on three occasions. I THINK I was bluff charged last summer when making my way through a sorghum field, but I cannot be certain. I was making my way through the sorghum, and to stalks that I could se moving, and to the sound of the heads being crunched. I thought they were probably hogs. Near the back of the field, and maybe 40 yards ahead I hear a woof, and see a small cub scamper up a white oak about 10" in diameter. Before I knew it, she came barreling towards me, and then turned and ran to the woodline where the cub was. I realized that my ML was still down, and I didn't have time to even raise it because it happened so quickly. I backed away without turning my back to them. It very well could have been a bluff charge as I was in the field with them. The sorghum was grown up so high that I couldn't see them, and I was going in clueless.
Now on other occasions, I've had sows with cubs right in front of me. On one occasion I filmed a sow with cubs that I paced at nine steps after she left. I also filmed over seven minutes of two big bears fighting on Chattahoochee WMA this late summer, but I backed out and left when they started bringing the fight uncomfortably close. I also had a 400+ lb bruin sneak up to 15-20 yards behind me this past turkey season. I also walked up on a big daddy courting his girl a couple summers back. He was about to get the boogie on. When I tried to run them off because they were about 30 yards away, she bolted, but he just stared me down for a long while, then slowly turned and fed away in the other direction.
All that said, I have had some extremely close encounters including a couple spooky ones. I'm cool as a cucumber around bears, and never get the shakes. I'm not afraid of them, but I have a very healthy respect for what a bear can do. If you watch black bears fight on YouTube, they are no less ferocious than a grizzly, and they use their weight to anchor the other bear. I know if a big bear ever pinned me down, I'd probably never get away unless I could stab him with my knife repeatedly. I carry a .40 because I am young, healthy, single, and I want to experience the joys of marriage and children one day. Although bear attacks are extremely rare here, I am not going to be #1. My life is is more important to me than my ego, and that 1 lb slab of steel in my holster is cheap insurance.
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
I encounter loads of bears every year. I see them starting in turkey season, and spend many, many summer nights watching them in the food plots just to observe. I think I saw something like 40-50 this year before the archery season began. Two years ago, I saw +-40 bears the first week of archery season while I was on vacation and hunted eight days straight. Aout half of those were repeat bears that I had seen on previous days. I won't say I've had a truly aggressive encounter, but I've had bears chomping their jaws at me on three occasions. I THINK I was bluff charged last summer when making my way through a sorghum field, but I cannot be certain. I was making my way through the sorghum, and to stalks that I could se moving, and to the sound of the heads being crunched. I thought they were probably hogs. Near the back of the field, and maybe 40 yards ahead I hear a woof, and see a small cub scamper up a white oak about 10" in diameter. Before I knew it, she came barreling towards me, and then turned and ran to the woodline where the cub was. I realized that my ML was still down, and I didn't have time to even raise it because it happened so quickly. I backed away without turning my back to them. It very well could have been a bluff charge as I was in the field with them. The sorghum was grown up so high that I couldn't see them, and I was going in clueless.
Now on other occasions, I've had sows with cubs right in front of me. On one occasion I filmed a sow with cubs that I paced at nine steps after she left. I also filmed over seven minutes of two big bears fighting on Chattahoochee WMA this late summer, but I backed out and left when they started bringing the fight uncomfortably close. I also had a 400+ lb bruin sneak up to 15-20 yards behind me this past turkey season. I also walked up on a big daddy courting his girl a couple summers back. He was about to get the boogie on. When I tried to run them off because they were about 30 yards away, she bolted, but he just stared me down for a long while, then slowly turned and fed away in the other direction.
All that said, I have had some extremely close encounters including a couple spooky ones. I'm cool as a cucumber around bears, and never get the shakes. I'm not afraid of them, but I have a very healthy respect for what a bear can do. If you watch black bears fight on YouTube, they are no less ferocious than a grizzly, and they use their weight to anchor the other bear. I know if a big bear ever pinned me down, I'd probably never get away unless I could stab him with my knife repeatedly. I carry a .40 because I am young, healthy, single, and I want to experience the joys of marriage and children one day. Although bear attacks are extremely rare here, I am not going to be #1. My life is is more important to me than my ego, and that 1 lb slab of steel in my holster is cheap insurance.



Your experience with bears reminds me of a few gator encounters I`ve had.
 

TomC

Senior Member
You are probably more likely to get attacked by a falling tree :) than a bear but if it were a legitimate concern I think I'd feel better with 15 rounds of stout 10mm ammo out of a Glock 20 than any wheel gun.
 

GunnSmokeer

Senior Member
If a handgun can’t be carried in California hiking trails, I think I’d go with a semi-auto 12-gauge with an 18” Barrel, loaded with 1-oz. slugs.
 

Killer Kyle

Senior Member
Your experience with bears reminds me of a few gator encounters I`ve had.

I am far, and vastly more afraid of Gators than I am of bears!!! Those things are Jurassic. I flew south to turkey hunt with T-N-T from this forum once in Bacon Co. We crossed a creek he called the "gator hole". I saw a frog make a wake in the water, and nearly fell out. Another time I duck hunted with Heavyneck and kingkillerdelete from here in the forum in Savannah. We waded into a beaver swamp in waist deep water and my heart was in my throat the whole time. I tried not to let on like I was scared, but I was.
Heavyneck and I were also in KingKillerDelete's boat, and we saw some Gators in the brackish water on an earlier hunt. I remember thinking that if one of those comes one foot closer, I am going to shoot it.
Back in my uniformed days, my artillery unit was doing a live fire exercise on the ranges at fort Stewart at Red Cloud Delta. I saw a monstrous gator sunning on a sand island in a creek a couple hundred yards from our bivouac site. It had to have been 13'. While the guys in my platoon slept that night, I slept in the back of the HUMVEE. They made fun of me, but I remember telling them all "That thing is going to come in and eat your head while you are asleep!" Me and bears get along. Me and Gators do not! Those things are scary!!
 
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tree cutter 08

Senior Member
A wounded bear is something you don't want to mess with. The last bear I shot this year was a eye opener. First shot he piled up and rolls and wallers down the hill. He makes it to about 30 yards and locks eyes on me when I moved. I decided to shoot again even though first shot broke his shoulder and punched a lung. Second shot was center chest while on his back. When the gun cracked the bear jumped up like nothing ever happened charges straight towards me. He hit the creek and run out of steam. His last breath was a growl and he never took his eyes off me since the second shot. I was 5 yards away when he crashed.
 

whitetailfreak

Senior Member
I have spent my entire life around bears, and don't worry about them much. I have a healthy respect for the critters and what they are capable of. As NCH said, an unhunted bear without fear of humans is one to be particularly aware of. With that being said, my scariest encounter was on the head of Tellico near the NC line in the Cherokee NF. I usually carry a .40 S&W when fishing and camping in the Backcountry. I would also opt for a tent and avoid sleeping in a hammock, particularly in the Backcountry.
 
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whitetailfreak

Senior Member
A wounded bear is something you don't want to mess with. The last bear I shot this year was a eye opener. First shot he piled up and rolls and wallers down the hill. He makes it to about 30 yards and locks eyes on me when I moved. I decided to shoot again even though first shot broke his shoulder and punched a lung. Second shot was center chest while on his back. When the gun cracked the bear jumped up like nothing ever happened charges straight towards me. He hit the creek and run out of steam. His last breath was a growl and he never took his eyes off me since the second shot. I was 5 yards away when he crashed.

I killed one several years ago with my muzzleloader at 10 yards. Those ultra close encounters will get the ol heart to pounding.
 

tree cutter 08

Senior Member
I killed one several years ago with my muzzleloader at 10 yards. Those ultra close encounters will get the ol heart to pounding.

Yes they will! Ive seen a few I didn't trust and both was centered around food sources. They were very territorial so I decided to back out and give them room. But I guess there like us, each ones got a different personality. I always carry a 44 mag while bowhunting and muzzloader hunting. After seeing what I did I will continue to do so.
 

jbogg

Senior Member
I fully understand that the chances of being attacked by a black bear are incredibly rare, but I sure sleep better with my 40 cal next to me in my hammock when I backpack hunt solo on NF. My understanding is that grizzlies will attack when they feel their cubs are threatened, or when defending a food source. Victims of grizzly attacks are advised to play dead, the thinking being that once the grizzly no longer believes one to be a threat they may move on. Most serious Black bear attacks are predatory in nature which means the bear doesn’t view the victim as a threat, rather as lunch. As a result victims are advised to fight for their lives, or risk becoming the next special on the menu.

Personally I have enjoyed seeing bears since I began hunting the mountains, and as many others have stated I have never felt threatened by one. I did see a huge 400 lb boar during turkey season last year. I watched him coming towards me from across a food plot and when he closed the distance to 30 yds I decided I better let him know I was there. He looked me over for a second, and then slowly walked back from the direction he came. He was the only one that did not haul butt like most have done when they have seen me.
 

Buckman18

Senior Member
I walked up on some bears fishing in my hole on the upper Chattahoochee last year and ran them off. Here's the video:

http://youtu.be/CVS1UfCfxlU
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Your experience with bears reminds me of a few gator encounters I`ve had.

I find gators scary. Bears not so much, because I've been around them all my life and understand them pretty well. I have not been around gators much, and don't know much about them except that they are a lot bigger than me, have a lot of big teeth, and can lurk unseen in a couple feet of water right next the bank where I'm fishing. :)
 
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