Bear encounters while fishing

[SBecker]

And with that.......this will now turn into a gun debate. LOL

 

[BeastBrown]

SBecker wrote:
And with that.......this will now turn into a gun debate. LOL

haha, Holio, don't cha know that everyone's gonna be tellin ya to shot em in the face with the spray, guns won't be helpin. Haha.

I've seen a lot as well, most from a distance. 1 in the Lehigh Gorge from up on a ridge. He was down in the river, looked to be about 300, smaller fella, and he was laying in the river like a dog. Looked at me up high, I looked at him, he was not very scared, I left, walked about a mile and started fishin.

Other time I saw one was in the blueberry swamps of this great state. He was napping after probably eating 10 pounds of berries, in the middle of the swamp, on a tuft of moss. Was about 70 yards away. I was deep in the jungles, he may have never seen a human in his life.

 

[Cornholio]

I have more faith in a .44 magnum than a can of bear spray, but that's just me. Not that I am some trigger happy hill jack or anything, anyhow i was always suprised how layed back and passive black bears are even a mother with cubs. I had read somewhere that there has never been a person killed by a black bear in the state of Pennsylvania in written history, how true that is idk.

 

[afishinado]

Cornholio wrote:
I have more faith in a .44 magnum than a can of bear spray, but that's just me. Not that I am some trigger happy hill jack or anything, anyhow i was always suprised how layed back and passive black bears are even a mother with cubs. I had read somewhere that there has never been a person killed by a black bear in the state of Pennsylvania in written history, how true that is idk.

FYI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

 

[Cornholio]

thanks for the link, pretty interesting.

 

[pete41]

was in Montana but the bears are mountain williams not mere hilljacks.

 

[YoughnessMonster]

The only time I encountered Black Bears was when I worked as a Bio Technician for Shenandoah National Park where my job was to trap habituated bears and relocate to more "remote" areas that provided less of a chance of human-bear encounters. Only bear that showed aggression was a sow that we were pushing away from a campgound. My partner and I unknowingly came between her and her cubs who had climbed a tree. She bluff charged and we held our ground. Never run! They're predatory instinct automatically kicks in similar to the reaction a cat has to a feather on a string being pulled across the floor. Bear pepper spray is a very close encounter deterrant

 

[csoult]

Bear attacked a man in my town two years ago while he was bow hunting. Bitten once and clawed at a few times.

 

[csoult]

Heed the warning Alby and Bruno. Just north of us.

 

[wbranch]

Buffalo mentioned an encounter on Clarks Creek and that is where I had my closest bear encounter. I was in the upper end of the FFO water working my way downstream, I was on the right side of the creek looking down stream. I was engrossed in changing my fly and was just standing in the creek, almost on the bank, very quietly. I heard a noise over my left shoulder and thought it was a squirrel. I turned my head to see what it was and there was a smallish bear, maybe 125 lbs, walking right on the edge of the other side of the creek! It scared the crap out of me. It didn't see, or smell, me. I didn't move and it just ambled on along the bank. I fumbled in my vest for my camera but was shaking too much and all I captured was a blurry image of the woods. It was exciting though.

 

[scottrum]

Ran into a black bear this past year at Kettle Creek below Ole Bull State Park. He just was wondering down through a field and happen to get a few pics. I don't think he ever saw me but it was nice to see one in the wild. This bear was more than all the deer I saw.

 

[mushumatt]

Ive never ran into a bear fly fishing, but ive ran into my fair share of bears just doing things outside. They are more terrified of you then you are of them. Even when they have cubs with them, we have chased bears off of our property by just yelling at them. Growing up we used to chase the bears on foot. Not the smartest thing i have ever done, but sure gives you an adrenaline rush. I do not condone chasing bears! and if they are grizzlies run for your life !!!

 

[Maurice]

Haha, coming back from OBX yesterday we saw some blakc creature scramble across the open highway. It paused as we passed, it was a juvenile black bear cub. Probably about 100 lbs or so. We looked for the momma at 65mph but no luck.

Strange, it was in NC, 101 degrees and on a highway with hayfields on both sides. But its my first bear sighting "in the wild".