Bears

Hahaha "hey look, an eagle!"
 
I'm guessing about 7 years ago I was fishing on the main stem of the Delaware and bumped into dryflyguy. About 2-3 years later, we put it together that we were both on the forum.

Anywho..... I had run into town and grabbed a sub and a strawberry quick. Drove back down river about 8 miles, parked and took the dog down the steep bank to the river. We grabbed a giant exposed river rock in the shade and hung out for a bit. I looked across the river and saw a lab walking by the river (yes, I'm blind).
"look Kramer, there's a dog!" I told my pooch. He started barking at the other dog that then stood up on it's back feet. Oops, bear. I watched the bear start swimming across the river in our direction. I wasn't worried because the bear would go around us and up over the hill. NOPE. Bad eyesight, good nose and curiosity had him making a line straight for us. Still just sat there watching him and was 100% sure he'd veer away from us. NOPE. By the time the light bulb went off over my head, the bear was close. No way to get up the steep shale bank before he'd catch us. The dog just kept barking the entire time which only added to the problem. Luckily the pool I was on was deep right up to the bank so the bear didn't have any footing. I tied the dog leash to my waist (had a waist back then) and started looking for stuff to defend myself with. By the time I had grabbed a big hunk of driftwood and 3 softball sized rocks, the bear was at 30' and still swimming full speed right at us. I swung the stick, yelled, hit the water with the stick and lobbed one of the rocks at the bear. It landed right in front of him. I was resigned to the fact it was going to be a full on fight....probably to my death. The rock did get the bear to stop. He was treading water in front of me for 10-30 seconds while sniffing the air. I kept hitting the water with the stick and he turned back toward the far bank. When he got there, he shook off and then stood on his back legs staring at us for 2 minutes before slipping away into the knotweed. That was petty scary and during the 4 days I was up fishing, I had point blank bear encounters every day. Went through a lot of underwear that trip. LOL.
 
Haha nice. See, you never know. Imagine walking through the woods and that curious bear never hears you until your 10' from him. Thats why i sing. I think they run from my god awful singing...

Andy, that bear sounded like he wanted a piece.
 
Bigger threat, Sasquatch (excluding Andy) or Aliens (excluding Gfen).
 
Krayfish, if Kramer was anything like my smaller Brit, he would have bit that bear in the *** ... repeatedly.

And if he were anything like my other Brit. After tying him to my waste, he'd have drug me up the hill to the car.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIWmmbbALok

That was hysterical....
 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/urgent-hunt-black-bear-mauled-woman-garage/story?id=23309124

Bears and humans not a good mix. GG
 
FD,

Kramer is 28 pounds but 10' tall in his own mind. He was chasing steer at my buddy's farm. I had to stoop him before he got kicked or stamped on......so he killed one of their chickens instead. LOL. The younger one is a wussy to the 10th power. He freaks at a leaf blowing by.
 
bears have one of the best keen senses in our woods. they can smell you well before you can even dream of hearing them walk through the woods.. let alone near a running stream.

they are also in fact more afraid of you than you think.

when cubs are involved don't stand around and marvel at how cute they are.. get out of dodge quickly but safely.

food will attract bears no matter how safe you think you are with it

snakes are not a problem with chaps.. been struck at a few times.. never really in any danger to be honest..

like someone said above.. humans are who I fear the most where I fish lol.. it takes a not so sane person to walk where I go at times.. lol
 
There's a lot of old wives tales about bears. While food does attract them, and you don't want one in your camp, it's extremely rare to be attacked in such a situation. Likewise, we always talk about a mother and cub, and not wanting to get between them. But attacks are extremely rare in that situation too.

By extremely rare, ALL bear attacks are extremely rare, but the above types are rare even among bear attacks.

Most bear attacks are lone, large males, and predatory. They aren't curious or protective. They weren't caught off guard. They simply want to eat you. Such a situation is indeed rare, but it's how most bear attacks happen. Being aggressive towards them startles them, and that's GOOD. Prey animals try to run away. Doing so reinforces that you are prey. Other predators challenge them, and most of the time they decide it's not worth the effort. Sure, they'd win. But they might take an injury or two in the process.

That's why they tell you to get big and loud like krayfish did. I don't walk through the woods singing, and if I see a bear I don't shout at it. I'm just not that fearful of them. But if one knows I am there and is still approaching, yes, I hope I have the presence of mind to act aggressive as well.

A bear who clearly sees you yet still approaches slowly. That isn't curiosity. It's thinking about whether you are food or danger, and hasn't made up it's mind yet. When it does, you will quickly find out what it decided, as it will either make tracks towards or away from you.
 
Pcray's post is very good, but he does not mention the bluff charge. Sometimes, perhaps even most times, when a black bear charges, it stops at the last second.

I have heard several descriptions of this happening, but never experienced it. Often the human is a hunter with a weapon, I don't know how they keep from using the weapon on the charging bear.
 
Black bear are not that tuff. I have seen people wrestle them at carnivals and such.
 
there are more people killed and eaten in north America by black bears than grizzly's. play dead with grizz, fight like mad with blacky.

I was charged by a black with cubs and had to fire gun. lucky foe me she stopped and ran off some. gave me time to get dog and back off area. same bear went after guy on brush hog. shes a real bitch over 500 lbs. lives up on back ridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America
 
The best thing you can do when you see a bear is be proactive. Attack the bear before it attacks you. Case in point.
 
We DO NOT feed the bears. Unfortunately other cabins on our mountain do, which is illegal and downright stupid. Yell at them all you want and they won't leave until they are ready. But they do run away if I fire a shotgun into the ground, or spray ammonia in their direction. We have learned to spray the perimeter of the porch and the door with ammonia, and it seems to be working well. However one dumb as dirt bear carried off a gallon bottle of ammonia and bit into the bottle. And he did get a bit sick.

Kettle Creek State Park is about one mile from our cabin and they are a nuisance there. The park rangers use loud hand-held horns to disperse them, but they are getting used to it, learning that it is not harmful to them.

Mange is really prevalent in our area, and 2 years ago the Game Commission had to destroy two bears because, as I stated before, they act differently when mange covers more than 50% of their body. And they can't hibernate when they lose that much body hair, as it is part of their insulation. So they die a slow death.

One more note: how many of you realize that a man north of Lock Haven apparently fell off a ladder and was unconscious when....? What happened next? He was "scavenged". There was a debate between the county coroner and either the state police or the game commission whether he was alive when he was eaten. Look it up, I think it was 2 years ago.
 
Read this:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/game_commission_officials_coro.html
 
There will always be outliers in a population or set of statistics. If you look at the Wikipedia stats most were in the west or Canada a few in the smokies and yes there always seems to be one a year here in PA.

I have honestly never had a "close" call with a bear. They always seem to be running away from me. I know there was an attack in Clearfield County a few years ago in hunting season. All the attacks I have heard or read about in PA seem to have mitigating circumstances

I myself have a much more irrational fear of snakes than bears.
 
I for one do not have an "irrational" fear of bears. I just know what experience has brought to me. Stop by my cabin and share the experiences.

However, I do believe bad encounters with bears will increase, due to human behavior and our encroachment on their environment, along with an increasing bear population.

 
I've seen bears while fishing, from a distance. I'm not anxious to share some of the experiences that have been posted. Snakes are a big concern but my biggest fear is dogs. Years ago while walking along a bank on Bowman's Creek a large Shepard mix sunk it's teeth into a brand new pair of Red Ball hip boots. I smacked him on the hindquarters with my net and he took off home. I knocked on the door to tell the owner what happened. He stated that the path was on his property. It was obvious that he wasn't too concerned. I told him I simply wanted to let him know what had happened because young kids also use the path and a similar attack could be much more serious. The sound of a barking dog while walking along a remote stream still shakes me up today. I put a big rubber patch on those boots and they lasted many years, although I relived the incident every time I put my boots on. I guess I'm going to need a bigger net if I encounter one of those black bears.
 
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