Bear encounters while fishing

Can't recall a bear encounter while fishing, but do remember 1 on the way to fishing.

A smallish mother with 3 large cubs, almost as big as her. I worked in that park at the time and knew she wouldn't likely be a problem. My little brother and I tried to shoo the cubs away from the trash cans, but they just looked at us like ... "why aren't these guys on the roof of a cabin like the rest of the idiot tourists."

 
bear spray is a very good deterent. the big can holds quite a punch, and it kicks a little when you spray it. it will shoot a fog 30-40 feet. I bought some on my way out west last year, I was camping in grizzly country and slept with it by my side, actually never went far without it. I noticed that most rangers in yellowstone carried 2 sidearms, small one for people, big one for bears, AND two cans of bear spray on their chests. if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
when I fished, I always made noise, making my presence known. unless you're covered in bacon grease, bears want nothing to do with you.
follow the bear advice. never sleep in clothes you cooked in, never cook close to where your sleeping. keep food and clothes that smell like food far from you tent, etc.
it's pretty much common sense.
I've found that most people that end up shooting a bear with a gun are those that put themselves into a dangerous situation, or simply wanted to play he-man and say they killed a bear that was attacking them. also, most that say they would be able to shoot and kill one have NO idea how freaking big a grizzly is, and how awesomely FAST they can be. if you have the time to actually aim and kill a bear, chances are it wasn't attacking you.
give them their space and most likely they will leave you alone.
 
martin0206 wrote:

I did just get bear spray at Cabelas but it ran $40!...for freaking bear spray. Rather have at least some line of defense
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As an FYI if you are flying regs prohibit taking those sprays on the plane.
 
DGC wrote:
martin0206 wrote:

I did just get bear spray at Cabelas but it ran $40!...for freaking bear spray. Rather have at least some line of defense
Click to expand...

As an FYI if you are flying regs prohibit taking those sprays on the plane.
Click to expand...

You can bring it out to Yellowstone, but you won't be able to bring it home. I think. My girlfriend and I went to MT last year and brought bear spray with. It was unopened on the flight out, but we obviously opened it when we got there. That wouldn't be too good of a headline. "Two campers/fishers dead with unopened bear spray next to them". Anyway, on the way home we put it in our suitcase and when we got home, it was gone.
 
really no need to buy it here and pack it on a plane, they sell it everywhere out west, right next to the bug spray!
 
good article on black bears and safety:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/science/11bears.html
 
Troy wrote:
You can bring it out to Yellowstone, but you won't be able to bring it home. I think. My girlfriend and I went to MT last year and brought bear spray with. It was unopened on the flight out, but we obviously opened it when we got there. That wouldn't be too good of a headline. "Two campers/fishers dead with unopened bear spray next to them". Anyway, on the way home we put it in our suitcase and when we got home, it was gone.
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If you checked the bag on the way out it's possible they just missed it. Pretty sure the reg is 4 oz's max with approved safety mechanism to prevent discharge during flight, checked luggage only. Bear spray canisters are generally larger than 4 oz's.
 
The cans definitely had a safety mechanism. You actually had to put the spray cap on in order for them to be able to spray. We each had a can, but I'm not sure the size. They were definitely over 4 oz.
 
Had a real bad experience with a black bear on cross fork creek a few yrs back. Some idiot was hand feeding it at dusk at a neaby camp. Everyone else was inside a cabin at night and we were tent camping outside a friend's camp. When darkness fell the bear repeatedly came into our camp all night long. At one point he was 10 feet or less away from me. we stood back to back to lookout for it. we yelled at it, threw rocks/sticks, banged pots, but he kept sneaking back. we didn't have any mace and i wish we had a shotgun. it was a real shame to see it behaving like that tho, again A FED BEAR IS A DEAD BEAR. eventually daylight came and we were still in one piece. needless to say we found somewhere else to camp the next night.
another time, i was on cedar run and i encountered a mother with two cubs about 40yds away. when they saw me,they ran off quickly. i was fishing alone, so it was a little un-nerving knowing a mother with cubs was around. i kept looking over my shoulder all evening, but in retrospect it was a great sight to see a mother bear with two cubs, especially one with a healthy fear of humans.
 
I have had several experiences with bears while flyfishing. With one exception they have all been on the same stream. Without knowing I chased a female and her cubs up a tree one evening while walking back to my jeep. I heard the noise and turned around and there she was, up a tree with her cubs. I did'nt stick around, I left. On the same stream one afternoon I had a bear come out of the brush directly across the stream from me. I remained still , he never saw me and ambled up the creek out of sight. Several years ago I watched BIG bear following a smaller bear thru the woods. It was during the mating season. It's the first and only time I have seen two mature bears in the woods at the same time. The one exception I mentioned was a bear I saw cross the stream about 25 yards below me. I was fishing Spring Creek below Paradise at the time!
 
I have never seen a bear while fishing. I have seen bears in Potter and Huntingdon counties. My daughter is a teacher in a remote bush area of Alaska. She sends us pictures of huge brown bears along the stream in her village. They actually have "bear alarm drills" in school similar to fire alarm drills here. Last fall, the bear alarm sounded. A bear made it through the first fence surrounding the school. The villagers arrived and shot the bear before it made it through the second fence. The rule is NEVER go anywhere alone.
 
I wonder how often bears encounter humans? I suppose bears in tourist areas get used to humans being around but the "average bear" in the woods, what do you think? My guess is that they see us a lot more than we see them. I'm betting I've been spotted by a bear and never knew it.
 
bigslackwater wrote:
I wonder how often bears encounter humans? I suppose bears in tourist areas get used to humans being around but the "average bear" in the woods, what do you think? My guess is that they see us a lot more than we see them. I'm betting I've been spotted by a bear and never knew it.
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I agree, normally bears especially in wilder areas want nothing to do with humans. IMO they will go out of their way to avoid any contact. They are very shy creatures.
 
I've seen quite a few, while fishing and otherwise. This spring on Cross Fork I tracked a what I believe to be a mother and cubs (saw big and little tracks) along the stream for a bit. There was a still-muddy wallow they must have recently used, and a large area where the weeds were matted down with tufts of hair everywhere. I took some to tie with... Also this spring along Shoemaker ridge in northern Centre I watched a cub feeding on some greenery along the road - I was in my car. I pulled along side for a little bit; was about 20 yards away. Close enough to see an ear tag of some sort. I'm sure mama was close by but I didn't see her.
 
@ Alby,
Dave told me about your bear encounter at Rothrock. Every time we go there now, I think of you running and yelling and expect
to see one. There are so many places for them to come out of...kind of scary. But...anything for the fish! 🙂
 
Just to put ya'lls mind at ease, PA is about to go in the record books for the largest hunter killed black bear in the WORLD. These records are kept by skull size, but the bear was still 733 pounds. I believe that the number of bears from PA in the top 30 largest skulls around the world is 9. The number of 600 and 700 pound bears is pretty shocking at this point, considering the average male grizzly is usually between 5 and 9 hundred pounds. The new world record bear came from Monroe county. Right by all those nice streams all you guys like to hike into, haha.

Supposedly, the bear was tracking a wounded deer when it was shot by a man deer hunting. Don't think he'd have trouble switching over to a lowly fly-fisherman who looked tasty, lol.

 
BeastBrown wrote:
Just to put ya'lls mind at ease, PA is about to go in the record books for the largest hunter killed black bear in the WORLD. These records are kept by skull size, but the bear was still 733 pounds. I believe that the number of bears from PA in the top 30 largest skulls around the world is 9. The number of 600 and 700 pound bears is pretty shocking at this point, considering the average male grizzly is usually between 5 and 9 hundred pounds. The new world record bear came from Monroe county. Right by all those nice streams all you guys like to hike into, haha.

Supposedly, the bear was tracking a wounded deer when it was shot by a man deer hunting. Don't think he'd have trouble switching over to a lowly fly-fisherman who looked tasty, lol.
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The big males are usually not the ones to be worried about. The mother with cubs is the one to be concerned with.
 
it's usually the female of any species that is gonna give you grief! ;-)
 
I've ran into bears alot while fishing, never had a problem. I see more and more every year. I carry a handgun just for that sense of security.
 
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