The Black Bear

[bluealtered]

When i was younger i was taking care of a small ranch for the owner, this was years ago. The cabin on the place was all propane and firewood if you wanted heat or something to cook with. It also had the best water i have ever tasted which came out of a 1000 gallon water tank that was filled from an artesian well.

One spring morning i was out cutting firewood to replace what i had used over the winter, i had dropped some trees and backed the ranch truck up the hill so i could buck up the trees and load them so they would just role in when i put the rounds on the bed of the truck.

About half way through this i ran out of saw fuel and stopped and started to walk to the back of the truck to refuel the saw. I was maybe ten feet from the back of the truck when i heard a noise coming down the hill toward me, i looked up and there were two cute baby bear cubs running down the hill to see what i was. That was a Oh ... shit! moment because as you would expect mother bear was right behind them and just about to the truck.

I was just able to dive in the drivers door and get it slammed shut as she came racing up to the truck and slapped the drivers side mirror off the door of the truck. She wasn't happy with that so while the cubs sat there watching she slapped the front fender and the grill, leaving big claw marks and dents in both of them. I sat in that truck for about an hour before the cubs got bored and moved on. She left with them and i got to get out and see what she had done.

I'm very glad that the saw ran out of fuel when it did or it could have been a lot worse.

 

[Shawnba67]

I would have had trouble staying in the truck that long, with the smell from my drawers and such!

 

[spife7980]

I'm very glad that the saw ran out of fuel when it did or it could have been a lot worse.

I dont know about that, personally I would have rather had a working chainsaw than nothing!

 

[CaptainMal]

Think there's more injuries from them than other bears. Probably because there's more of them in contact with people.

First one I killed was a big boar in Pennsylvania. Walking on a ridge above me, it rolled over when I took the first shot. Made a perfect hit into the back leg. Seems it was scratching a thorn in it's back.

Second shot took out both lungs, blew out nasal blood and ran fast, straight down hill. Only problem for me is I was standing "straight down" below it. Shot #3 is unknown and a miss. Last 140 Nosler Partition was near 40 yards coming straight at me. Into the front shoulders, it piled that thing up so it slid straight down the hill toward me, sticking under a log about 10 ft. away.

Reloading, I took aim but no movement. After a few minutes for me to settle down, I moved in for a closer check. Looked dead.

Propped the rifle against a tree and went to pull the thing out from under that log where it wedged. Grabbed a front paw with those big claws and pulled. Giant spasm of the paw in my hand.

One leap back for the gun and then laughter. Pants stayed dry as I realized it was just nerves. Nerves from probably both of us. Black bears can be nasty.

 

[bluealtered]

I have seen a fair amount of bears over the years working in the woods during my life and that was one of the few times there was a problem. About a year ago while out hiking maybe ten miles from town here i ran across some bear scat that each piece was honestly the size of a twelve oz. pop can, i had a .45 with me at the time and suddenly i felt VERY under armed. I still hike there but when i do go there i make sure i have a .30 caliber AR47 just to make me feel better.

 

[284winner]

I have seen a fair amount of bears over the years working in the woods during my life and that was one of the few times there was a problem. About a year ago while out hiking maybe ten miles from town here i ran across some bear scat that each piece was honestly the size of a twelve oz. pop can, i had a .45 with me at the time and suddenly i felt VERY under armed. I still hike there but when i do go there i make sure i have a .30 caliber AR47 just to make me feel better.

That's a big black bear. I see alot of pop can scat while baiting bears for hunts. See them on game cam too but rare to see them while on stand. They have a nose like no other game animal. They know your there. Question is, do they want to come eat while your there ? Some big boars will, knowing there's no natural enemy in the woods that intimidate them while others just don't want human conflict. I've heard popping jaws and branches breaking while a big boar waited outside my view for a chance to come in and eat knowing I was in the tree. One day I'll get one of them pop can play doe makers. They elude me 99% of the time. Seems killing 200+ lb bears is pretty easy but the big boys just don't play the game. I never feel under gunned with a 10mm auto but then again I've never needed to put it into play.

 

[Cakes]

Here in Minnesota they've become quite a problem. Starting to appear "everywhere". Pretty much an overgrown RAT! Always looking for an easy snack. My brother is a beekeeper and after property damage control shooting, which didn't dent them one bit, he's gone to electric fencing all his bee yards using solar chargers. See them even out on the prairie now. As a younger chap I was making my way thru a poplar thicket during deer season and looked up and had two cubs run right past me. One on the left the other the right. They ran up a tree 15' behind me. Got the pucker factor going when mom popped out also in front of me @ 20' and her eyes burned a hole right thru me. Jaws/teeth were clicking so loud... Safety came off of the gun. Thankfully she turned and ran and I backed out of that hot spot. I came back later in the day and she had done a quick circle and got the kids out of the tree and left. No harm done that day. Now if they would only stay off my deck! Eric in DL

 

[Rancher Mike]

A few years ago I was walking down a logging road to check on some irrigation water in the foothills above my place. A couple black bear cubs were walking towards me and hadn't seen me yet, so l decided to squat down and watch them for a while. They kept walking right at me and when they got about 20 yard I started getting kinda nervous. Pretty soon momma bear came walking up behind them and still they didn't know I was there. Since running didn't sound like a good idea, I decided to stand up before they were on top of me. It's amazing how much bigger a bear is when they stand up. We stared at each other for about 15 seconds, maybe 10 ,time moves pretty slow about then. I thought it was all over. Luckily the Cubs took off and mom decided I wasn't worth the trouble and followed them. Hopefully as close as I'll get to slapping a bear on the ass as the Indians did to confirm there manhood.

 

[K22]

A few years ago I came upon a sow with two cubs in the big wood of central PA in the early summer. I was hiking. The cubs were curious, not the least bit scared of me. Mama stood up, rising her nose in the air scenting me. I froze resisting the urge to run. She charged me but backed off at the last minute. I slowly walked backwards over a rise down a saddle. When I was back at the cabin I cleaned myself and changed underwear.

I was carrying a Model 19 S&W, 357 magnum at the time but never gave any thought to shooting her especially with those cubs. I figure if I'm going to go to my maker what better way than to go here. Still it's an incident I'll never forget. An yes I was scared.

 

[Mr. Ten-X]

Had an Ontario bear (boar) of unusually large size stand his ground over a bait station that i was coming in to replenish. The pucker factor was high because of the jaws popping and the bluff charges. Was able to slowly set the (2) 5 gallon pails of bait down and slowly skulk out of the area. But, I never went back to that bait station, even when bowhunting, without a Winchester Defender and slugs.

 

[Bottom Gun]

This one came to watch me target shoot with a couple of pistols in the national forest on several occasions here in southern Arizona . Made me kinda nervous when he approached to within 25 yd the last time so I blew the horn on my ATV. He didn't like the sound of the horn and decided to wander off.

 

[centerlineseal]

"The cabin on the place was all propane and firewood if you wanted heat or something to cook with."

That's what my cabin is like still but we have electricity ( no F**$#?? internet or phone) Plenty of bears and some that approach coke can size. Had my own encounter with two cubs and momma during elk season. Was able to ease away slow but had a 7mm RemMag in hand.

Thanks for the memories!

 

[loinhunter]

A friend was hiking thru our campsite in wv. 2 cubs popped up a tree near him . Mom was 5 yards behind them. All was cool until his little yappy dog on leash opened up her mouth! She chased them both a hundred yards downhill until she was satisfied . He had a .44 mag in his backpack. Dumb dog!