Bear Encounters (I have hundreds of them)

partly funny, dangerous, intriguing experience, while hunting i always carry a .357 if i have to poo or wash up. great stories thought.
 
I spent a summer working in the brooks range. Exploration drilling for minerals and we were flying drill rigs into remote locations. I was running the project and spent an immense amount of time out by myself running water line and tending pumps. They frowned upon it but somewhat allowed us to carry firearms so I always had my 44 mag strapped on. Had quite a few encounters with black bears that year. The most memorable was during a term we had with a nervous rookie pilot that accidentally punched off his long line in a nasty, overgrown swamp in the middle of a rig move. The helicopter contractor did not have a spare line at camp and we were looking at being down for several days without it so he searched from the air and myself, along with the crew, spread out in the swamp trying to find it. An hour or so in, I was easing along searching and happened apon a sow with two cubs inside 20yds... the cubs shinnied up a tree and she proceeded to raise holy hell! Woofing, bluff charging and clacking her teeth. I drew my pistol immediately and started yelling obscenities at the top of my lungs. Beings that I was running the project on native land with a sensitive client and only 23yrs old at the time, (my first job as a supervisor) I was determined to get out of the situation without killing the bear. Every step back she'd try and charge. I'd have to scream bloody murder and take the slack back out of the trigger to get her to stop. Finally got out of that mess unscathed but you can bet I'll never forget it. We gave up the search and had to wait four days for a new line to make it to camp. I just about wrang the neck of that idiot pilot...
 
AGL4now said:
On a slightly different bear behavior subject........I have been "Stalked" (5) five times by bears and this stalking is a completely different type of bear behavior that any other bear behavior. This is a serious behavior, and it is hard to snap them out of this once the stalk has started.
I have never been stalked by a black bear, they were all grizzly/ brown bears.
Click to expand...
Black bears stalk humans too. Had one stalk me in Alaska's Kenai Mountain Range.
Pretty unnerving. I was napping while bear hunting and fortunate enough to hear the bear, wake, and get to my rifle (about 10 feet away). By the time I had the rifle ready to go, the bear was 20 feet away posturing broadside to show me how large he was.
Turns out he wasn't tougher than my 7mm RM with 160gr Nosler Accubond.
A bear that stalks you while you're bear hunting makes for the easiest bear hunting ever. PROVIDING you're not caught napping!
In my opinion, this bear was stalking me as a prospective meal. Trying to determine if I was a patsy, or too tough to digest.
 
Last edited:
I think it's commonly expected a predatory bear will be charging. A lot more people I think don't recognize a bear slowly moving in sideways as a threat.
 
You guys in the north have it rough with bears. Down here in Arizona if you have a close encounter it usually involves a bear blowing out of the country running for its life in the other direction trying to get away. I saw piles of bears that summer I worked in Alaska and not a single one showed a single hint of fear. Totally different ballgame.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 7 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

V
Bear encounters
Replies
1
Views
248
HockeyDad
H
W
Close encounter bear hunt
Replies
6
Views
1K
acloco
A
K
I have an idea???
Replies
2
Views
1K
kc
K
K
I have an idea!
Replies
0
Views
2K
kc
K
F
I have a problem.
2
Replies
19
Views
2K
imyourhuckleberry
imyourhuckleberry

Recent Posts

Top