Get them to associate humans with loud noises and pain......
I live a little further down the coast than Katmai, but we have just as many if not more bears in our area.
Every spring it's the same thing bears come out of their dens and start dumpster diving in town until the salmon start moving into the creeks.
Our method is to dump a load of #4 steel shot into their backsides from about 25 to 35 yrds away as they are (hopefully
) retreating from our presence. Any farther the shot dosen't seem to have the desired affect, any closer your are risking injury to the bear. Ones that receive a good solid hit don't come back for a second engagement.
However, there exceptions. Injured and sick bears will not avoid an easy meal even if they've been burned before simply because in nature's cruel world a sick or injured bear can't compete with healthy bears for limited food. Young misfit bears just kicked out on their own tend to go for easier food sources. Then there is the rare rogue bear that predates on anything an everything.
In the past four years, we've had to kill only three. One was misfit two years ago that apeared to be starving and had been run out of the dump by other bears. After the third load of steel in him within a week, we decided he need to go away. A Brenneke slug ended it.
Two were this year and were sibling cubs about 150lbs each. They were originally part of a litter of three cubs. All healthy when first seen. At some point we saw the sow favoring her front leg and limping badly. We theorized that she had gotten into a fight with a boar that tried to kill off the cubs and was injured in the process. As time went on we stopped seeing the sow, but the cubs started making frequent visits. Steel shot loads mades them go away for awhile then one showed up injured favoring its front leg.
At first this one made the attempt to avoid human contact when moving from the mountain to the beach. As time went she then started digging in trash, and frequenting homes. A couple more attempts to discourage her were tried. I got a decent hit on her while she retreated and thought that would take care of the problem.
The next morning she was reported in the back of someone's pickup. By the time I arrived she had bailed out and went into a neighbor's yard. I attempted to intercept her and do the steel shot thing one last time. However, went I went to where I thought she would come out next to another house. I underestimated her speed and cut the corner too close to the house and we met face to face about 12-15ft away. Rather than turning to run she let out a loud hiss and charged. She had taken one bound and landed, crouching for another when I shot her from about 8 ft or so away with the steel shot load that I had intended to sting her with. The shot turned her and she ran away from me. I followed up with a 00Buck load which disabled her, but still required a slug to finish. Her sibling was killed a few days later under similar circumstances.
Both had injuries consistent with being in fights. Strangely enough, the right front leg on both bears had been broken and swollen to 3-4 times their normal size. Both exhibited claw marks and and bald patches on their hide where they'd been bitten. Both were female.
Point is we have dozens of bear encounters out here every year. We try and instill fear of humans in them from the first encounter. Normally we use up a box of steel(it's not just for ducks anymore)shot on them before they den for the winter. Of course not every shot is a hit either.
Sorry to jack the thread, but one thought kinda led to another.
