Which strategy for BEARS!?

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Soap

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
3,735
BEARS!? Holy cow, reading THR has me convinced that a bear is going to enter my home at any second! Will my 1911 or Benelli with #4 buck work!? Should I buy three new guns to use for bear just in case!? I'm thinking a .475 Linebaugh and a .600 NE might give me the peace of mind to not worry about BEARS everytime I step into a wooded area. :banghead:

Sarcasm aside, let's list some strategies and tactics that can actually help people assuage their fear of the ursa insanum. Some things I was taught by woodsmen are:

-If you see a cub or cub tracks, leave.
-Do not hang around an animal carcass or berry patches
-Hang your food in a tree 10-15' up and 3-5' away from the trunk
-Do not throw garbage around your camp (or anywhere for that matter or Dan Flory will track you just to punch you in the chops)
-Cook at least 100 yards from camp
-Clean your eating utensils immediately
-Do not relieve yourself close to camp (this is simple courtesy anyway)
-Don't walk in Condition White, especially at night or at dawn/dusk, or when the wind is at your face
-Don't run, fat does not equal slow
-Bears and dogs don't mix
-Menstruating women should take extra precaution

Anything else that we can add?
 
Chris...those teeth on that smile look awful big...ARE YOU A BEAR!? I knew it!

*grabs his shiny new .45-70 Guide Gun, .44 Mag lever, .44 Mag Mountain Gun, 12 gauge with slugs, old 30/30 that I just recently decided was not good enough for bear and reciept for custom work from Linebaugh (hey it can take quite a few months)*

Whew, glad I bought all those guns for bear ;)
 
The entire subject has become unbearable... too many grizzly details for my delicate sensibilities! It's making me bi-polar (bear)... I suppose I can blame my black (bear) mood on it!

:neener:
 
-Menstruating women should take extra precaution
Click to expand...

So should everyone within a one kilometre radius if the woman is Cantonese....

(we use that funny metric thing in Hong Kong and spell 'meter' funny, too)
 
I am told that a bear cannot run faster than you down a hill due to its anatomy. Nobody told me what to do when you run out of hill though. :eek: :confused:

Remember that a bear stands up to challenge another bear. A standing human may be considered a challenger for the territory.

An old friend's uncle Marshall is a hunting guide in Canada. He was leading a hunting party out for elk and as they are getting set to go out one morning one of the hunters produces a brand new, scoped S&W 29 in addition to his rifle. Marshall asks him what he intends to do with that pistol. The hunter declares that he will have it along in case they are ambushed by a bear. (I know, bears don't ambush people. But only because they don't have enough Claymores.) Marshall says okay, but take the front sight and scope off it first. Hunter asks why and Marshall tells him; "Because that way it won't hurt so much when the bear takes it away from you and shoves it up your a$$!"
 
Hardware, as for bears running downhill . There was a wonderfull film of a brown bear running down an elk calf .He picked it out from a herd .He was running up and down the hills until he caught it !!! The chubby looking bear moved very fast !
 
And never, ever use the bacon sack as a pillow
Click to expand...
Well, if you're out of bacon, and want some fresh bear meat ...... :D

Seriously, this isn't funny. I actually did something like this :uhoh:

A bunch of us hiked in to a remote cabin north of Talkeetna AK. Had to ride the train and then get off and hike. The cabin was only about 10x12 and there were about 10 of us, so I elected to sleep out on the porch in the fresh air. I did have a shotgun leaning up in the corner where the logs overlapped.

Oh yeah, and we also hung our bacon and cheese in sacks on nails out on the porch to keep them cool - you know, like right over my head :what: . I think it was the second night, I hear something walking around. I'm thinking, "do I try to wriggle out of my sleeping bag and get the shotgun or just lay still?" I elected the latter and finally went back to sleep.

The next morning, the folks inside asked me what the noise was all about last night. "Oh, I was really hoping you were making noise inside."

Mr Bear left his calling card a few yards out behind the cabin. We had some cleaned fish cooling out in a plastic bag in the little creek which of course were no longer there come morning.

Yeah, I know ... how do some of us survive ????? But others have done crazy things too - at least I never drove drunk and stuff like that.
 
DF's rules are pretty good.

Don't smell like food.

Don't have anything that smells like food near anything you don't want to smell like food.

Same rules for garbage.

Don't sound like food. Make enough noise to not be surprising. Conversation, jingle bells, clanking cup hanging from pack, etc.

Don't act like food.

If a bear doesen't retreat from you or shows anything except transient interest in you it may be thinking that you look, sound, or smell like food. If the bear follows or paralles you it DOES think you look/sound/smell like food and you need to change it's mind.

Many rules for griz are the same as black bear, but if attacked by a black bear you need to fight for your life as you have a chance of driving it off. You are so outclassed by a griz that your best bet is the old "play dead" trick.

Remember most bears are not a threat if you use avoidance, but things can go from bad to urs. :evil:
 
When I was a kid my brother and I would have all of our buddies over and sleep outside in a big tent. We could sleep probably 8 guys out there. We knew there were bears in the area but we had never spotted any around our house. As you know any time camping is involved it is a requirment to have a campfire and lots of snacks that are good to roast. We also had chips, candy, and lots of soda. When we woke up in the morning we went inside and my mom made us all a good hearty breakfast. As we were sitting there eating breakfast we saw a fat mother bear and two cubs sniffing around out tent trying to find something good to eat!!! Needless to say that was the last sleepover we had where large amounts of snacks were kept in the tent.
 
Lots of Bears on the campus of Purdue?

(or do steps for protecting yourself from bears also work for Purdue women?)
 
my tactical-bear-avoidance-and-distraction-strategy is to always carry a picnic basket with me. upon seeing a bear, i start waddling in the other direction as fast as my stubby legs will take me, and when the bear gets closer, i throw the basket in the bushes, knowing the bear will follow it to satisfy its curiousity, andbe thrown off my trail.

inside the basket is not food, but actually a cluster of cherry bombs with a battery powered fuse that i trip with by remote control.

it serves two purposes. teaches the bear that picnic baskets are not as yummy as they hoped, and makes me giggle.
 
haha! Hilarious! Not a lot of bears on Purdue's campus but reading all these bear threads has me convinced...bears are out to get me. :uhoh:

Many rules for griz are the same as black bear, but if attacked by a black bear you need to fight for your life as you have a chance of driving it off. You are so outclassed by a griz that your best bet is the old "play dead" trick.
Click to expand...

Good advice but just to clarify: never ever ever ever play dead with a black bear. They eat carcasses and they might swipe you with the claws or bite into you to see how rotten you really are.
 
“Good advice but just to clarify: never ever ever ever play dead with a black bear. They eat carcasses and they might swipe you with the claws or bite into you to see how rotten you really are.â€

That’s what I was going to say. The way I heard it was “if you play dead for a black bear, you will be eaten alive†and that Grizzlies are more likely to stop the attack, once it thinks that you are no longer a challenge to it and go away or bury you till you age a bit.


I was reading on the Internet once. A web page had documentation on Grizzly Vs Tiger and Tiger Vs African Lion. The Grizzly is the King of the Beast and it is a tossup between a tiger and lion. Tigers feed on black bear regularly. OT I know but interesting nun the less.
 
Puma? Oh, you mean Mountain Lion ?

Mountain Lions kill you, drag you someplace they feel safe, eat the parts of you they want, and leave the rest for the bears, coyotes, and buzzards.

Smoke
 
Poke the bear, poke the bear, poke the bear...RUN!

Hey Mute, take it from a slow old man, that strategy has one flaw. As soon as you are ahead of me, I wing you in the leg and let your bleeding and thrashng distract the bear. Just thought I'd let you know. :D

Jubei
 
I didn't know that you should try to fight a Black Bear. Everything I've seen has said Bear=Play Dead. :fire:

Learn something new every day...if you're lucky.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

W
  • Locked
Bears Still Rampaging and 10 MM will take down a bear
Replies
17
Views
2K
280PLUS
2
K
  • Locked
Living With Bears
Replies
2
Views
583
Keith
K
B
  • Locked
Tale of a bear Hunt (long)
Replies
6
Views
507
NRA4LIFE
N
B
  • Locked
Shooting a bear in self defense
2 3
Replies
62
Views
4K
Jimmypop97
J
K
  • Locked
Bear Bait Debate
Replies
18
Views
852
Steve Smith
S
Back
Top