What was your Up-Close Bear Encounter

[RugerForMe]

I've had two so far in my life and my parents had one.

My first one I had was when I was back in the late 1970’s a couple of friends and I were back packing from Piseco to Blue Mountain Lake in The Adirondack Park. As I came upon a plank bridge acrost a boggy area I met a decent sized Black bear face to face at about 10’, I gave it the old “Yo Bear”, it turned and just walked back the way it came, the way I had to go. Never saw it again.

Second one 1994 ish, I was deer hunting, sitting in my blind in PA I had one walk right up behind me and HUFF, I almost pooped my pants. The squirrels around me made more noise than that bear did. I didn’t hear it coming but did hear it leave.

And my Mom and Dads. They had a momma Bear and her Cub encounter on a rainy overcast day while out mushroom hunting. They were sitting on a downed tree, eating lunch. Dad said they were eating and chatting looked up and momma bear was 8 to 10 foot away. She stopped and looked right at them and then continued on her way. Then this bear cub walked right to them so close they could have touch it, Momma grunted, the cub stood up sniffing the air and looking at them, dropped turned and followed her. My dad said the ground was so wet and they never heard them coming, the two of them were just there and then gone.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I've lost count.....most recent was about a week ago I walked onto the side deck pretty late to put trash in the locked bin and there was Mr. Bear doing what the bears do...sniffing around the bin. Which they have now figured out how to break into. Had one open screen door and grab a bird feeder off kitchen table. They walk past us when sitting around the fire pit on lower part of property. Have had a few bluff charges in my direction by sows with cubs.

Which reminds me I need to have the motion light on side deck replaced to prevent the impromptu bear meetings....another month or so they will be asleep and we get to do it all over again late March.

Bears don't bother me as much as the Cougar meeting I had many years ago in Utah. That one gave me a chill.

 

[RC44Mag]

None other than in zoos, circus. never in the wild.

 

[txramfan]

A bear stood up and leaned against the truck door to look at us, mom dad and me, sitting on the bench seat in Yellowstone NP is my close encounter.

Same trip, don't recall where , mom and dad asked us kids why we picked out the campsite we were setting up. The bear in the tree was our answer, mom and dad looked up and then picked out another site for the night.

 

[Jim Walsh]

I hunted black bears several times in Manitoba, each trip resulted in success and all were taken with a bow. One day while freshening a baited stand with the guide a momma bear with triplets approached while we were filling a drum with popcorn. I alerted the guide and he told me to not move. We were twenty feet from the six wheel Argo which held his shotgun. She was fifty feet away and continued towards the bait seemingly unaware of our presence. The guide rattled the chain holding one of the barrels loudly. She came to a halt but the cubs acted like all children and just continued walking in. He rattled the chain again and momma gathered up the cubs and headed back on the trail she had arrived on. She stopped a couple times to ensure she was not being followed, but she and the cubs had come within twenty feet of us.
I’ve seen black bears many times and they can move like a bolt of lightning over a short distance so I fully appreciated just how dangerous this encounter could have been.
We freshened a couple more baited stands that day but that shotgun was not left in the Argo.

 

[Mobuck]

In 1987, a hunting buddy and I went to Ontario to hunt black bear. I was the only one in camp using a firearm(rest were stick and string guys) so I got to sit on the stand where a big bear had tried to climb into the tree stand with a bowhunter the previous week. On the second or third day probably same bear came in behind me and I didn't notice it until it was under the platform. I leaned out to shoot it about 8 FEET from the muzzle and it spooked. Saw it again two days later and still didn't get a shot. Moved to a different stand and nailed a much smaller bear first evening.
The other 'perk'(??) of being a rifle hunter was accompanying the bowhunters on the follow up of their shots. THAT was exhilarating following a blood trail through thick timber and blowdowns in the dark. Fortunately, only one of five was still alive when found and we heard it growling/wheezing from some distance away.

 

[Paul B]

I've seen a few on desert and mountain hike. None were ever close enough to be a problem. I usually had a big bore revolver with me during those hike.
Probably the hairiest encounter wasn't with a bear. I spotted a young Mountain Lion that was apparently stalking me. I scared it off a few time by yelling and throwing a few rocks but she kept coming back. The last time I saw her, she was crouch to spring and too close for comfort. I was out scouting for deer sign and hopefully jump a coyote to check the condition of the hide so I had my .243 with me that day I decided I'd best shoot that cat. Got with the game warden and they did an autopsy. The cats stomach was totally empty and was probably of that year's litter. She still had some spots on her hide. A similar incident happened with a bow hunter doing deer hunt in the same area a few weeks befoe. Another cat with an empty stomach. Fish & Game figured either something happened to mommy or she abandoned them for some reason. My guess would be the former.
Paul B.

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

Well.... there was that time I opened the front door.. (I'll never make that mistake again)....
I've had a bunch..... none that have ended me..... moose.... that's another issue altogether.....
Fortunately it's only the black bears that seem to come straight into the yard anymore... and if I can get to a rifle fast enough, they don't leave. Which is fine because the brown one taste worse than any meat I've ever tasted...

 

[Johnnu2]

Lots in the trash cans in NY, NJ and Ct.....
And a few in state and local government jobs.

J.

 

[edm1]

I’m reading this in my hammock on Blood Mt GA, where Cocaine bear was found. Just hung a bear bag…. I walked up on one in 1988 at Philmont . We spoke to it and it left. Saw another following us on a ridge line that same trip. I’m hoping not to encounter one tonight.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

We had one shopping at the Fry's here a couple days ago.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/gro...a-grocery-store-no-really-it-did/86436647007/

 

[eveled]

When I was about 12 years old. My family visited friends in Canada. I slept in a tent on their front lawn. In the morning I found bear tracks in front of the tent. The prints were bigger than my head.

 

[Threespears]

In 1990 I was horn hunting in the Gros Venture mountains. Western Wyoming.
And saw a female Grizzly with cub. 50 yards away. Watched them for 5 min.as I got ready to leave the wind changed and blew my scent directly to her. She looked at me, although I was hidden in a sagebrush on the ridge above her.Right then I decided that a Ruger single six 32 HMR is not a good choice on Grizzly country.

Ten years ago while Elk hunting I was charged by a black bear.

Ok here is what really happened. My nephew was stalking through some dark timber and jumped a black bear. It ran from him and down the trail I was on. As soon as I moved the bear took a different direction. It sounds better if it’s not explained.

In Glacier National Park our group of 4 saw 6 Grizzlies in one day. The closest was 6’ away eating berries.

Several other adventures with bears. I have never had issues with bears. Although I do carry a BIGGER Firearm when I go out

 

[contender]

Too many encounters to mention.
Only one was a bluff charge.
All others,, moved away, or ignored me & such.

 

[golferboy426]

On my honeymoon, I had a small grizzly skid to a stop from a trot/gallop) at Katmai AK. No more than 5 feet away. It was working the river. Wife had a salmon on. Cut the line on orders from the warden. Backed away from the water to a road. in the campground. Bear left the water and came our way.. This was in 1983 well before they put up a lot of fences and also fenced the viewing area by the falls

 

[Jeepnik]

My wife and I saw several grizzlies when we were on our road trip to Alaska. One behavior I found interesting was that the bears seemed to hang out close to the highway. They would eat road kill. We stopped and watched one drag deer off the highway and start eating it on the side of the road. It didn't seem to care we were there.

 

[thinckley]

Grizzly 399 and 3 of her cubs in Grand Teton

At one point she was less than 2 feet from me as she walked past our car.

 

[Don Lovel]

Crestone Colorado rent house previous occupant had fed wildlife. We awoke to a juvenile black bear about the size of a big malamute dog breaking into the kitchen window and drinking hummingbird water out of a half gallon canning jar my woman left cooling in the sink. It had already destroyed 6 hummingbird feeders in our yard when I put my shotgun light on it ran off, went a half mile to a vaçant cabin and dismantled a double door fridge and wrecked the house.
They smell like a chinese restraunt dumpster on a hot day that lingered in the house for many days. It broke into a friend's van in our driveway a few days later and ate a 20lb bag of dog food. Stunk up that van horrible gag level stench.

 

[Skeet 028]

2 encounters...both wounded grizzlies. ...the first I was the bait...my partner had my 375...I went into the alders...bear got up at about 40 feet... grunted...came for me. I had a M-57..made one shot...I wore out all 9 ,ives on thar one. after uncident I remembered oh crap I'n going to shoot it as many tines as I can and then they can maybe take me to Fairbanks and fix me. Shot of my life. Bullet traveled the course of it's spinal column in and out and died right there. 2nd...camp wrangler had the 41.. Bear never made a sound..wrangler shot twice hit the bear and I put 2 270 gr 375s in his right shoulder area when he got up...also DRT...My closest encounter with a critter...was a mountain kitty of about 120 lbs at ten feet...laid it's ears back tail got big and snarled at me. I found out I had 2 inch hair on my butt fore it took off. all within 20 seconds or so...I had a 30-30 in my hands too

 

[mirglip]

I've had lots of bear encounters, mostly at a safe distance only one was kinda scary.
In 2001 I was hiking an abandoned logging road in NW Montana about 15 miles from the town of Yaak. I rode the ATV as far as I could and went on foot because of alder thickets in the road. I saw a Whitetail doe step out of the thicket towards me at about 30 yards and right behind her a 300-350 pound Grizzly stepped out, must have been stalking the doe. The doe vaporized and the Griz charged, quartering towards me but taking the high ground above the road. I drew my Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special, which seemed tiny at the time. Fortunately the Griz kept running. I guess you could call that a bluff charge.

 

[Armybrat]

Slept with Teddy until I was 4 or 5.

 

[M118LR]

Up close and Bruin fatal are not the same. Would you care to differentiate? Do you want to know how close I came while the bruin was hunting me? Or how close I got while I was hunting them?

 

[Fox Mike]

Family had rented a large house in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I was going out on the porch to dump some trash. I opened the door, took a couple steps and came face to face with a black bear. He/she went "Huff' and headed off the porch. I about tore the door off the hinges going back inside.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I’ve been around black bears, grizzlies, and Polar bears. They all can be interesting.
I was over to Illiamna fishing and we got our limit . There was a ton of adolescent brown bears hanging around. There was a long hill up to the parking lot. If you want to talk about a pucker factor, try walking up a steep hill with one hand carrying a stringer of salmon, and the other with a 44 mag in my hand, with one bear following you up the hill, two others side hilling you and then you look up at the top of the parking lot and another bear is looking down at you. I can tell you adrenaline can make you feel like you’re having a heart attack.
Adolescent bears are the ones most likely to get in trouble.
If you like excitement come out of the shop to discover a polar bear walked in your tracks looking for you.
If you want to talk a full blown charge I can tell you about the time a group of us were riding ATV,s and a moose charged the guy in front who had his little grandkid on the front and he bent over to cover the grandkid and that left me pull my 44 and get ready to shoot the cow moose. Problem was she didn’t want to get far enough from her calf to actually actually stomp him.
If you want to have some fun, come on up to Alaska.

Those are just the most interesting ones.

 

[stonebuster]

Had a mother Black bear & cub get into the garbage last week. They're in our backyard often between March & November. So many here in CT the DEP is quietly putting them down unfortunately. Getting into houses and ripped our neighbors chicken coop apart. Killed all the chickens, ripped the door off the shed. Had a monster at my glass sliding door to porch a couple times. Was coming around for 10 years but haven't seen him since March. Think he was destroyed.

 

[el caminero]

60 years ago, over crater lake way, a BIG black with cubs invited herself to moms hot pancake breakfast. She shut the coleman off and pulled the lid down over the live griddle while ordering us kids inside the carryall, then dad uncased and got off a few shots at the retreating bear with his...leica...from what he thought a safe distance. Mamabear flattenned her ears each time that shutter quietly said schnook, and another camper with a BIG noisy motorwinder, probably a pro pentax rig, began following the trio. The second time she turned and swatted a cub to keep it moving ahead of her, dad said thats it, leave her alone. The third time she turned back she had no more cubs to swat, so reached for the big noisey professional motorwinder camera. When she was gone, he went back to pick up his camera...

 

[TheTexasRAT]

Wrestled one in a bar. Three times it swiped my legs out from under me and pounced it's chest on my midsection staring me in the face. Then I kissed it on the nose and went back to drinking beer.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Oh hell, black bears go through my lake cabin property almost daily. There is a campground not too far away on the other side of the woods and a dumpster there. They come through looking scary as hell because though they are black bears they are about 3 times normal size because of food availability. However, they all seem to have a bad case of Don't Give A $h!+ and don't bother anyone, though they have a tendency to wreck bird houses...