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Old 09-18-2020, 03:48 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Default The only time I was scared of a bear.

Today I was under my car, doing some exhaust work, when out of the corner of my eye I saw some legs beside the car. I assumed some neighbor's dog was over, the kids have a new kitten that was out in the yard so I didnt want it getting chased. I rolled out from under the car as quick as I could... and ended up almost right underneath a black bear!!

I had two vehicles parked beside each other, and me and a very startled bear were sharing the small space between them! With me lying on my back! For the most part I've never worried to much about bears, they leave me alone and I dont bother them, but if there was ever a time for a bear to take a swipe at me that would have been it... fortunately he decided to run
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Old 09-18-2020, 03:58 PM
Smoky buck Smoky buck is online now
 
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That is one of those moments you just say good bear and hope for the best

Bears don’t bother me either but that one would make me nervous too
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Old 09-18-2020, 04:02 PM
fishnguy fishnguy is online now
 
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Did you change your pants before going back to the exhaust?
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Old 09-18-2020, 04:11 PM
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That's a butt pucker moment. My BIL in Lacrete had something similar happen, working on his grain truck and heard what he thought was his dog sniffing around. Didn't think much of it, then pushed out from under the truck on his creeper and was nose to nose with a bear. It also ran off in a hurry.

A couple weeks later, his neighbor's son used dad's 30-30 to shoot a bear coming in the bathroom window of his family's trailer, they figure it was the same one. Too used to being around people maybe. Would be interesting to come home and find a bear half in, half out of your bathroom window, shot dead by a 13 year old.
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Old 09-18-2020, 05:39 PM
happy honker happy honker is offline
 
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Holy smokes!
How much time from when you popped out until it bolted?

Hey, I bet you at least know if it was a sow or a boar from your angle!
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Old 09-18-2020, 05:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by happy honker View Post
Holy smokes!
How much time from when you popped out until it bolted?

Hey, I bet you at least know if it was a sow or a boar from your angle!

One of those stories that starts with, You'll never believe this, but

Grizz
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Old 09-18-2020, 05:57 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by happy honker View Post
Holy smokes!
How much time from when you popped out until it bolted?

Hey, I bet you at least know if it was a sow or a boar from your angle!
Not much time... by the time my brain processed how bad things might be about to get he was already running. One of those situations where I felt fairly calm through the experience, but then broke out in a cold sweat aftarwards.

I live in Widewater, he was probably down by the lake and the train had just come by (tracks down the shore), so I think he was already in "flight" mode... alot less likely to go into "fight" mode I'm thinking. After the fact, I think it was pretty much a text book way to convince a bear to maul you.
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Old 09-18-2020, 06:25 PM
saskbooknut saskbooknut is offline
 
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While pushing through some alders on a grown over logging road in Saskatchewan, I woke up a sleeping Black Bear at about 6 or 8 feet under the ferns, a big barrel of a Black Bear.
I was hunting deer with a muzzleloader. Do I shoot him in the right eye or the left eye?
He was talking to me, and weaving his head back and forth. I talked quietly back.
I wondered if the gun would go off, and I never worry about misfiring.
After a minute or two, it seemed about forever, he decided to turn and amble off.
I have seen lots of Grizzlies and more Black bears, but this was the only time I was really scared by a bear.
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Old 09-18-2020, 06:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saskbooknut View Post
While pushing through some alders on a grown over logging road in Saskatchewan, I woke up a sleeping Black Bear at about 6 or 8 feet under the ferns, a big barrel of a Black Bear.
I was hunting deer with a muzzleloader. Do I shoot him in the right eye or the left eye?
He was talking to me, and weaving his head back and forth. I talked quietly back.
I wondered if the gun would go off, and I never worry about misfiring.
After a minute or two, it seemed about forever, he decided to turn and amble off.
I have seen lots of Grizzlies and more Black bears, but this was the only time I was really scared by a bear.
A fellow I know that works for SRD told me a good one, hiking out after a day of working in the bush he got well ahead of his partner and decided to scare him. He hid behind a tree, eventually he heard his buddy coming down the trail so he waited until the last second, and jumped out with a loud "ROAR"... and instead found himself nose to nose with a ****ed off bear. Apparently it false charged him a couple times and eventually left.
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Old 09-18-2020, 07:11 PM
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Great bear story. Being within a few feet of a bear is always fun.

I will add another story. When I was living in Slave Lake midnight golf tournaments where a big thing. Fairly dark and golf with a glow ball. My buddy and I like golf tournaments but we weren't all that fond of actually golfing. We decided it would be great fun to take a bear hide, sit in the bushes by the ninth hole, drink some beers and growl and run at anyone who came near the bushes. Everyone ran like hell and never figured out it wasn't a bear. It was all friggin hilarious until about two hours go by and we see a couple of flashlights coming at us from the club house. Just as they were getting close enough to the bush for us to start our fun run we hear the sound of a 12 gauge pump being racked. We decided to just hide in the bush for that group. snuck back to the club house after they left. Waited till the prize presentations to tell the golfers the bear was us.
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Old 09-18-2020, 07:40 PM
happy honker happy honker is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushleague View Post
After the fact, I think it was pretty much a text book way to convince a bear to maul you.

You have to patent this phrase.
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Old 09-18-2020, 07:51 PM
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lol

Hey buddy, pass me that 10mm socket, would ya?

Rrrraaaaaarrrrrr

Ok then to hell with it I'll get it myself.....
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:22 PM
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Camping/working south of Vailmount back in the early 90s
Hear a noise outside the camper door (set on the ground) and open the door.....and nearly smacked a Black in the face !
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:50 PM
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Riding alone up Trap Creek spring '96 after the flood of '95. Trail washed out, had to scramble up the creek bank. Come around a tight spot between some trees & the creek, just ambled right into a Blackie sow with 3 cubs coming towards me. Spun ole Sorrelly around & beelined back to the cabin for a bit. Still not sure if it was the startle or actual terror. lol
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:56 PM
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Back in the day, friend of mine and a girl were parked out in the boonies on a gravel road having beers and doing what teenagers do, and it was middle of the night and totally dark. After about an hour or so he got out to take a leak right outside the door. Halfway through he felt a little nudge on the back of his leg.
Looked down to see what he thought a big farm dog.
Got back in the truck and a couple minutes later it was in front of the truck a ways. Hit the lights and you guessed it. A medium size black bear! Lol.
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Old 09-18-2020, 09:02 PM
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Started seeing grizz on our land cams 2-3 years ago now east of Valleyview.
Young male, then last year the same bear.
A month or so ago now pics show a sow and cub.
There goes the neighbourhood.

Hoping not to reply to this thread with a close encounter.

TBark
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Old 09-18-2020, 09:05 PM
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Another time, this batchler guy I know out in deadwood, was out doing a stint on the rig and his 17 year old son was staying with him out at his house.(glorified cabin/shack).
Well the door doesn’t latch properly and the kid was on the couch sleeping and he woke up to someone blowing on his face....
Was a bears breathe that was blowing on his face! Lol.
They both pooped their pants and the bear went flying out. Lol.
His dad was pretty lazy and when he got back, instead of fixing the door, he just taped a flashlight to the top of a .12 gauge defender and went to work again.... lol!!!
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Old 09-18-2020, 09:22 PM
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I have a friend that got bit by a monkey while walking through the camps up at the manning rodeo grounds too but I’ll wait until another monkey attack thread pops up to tell it.... lol.
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Old 09-19-2020, 02:25 AM
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I have had a few too many very close encounters with bears.

It would take too much bandwidth to tell all the stories so I'll just summarize.

Many years ago I stepped on a sleeping bear. It was laying in the mouth of it's den under a big log, I came up from the opposite side and could not see it, until I stepped over that log. It was several minutes before my legs would respond to my intentions to move.

Living in a camper in my brothers yard. One calm evening the camper started to rock. I looked out every window and saw nothing, so I opened the door and looked out.
I see a large very black lump directly under the step, just inches from my feet. It rolled out from under the camper and ran. I stood there and vibrated.

Two weeks ago I was sitting at my work bench in the basement.
Movement outside the window two feet above my head catches my eye.
It's a black nose. Oh! the dog's outside, "I thought."
Then a black muzzle appears. My dog is white.

A second later I'm looking eye to eye at a bear two feet from my face with a thin sheet of glass separating us. That made me uneasy but not scared.
I and Remington asked it to leave and it complied.
I'm pretty sure the neighbors shot it a couple of days later.
I wonder if I should have aimed at it instead of at the clouds.

Visiting my sister in Prince George, I go out on the deck for a smoke about 10:00 pm.
As I'm sitting there I see movement next to the BILs boat, which is parked in the unlit back yard. A fenced yard, with a six foot high fence.
I couldn't make out what it was in the dark but I suspect it's some drunk looking for a place to sleep, so I stroll down to ask him to leave.

I mean we are in the middle of a good sized city surrounded by hundreds of homes. What else could it be.

Well I get to the boat and see nothing alive there. I am standing under a cherry tree that is right beside the boat. Something hisses right above my head and I look up into the rear of a small brown bear just inches above my head.
I don't remember moving, I don't remember being scared or anything. The next thing I remember I'm back on the deck and gasping for air.

The darn thing scaled that fence like a cat and ran several feet along the top of the fence before dropping down into the neighbors yard and out of sight. I think it felt about the same as I did about the encounter.

Those are just the encounters where I got within arms reach of a bear.
There have been as many or perhaps more where I've unintentionally gotten to within ten feet of a live bear.

Yet nothing I have experience could top what happened to a fellow guide one fall.
His hunter shot a large Black bear, that went down like a ton of bricks.
The hunter wanted a picture of the bear sitting up, the best my fr9iend could do was straddle it an lift it's head off the ground.
As he pulled the head up the Bear came too and stood up, with my friend on it's back.
The bear took off at a dead run and poor Wayne lost his grip and fell off.
The Bear made it into the trees before anyone could grab a gun.

They didn't go after it. Instead they took Wayne back to camp for a change of cloths.
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Old 09-19-2020, 08:19 AM
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Yup...was pulling the hose out to wash down the side of the house....hear heavy footed running...look over to see a black bear running at me....two loud HEY BEAR...he adjusted his departure by a few yards but still bolted by me....found out that he was around the boat and a couple clamps snapped off that was holding the cover on...that s rated him to make his departure in my direction....too fast for a rise in heart rate....this was one of many but this was the most recent....
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Old 09-19-2020, 09:40 AM
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I had an outfitter friend who claimed, while looking for a lost horse one night, he almost went up to put a halter on a Grizzly, but then Doug was known for being a BSer.

Grizz
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Old 09-19-2020, 09:56 AM
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One of the best ones I witnessed was having a few drinks at a friends house and he went to kick a dog that was getting into his garbage on the porch. The look on his face as he was came in saying “that was not a dog” after kicking a mid size black bear I will never forget.

It ranks as one of the top 10 funniest things I have ever seen to this day lol
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Old 09-19-2020, 12:14 PM
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Bushleague.... that’s one hell of an experience.... eeesh!!





Got woken up by a yogi at 2 AM last night.

He was knocking around my neighbors garbage cans which are big oil barrels.

Big big guy.... just tossed them around like nothing. It’s that time of year here.

But we put lil fear into him..... heh!

I got lots o close bear tales.... but I save em for sittin by the fire.
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Old 09-19-2020, 01:19 PM
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Picture I took at the Ya Ha a few years ago. Took a lot of zooming so the quality isn't that great. There's a hunter sitting near the top of the hill, when a sow Grizzly and a couple of cubs made a mad dash up the hill, under a hundred yards beside him. he never even saw them.



Grizz
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Old 09-19-2020, 03:48 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBark View Post
Started seeing grizz on our land cams 2-3 years ago now east of Valleyview.
Young male, then last year the same bear.
A month or so ago now pics show a sow and cub.
There goes the neighbourhood.

Hoping not to reply to this thread with a close encounter.

TBark
Hunting along the Swan River a few season's back me and my wife ended up about 40 yards from a sow grizzly and a cub. Last season me and Prairiekid, crossed one's tracks in November a couple times even further east.

The first two times we crossed those tracks I figured he had been there in the night and had probably left, in the afternoon we crossed those tracks a third time and they were quite obviously only a couple hours old. Having shot my deer the day earlyer I'd left my rifle at home, Prairiekid was carrying a 25-06... we decided that maybe it would be wise to not shoot a deer in that valley.

Personally, while running in to one in is a bit of a humbling experience, one is quite aware that they are not at the top of the food chain, I'm glad to see there are still a few of them roaming the Swan Hills. Unlike many I hope to never see the day when there isnt a Grizzly living on Grizzly Ridge.
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  #26  
Old 09-19-2020, 08:08 PM
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Some good stories here.

My story was when Dad, my younger brothers & I went on a weekend fly-in fishin trip out in the Whiteshell MB. The out post shack had a screen door, 4 ft plywood walls & canvas roof, it was located on a long peninsula. First night sitting around the camp fire a big sow & 2 cubs appear, they spent two nights hanging around our camp right out side the screen door. Our food & fresh walleye was in a cooler inside our shack, all we had was an axe and our fillet knifes, didn't get much sleep, in the morning the cubs were up a tree within sight of the camp, we were surprised to see they tried to eat the sunlight bar soap & punched holes in our portable water jug and licked the grease on the propane stove, but that was it. When we went out fishin, we took our coolers into the boat & were able to stand up & tie the picnic table against the screen door which worked, they didn't get into our shack. Next night same drill, they hung around the shack making noise for hours then went down to the boats but fortunately didn't do any damage. We were relieved when the Beaver showed up Sunday afternoon to pick us up. It was obvious Dad was concerned for our safety, he kept his cool, the following year we packed a 12 ga. Cooey & slugs in a sleeping bag.

I had nightmares for years of different bears chasing me I would shoot a few but I always woke up before they get me. Then the dreams stopped after one big sow bear took me into her chest/front paws & kept me from freezing one cold Mb winter night .... weird dreams but true & still don't like bears.

D.
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Old 09-20-2020, 05:10 AM
sanjuanworm sanjuanworm is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huntinstuff View Post
lol

Hey buddy, pass me that 10mm socket, would ya?

Rrrraaaaaarrrrrr

Ok then to hell with it I'll get it myself.....
Sounds like my wife. She’s a redhead. I’d rather **** off the bear.
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