# BEAR!!!



## nacho (Jun 14, 2011)

This year my 10 year old nephew got to go archery deer hunting with me. I told him I would shoot any buck that gives me a good shot. Well opening day I shot a little 2x1. The shot was a little far back and I watched him lay down in a clearing for 20 minutes. Then he got up and ran into a steep draw and into some thick oakbrush. It sounded like a train goin through the brush then it all stoped. I was sure he was dead, but still waited 30 more minutes. We hiked down in there and found him. It was almost dark so we hurried and gutted him and started to drag him to the atv. As we got close another group of hunters pulled up. A couple of them ran down and grabbed ahold and helped us drag it the last little bit. When we got to the atv they told us they had been watching a big bear. It RAN down the oppisite side of the canyon, across the river, and up the draw we were in. (they didnt know we were there) They watched it go into the oakbrush and came around to see where it was going to come out. We were dragging our deer right where they expected it to come out. We never saw the bear, but I think it was on our gut pile before we got back to the atv. I went back the next morning to retrive my arrow and the gut pile was gone. There were bear tracks right up to the raod where we had loaded the deer. -)O(-


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## shaun larsen (Aug 5, 2011)

ive walked out in the dark before when i could hear something walking behind me. then when i returned to the trail the next morning, there were bear tracks on top of mine. bears arent the scary ones in my opinion. it the cats. try having a cat follow you out in the dark for 2 miles and know its right behind you. it gives you a real warm fuzzy feeling to turn around and see yellow eyes reflecting from your flash light... :shock:


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## Rabbit_slayer16 (Oct 18, 2007)

These are both reasons i'd like to have a pistol with me at ALL times.. Cats scare me more than bears as well. Still.. Kinda freaky they knew their was a bear headed your way and you had no idea


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## ktowncamo (Aug 27, 2008)

shaun larsen said:


> ive walked out in the dark before when i could hear something walking behind me. then when i returned to the trail the next morning, there were bear tracks on top of mine. bears arent the scary ones in my opinion. it the cats. try having a cat follow you out in the dark for 2 miles and know its right behind you. it gives you a real warm fuzzy feeling to turn around and see yellow eyes reflecting from your flash light... :shock:


Been there, had that happen too. FREAKY feeling being the one that is hunted!


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## Bow Mama (May 1, 2008)

Scary, we have 5 different bears on 3 trails cameras that are spread far apart....Im nervous and made my hubby buy bear spray this time in case Im hunting on my own. Really need to get my cwp....heres what i call double trouble!!

[attachment=0:19b3sb86]double trouble.jpg[/attachment:19b3sb86]


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

The bear spray has been proven to be a better deterrent than a pistol.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

Bow Mama said:


> Scary, we have 5 different bears on 3 trails cameras that are spread far apart....Im nervous and made my hubby buy bear spray this time in case Im hunting on my own. Really need to get my cwp....heres what i call double trouble!!
> 
> [attachment=0:2nfydvrl]double trouble.jpg[/attachment:2nfydvrl]


You dont need your cwp any more to carry and the archery hunt.That just pasted this year. So start carry.

That crazy.I have not seen a bear where hunt.But have talked to a guy last year that seen a bear and he was hunting the same bowl we was opening day.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Critter said:


> The bear spray has been proven to be a better deterrent than a pistol.


Yeah a lot of people don't believe me when I tell them that but the stats show that it takes 5 shots to stop a bear and only 25% of people are able to do that when attacked. 85% of attacks are stopped with bear spray. I may be off with the numbers but it is not even close, go spend 30 bucks and keep in on you!!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

hoghunter011583 said:


> Critter said:
> 
> 
> > The bear spray has been proven to be a better deterrent than a pistol.
> ...


The big problem with a pistol is that if you have a bear charging towards you, you are going to have to either hit it in the brain or the spine to drop it fast enough so that it doesn't make mince meat out of you, and very few people are capable of doing that. It isn't that a pistol isn't capable of killing a bear but it is just how good can you shoot it.


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## longdraw (Aug 4, 2008)

Im not saying this happened or not, but what if you were sitting a waterhole and a good sized bear comes in. He knows something is up, starts sniffing the air and then locks on to where your sitting and starts coming right at you.. let's just say you have a squirrel arrow (blunt tip) in your quiver. Would it be illegal or just frowned upon to let him have it in the front shoulder at less than 20 yds, only after waiving at him and making noise trying to get his attention, what ya think? Any ideas or guesses to what you think this bear would do IF this happened?


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## nacho (Jun 14, 2011)

You better have a gun to back it up! I would hate to start a fight with a bear and only have a bow to fend him off!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I believe that it is illegal to shoot a game animal with a blunt. 99% of the time if you let the bear know that you are there he will leave the area. But now if it is a sow with cubs all bets are off. That's where some bear spray would come in handy. If he gets closer give him a shot of pepper, also if he is just 20 yards away I am willing to bet that the bear could cover that distance before you even thought of aiming a firearm.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Critter said:


> hoghunter011583 said:
> 
> 
> > Critter said:
> ...


Yeah and don't forget how shaky you are going to be while shooting at a bear that is charging you!


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

longdraw said:


> Im not saying this happened or not, but what if you were sitting a waterhole and a good sized bear comes in. He knows something is up, starts sniffing the air and then locks on to where your sitting and starts coming right at you.. let's just say you have a squirrel arrow (blunt tip) in your quiver. Would it be illegal or just frowned upon to let him have it in the front shoulder at less than 20 yds, only after waiving at him and making noise trying to get his attention, what ya think? Any ideas or guesses to what you think this bear would do IF this happened?


Legal or not that sounds like a bad idea! I mean that is liable to just make him either ticked off or feel threatend. I would be really worried about that things charging after that.


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## quakeycrazy (Sep 18, 2007)

Unless I have an aa-12 or that "spread" gun and eternal lives like on Nintendo's Contra, give me pepper spray 100% of the time over a handgun!!! up up, down down, left right......


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

quakeycrazy said:


> Unless I have an aa-12 or that "spread" gun and eternal lives like on Nintendo's Contra, give me pepper spray 100% of the time over a handgun!!! up up, down down, left right......


......left, right, B, A, Start.


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## scout8 (Apr 22, 2011)

Heads up. Most of the time you will be sitting downwind of the bear hence why it has not smelled you and bailed. Sooooo, if you use pepper spray guess where is going after it's in the air? That's right your eyes. Now you have to worry about a charging bear you can't see ................ugh


Just saying..............


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

scout8 said:


> Heads up. Most of the time you will be sitting downwind of the bear hence why it has not smelled you and bailed. Sooooo, if you use pepper spray guess where is going after it's in the air? That's right your eyes. Now you have to worry about a charging bear you can't see ................ugh
> 
> Just saying..............


lol hmmm now that actually makes sense. On the positive side, you wouldn't be able to watch him eat you.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

I'd rather have pepper spray drift onto me than have a handgun which I'll prolly miss the brain with and get eaten. The wind is a factor though. That is why I don't hunt on really windy days!


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## scout8 (Apr 22, 2011)

hoghunter011583 said:


> I'd rather have pepper spray drift onto me than have a handgun which I'll prolly miss the brain with and get eaten.


That's why I carry my 6 round .44 Mag when bear hunting. 5 rounds for the bear and if need be 1 for me........................................lol


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

I encourage everyone else to carry bear spray, but

I choose to carry the gun, because I prefer a permanent solution to the disagreement of where we stand on the food chain.


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## GSLHonker (Sep 8, 2007)

Since this is the bear post I will share the experience that I had this year. I had just put an arrow in a cow elk, I backed out of the area to try to locate my brother so that he could help me dress out the animal. I went to the area he was going to be watching and he was not there, it had been about 45 mins since I had shot the elk and I figured I had better get back and start the recovery process. I had just finished marking a tree that the cow was standing next to when I shot her and, was beginning to look for blood when I heard a stick break I stood up straight expecting to see my brother, instead I was greeted by a chocolate colored bear. He was at about 30 yards when we saw each other. As soon as he saw me he ran right at me stopped at about 20 yards and stood up on his hind legs and stared at me. I was so shocked to see this bear, as I was expecting to see my brother I just stood there for a moment in complete disbelief at what was happening. The bear then lowered down to all fours turned and ran away from me about ten yards spun around and starred at me, the bear is now at about 30-35 yards away from me. I knocked an arrow and sort of got ready for the worst . The bear then slowly began to back off, he circled me at about 40-50 yards and when he was directly down wind of me he went off down the ridge. I was glad the encounter was over without anyone getting hurt, but it was not over.

I found the elk dead about fifty yards straight downhill from where I had seen the bear. It was now getting close to dark and I was alone. I quickly gathered some wood and started a fire as I would now be de-boneing the elk in the dark. I just finished one side of the elk and stood up to stretch my back and stoke the fire I had been watching my surroundings the best I could knowing that the bear was in the area. I was adding some wood to the fire when I saw a set of eyes walking to wards me out of the darkness. The bear had returned and was walking right at me while I was standing next to my fire! He was also approaching me from down wind of me and the smoke of my fire. I had my bow over by the elk and this bear was coming close all I had was my knife. The bear came to about 10 yards and stared at me and started to snap his jaws. I honestly didn't know what to do I didn't dare turn my back on this animal and I knew that if I took off running I probably wouldn't make it far with all the dead fall. I prayed and stood my ground next to the fire. The bear slowly moved down hill from me snapping his jaws the whole time then he just disappeared down into the trees. I grabbed my bow and just stood there for what seemed like an hour just dissecting any sound that I heard in the woods before I went back to finish up the elk. I finished the elk, loaded my pack, luckily there was spot that I could hang the meat way up off the ground and I got the hell out of there. I didn't make it back to camp until 4:30 am. 
I am shocked that the bear came back and walked right in on a camp fire. My brother killed and cleaned a cow a week earlier not more than 20 yards from where mine was killed. I wonder if this bear fed on the carcass of my brothers elk and came in to get first dibs on mine. Regardless this was a very bold bear and it scared the hell out of me and I feel very blessed that I got off the mountain that night in one piece. I did manage to snap off a couple of pics of the bear as he circled me during our first encounter. I will post them up. I like to learn from every experience, anything I could have done differently given the circumstances?


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## duneman101 (Nov 6, 2009)

Dang GSL, i bet you needed a change of drawers after that... you lucky!


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## GSLHonker (Sep 8, 2007)

Here are the pics as the bear was leaving from our first encounter.


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## Markthehunter88 (Nov 5, 2010)

thats crazy!!! great story though.. I would say you handled it perfect... one thing i have found useful when hunting with another person is a radio (walkie)... call in for help... tracking etc.


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## GSLHonker (Sep 8, 2007)

we usually have radios, it just so happen's that on this trip they were at home on the kitchen table with new batteries in them....D'OH! of all trips to forget them.


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## bearhntr (Oct 6, 2008)

That is a crazy story. Usually they will not come back in once they have detected you. This bear could be one of the biggest mature boars in that area. This would explain his actions trying to dominate you and push you out of the area. If it were a smaller bear it would be a lot more skittish and easily chased away. Just my thoughts that have been backed up by experiences that I have had and seen. The only other thing that you might have done is make noise. Shout at the bear and make your self as big as possible. Black bears can be intimidated in this manner and has worked for me in a few instances. Those times that it did happen to me made me realize that I needed some persuasion mainly in a colt .45. I don't use bear pepper spray because I don't want to preseason my meat for the bear. (Hahaha) I have not had to use it and am glad for this but I never go out with out it just in case. Nice job on the elk. Was there any sign of the bear when you returned to the meat?


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## GSLHonker (Sep 8, 2007)

We returned to the area around 11:00 am the next morning to pack out the meat and there was not any sign that the bear had returned to the kill. I was glad for that. Having only encountered two other bears while hunting this bear was definately the largest bear that I have encountered so far.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Whoa. Great story and I'm glad to see that everything turned out okay. A bear moved into our deer hunting area last season (first one that we had ever seen). It didn't get very close to us but it didn't seem at all concerned about us. That was unnerving to me because a bear is more likely to attack if it's not scared of you (right?). That bear was the ONLY thing that has ever made my dad consider hunting in a different area. We haven't shot a deer there in 7 years but that didn't make him reconsider; it was only the fear that a bear gave us.

I know that bear attacks are very rare and that it would be extremely unlikely that I would ever get attacked, but it is unsettling nonetheless. I can only imagine what I would have done in your situation.


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## GPA (Jan 8, 2009)

Wow!, that's a great story. I ran across a bear this year on opening day. Big blonde thing down on the Boulder. Closest it got was about 35 yards, but man did I feel helpless with only my bow in hand. Luckily when it saw me, it did what they're supposed to do and ran the hell away.


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## Hunter75 (Aug 22, 2011)

HEy nacho this experience you had with the bear, was it on bear ridge near scofield? I heard the same exact story from the guys that helped you drag out the deer, I shot a buck a few years ago in the same exact spot where u guys shot this buck. Crazy, I videod a lion just up the road about a month ago to


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## nacho (Jun 14, 2011)

Yes that was me. How far up was the cat? We have a place at scofield west and I spend lots of time up there. I have seen tracks but have never seen a bear or a cat.


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## nacho (Jun 14, 2011)

sent you a pm hunter75


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