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missmod88

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anybody have any stories about bears? I mean have you ever bumped into one while out searching? I think that is another reason I was hesitant to go out in the early spring,, bears and baby bears :lol:

 

the bear population is WAY up this year, and it kinda scares me to go out with a gps instead of a gun,, ya know? at least with a gun I ain't gonna die :P

 

Sue

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sheesshh,, we don't have grizzly's here,, but I think they say to play dead,, yea like I am gonna play dead when a locomotive is coming my way,, uhuh :cry:

 

lol too funny,, they say if it's a black bear to raise your arms to make you look bigger and yell and make loads of noise,, never had the opportunity to, and hope to never have the opportunity to either <_<

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NEVER run from a bear near you. That is a sure way to show how vulnerable you are and give reason for the bear to chase (if it feels threatened enough). Calmly and slowly back away and most of the time you will be ok. Make a little noise on the trail and you will more often then not scare them away before even seeing them.

 

I have seen conflicting advice about what to do if a bear is charging you. Some "experts" say to curl up, protect your head, and play dead. Other "experts" say to act like some crazed fool and wave your arms, throw rocks and sticks and shout. Wouldn't want to try either!

 

Travel in groups, make some noise, don't approach bears you see from a distance and you should enjoy the outdoors with no "encounters".

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can never remember, are you supposed to play dead for Grizzly bears and run from black bears, or vice versa?

 

Never, ever run from any bear. It makes you look like dinner and can trigger their pursuit instinct. Besides, you aren't going to outrun a bear. They are extremely fast.

 

I've encountered a few bears while geocaching and hiking in the woods of NJ. But where I see them far more often is walking down my street dumping over garbage cans, or climbing my tree going after my bird feeder.

 

They're becoming a problem here, largely because there is no hunting season. Whenever they try to start one, the "bear huggers" mount an extensive campaign and TPTB back off.

 

I just read that the state is considering declaring "bear free zones", where any bear can be shot on sight (by the police or Fish & Game personnel). The people who've been saying "well the bear were there first" all these years when the rural residents were complaining are singing a different tune now that the bruins are wandering around in cities and major towns.

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A few years back we took a trip up thru Yellowstone and up to Glacier natl. park(yes we did a few caches). While we were in Yellowstone, we took a quick hike to Osprey falls, It was nice hike and on the way we spotted a small bear, we wondered if it was a cub and we had an extra sharp eye out for mom. Once we arrived at the falls, we talked with some other hikers that were there and told them to watch out for the bear.

 

We spent some time at the falls and started to head back to the trailhead, well smack in the middle of the trail was this bear and about 10 feet away were the other hikers, taking pictures and generally being ignorant. Once they decided they needed the bear off of the trail to move on, they started THROWING ROCKS!! We were stopped further back on the trail waiting, watching.

 

We did some major bushwacking up the hill to the next switchback of the trail, left those people to their own fate.

 

Once we were established in Glacier for a day, we decided to do some hikes. We hiked several trails, spying several grizzlies in the distance. The last trail of the day was called 'Red Rock Lake'(I think), we started out with the sun low in the sky. We hiked fast as to make it back before sundown, we reached the lake clicked a few pics, and started our way back.

 

The bugs were out in force, there were sevral spots where we ducked our heads and ran. As we were hiking, all of us were exhausted and walking silently from a full day of hiking. I had an inkling and started to try and talk or sing with the others, with failed attempts. We rounded a bend in the trail and there sat a HUGE Grizz(it seemed huge at the time) on the trail. We all stopped and quietly decided on a course of action.

 

We all agreed it would be best to slowly back away. As we did so, the bear slowly lost interest and moved from the trail. Someone remembered that making loud noise was supposed to scare animals away. We started to shout and clap, and this regained the bears interest, he came back to the trail and swatted a big paw across the trail. Needless to say we shut up pretty quickly! Slowly the bear left the trail and as we deemed it safe enough to pass, we resumed our hike at a much faster pace, and we all changed our pants at the car!

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I have seen conflicting advice about what to do if a bear is charging you. Some "experts" say to curl up, protect your head, and play dead. Other "experts" say to act like some crazed fool and wave your arms, throw rocks and sticks and shout. Wouldn't want to try either!

I would say no on the noise and the sticks/rocks, but I guess it depends.... read my post.

Travel in groups, make some noise, don't approach bears you see from a distance and you should enjoy the outdoors with no "encounters".

I would reccomend this! <_<

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<snip interesting story> and we all changed our pants at the car!

Yeah I figure if I encounter a bear in the wild it would run the other way cuz I'd probably foul my linen and that would drive the bear away.

A few months agp while hiking in the in mountains/woods we kept hearing odd noises and saw something moving down the trail from us. Also noticed some large paw prints. My daughter called the ranger station when we got home and they said that there had been a number of reports of a large cougar in that area. Apparently it had been trying to warn us off and in our ignorance we probably pissed it off. <_< Guess we were lucky.

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While geocaching, you run into various situations where there's always some safety concern. A gun is a form of protection, but not always the best method. As with most animals, make noise and you probably will never see them. There is usually only a problem when you come upon them abruptly. I do have a concealed carry permit, and I always carry my 32 caliber. I have never had to use it, and do not advertise it's presence. I'm more concerned with the two legged animals than the 4.

Edited by bigdog999
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I saw a bear out geocaching. He was using a Magellan and wasn't having any luck with finding the ammo can. We worked together and I eventually found it and we both signed the log.

 

Then after I covered it back up he went back and mauled the container, broke it open, and scattered the contents around just to get to the candy I'd left inside. What a jerk.

 

Support the right to arm bears!

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conflicting advice prob comes down to the fact that if a bear attacks you only have one chance. that the bear looses interest. hence sometimes the people play dead sometimes they make themselves look bigger, either way the bear got bored. the times these tactics didn't work you don't get to hear wha the person tried!! :lol:

 

the argument that the bears were there first...so these same people don't seek medical help? well microbes and germs were here before they were. why kill them off either? :huh:

 

now rabbits they're scarey!!! ;)

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Main thing is look out for bear poop with bells in it. :huh:

that's one of my all time favorites. Hadn't thought about it in years and you almost made me pee my pants!!! ;)

 

For those of you who are un-initiated to this:

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM BEAR ATTACK

 

For another of my all time favorites concerning bears, visit:

JUST IN CASE THE ABOVE LINK DOESN'T SAVE YOUR LIFE...THIS WON'T EITHER

Edited by Jester2112
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conflicting advice prob comes down to the fact that if a bear attacks you only have one chance. that the bear looses interest. hence sometimes the people play dead sometimes they make themselves look bigger, either way the bear got bored. the times these tactics didn't work you don't get to hear wha the person tried!! ;)

I have heard from a former National Park Ranger, that the bears in different regions exhibit different behaviors. For example: In some natl. parks they will tell you to put your food in your car. In other natl. parks the will tell you *not* to put your food in your car, especially if you like your car, but to hang it in a tree instead.

 

Bears are fairly smart, and many of the behaviors are socially transmitted: They learn from other bears in their area. My best stab at advice is to check with local authorities about what is best with regard to the local population of wildlife, instead of relying on generic advice about bears in general.

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I saw a bear out geocaching. He was using a Magellan and wasn't having any luck with finding the ammo can. We worked together and I eventually found it and we both signed the log.

 

Then after I covered it back up he went back and mauled the container, broke it open, and scattered the contents around just to get to the candy I'd left inside. What a jerk.

 

Support the right to arm bears!

Garmin bears would never do that.

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We spotted a big honkin' bear yesterday at the Blairstown airport in Warren County, NJ. It was big. Did I say big? It was, you know. Big. It was just really big. :lol:

Neither one of us had ever sighted an actual bear in the wild. I thought black bears were smallish. Um. That's not the case.

We really need to read up on what to do when you have such an encounter.

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Sounds like the rules of diving in shark-infested waters...

 

1) Always dive with a knife

2) Always dive with a buddy

3) In case of shark, stab buddy

 

 

Or, my favorite quote from Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"...

 

".....the experts say to never run when charged by a bear. I say go ahead and run. It'll give you something to do with the last 7 seconds of your life."

 

(okay, I don't have it exact, but it's close enough)

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