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Anyone ever encounter a bear at a cache?


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Here is a log from a maintenance trip I made to one of my caches yesterday.

 

"When I approached the cache to make the container swap, I woke up a sleeping bear! I was alone, having made a detour from the group I was with, walking on a sandy hillside, so not much noise. As I started to enter the trees where the cache is, there was a loud disturbance on the other side of a small conifer about 20 feet ahead of me. I startled, but thought I had spooked a deer. Then I caught a glimpse of the hind side as it ran, (fast!) in the opposite direction. Wow! I stood there taking a few deep breaths before going in to change the cache. The bear had made a very nice, large round bed. It scraped all the branches away down to the soft dirt in a circle about 6 feet across.

 

It probably was just a single day sleeping spot, but I suggest you make noise if you are alone. I always wear a bell when hiking alone off the main trails, but today, had just left a large group for a few minutes and did not think of it. That combined with the ground there being soft sand instead of the normal branch and litter covered ground, allowed both me and the bear to get a surprise.

 

Just as an aside for those who don't hike in the woods up here as much as others... I have crossed paths with bears several times. They have always detected me before I saw them and ALWAYS run off at top speed away from me. These bears up here do not seem to be used to people."

 

Any others have similar stories?

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I've seen a few while out caching. I know of two caches in this area that had to be taken off line for the winter because searchers found a sleeping bear while looking for a cache. In one instance the bear was sleeping in the same little rock crevice that the cache was hidden in.

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seen numerous bears this summer, they usually just run away, posted a few pics also of my encounters, but never saw one right at the actual cache, not yet anyways. Beautiful animals. Also seen moose, deer, fox, snakes and bald eagles. Being up in Northern Ontario, it's almost a daily occurance. Make noise and keep your eyes out for them so you can avoid startling them. They will usually just take off. I actually saw 2 bears in 2 different spots yesterday while checking up on my caches.

Edited by simplyred
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I've seen bears, but only a glimpse once while caching. It was moving fast away from me in the swamp. There's a healthy population along the west coast of central Florida in the swamplands, and in the large interior forests. Oddly none in the Green Swamp, I assume because it was logged in the 20th century and they lost cover and were hunted out. I've wondered if they might be re-introduced. They could kill some of the d*** feral hogs.

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My son was excited when we saw some sheep near a cache!!

He made baa noises and thought it cool when they 'replyed'. :(

 

Sorry it was the best I could do (we don't have any big mammals here except those on farms) :lol:

 

Edited to add Well ok maybe a few ferral animals.

Edited by Kiwi Nomad
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I sure have. I've encountered a couple up in briansnat's neck of the woods and a couple further south here in New Jersey. The last encounter being the most nerve racking. I've further educated myself on bears in the mean time, and taken some extra precautions. And if it weren't for geocaching I wouldn't know about bear "nests". I've spent a lifetime in the woods and never came across one, which is weird because my job requires me to bushwhack constantly. The only time I've come across one (bear included) was while geocaching. Cachers have a good sense of humor here in North Jersey........naming their caches things like "Bearbait" and such. Fun :-)

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The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.

 

They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.

 

Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.

 

It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.

 

Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur.

 

Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

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Closest I've gotten is about 100 feet. It was crossing the road as I was going southbound at the summit of Raton Pass (Colorado/New Mexico). Estimated about 300 lbs, it jumped the center wall, and loped across the northbound side and parking area. Jumped up on the concrete wall just north of the steps, about where I estimate the cache I need to find is. Looked like a hairy fat guy climbing a privacy fence. Cute, but dangerous.

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We had a bear encounter this past spring.

 

We were hiking through a forest that had three caches along it's trails. We had found one and were walking down the trail to the next cache, when Moxie's nose went into high alert. She wanted to find out what the smell was and proceeded to get on her hind legs so that she could see over the brush. We glanced towards the area where she was looking and we saw 2 bear cubs about 100 feet away near the stream! :lol: We were thinking Wow!!! We then quickly thought ..."where's mom!?" Mom must not have been too far away from the cubs, as the 2 bear cubs turned and scampered away from us. We moved onto the next cache and were very vigilant in surveying our surroundings after that, making sure to make a bit more noise, and picking up a large stick from alongside the trail to hike with. I only wish I could have gotten my camera out of the bag fast enough!

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Guess I've lost count of how many bear I've encountered. Somewhere between twenty and thirty?

Three on the AT in Maine. Three on the AT in Virginia. Three whilst doing trail maintenance. I can only think of three that I've met whilst geocaching. (Missed stepping on a bear once by about four feet! Acared the heck out of both of us!)

This is Samantha Bear. We met her while hunting 'Skully and Mulder et Al 1000 congrats cache' Jefferson, Morris County, NJ.

c3c72f57-b41a-4f07-acc3-7a9c226f6049.jpg

She was about a hundred feet away, and just watched us for a while.

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Read this cache log.

Too Tall John couldn't find Ace of Diamonds (Traditional Cache)

Well, I came back. Bumped into my little (or not so little) friend again. This time I was about 200 feet from the cache, not from the car. The bear came charging out of the woods at me this time! It stopped about 10 yards from me & waited for me to make my move. As soon as I heard it coming through the trees I started shouting & waving my hiking stick, letting it know I was there. Once it went a few yards into the woods, I talked to it a bit, then started backing slowly away. I was followed for a while, but he kept about 50 yards distance. Needless to say, I didn't find the cache.

Logging the DNF this time, it being the 2nd attempt thwarted by a bear...

Yes, I had been there the day before and seen the bear from a distance.

 

I also came back the next day & got FTF on the cache...

 

Silly FTF hounds... :lol:

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At a minimum, 10 of my hidden caches are in serious bear country. I have encountered the bruins as close as being in my garden, or sleeping outside the chicken house on a sunny day. Truth be told, black bears are more scared of you than you are of them, and I have watched at least 75 of the south end of black bears fleeing the glimpse of my approach in the bush and on gravel roads.

I may sound cavalier about bears, but be assured, I have lived with them and watched them for many years. Be cautious, make any noise you wish, and they will be gone before you arrive.

Under no circumstances try to approach a woods cache quietly. Startling a bear is the last thing you may wish you had ever done.

JMHO

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I wonder if there is any place else where there are so many bear living in such close proximity to so many people as here in NJ.

 

The most densely populated state in the nation and we have black bear up the wazoo.

 

They are in my garbage and knocking down my bird feeder every year and I'm not exactly living in

Montana. Heck I'm only 30 miles from Times Square.

 

And now people are starting to see mountain lion. Just what we need. Black bear I don't mind. They are usually pretty docile. I don't like the idea of being prey while I'm out geocaching.

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No bear ever seen on the trail, closest thing was a pile of Bear Scat on the trail. But a fellow cacher and I were GROWLED into retreat by a Florida Panther in Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve a few months ago. We were way out in the middle of nowhere at the time, working on a long multi. We just gave it a WIIIIDE circle and completed the cache.

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Deer, squirrels, turkey, and coyote are about the extent of it for me, though we did encounter a fox the other day on a cache hunt.

 

Bears sometimes make it down our way, but not often. Have to say I'd be more than a bit frightened if I did encounter one. I remember a quote from a bear researcher's book (sorry can't remember the name) who said something to the effect that if a grizzly bear followed you up the tree, kiss your a** good-bye.

 

Chris

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See them all the time out here in the Berkshires, A few years back before Geocaching, I ran across a momma and 2 babies + last years kick out. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Got to the nearest tree and pulled out my hatchet and stood still for about 1/2 hour while the 4 looked around and played. Momma knew I was near by but because a Bear's eye sight is not the best she could not tell what or where I was and the wind never changed direction.

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I wonder if there is any place else where there are so many bear living in such close proximity to so many people as here in NJ.

 

The most densely populated state in the nation and we have black bear up the wazoo.

 

They are in my garbage and knocking down my bird feeder every year and I'm not exactly living in

Montana. Heck I'm only 30 miles from Times Square.

 

And now people are starting to see mountain lion. Just what we need. Black bear I don't mind. They are usually pretty docile. I don't like the idea of being prey while I'm out geocaching.

 

this man speaks the truth, i have family who live in denville (close to morris) and just a couple months back they had to shoot a black bear who wouldn't go away from a bank :)

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For years my mom wanted to see a wild bear and had never seen one. We'd even camp in areas known for bears (in a camper) and no luck. She's the best "Bear repellent!" Needless to say I had not seen one until this year. I was geocaching at night in the Sierra and introducing some friends to the sport. We drove a little ways from camp and didn't think to much of it with the sound of the trucks and everything right there. We found the cache and were heading back to camp when I saw a cloud of dust in my headlights.

 

First thought was cows as they were EVERYWHERE but that didn't make sense due to the speed it was moving. Then, as i looked hard into the dust, I realized we were starying at a bear butt! He was keeping a steady distance in front of us until he gave up and made a sharp left off the trail to get away! My friend in the passenger seat was screaming to roll the windows up as soon as I said "BEAR!" and I was yelling because I was excited to finally see one in the wild! Part of me really wanted a pict to show my mom proof but we stayed safe, left him alone, and continued heading back to camp.

 

Then there was the time in Oregon. A friend and I were hiking for a cache. We had 400 feet to go at dusk when we heard something crashing through trees. I knew it was possibly a bear from spending summers up there so we ditched the cache and headed back to the truck. As we got back to the parking area we ran into someone walking a dog and told him what we had heard. He confirmed that there were 2 cubs up there and that was most likely what we were hearing coming our way.

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I sure have. I've encountered a couple up in briansnat's neck of the woods and a couple further south here in New Jersey. The last encounter being the most nerve racking. I've further educated myself on bears in the mean time, and taken some extra precautions. And if it weren't for geocaching I wouldn't know about bear "nests". I've spent a lifetime in the woods and never came across one, which is weird because my job requires me to bushwhack constantly. The only time I've come across one (bear included) was while geocaching. Cachers have a good sense of humor here in North Jersey........naming their caches things like "Bearbait" and such. Fun :-)

 

Funny thing is I have a cache within a quarter mile of this one and I named it "Bear Proof"! Not because I thought a bear would bother it, but because of the way it was hidden. And yes to the previous poster... A good description of what I found would be a "bear nest". I wonder if they reuse them?

 

We don't have Grizzlies here in Oregon. I encounter bear fresh poop all the time when hiking, but the bears are usually long gone. Around here, they don't seem to like human contact. This is out in the woods, not in an urban area. (Oregon still has a lot of woods.) When backpacking, I would always properly use a bear canister . The bear I never want to encounter is the one that wakes me up out of my sleeping bag!

Edited by Cheminer Will
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At a minimum, 10 of my hidden caches are in serious bear country. I have encountered the bruins as close as being in my garden, or sleeping outside the chicken house on a sunny day. Truth be told, black bears are more scared of you than you are of them, and I have watched at least 75 of the south end of black bears fleeing the glimpse of my approach in the bush and on gravel roads.

I may sound cavalier about bears, but be assured, I have lived with them and watched them for many years. Be cautious, make any noise you wish, and they will be gone before you arrive.

Under no circumstances try to approach a woods cache quietly. Startling a bear is the last thing you may wish you had ever done.

JMHO

 

 

 

One cache in our area, "Creepy Crawlers and Furry Friends" http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...d9-767626c7ebb9 sticks in my mind as having a kinda humourous bear encounter... although the cachers wouldn't think there was anything humourous about it at all. See their log entry here... http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...e9-8cc044b97a71. Having NOT read the previous logs before going to find this cache with a group of fellow cachers... I posted this reply when I got back home... http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...43-386e4a5bf815. I don't believe there have been any more bear encounters here.

Just a note... This is a very creative cache... as are all caches placed by this Team.

Edited by Team Royal
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Deer, elk, mtn. lions, moose, buffalo, camels, porcupines, raccoons, antelope, eagles, hawks, owls, geese, ducks, snakes, badgers, beavers, prairie dogs, cows, pigs, sheep, horses, goats, sage grouse, coyotes, foxes, ect...... we have seen all of these while caching both here in WY. and in CO. NO bears though, not while caching, only scat. Grew up camping and hunting so we have seen a ton of animals in our lifetime. We realize just how lucky we are to live in a place with so much wildlife. <_<

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I wonder if there is any place else where there are so many bear living in such close proximity to so many people as here in NJ.

 

The most densely populated state in the nation and we have black bear up the wazoo.

 

They are in my garbage and knocking down my bird feeder every year and I'm not exactly living in

Montana. Heck I'm only 30 miles from Times Square.

 

And now people are starting to see mountain lion. Just what we need. Black bear I don't mind. They are usually pretty docile. I don't like the idea of being prey while I'm out geocaching.

 

Whenever we are out caching or hiking and the talk turns to bears, mountain lions also come up. What gets said basically is, "I would rather encounter a bear than a mountain lion". I am not sure the cats are more dangerous than the bears, although they do seem less afraid of humans. The couple of people that have actually encountered the M.L. in the woods said the cats just looked at them and them slooowly walked away. Less fear, I guess. Virtually everyone I talk to that has encountered a bear has the bear run very fast away from them. As many more people around here have seen bear rather than cats, I think that the cats that are afraid of people virtually always hear you coming. The cats you encounter, know you are there and just are not afraid. Bears might also be easier to surprise than bear?

 

Any opinions on this?

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I wonder if there is any place else where there are so many bear living in such close proximity to so many people as here in NJ.

 

The most densely populated state in the nation and we have black bear up the wazoo.

 

They are in my garbage and knocking down my bird feeder every year and I'm not exactly living in

Montana. Heck I'm only 30 miles from Times Square.

 

And now people are starting to see mountain lion. Just what we need. Black bear I don't mind. They are usually pretty docile. I don't like the idea of being prey while I'm out geocaching.

 

Whenever we are out caching or hiking and the talk turns to bears, mountain lions also come up. What gets said basically is, "I would rather encounter a bear than a mountain lion". I am not sure the cats are more dangerous than the bears, although they do seem less afraid of humans. The couple of people that have actually encountered the M.L. in the woods said the cats just looked at them and them slooowly walked away. Less fear, I guess. Virtually everyone I talk to that has encountered a bear has the bear run very fast away from them. As many more people around here have seen bear rather than cats, I think that the cats that are afraid of people virtually always hear you coming. The cats you encounter, know you are there and just are not afraid. Bears might also be easier to surprise than bear?

 

Any opinions on this?

 

Every black bear I've seen while hiking has run crashing through the trees to get away from me.

 

The Grizzlies I've seen are in no hurry at all, and have just meandered merrily on their way.

 

I've seen a big Cat and its actions (as well as body language) was similar to the Grizzlies. All other accounts I've heard of are about the same. I think it's hard to sneak up on a Cat. But they like to sneak up on you.

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I wonder if there is any place else where there are so many bear living in such close proximity to so many people as here in NJ.

 

The most densely populated state in the nation and we have black bear up the wazoo.

 

They are in my garbage and knocking down my bird feeder every year and I'm not exactly living in

Montana. Heck I'm only 30 miles from Times Square.

 

And now people are starting to see mountain lion. Just what we need. Black bear I don't mind. They are usually pretty docile. I don't like the idea of being prey while I'm out geocaching.

 

Whenever we are out caching or hiking and the talk turns to bears, mountain lions also come up. What gets said basically is, "I would rather encounter a bear than a mountain lion". I am not sure the cats are more dangerous than the bears, although they do seem less afraid of humans. The couple of people that have actually encountered the M.L. in the woods said the cats just looked at them and them slooowly walked away. Less fear, I guess. Virtually everyone I talk to that has encountered a bear has the bear run very fast away from them. As many more people around here have seen bear rather than cats, I think that the cats that are afraid of people virtually always hear you coming. The cats you encounter, know you are there and just are not afraid. Bears might also be easier to surprise than bear?

 

Any opinions on this?

 

Every black bear I've seen while hiking has run crashing through the trees to get away from me.

 

The Grizzlies I've seen are in no hurry at all, and have just meandered merrily on their way.

 

I've seen a big Cat and its actions (as well as body language) was similar to the Grizzlies. All other accounts I've heard of are about the same. I think it's hard to sneak up on a Cat. But they like to sneak up on you.

 

very true, and if they know that you have seen them, theirs a less likely chance of them attacking you. some people in mountain lion area's, like the people in tiger country, like to wear little paper masks on the back of their heads, that way the lion thinks you're watching it and wont attack you from behind, though Mountain lions are more notorious for their side attacks so unless you want to look like a four faced monster... :laughing:

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A couple of months back, we had a group hike we called the Bear Hunt.

 

We saw three that morning. It was such great fun we are doing it again in the fall.

 

The bear hunt

 

Another time near one of Brian Snat's Caches, By Boot or Boat Green Turtle Pond. I came home and told my son about it and he told me , Oh yeah I saw them yesterday while I was Paintballing, they made us come off the field because the bears wouldn't leave.

 

f72b2922-3269-4ddf-b3a7-4923e1243752.jpg

 

For the guy looking for bear in the UP, Upper Penisula, go to the garbage dump in Big Bay, they were all over the place years back. We used to sit in our cars with the lights off and listen for them, and when they were right next to you then you turn on the lights.

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March 22 by Bundyrumandcoke (370 found)

Went for the long ride up the hill, through the nana's and the avo's. Just near the road junction near the top, on the road about 100 metres ahead, I saw a dog in the middle of the road. As I got closer, I realised it was no dog, but one very beefy Koala. I stopped when I got close, expecting it to high tail it away. Instead, it came closer, and closer, and closer, quietly ambling down the middle of the road. It ended up about 2 ft from me, on the other side of the bike. And here I am madly digging through my strapped down bag looking for my camera. By the time I had found it, the koala was half way up a nearby tree. I grabbed a few photos anyway. Now, as for the cache, I couldnt find it. GPS signal was pretty dodgy amongst the trees. And with no PDA to turn to, it meant trying to find it without clues. So no find for me today.

I did do a bit of scratching around, and obviously in the correct area as evidence existed of previous searches.

 

 

The above log of mine refers to a Koala sighting. Although not in the least bit related to a bear, as they are marsupials, the American habit of calling them "Koala Bears" probably lets me include this one in here.

 

2cfd9f79-7b13-4b09-a831-720cfe3eedda.jpg

 

Cheers

Bundy

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