Well, I guessing there will be no intro forthcoming, but my very limited experience with each has been them heading off in the opposite direction ASAP (One each)
Then again, does bring to mind: Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYgXxIgrXMs
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
He was eaten by sasquatch while waiting for a response about bears and wolves.
A mouse ate a hole in my lumpy chair.
Bear Bangers, I swear by them. Easy to use, effective, and doesnt cause to much harm except to the neigbors nerves. Cant claim how effective they are on wolves though, but if the reaction of my pets are a guess. They weill run under the portch and wimper till bribed out with a nice juicy steak.
Life is a path that cannot be seen but must be walked
The OP begins in the middle of the conversation. It is your methods of avoidence that set the stage for your encounter. Example: Bears are territorial and there is a big difference between you entering thier territory or they entering yours. There is a lot to animal behavior that can spell life or death. Before typing too much I have to ask is this a serious topic or a joke thread?
Wolves are generally not a problem. Stand your ground talk calmly and if they approach yell in your deepest voice.
Black Bears are fickle in contact with humans. Some think of people as food. Some are curious and others are scared. You have to judge what mood the particular black bear is in. If you think he has you on his menu, do not play dead and arm yourself. If it is just curious play dead.
If is a brown bear, grizzly or polar bear you're on the menu. Unless you're packing big iron you can only curl up tight as possible in a ball and don't let the bear turn you over onto your back. If it rolls you rool with it back to face down. I personally never go where there are brown, grizzly or polar bears without a big bore firearm. I was stalked by a black bear when I was 14 while bowhunting. I take bears VERY seriously.
If the bear appears hungry, try feeding it a bat! I hear they like 'em!
SARGE
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein
Proud father of a US Marine....SEMPER FI!
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
From what I have been told and read about black and grizzlies bears the one difference between them is that a griz just once to remove the threat (thus playing dead might work) but the black bear just wants to kill the threat and eat you (thus playing dead does not work). Getting between cubs of either bear is not an option and you might as well make your peace with God Almighty.
On a personal level. While I was hiking in the Smokies a few years back I encountered a black bear. I had just stopped to catch my breath after trekking a very lengthy hill. I slid my trek pole strap off of my left wrist and was reaching for my camelbak water nozzle for a drink. Out of the corner of my right eye I saw an object that drew my attention and I looked into the tree and there it was. The largest black bear I had ever seen in my life was less than 25 feet from me in a tree. One of the things that I have often heard and read was that you NEVER make eye contact with a bear because that signals aggression to the bear. But what did I do? Made eye contact. As soon as that happened I thought to myself..Oh Crap!! I reached for my SOG Seal knife that I normally leave unsnapped while hiking for just such an occasion but as soon as I reached the knife it jumped out of the tree towards me. I hadn't had a chance to pull the knife out but halfway and it was ten feet in front of me. It was so damed fast that all I had a chance to do was yell as loud as I could. I am not a small man and I am certain that between being so and yelling contributed to the bear making a sharp dash to my right down an incline to a marsh that was 25 feet wide bank to bank. The bear leaped from one side of the bank to the middle of the lilly pad waters and with another leap was to the other bank and then rapidly climbed up the opposing side bank. I stood in shock, awe, and my heart in my throat. The only thing I could think of was just how fast that whole occurrence happened.
The one thing I do now while hiking on my own is whistle, sing (badly) and talk once in awhile and say "Hey Bear" loudly if I see bear pads as I am hiking. It is best to give the bear ample warning that you are i n the area and not startle them or Look them in the eye. Ha Ha
And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
Fear of destruction and imminent danger are those that will ultimately drive us forward onto survival in the future.
I have seen 2 wolves once but I was inside my pickup truck and just let them go on. They did not see me. I think they would have just run off quickly if I would have jumped out of the truck.
I have seen up close at least two black bears. Once I was just sitting in the forest after a long hike, heard a noise behind me saw the bear, jumped up quickly, he also jumped and ran off.
I saw a black bear on my mtn land about 100 feet below my tent when it was just starting to get dark and I thought I was not going to lay here all night with the bear around. So I had the pepper spray and gun just in case. I ran down at the bear yelling and waving my arms which I thought he would run off but he just climbed a tree. Great for now he would not leave until I did. So I went inside my truck for over an hour and he finally left.
Here are several pics of a worse black bear who bothered me for quite a few days last October on my mtn retreat, especially the pics in posts #6 thru 16. > http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=9812
I chased that black bear which was a beautiful cinnamon brown color. Many I suppose would just have shot the bear since he tore up a couple old tents I had supplies, canned food etc. in. But I hate to shoot and kill anything unless I am afraid for my life. Which I never was afraid of this black bear but chased him off several times, even chasing him up and over a mountain for almost a mile.
Hope I never meet a grizz for they are much more scary and dangerous than black bears.
Last edited by Mtnman Mike; 03-27-2010 at 06:40 AM.
Avoidence is a good strategy. Bears are near creeks and rivers during salmon runs. It's always tempting to pitch camp on a nice spot near the water, but wiser to set camp a few hundred feet back to allow room for bears to pass without comiing through your camp. I do a lot of off trail hiking and often travel game trails for easier walking. Just seeing bear sign does not bother me much it just raises my level of awareness but there are some trails that are exclusively used by bears I stay off of. One of the ways to spot them is they will plant thier feet in the same spot each time and heavily traviled paths will be worn in a series of spots where they walk. Some trails through brush will have branches broken off waist high or slightly higher depending on size of bear. Moose will break branches off much higher and if the trail just has branches broken lower I get off that trail. Most bear attacks happen when people are alone, try not to be. There is a lot can be done to avoid most dangerous encounters. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and post more later.
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