Hi, im from Finland.

Im wondering if someone could help me Id these tracks.

These were taken in south of Finland, maybe 50 miles north from the capital (helsinki). Animals that live in this country are: moose, brown bear, wild boar and ofcourse elk, rabbits, foxes, birds and so on. Most populous animal is moose with something 80,000 mooses running in the country and about 1000 bears and most of them are near the east border near Russia. But, sometimes you see them very near human population. Usually only moose is seen south but a wild boar was hit by a car 10 miles east from where these pictures were taken according to one news some years ago.

There are 2 different set of photos, each from a different fisherman. Photos were taken near a river.

The area is mostly forest and crop fields and some houses/farms but no large cities. Popular highways do go near this place and area has some small cities with populations ranging from 20,000-50,000 people. But, I looked at the map and squaremile might also have only 10 people living in it.


Maybe 0.5-1 mile north from the pictures is a popular fishing rapids/streams with steelheads and trouts and also 4 miles south is a similar popular fishing area.


Reason im coming here is because there are a lot of hunters in USA and you might know what these are.


I myself visit this place often and have many times slept in the forests, actually only a few hundred yards away from where these pictures were taken.

Here are the pictures:


Lighter is a "colt" lighter, same size as zippo (year taken: 2009 or 2008 I believe).

second set, different year (2010):










More info:

I my self have 3 animal contacts from this place and I dont know what they were.

First one: many years ago I was fishing in a place like the last photo and I got a pike. I threw again and the damn lure went to the other side and then I pulled and the whole line broke. Later that day I walked about 500 yards back to a small bridge and went over. My intention was to walk through the forest to the lure and take it back. I walked maybe 300 yards or 400 and then I saw in the mud a lot of small tracks. They looked like dog tracks except their size was much bigger. They were like paws, size was about 3 inches. I got paranoid and turned back. Me and my friend usually didn't go this far anyway.

Second animal contact:
Few years later, again near the same area as the pictures and near the tracks I saw, it was about 30 yards from me when I saw bushes the width of 4-6 feet and height of 4-5 feet moving. They moved about 1 feet from left to the right. To illustrate more: the bushes were surrounded by trees and other bushes but it was this one set of bushes that moved so there must have been some animal behind it. I slowly walked away for 100 yards and after that I ran like hell.

My third personal contact:

This happened in 2007.

I was actually in about the same place as the "second animal contact". My friend has a small cabin near a road maybe half a mile away but we decided to be in the forest. The whole river is downhill and houses and stuff are uphill (i mean that they are on a higher elevation and the river goes a little in the lower elevation). We took a tent and slept for 3 days near the river.

I think it was the second night when some animal came from the forest.

It was 1am and I was outside the tent fixing my fishing lines near some small camp fire I had built and my friend was in the tent. There is a hill and half of the ground is with small trees and a some of them are chopped so the ground is full of branches and a lot of high grass and other half of the hill is is trees so you cant see through it.

Well, it was 1 am and I heard a branch brake. I didnt think much of it. 2 seconds later another branch brake a bit louder and closer, and then another and I heard one sound of heavy breathing, like "roh". This was all about 50 yards uphill. Then I got a bit scared and stood up. I took my 100watt halogen flashlight that I had with me and started to aim it in the forest. Problem with the forest is that half of the hill I can see but other half I cant. So, if an animal came behind the hill, I cant hear it before it is over the hill. But, because of the trees, you cant see anything. I shouted to my friend that there is a bear and I started to push my small rubber boat I had with me to the water. After that there was maybe one very light crack and then nothing.

I was awake maybe untill 4:30 am because it was hard to go to sleep. And when I finally went to the tent, I looked through its small windows all the time if I saw something.

Here is a picture of the water from the tent side, picture taken in 2007:



Our side was not as full of trees as that other side but you get the idea of what kind of a place this is. At night there are bats flying and stuff.


So, what animal could those tracks be and how big? First looks like a bear. Second photo I think looks like bear but some of the tracks dont look like a bear.

I dont have a gun and I dont hunt (maybe someday). I did ask the police if I could get bear spray but they say that because im not a security guard I cant get one and also because you cant use bear spray against humans you cant have it. Doh.

So I bought an aerosol can airhorn and 2 big knifes.




My theory: since I have had animal contact here years ago + the photos taken by fisherman, I believe that an animal route/track goes through the forest through the water.

I was in the boyscouts since I was very young and you didnt much fear animals in the forest but this place has had these contacts so many times that I dont know what to think about it.


I know this sounds stupid but, if a bear is only 200-400 pounds, can you kill it with a 6 foot spear that has a "bushman bowie" hollow shafted knife inserted on it? Last year when i went in the forests I blew the air horn a few times to scare any possible animals away. What if I stick the bear with the spear and run and jump into the water? Would it follow me injured into the water?


I have read that people have survived bear attacks with a knife. While bear is eating left hand you hit it with the right. What do you think? Ofcourse I would love to have a gun but its too hard to get and illegal to carry for other than hunting purposes so I must settle for a knife/spear (thank you gunlaws doh).



any comments are welcome thanks


ps: some of you who have personal experience with bears, would you go 1 on 1 against them with a spear or a knife.