inghamtr

I got a couple of stories about bears..I just happen to live in an area that bears frequent or travel through.Sometimes in the spring they will help themselves to some dog food.One night my dogs get to barking and me and the kids go to have a look see.Well my dogs aren't bear dogs,,just dogs,,they jumping all around and I am shining my flashlight.My daughter says dad we better go home its starting to rain.I shine my light up in the tree and there is a small black bear in it..Yep,,he was scared and lost control of his bladder,,lol my daughter was mad,my son was happy it wasn't him..Another time my kids was riding the 4-wheeler and rushed in the house and grabbed a laundry basket.I went down the road,saw them an yelled what up..DAD,,we hit a baby bear with the 4-wheeler and we going to catch it.I looked around and there was a momma with one cub,standing off to the side popping her teeth..She had another cub,the one my kids bumped with the 4-wheeler.I said no you not,,get back here.I gave them a long talk about bears..lol..They didn't mess with bears much after that,but they went to catching black snakes and bringing them inside in a lunch box,that didn't last long either,,lol

inghamtr

It had been a windy morning,came in gust.Leaves moving,I must have stared at what I thought was a 100 deer,,,flick of an ear or tail only for it to be a clump of leaves.My eyes where fried as I headed to the truck hoping my buddy was there,so we could hit the store.I stopped at a small stream,found a little hole and was throwing some cold water on my face,I heard something in the leaves,thinking it was my buddy,I looked up into the face of a black bear at about 10 ft.It was above me on the bank,its head kinda going from side to side.Stare off didn't last long,bear turned and headed up a steep ridge .I stood,grabbed my 50 cal Knight n shot.The bear rolled down the ridge and thrashed some,letting out that strange death moan.The whole thing probably didn't last 45 seconds.I admired my bear,headed to the truck,my buddy was there.He said its windy,not much of a day to hunt,what did you shoot at.I said ,I got a decent bear about 150 yards back in the woods,lets grab some food and some help and told him the story.I wasn't in any danger,but I was taken off guard,lol

gjersy

Once While logging i was checking out my pulp pile when i heard loud grunting and huffing sounds. I looked to see a mid sized bear maybe 250lbs 20 yards and closing! I didn't have my chainsaw or a pistol, so i slowly backed several feet up on the pulp-wood pile, as the bear shuffled right through the area where i was standing, he was acting very aggressive, he never made eye contact. I was glad he kept on walking away, I must've startled him. I also had a huge bear charge me after i shot him. After shooting, i tracked him, then i saw his large rump, thinking he was dead i gasped at his size, around 550lbs that was a guess as he broke a 480lb scale. Anyway as i gasped, he turned and charged, i was ready and dropped him with a quartering towards me shoulder shot. I wanted an aggressive looking full mount but the taxidermist said black bears are not aggressive, and he had no aggressive forms. He measured 8 feet nose to tail, the full mount only measures 7'4", the front paw pads were 6" across, the mount paws are 3 3/4" i'm pissed every time i look at that shrunken expensive mount. The DNR aged him at 10yrs. When the taxidermist and i skinned him we found porkypine quills and shot gun shot, bears are like people some are mean most are mild.

Fourtyonesix

Been in on 117 bear kills. Brown grizzly and black bears nice got stories I've forgotten. Very lucky to be a hunting guide in alaska specializing in bears.
Best advice I can give you is don't believe everything you read about bear hunting.
Very few bears die hard. .30-'06 is an awesome bear gun for any bear.
Books aren't usually from very experienced bear people.
My website has some
Photos just for kicks if Ya get bored.

westernspeed

I went on my first bear hunt last year. I spent a week in the woods by myself the first week of September in beautiful Colorado. I hunted hard that week, hiking 30 miles and putting another 100 miles on my quad. I went the entire week without seeing a bear, despite finding lots of fresh sign. On the last day of my hunt I found a very fresh pile of bear scat in the center of the trail I was on. I figured out what direction I thought the bear went and began going that way. Within minutes I knew I made the right decision. After about a half mile of hiking I could see out into an opening and there was my bear. He was eating in a berry patch surrounded by several aspen trees. I snuck to within 95 yards and took aim with my Savage Axis 30.06. One shot did the trick and I filled my bear tag. It was an amazing week and I'll never forget it.

fritz1

I hound hunt bears and carry a Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 mag with 300gr. JSP handloads asa my side arm and carry a Marlin 1895GS 45-70 with 350gr. Hornady RN bullets to the tree. A black bear can be pretty mean. A few years back I got plowed down and bit by a bear that my hounds had bayed up, the Garmin showed it was treed so I wasn't really paying attention when I was going in, the hounds were raising hell and as I got closer to them, out of the brush comes a black blur. Next thing I knew I was on the ground with a bear on top of me, the dogs surrounded us both, the bear bit me on the back of the leg and hauled ass with the hounds behind him. I got up and ran after them and caught him on the road where I took these photos. He looked like he was going to charge me again so I reached for my pistol and he went about 50 yards into the woods and treed. It was training season and not take season so I had to leave him in the tree. I learned that day that when going in on a tree, be cautious of your surroundings and always be ready.

This is the bear after he bit me, making a run at my hounds." />

This is another picture of him." />

This is the bear after he treed." />

Here is the back side of my leg, good thing I was wearing Carhartts." />

inghamtr

Lot of good stories here and a lot of good advice.Bears are like people and they all are different.For the most part,they not hard to kill.My way most bears are hunted with dogs,some been treed a lot,some get old,wise and it takes a lot to tree them.I have seen a couple bigs ones that wasn't afraid of people and dogs,they would just stand their ground.I am no bear expert,but I seen a few,national forest one way,national park the other..Probably some bears I have seen have been tossed Cheetos by some tourist..

Gilliland440

No I am not a guide, I just love to hunt! I can take my father and brothers out for game that otherwise they would need and outfitter for though.

Come on up, you will love it! Late June is the best time weather wise but not much to hunt then but the fishing will be ramping up.

-JR

inghamtr

This is my last story about bears.I was deer hunting,and after a week or so of rifle season,deer seem to bunch up.My guess is that because of hunting pressure,thay just head to a place where no one goes..Any how.It had snowed that night,a couple of inches.I was deer hunting,hadnt seen anything by 10,so I decided to still hunt, see if I could cut some tracks and see where the deer where hiding.I was still hunting across the wind,when I cut the track of a big bear.I could tell it was fresh,snow was melting and the bear was kinda slinging water n slush.I tracked him into some thick stuff,I couldn't get through,so I back tracked.I hadn't gone far and over to my left,,there came the bear.He must have sensed or heard me and he circled down wind to have a look see heck I don't know,but there he was,,lol,, I took him with a single shot from my 280.One thing I have noticed about black bears,especially older ones is that they know or sense that you are there.Seems if you stare at them,,they look right at you,but that's just my thoughts,,no way makes it true.I doubt I ever shoot another bear.I think they are a great trophy and a special animal.

gander123

Lot,s of good bear stories on here.
I have had a few encounters but usually they turn and run.
Last deer season which is shotgun only in our area now I was sitting in a 15 foot high wooden stand with a 2x4 ladder to climb up to get in.
The stand is fairly confined so my gun was over the rail where you climb in the stand.
I was looking straight out towards a swamp when something caught my eye to the left on an atv trail.There is a lot of cedars and I just caught a glimpse of black going behind a clump of cedars about twenty yards away.I never even heard him.
As I watched for him to come out he circled back and was looking around the tree as the wind was blowing his way, unfortunately.He knew something was wrong but eventually came forward anyway.
He came the rest of the way up the trail which came right past the base of my stand and led to a food plot out front.He was quartered to me coming up the last part of the trail so I held off as I expected him to walk by and into the plot.
All looked good as he walked by the ladder but just as he passed he stopped and in a heartbeat spun around and came right up my ladder.
It happened so fast all I could do was put my boot out in front of his face to stop him.He did stop right at my boot and just leaned over and looked around right at me. We had a stare down for about ten seconds and then I decided to yell.It worked as he slid back down and ran out to the side.At not much more than ten yards I shot with a slug and he ran about fifty yards and rolled while doing the usual death moan.
I gotta admit I was shaking for a while after that before climbing down to check him out.
They can get pretty big but a well placed shot will bring them down pretty quick.