Bear Stories?
 

Hello all

As a new hunter I've found myself obsessed with the idea of bear hunting. I desperately want to go. I've done a lot of reading on what is needed to actually harvest a bear gun-wise, but have found very little actual literature on bear hunts.

If any of you bear hunt, I would LOVE to read how you did it, what you do it with (rifle and gear) and any interesting bear hunting stories, period.

Also, this thread doesn't have to be stuck to just bear hunting stories - I love hunting stories of any type, so if you have any hunting story you would like to share, I'd love to read about it!

Thanks,

-ACM

only time I was ever scared while hunting, was a bear hunt back about 1998, was alone following the pack of dogs hot on the trail, had twice saw the bear as it fought the dogs, it finaly treed, I got there assessed the situation, got on the radio and called for a shooter, we had a 200# male bear hanging and normaly we let a youngster shoot.
the gang informed me they were at least an hour away so I settled down for the wait, dogs were baying thebear was sittin high and tight....no big deal'
1/2 hour in to the ordeal all hell broke loose, I looked around we had a dog fight of biblical proportions, I waded in separatin dogs, kicking beating and knocking, finaly got it resolved, then I look up and the bear is coming down!
I immediately throw up my Thompson contendor 375 JDJ, I see the bear hesitate looking down, the crosshairs settle on his head and I touch the trigger, he hits the ground on all fours, dogs everywhere, I see a walker dogs back run with blood as the bear grabs it, I start to panic, what have I done, the dogs corner the bear I have to end this situation, so I ease up behind the bear, as the dogs keep it busy I inch closer, when the time is right I step in, grab the bear by the scruff of the neck, place my knee between his shoulders.
As my knee plants firmly between his shoulders I lay the barrel of the pistol againstmy leg and slide it against the bears hide, as he turns his head to bite I squeeze the trigger and I see smoke fly out his ears and he melts in my hands.
last damn time ZI took a pistol bear hunting!
RR

Careful what you wish for... I live in Alaska and have shot or been on over two dozen bear kills. Very few of them we were actually hunting bears. I have been within 10 yards of brown bear cubs on too many occasions. I use a Remington 700 300 UM, 200 grain swift A frames when in bear country otherwise I use 145's. My firearm has a 4.5x14 VX3 30mm but have had to aim down the barrel twice. The last time I was charged by a huge griz and had to shot him in the head at 10 yards otherwise I might not have had time for another shot.
Here are a couple of my bear videos.
Enjoy!
-JR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emy9J1POE_c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trF0ZFqYc4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fzyu9O64Lk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqiFicvqoNE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6kqG7UGykE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G5rHLENbZA

RR, your story had my blood pumping! Thank you for taking time and sharing that with me. I eat this stuff up.

What do you use now when you bear hunt?



Awesome videos, I can't wait to see the rest later (doc app). Are you a guide?? My wife and I want to see Alaska. Myself more so than she. I watch every single Alaskan based reality show I can just to see the state.

I now carry an AR-15 chambered 458 socom, wanted to use a spear but am told it wasn't a legal weapon
RR

My cousin that a big bear hunter has had bears fall out of the tree on top of him, the year before last was getting the dogs and one came straight at him and had to punch it in the nose to someone with a gun could get their and shoot it. He already killed a bear and legally could not carrie a gun. About 5 years ago a boy that hunts with them was bite in the head and took 30 staples and almost lost his eye. They were training dogs and again could not have a gun with them. I never been with them but most of the people in their group manly use revolvers in 454 casually, my cousin uses a Taurus raging bull in 480 ruger.

I recently just read about the 458. What are the specs on that round? Is it like a .45-70, or is that two different animals altogether? Have you taken anything with it yet?

Why could they legally not carry a firearm? Which state is this?

I'm glad that boy wasn't hurt any worse!!

once you kill a bear in wv you cannot carry a firearm on a bear hunt.

The 458 socom is a 50 AE magnum handgun case, stretched from 1.3 to 1.7", necked to 45 cal. and the rim turned to 30/06 size, it runs a 300 gr bullet at around 2300 fps from a 20" barrel, basically a mid level 45/70 in an AR.


anything on the receiving end of the 458 is not having a good day
this use to be my preferred bear rifle, till a guy offered me too much money for it, browning reproduction of the Winchester 71 carbine, took a pile of game with it, oh it was chambered 348 win.

RR

It was either va or wv they hunt both as the line goes through were they hunt. They said they couldn't have a firearm with them when they are training their dogs. If he carries a rifle it a his winchester 94 in 375 win, most of the people have 45/70 rifles but mainly leave them in their trucks.

this is fact, your leading dogs, carrying extra dog leads, food, drink, a radio for communication, a cell phone for when you lose radio signal, a gps dog tracker, first aid kit to sew your dogs up, who the hell can carry a gun yet, that you may or may not even need.
RR

OK, here's a little different bear story.

I used to work for the US Forest Service as an engineer. One Friday afternoon I was driving back to the office from a project when I saw two other engineers parked at a trailhead parking lot, so I stopped to see why they were stopped.

They said that there had been several calls on the radio that one of our trail maintenance crews had been attacked by a black bear, and they were waiting for our Law Enforcement Officer to arrive. A few minutes later our LEO and a Deputy Sheriff arrived. The other engineers and I volunteered to help. The LEO knew that I did a lot of hunting and shooting and he asked me if I wanted to carry a gun. I said yes and he gave me his AR-15. He and the Deputy each carried 12 gauge shotguns.

The trail crew was about 1 1/2 miles up the trail from the parking lot. When the LEO, the Deputy and I got to the first two members of the trail maintenance crew it was a little over an hour after they had made the first radio call for help. They had the radio, and they were both up in trees. They said the third crew member was the one who was attacked by the bear, and he was also up a tree about 50 yards further up the trail.

They also said that every time the 3rd crewman yelled for help, the bear climbed up the tree and bit him. These two crew members would not come down from their trees.

So the LEO, the Deputy and I hurried up to the 3rd crewman. We found him in the top of a very tall spruce tree. As soon as we got to his tree I saw the bear coming at us from about 40 yards away. I yelled "There's the bear!" and the three of us shot in unison, killing the bear.

As soon as we verified that the bear was dead, we started to help the injured crewman down out of the tree. He had scratches and bites on both legs his feet through his boots. We got him down, administered first aid, and moved him down the trail to a clearing where a helicopter from Yellowstone Park was coming to pick him up and take him to the hospital.

While we were waiting for the helicopter, I went back up to the bear and saw that it was a female. Then I saw a little black cub running through the brush. My heart sank! We had killed a mother bear (in self defense) and now there was an orphaned cub that was too young to survive by himself. So I decided to catch it.

I chased it through the brush, and it climbed a tree, so I went up the tree after it. After several attempts, I was finally able to grab it and pull it out of the tree. He was about 18" long and had very sharp teeth and claws. I had to hold the back of his neck in one hand and his two back legs in the other. If I let go of his neck, he would bite me. His bites felt like I had put my hand in a vice that had nails in the jaws. If I let go of his back legs, he would scratch me with both back feet.

I tried to put him in a backpack, but it wouldn't hold him, so I carried him down the trail to my truck where I had a 5 gallon bucket that I put him in.

We had notified the Fish and Game Department that we had killed a sow and captured a cub, so they sent their bear biologist to investigate the shooting and he brought a culvert trap to put the cub in. He ruled the shooting justified, I gave him the cub, and the next day he went back to the site with dogs and a couple of other biologists, and they caught another cub.

They took both of the cubs to a wild animal re-hab facility in Helena where they took care of the cubs for two years then released them back into the forest.

So Davey Crockett said he grinned down a bear, and I can say that I caught a bear!

Seen a couple of bears. Shot a couple of bears. Got a couple of bear skins. Not much else to share.

You need to work on your story telling. :poke:

Not really. My bears (one in CO and one in BC) both came pretty easily and there really wasn't much to tell. Saw them and shot them. Each only took a single round and went all wobble legged and tipped over in a big hairy heap. Wish I had some hair raising tale to tell about tracking a wounded one down in heavy cover and dropping it in full charge or about hunting for days on end to find one to take, but that would be a fabrication.

Kind of like my biggest bull elk. I was hunting for meat and ran into a really big bull. One shot from my 7mm Mag and down he went, less than 150 yards from the truck. Never discount the power of luck!

only hunted them once on Vancouver Island, BC.

Took 2 black bear over 7ft, with .300win.mag, spot and stalk!

very fun!

had a chance at a monster I think on the first day.

Very dark photo, but the mount looks incredible !

Sounds like you were in the right spot........................

I'd like to hunt them browns off a boat one day !!!

There is a book called Grizzly Attack in Colorado. It's about the last grizzly killed in Colorado in the late 70's. It's a short read, only 200 pages or so but a good story. Worth the read.

http://wisemangrizzly.com

I remember when this happened. A guide named Ed Wiseman was guiding a couple bow hunters for elk when he was attacked and he killed the grizzly with a hand held arrow. He was very lucky to survive the attack.

While rabbit hunting in PA when I was 12 we were walking a power line. A couple of my cousins were out on the power line, my grandpa and I were on the edge of the woods walking the edge. A bear stood up right in front of us. You could tell he was sleepy, looked like a groggy eyed dog you just woke up off the couch. We both pulled our shotguns up and my grandpa said "Hey bear, don't you come any closer." Then continued to talk to it. That bear just stood there and stood there looking at us. Finally he grunted, and walked off into the power line brush. We stepped it off and he was six steps from us.

Another time while chasing deer I was on my hands and knees crawling through some nasty stuff. Barking and yelling and hollering. At one point I ducked under some brush and it seemed like the world blew up around me. The brush was moving, breaking, and I heard the bear snorting. I never saw that one but he came out on the drive and others saw him.

I worked three summers in Colorado at a youth camp during college. Lots of bear stories from there. We would often chase bears off the trash bins, etc. My favorite was a bear that managed to crawl through the kitchen window one night. Tore the kitchen up. A few nights later I hear him in there again. So I decide to try and chase him out. I peak into the kitchen and see a little bear. Couldn't have weighed fifty pounds. So I open the two exit doors from outside then run into the kitchen banging on a pot. The little bear took off scared. I figured I'd teach him a good lesson so I chase it up the hill about fifty yards yelling and banging on pot. Come around the corned of a wood shed and there stands the little bear, standing right behind mama. Well, mama wasn't too happy. She's stamping the ground, snorting and shaking her head around. I just quietly and slowly backed away. Figured the bears won that one.

I have hunted bear the last three years in PA unsuccesfully. Haven't seen one during bear season. But I see them almost every deer season, so eventually I think I'll get a PA bear.
-Jake

Great thread. Like Flags, I've not had much in the way of adventure when hunting bears. I've had a couple walk up to the stand and check me out. But that's about it.

Fishing, and hunting other game is another story. One time (we don't name streams in Michigan) but I was fishing a fairly well known one. I was working a hole in a bend with the bank tall behind me. When I heard a snuffing sound. I turned and saw a sow with three cubs right at head level and maybe five feet away. The sow was trying to catch my wind. Lucky I was smoking a cigar and that's what she got a snoot full of.

ATB

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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." />

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..

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

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.

2014 bear
 

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.

At the camp I worked at I was walking back to my cabin one night after dark. To my right I heard huffing and a large animal moving that I knew had to be a bear. Flicked my flashlight on while throwing my arms in the air and yelling. The medium sized bear ran right past me and up into a tree beside me. About 30 seconds later one of the camp owners pulls in in their car and parks right below tree. I said "You don't want to park there..." She says her name, and tells me why she's allowed to park there (Being an owner of the camp).I say " I know who you are, but there's a bear fifteen feet above your car, and he's unhappy." I shined the light to show her.... Well, she moved her car promptly. I stayed guard on the bear to make sure no kids got hurt, while waiting on a maintenance guy to bring the pepper spray. At one point I decided to flick my light off. Immediately i heard a loud scraping sound. Flicked light back on and bear was on the ground staring at me. He took off up the hill then. Interesting expeience. I never thought for a second he'd come down that tree in a split second like that.
-Jake

they come out of trees a lot easier than they will go up them, we pull the dogs back 10 feet, scratch or peck on the tree with a stick, they will come down now! grabbed one in the back end once as he came down, immediately his jaws snapped where I hand was a millisecond before that.
RR

we were running in training season once, we had ran the same big ole grouchy 350# boar every night for a week, he'd run till he got tired hit a tree, wait for us to catch the dogs, come down, walk 20 feet and set down, the last night we ran him we were catching dogs as he hung on the tree just above our heads. well we had all the dogs caught except 2 pups, old blue, my hammer bluetick who was at that time 9 months old watched the bear come down, walk across the ditch and set down, wanted a better look at him, walked over and from 6 feet away sniffed the air, then let out the loudest booger bark you ever heard and the bear rushed him, blue knowing that I took care of him figured I could help him out of the mess so here he came running straight to me bear not far behind, I did the situation assessment and instantly became a vapor trail, th guy with me was between me and the bear, blue took an exit stage right.
I looked back and the bear was gaining on my companion, I pulled out my blue max spotlight, put it on the bear and ran towards it screaming like a ruptured indian, the bear veered left and took off. my hunting partner said "man I was starting to get worried, thought we were gonna have to outrun him" as I was putting blue on the lead he asked "weren't you scared at all"
I replied "nope, cause all I had to do was outrun you" ......he never hunted with me again!
RR

I got a laugh outta that RR!! Thanks :)

I was fully amazed at how quickly he came out of the tree. One second he was up there, the next he was on the ground. Really impressive.
-Jake

Last year was my first year Fly Fishing in Alaska and we saw tons of bear tracks. Luckily no bear as they were still high eating berries waiting for the Salmon die-off. A few around but no encounters along the lines of the stories I have heard. The old joke about being faster than the slowest guy might ring true but in reality are you really gonna run while your buddy is being attacked.

So far I have been offered 50 cal and 44 mag pistols to carry. "If you want to carry that thing go ahead"...just extra weight. You don't stand much of a chance shooting a charging bear with that.

Have to rely on awareness, local news, noise, smells, scat, tracks, and common sense I guess along with a good can of bear spray. The stats I read favored the outcome on encounters of people using a spray vs. Guns. Need to look that one up again. Ones using guns that wounded the animal were hurt worse.

Saw one walk in front of the truck last Oct and my buddy got out to take a PIC. That thing ran FAST like a cat and it was a good size Grizzly so I can imagine that running towards us. Saw it bolt 100 yards to a tree line.

I am still hunting Cow Elk right now this and last year preparing for a Trophy Bull hunt I have scheduled in 2016 and all I can tell you is that I am "Bear Aware!"

Thank you for posting all these stories as they provide great insight.

I remembered another bear adventure of sorts. I have an old wirehair (pictured below) who was something in his youth. He really couldn't get the idea of leaving porcupines alone. One day in November just before our rifle deer season opens. I was running him and a husky now passed. The wirehair chased a porcupine into a blow down. He caught the porky and a bear came out pretty fast right passed me. The husky chased it down, and treed it without so much as a bark. Pretty impressive for a sled dog.

I forget how many quills I had to pull out. But the bear stayed in the tree the whole time. Maybe he went back to sleep.
ATB

We got done with a long deer drive and, my cousin, son & i were waiting for the other drivers to come out on the trail, behind us. We noticed my 14-15yr old Daughter at 60 yards away still standing (sitting) with her gun pointing steady like she was ready to shoot. Cousin Davey jokingly commented that she sure is a diligent stander, as the drive was done and we were close & talking loud enough for her to hear us, yet she was still poised n ready. As we turned to walk towards her a nice bear charged from the thick woods directly at her, she could've touched it as it blew by her! She said it was there long before we came out and she thought it might be a bear or a black deer lol. She showed good nerves of steel and patience. She was afraid it might attack her, but knew it wasn't bear season, and was ready, but didn't shoot. The bear was just as scared as her.