have a situation
 

my 79 year old mother lives alone, 16 miles away, after work I go to her house and put her winters wood away, cut it one day, split and put away the next.
This morn I dropped off a bag of hulled walnuts she requested, went up after work to split her wood and she informed me that the squirrels had found the bag of walnuts, chewed a hole in it, then helped themselves, then she said the squirrels also upset her metal trash can of sunflower seeds (she's an avid bird feeder) the red flag went up, squirrels don't tip over metal trashcans! she just called and said a bear had come up on her porch after I left, upset her trashcan and was feeding, she hollered at him, he walked off the porch 20' and set down wile mom took her can inside, she yelled at it some more, it walked 30 yards and set down and waited, she said as it got too dark for her to see it was still setting there.
I told her to load her 16 ga. with slugs cause we would be back, should she cap him or do you call someone? what would you do?
RR

If memory serves WV is pretty hard on someone shooting a bear unless it is being an immediate danger. At the moment from your explanation of the scene it isn't an immediate threat. Tell her to sit at the door, keep an eye out and if it approaches again, through a slug in it's head and tell the game warden to kiss it! But first she should call the warden right now.

I would have already called the game dept to report the bear problem.

well now in wv, if a bear licks his chops walking by a bee hive, he's a problem bear and is dealt with, he's not relocated, he is hunted down and dispatched, I have no problem with her protecting her property, and I do not believe the DNR would either.
RR

I'd get her some #8's for the 16 ga. Burn it's butt and it won't be back.

Just over one more week and you or her could shoot that bear legally I think....not that you may want to wait that long to take some sort of action. I would probably call the dnr and tell them the situation and see what they advise.....or if you have any local law enforcement friends....I'd think they'd be pretty sympathetic.

right on all accounts, my friend.

also - if one does kill a bear because of an immediate danger, ...Deleted by CalHunter...

Couldn't she call the local Sheriff's Department? We used to get those calls a lot when I worked at my Sheriff's Department.

Same here. Somethings fishy

she could call, and the results, they would come by talk to her, tell her if it comes back call us, now I'm not gonna tell a woman who has been self dependant for 28 years that she can't do this. but she will not like the hastle involved with reporting it, she was assaulted and robbed years ago by strangers pretending to help her, lost a bit of cash and was deeply embarrassed, she just doesn't want the attention.
RR

Wow. Thats a long sentence!

and your point is? look I never claimed to be a Rhodes scholar, just asking opinions, I already know how this will end, it won't be good for the bear, and I'm not gonna turn my mother in so just seeking opinions.
RR

sorry for the grief, bro.

my suggestion is this: ask your owner of your local tackle and gear shop about this issue, so if you're liable for anything than you can (at least) point the finger (at the owner of the tackle shop).

be calm, cheers.

Call the DWR/Game and Fish/ what ever they are called there. The bear's comfort, even after she yelled at it, makes it a nuisance bear and a significant risk to her.

It's not fishy. RR was asking for options and I offered one. Most Game departments are thinly staffed and often can't come out for a wild animal problem in a timely manner. Different states, Sheriff's Departments and jurisdictions are going to have different protocols and may or may not be able to do something. In one of the mountain towns at my Sheriff's Department, Deputies carry shotgun rounds with rubber bullets to chase away problem bears from cabins and houses. Without an immediate threat to human life, a Sheriff's Department often can't do much more. It's too bad that RR doesn't have a buddy on the local Sheriff's Department in his mom's town as he could likely get some expert advice on legal options for that jurisdiction and probably some extra patrol, give his mom a business card, etc.

talk about something fishy. poor advise from ,baby fawn.

Dogy,it is kinda like calling a plumber for advise on a toothache. :biggrin:

yeah. I hope no new hunters that are really looking for help take this guys advise. he says he wants to talk hunting but it is clear he knows nothing about or, nor does he want to.

My youngest was into paint ball guns for awhile. His equipment ended up on a shelf in the garage forgotten.

I decided to put it to use using Pepper balls to encourage Raccoons to evacuate Grandmas Attic. It worked great.

I imagine it would do the trick on a Black Bear. The Rap4 balls I now use are at least as bad as getting Skunked, worse even.

:fighting0007:Hey RR, just invite me down for a hunt. I'm still looking for my first bear! :fighting0007:
-Jake

So, how are things progressing? Anything you can speak on?

I think you hunt bear with dogs RR? So maybe you/she decided it's not feasible to get a good dog, however once i got my Airedale Nobs, i don't have bear in my yard anymore.