RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

Red Boar,

Great pics....thanks for sharing!


Boy, you got that right! I've spent a lot of time up in northern Wisconsin (Sawyer co.) and saw a lot of bear in the wild. I never took them too serious even while hunting them. One day I'm walking down a well traveled trail not 100yds away from a camp full of a lot of people, buildings etc..when a bear pops outof the timber behind me moving at me at a pretty good pace, not a full charge but way to fast for my comfort!

As I heard him crash out of the timber Ispun aroundtoward the bear and as he was moving at me I started to wavemy arms and yell at him all the while slowly backing up. I was holding a hammer and a box of nails (putting up some trail signs) and had droppedthem in my state of shear terror.:D

He stopped to sniff it and I continued to back away. I got about 40yds away, the bear was looking up at me then down at the hammer..... probably thinking "you idiot, now you have nothing to protect yourself with":D:DI turned and ran as fast as I could back to camp. That was the first time I had ever seen a bear in the wild that had also seen me and didn't run away. It was unnerving to say the least!

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

Its pretty awesome isn't it! I've been bear hunting for 20 some years and it never gets old seeing these neat animals. They are very pigeon toed if you look closely at them.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

I got in a new club in Jefferson county this year and have seen a pile of bears. It is not something that I planned on seing. But I do have to say that I have a enjoyed being able to see something other than the same ole same ole everyday.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

Great photos. Cool to have them around.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

I dont think its cool at all to have them around. Last year we had a 300-400lb bore come out of my aunts yard, across the road into our back 40 and walk straight the neighbors behind us, their children were playing outside. We called them told them to get in the house, we grabbed what we could for guns and threw them in the gator and proceeded to chase the monster bear out of the country. The bear took out our barbed wire fence along the property line and headed south. We dont need these things in farm country. Shortly after that we had one walk into our pasture and start chasing the horses, they took out the fence and were able to get out. There are alotof children on our road and its going to take someone in our area to get killed by a bear before they do anything about it or issue more bear kill tags. our part of the state is begining to get out of control with bear and if they think that im going to wait for a bear to attack me or one of my children before I put a bullet between the eyes they can think again. The DNR says you can not kill a bear unless it begins to attack. Well Ill do it my way.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

I understand where your coming from with the kids and all. Don't you have a bear season where you live? 9 times out of 10 these critters aren't going to cause a whole lot of trouble with humans (Adults)but I could see them possibly maybe trying an attemp on a smaller object (little kid) but I think that too most likely won't happen, there's always a first in a neighborhood though! I know there are alot of people in Northern Minnesota who have trouble with bear also, alot of these people can prevent it by cleaning up there garbage and disposing it where it should be instead of putting it in a 50 gallon barrel inviting the bear to come into there yard. Although there are some cases wherethe bear just won't leave, call the worden, they have no problem with taking a bear out when its causing havick in someones yard or home. Its legal in Minnesota to shoot a bear anytime its causing damage or a threat to your home or property without calling the worden,just make sure youcall them after you shoot it. Thats the way it is here anyway.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...
 

With all do respect, I couldn't disagree more. I have a great deal of appreciation for all wildlife and accept that fact that when I enter the woods, I am envading THEIR territory. Likewise, when we continue to mow down woods and forests by building more and more houses and strip malls we are destroying THEIR habitat. We have uncontrolled growth in our area and soon there won't be any places close to hunt. I'd rather have dozens of bears than the ugly cracker jack box houses that are springing up everywhere. All the animals play an important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. I really don't see the bears as a threat...they are docile, timid creatures by nature. I am careful in the woods and respect them for what they are. FWIW, I felt the same way in Kodiak. I chose to hunt Sitka Blacktails in Brown Bear territory. I respected the animals and accepted the risk. What would the world be like if we destroyed animals merely for our convenience??? :( Possibly we should kill all the whitetails because they eat a portion of the farm crops? Makes no sense...those crops were planted in their habitat.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...Bears
 

you think them are big go to my post and see how we grow them up here!

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...Bears
 

Actually, I don't remember saying ours were big :eek:...they did look healthy, which was nice to see. Here are the facts about Florida Bears:

Adult males in Florida normally weigh between 250 - 450 pounds, and adult females in Florida normally weigh between 125 - 250 pounds. These are fairly large average weights for black bears throughout the country particularly compared to those in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The state record, weighing in at 624 pounds, was an 8-year-old male bear. He was struck and killed by a vehicle in December, 1988 in Collier County. In December, 2000 experienced FWC personnel captured, ear-tagged, and released a male bear in Seminole County that was estimated to weigh 600 pounds.The record weight for a female bear is 383 pounds.

RE: Under my FL Stand last night...Bears
 

Awesome!!