Couldn't believe it when I read it.
 

Got home from work this morning and read the Detroit Free Press. I noticed an article saying "Hunter not at fault in bear attack". Being curious I read it. Evidently a bow hunter in Petoskey, MI was up in his stand when a sow and cubs came ambling along. Somehow the cubs decided to climb his tree and check him out. The hunter suffered several wounds to his legs and feet. I couldn't believe some of the comments readers put. They blamed him for provoking the bears, antaganizing them, blamed him for being in the bears habitat, and several other crazy things. A bear is a wild animal. Being a wild animal they are unpredicatable. Im sure the bears had a reason to attack, just not one we can understand. I think it's shameful that the hunter was labeled as the bad guy. Things happen. The bears prolly saw something unusual in a tree and went to check it out. when they realized it was a human they went into their natural instinct and protected themselves. Guess what, so did the hunter. Now as for me I am able to carry a firearm at all times in the state of michigan. I don't go into the woods without one (or anywhere for that matter). I know the chances of being attacked by a bear, coyote, sasquatch or whatever are slim, but I'm not taking that chance. Hope it never happens to me, the people of Michigan may try to bring me up on murder charges.

thats stupid of people to say that, but then again we dont know exactly what happened either. but i can tell you what, if i were that hunter i wouldn't made a peep to let the bears notice me, and if they did and tried to come up my tree, there would of been arrows flying at them. that is crazy, hope im never in that situation!

People never sees to amaze me. The papers here and news on TV always blame the hunters for car deer accidents too. I got a news letter once from my auto insurance. They where trying to tell people to watch the roads this time of year because its hunting season and the hunters will be causing the deer to be crossing the roads more... I told them, so when are most of the car deer collisions??? At night aren't they??? HELLO!!! hunters are not in the woods at night!!! Its the rut, deer are looking for love, and that makes them more active all times of the day and night..... They e-mailed me back and said your right, the biggest percentage of the accidents are at night.... Hunters alway get the blame...... One Lady a few years ago wrote to the paper,in the letter to the editor section,saying hunters should have to pay an extra fee on there hunting licenses to help pay for the car/deer accidents. Man did she catch hell for that... It was hilarious, all the people that responded to that was wild.....

You get comments like that with any article so its no surprise what all the city tree huggers have to say. :happy0157:

I also carry where I hunt and last yr a black bear and cub were seen about a mile or so from where I am hunting. Getting more and more popular around these parts.

momma and cub I am not moving unless I have to, be cool to watch.

a single bear strolling along would be subject to me using my bear tag. :D

It's incredibly rare to have a bear, wolf, whatever attack a human somewhere like MI (unlike Alaska, etc), so I feel no need to carry a firearm for 'protection'. If it makes you feel more comfortable, then go for it, but really, it's unnecessary from a logical point of view. Perhaps it's also because I work in the woods in addition to playing outside, so I've likely experienced more encounters with other predators than many people. One of the wildlife biologists I work with routinely encounters bears on purpose, and never has a problem with them. Personally, I'm more concerned with the people I run into in the woods than the animals!

Re: the guy in this incident....I'd like to know what he was doing prior to the bears climbing the tree. IMO had he made some noise and moved around when he first saw them, they'd have left the area and never climbed the tree in the first place. Unless you're in an area where bears associate people with food (e.g. some of the state parks, etc) bears quickly flee from people in my experience. The ones that don't are typically the first to be harvested each hunting season...

Actually, that's the wrong reaction. If you make noise and let them know you're there, they're almost certain to run away. I've been in that situation and that's how they have reacted (had them within 15 feet of me on occasion)...

Well there's a first time. If you do get attacked, will you change then? Didn't they just have a wolf problem up there?

Guns are good for people too. You just seemed kind of fuzzy about that. If you fell better not carrying so be it but just remember this, when this country was being settled people were required to go about armed, so they could help others who got into trouble. You sound like the perfect candidate to be in a position to help. Feel free to throw your body in the way if carrying a hand gun is too creepy. I'd carry.

not sure of exaclty what happened but it sound like a bunch of tree hugging vegtable eatin petas replyin to that. I live in alabama so i dont have to worry about bears...but if i were hunting were there were bears and they started to come up my tree, i guarentee you not one of them would be alive when i got thru with them.

They probably smelled the guy crap his pants and decided to check it out. LOL. why he didnt kick them when the got to his stand or shoot them i have no idea.

Funny!!!
 

I was thinking the same,, either he crapped his pants or they felt the vibrations of the tree. I always pack some extra heat too as they have been spotting mountain lions here in our area! This yr I'm looking to have my first Indiana mountain lion mounted,, lol.

I had a sow and 2 cubs in just about that situation last year. She knew something wasn't right, but couldn't put it together. She just stood there right where I'd gone through some brush. The cubs came almost right to the tree I was in playing around, I thought they might climb up.
The sow makes a clicking noise when she thinks danger is near and that makes the cubs climb the nearest tree... that was me. She never figured it out and they went on there way.

I enjoy the show but it could've turned ugly. Cute little cubs.