I've only encountered a small black bear once while camping and we both made "hasty" retreats in opposite directions. (Of course this was after my initial "freeze" and the subsequent silent hailing of "Paul to God...Paul to God..come in God over") Depending on the situation: size of bear, path of escape; would you let the bear make the first move and decide the outcome of the stand-off or would you try to exit stage left asap and "hope" the bear performed the same actions in the opposite direction? They say you can't outrun a bear. I say that's up for debate when fear is factored into the equation. (This scenario involves no firearms on the person, but a knife is available)

I would exit ASAP. The worst that the bear will do is rumble around you campsite and leave. If you are a good camper he will find no food since you secured it far away from the site (unless he came when you were preparing the evening meal). Just make sure your wife/girlfriend/companion doesn't take fancy to a little cub. It happened to me and I will not wish situation like that to come upon anyone. I usually have a loaded firearm with me so standing a "fight" would never be a problem but I think that as a smaller animal I should be respectful and smarter and get the hell out of there. After all it's me being a guest at his house. Plus killing a bear mom and leaving two cubs for sure death is not my idea of being a good sportsman. If you are in a place that is frequently visited by bears maybe it would be wise to get one of those bear repellent spray things or a flare gun. From Late June to mid August I run into a bear at least 4-5 times a month. I saw anything from bears that couldn't care less because they were not hungry, to bears that were really nasty because they lived of garbage left by campers and they haven’t eaten in a while. But I always treat them as wild animals and promptly exit the area. If you can and the route is open try moving with the wind so you won't aggravate a bear with human scent especially if you only seen a cub but mother is nowhere in sight but surly near. <br><br>Matt<br>

Bear behavior is highly variable, an adaptive trait they share with humanity. Black bears are actually responsible for more attacks than grizzly. Running will only trigger the attack reflex.The standard advise is to stand your ground and become very vocal. If an actual attack happens, feignting death will not stop a black bear. A canadian friend ( and rated boxer) encountered a black in B.C. The bear reared and slashed his chest. He responded with a combination of punches to the nose,head and chest that sent it retreating. You really should do some further research and consider the use of a bear spray ( capsicum powder) if legal. Our forum member Rhawn has had several encounters and collects bear books.

From what I have read, if you're attacked by a Grizzly, play dead. If you're up against a Black Bear, fight back with whatever you can get your hands on. I'm assuming this is due to size variances between the Grizzly and the Black Bear. But from what I have seen on most websites related to this subject, the idea's range from staying quiet to soft talking to yelling loudly and from standing still to running like the wind.

Outrun a bear? A 800# grizzly can outrun a thoroughbred and kill it with one swat from it's paw. A black bear can outrun a man as well. Actually, men are slow in comparison to most 4 legged critters.<br><br>Stand your ground and never turn your back. You run, you become prey to the bear. With a black bear, playing dead don't work because they eat carrion. Make yourself as big as possible and hopefully the bear will just go it's way and avoid the confrontation. If you are attacked, fight back. With a griz it's play dead. Curl up in a fetal possition and protect your vitals including your head. Best advice is to make lots of noise as you make your way through bear country. If they know you are there because they hear you, they have time to go another direction. Also, you need to pay attention to what possition you are putting yourself into at all times. If traveling into an area that is choaked with thick brush, automatically figure that a bear is hiding and waiting to charge. That'll keep you on your toes.

HUMAN<br>America’s Maurice Greene is the fastest recorded running human being. During the 9.79 seconds it took him to set a world record for the 100 meters, he reached a top speed of 43.45kph/27mph.<br><br>Black Bear <br><br>Running Speed: Lean bears can exceed 30 mph. Can run uphill, downhill, or on level ground. Fat bears in winter coats overheat and tire quickly.<br>Swimming Ability: Good. Speed and distance limits are untested. Can swim at least a mile and a half in fresh water. One swam more than 9 miles in the Gulf of Mexico. Can swim to island campsites. <br>Smelling: Their smelling ability is extremely good. The limits are untested. Their nasal mucosa area is about 100 times larger than in humans. <br>Hearing: Exceeds human frequency ranges and probably twice the sensitivity<br>Vision: Bears see in color and have good vision close-up. Their distance vision (over two hundred yards) has not been tested.<br>Preferred Foods: Nuts, acorns, fruit, insects, succulent greens. Meat and survivalests are eaten when preferred foods are scarce. <br>

I wish I could answer this one. We have bear where I live, but I have yet to see one. I have even found paw prints in the mud, but no live critters. A friend from North Carolina gave me some roasted bear meat once. It was fantastic!

Recorded human fatalities from blackbear attacks since 1900 in North America-45. Number of black bears killed by sporthunting, poaching, killed by collision with vehicles,loss of habitat to enroaching human activity and destruction by park officials for public safety- in the thousands. "When we have another war, I'm siding with the bears"- John Muir " I support the right to arm bears"- Charleton Heston ( he was tired that evening, even Moses has his lapses) My #1 PSK item is teddy,loyal friend since infancy. He is more concerned about Barbara's use of kerosene ;o)

" Black bears are actually responsible for more attacks than grizzly"<br>I would imagine that has a lot to do with stupid people trying to feed and pet the cubs in the Great Smoky Mountains. Ive seen people do it nearly every time Ive been there. I just drive on and hope I am far enough down the road to not notice when they get killed.

I've had many many encounters with bears of both varieties - mostly, but hardly exclusively, in Alaska. They are highly individualistic and fairly unpredictable. While I've had good luck pretending to be a nastier critter than the bears, it scares the bejabbers out of me to do so, especially the ones that have been at "touching range" (for the bear). I'm sure that acting like lunch-on-legs (prey) would be bad. I have seen bears kill large animals twice - both griz; one was a calf moose (cow defended for a long time, but the bear eventually feinted past her and swarmed all over the calf) and one was a caribou - possibly the dumbest caribou on the planet <grin>. "It looks like food - kill it and see..."<br><br>I have never encountered a bear up close that I couldn't smell; the wild ones, at least, have a very definite and unmistakable odor to me. Dozens of times I have smelled the bear before I saw it - and before it detected me. I'm sure that I have NOT detected bears everytime, too - and not just the ones I found the tracks on, either (once one, a large male grizzly, FOLLOWED me and my dad back to our tent - not more than 1 minute behind us; possibly closer - we were unaware of it).<br><br>There have been times and circumstances when I made absolutely darned certain to move only UPWIND, even through difficult terrain, because my nose was the only early warning available due to density of vegetation.<br><br>I greatly enjoy watching chance - encountered bears, especially on a mountain side. But only through my binoculars. It is not safe to be close to them. Are they as dangerous as big cats or other large African fauna? Hardly - but they can be just as deadly and please keep in mind - they are NOT predictable; don't let anyone tell you that. I don't claim to know anything about great white bears (polar bears), but I know enough first-hand about griz/coastal/black bears to avoid generalizing what YOUR bear might do in a given situation.<br><br>They can be unbelievably persistent and even "clever" about getting into caches, too. We had a particlarly nasty (hungry) time getting out on one trip because of that. Bear bag or not, keep your food well away from camp.<br><br>Now - I don't let thoughts of bears keep me from anything and I don't strut around like some Rambo, either. I've been attacked by a bear exactly once, and I precipitated the attack, not the bear. I've been chased by half-feral hogs a lot more times than that! (And by bison and cow moose, come to think of it).<br><br>I avoid public campgrounds like the plague in bear country, though. (OK - I avoid public campgrounds, period <grin>).<br><br>I really like seeing and watching bears at a relatively safe distance and I am mindful of what bad things they can do to frail ol me. As far as "in camp" encounters go - that's a pretty dicey situation IMHO. I mentioned in a post a few days ago about popping a white penflare once - it was because a very aggressive bear was coming into camp (we were "expecting" him - long story). As it turned out, the flare scared the stuffing out him - for about 3 hours. We left at dawn and he moved in shortly afterwards (I had reason to return and reconstruct that sequence of events a week later). He gave us an uneasy remainder of the night, because he kept noisily circling around the camp the whole 3 hours - at about the perimeter of the useful light the penflare briefly issued. Clever bear; we had heard of him, and the stories were not exagerated (part of the long story). I had no idea he would flee at the flare, and I would not EXPECT the same reaction from another bear - but I suppose it could happen. He was "inbound" at the time we popped the flare and I initially had my shooting eye closed when I had my Dad pop the flare - I needed area illumination for definite ID of critter type, exact location, and apparent intent. If he had not hauled out of there, I was ready to whack him with my rifle. I'm glad that was not required.<br><br>Somewhere in my ramblings, I hope you can pan out a useful nugget or two...<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom

flare gun might not be the best idea, especially during the dry season :)<br><br>Like chris said, i have had several bear encounters, none to serious (thank god) but all very nerve racking.<br><br>lol, Eating beef jerky on a trail relaxing after 8 hour hike is NEVER a good idea. Black bear come's out of bushes near trail, im not aware but did hear noise, shrugged off as hiker, 20-30 seconds later i hear a god aweful grunt, AHH!! BEAR!! DAD!? DAD!! where r u!? mean while i have my SP101 drawn and lighned up on his front right shoulder, then i remembered the weekend before seeing a mama bear and 2 cubs, not going to shoot unless need be. picked up dropped beef jerky with one eye on bear and put it in my pack, retreated slowly, walking backwards, never taking eyes off bear. he walked over to where i was sitting, sniffed around and left. huge relief, but still paranoid. <br><br>Camping with my dad and sister at a "car camping" area, nothing to really be considered camping, but it was fun. That night it was a full moon, very nicley lit, shadows of the pine tree on the tent sorta put me in a good mood, assuring me i was in the wilderness. i wake up to a noise that sounds like my sister tossing and turing in her mummy bag, but i see my dads arm extended out and above me, 3 glowing dots, first thing that registered in my head was the Glock, and a person snooping around. looked over at what he was aiming at, and i seen this HUUUUUGGEE shadow of a paw scratching at our tent. im in arizona, no grizzly here, but man this paw was HUGE. i looked at my sister and i was gunna tell her she was gonna be ok, she was sound asleep tho! thank god! she woulda FREAKED! ( She is mentaly retarded, hard to keep her under control in situations like this, expecially she not seeing me as an "authorative" figure) <br><br>My dad got out of the tent and screamed "YAW BEAR!. YAW YAW!" i hear the bear running off.<br><br>sister never woke up!<br><br>another encounter was on a trail, this biker comes flying down the trail like he was in a race or something. He stops to tell us that he saw what he thought was a big black blob sliding down a tree, and that he thought it was a bear but he wasnt sure. he was old, and scared, so we didnt think much of it. come around the corner and sure enough, a bear was sliding off the tree (already at base). he saw us and stood up on his hind legs. no grunts, no roars, just curious. he had a big patch of grey fur on his chest (which at the time i thought was the funniest thing in the world), but no other markings. He looked at us for about 1 minute then got on all fours and started to aproach us, very cautiously, so (as my dad had his gun drawn) we slowly retreated and after he was out of site we turned around and camped further down the trail.<br><br>i could go on and on, but i forgot what the post was about!<br><br>Bears can without a doubt out run a human, but im sure you already know that as your post i sensed some sarcasam and humor "its up to debate, fear factor" and what not, i laughed.<br><br>it all depends on the situation, if the bear pays no attention to you, but knows of your presence, retreat, but make it graceful.<br><br>i wouldnt recomend dropping your pack to make a run, as playing dead your pack would come in handy (thats just alot more layers of "flesh" he has to get through ) as long as you lay on your chest, or the recently menchined fetal position.<br><br>Bears shouldnt be to much of a worrie tho. like he said, bears are omnivorous, not carnivorous. a healthy animal as a food source for a bear is not likley. its to much work for a single bear to hunt. they prefer to "scavange", fish, or eat barries and what not.<br><br>Thats why animals like wolfs and tigers hunt in packs, because its alot of work to take down a healthy animal.<br><br>bears are, in a sense, lazy and solo. just be smart in bear country! you'll be fine.<br><br>i will have to upload some pictures of some bears i video tape some time.<br>

Great experiences; good stories! You've had a bit of some of life's spice chest - most folks in the USA don't get to sample many of those wares. Hang onto those memories - in fact, write them down for yourself; for the future.

just read ayers post, and i forgot to menchin the odor as well. smells like a dirty ol bum. lol jk, its like (to me) a musty kinda, sweat STENCH!

i plan on getting some recordings of "my" bear, a bear that i see nearly every time i visit mount ritcen. i just need the darn video camera, or my moms premission

I would like to add some info re:encounters with bears.Longbow 50 provided quite a bit of usefull info in his thread, but there are a few items I would like to add-things that could save your life-during a bear encounter.I live in<br>Manitoba,Canada and though I have not personaly had a bear<br>encounter of the bad kind,i have seen my share of black bears.I've learned a lot of my bear knowledge from a Alberta <br>conservation officer who has spent close to thirty years<br>documenting grizzly and black bear attacks on humans dating<br>back to the early 1900's.In regards to grizzly attacks the vast<br>majority occurred when humans came between a mother bear and her cubs,or if you suprised a grizzly within it's self-<br>imposed security-comfort zone,which can vary in distance<br>for most bears-usually a minimum50 yds.If you find yourself<br>in on of these situations,prepare yourself to be attacked.Drop<br>face down,flat on your stomach and cover your head and<br>neck with both arms-do not go into a fetal position-as that<br>exposes your stomach to the bears claws-lie flat-the bear<br>will probably try to flip you over.When he /she does this,all<br>you have to do is roll over in the direction the bear is flipping<br>you and stay flat on the ground playing dead.These encounters may feel like a long time to the victim,but in reality<br>they rarely last more than a minute or two.All the grizzly is doing is to assure itself that you are no longer a threat,and will almost always retreat.There is one exception to this rule-<br>all bears are highly unpredictable,and if the grizzly doesn't<br>stop it's attack within a few minutes and starts to bite and chew on you-it is looking at you as a meal! In this case fight<br>back with all your strength and resources,target the eyes<br>snout,genital area and if your very lucky it may stop,if not,<br>you at least know you didn't make an easy meal if that's any<br>consolation.This type of attack is extremely rare,and usually<br>involves a wounded or starving bear unable to feed itself<br>or fend off other bears for his food/territory.<br>Black bears are an entirely different story from grizzlies,when<br>it comes down to their history of attacks on humans.Far more<br>people have been attacked,or killed by black bears than all the<br>recorded history of deaths by grizzlies.There are a lot of reasons for this-the grizzly bear was almost hunted to extinction throughout the U.S. before legislation was introduced<br>to protect them.You can only see a wild grizzly in protected<br>parks in the U.S.,unless you go to Alaska where their numbers are increasing.It's the same story up here in Canada,<br>they can only be seen in the wild in certain portions of Alberta<br>and their last stronghold British Columbia.It's a sad story when<br>the flag of Califonia is decorated with the image of this beautiful bear, but the only place you might find one is in a zoo.I mean no disrespect to anybody here on this furum or to<br>any Americans,it's just a sad commentary on mankind on how we've treated Mother nature and some of her creatures.<br>The black bear population is still relatively abundant and it's <br>territory covers a vast range of America and Canada.In my home province of Manitoba there are an estimated 20 to40<br>thousand,just last year there was a world record black bear<br>killed in a collision on one of hwys.The collision didn't kill it<br>and it had to be put down by conservation officers the next<br>day.They weighed the dead carcass and it came in at about<br>840 lbs.-that's the same range of a full grown male inland<br>grizzly.<br>Due to their population and the vast territory they inhabit,<br>encounters with humans occur with some frequency.The black bear has a different personality in comparison with<br>grizzlies,by nature most species of bears are quite timid<br>and will avoid any contact with humans,and will usualy<br>turn tail and run at the first sight of us.Over the years the <br>black bear has come accustomed to humans as a source<br>of free food via many means-people feeding them from cars,<br>garbage from cottages, camp grounds, garbage dumps.hikers,etc. All types of bears are very inquisitive by<br>nature especialy when it comes to the smell of strange foods.<br>Black bears in a lot of areas have become"problem bears"<br>because they associate people as a good source of easy<br>to obtain food.Despite advances in technology and knowledge<br>such as bear resistant food containers,bear resistant garbage recepticles,methods of how to hang your food on <br>tree limbs etc.black bears still follow their noses and are<br>very intelligent at finding ways to get at your food supplies.<br>I've seen firsthand how crafty these bears have become,I've<br>seen fellow hikers hang their food on what they thought was <br>a safe tree limb and wake up to see their food was gone.I.ve <br>seen people put their coolers in their car overnight thinking<br>that it would be safe there.Come morning they discover the<br>door on their car is shredded and bent,food gone.I've even<br>heard of travel trailers that have been broken in by bears.Never underestimate the strength of a black bear and<br>his claws.It's been estimated that a healthy full grown black<br>bear has the equivalent strength of 12 grown men!When bear<br>and humans come in contact over food the bear may win the food,but almost always it will cost him his life.These are the<br>"problem bears" that have to be shot,because they can't be<br>relocated somwhere because their bad habits have become<br>ingrained.<br>If you have an encounter with a black bear,avoid eye contact<br>back up slowly in the direction you came from,talk in a firm voice towards him,stand as erect as possible,never throw <br>anything at him,as this will anger him and may trigger a<br>attack.Keep backing up firmly talking as you go,if the bear is<br>still following you,prepare yourself for an attack.If you have bear spray on you,take the safety mechanism off and prepare<br>to defend yourself.Never turn your back to any bear, grizzlies<br>included,and never,ever run-it triggers their instincts to pursue and kill.Another trait common to black or grizzly bears<br>is a bluff charge.The bear will start running directly at you at <br>full speed,snarling and huffing but will stop a yard or two away from you and retreat backwards.The bear is trying to<br>warn you -BACK OFF-your in my space,you had better heed<br>his warning and slowly back away.This takes nerves of steel<br>to stay upright when you have 150-800 lbs of muscle,teeth<br>and claws coming straight at you at 30 mph,when your own <br>instincts are telling you to run or to assume the flat face down<br>position.From a lot of research done by this man over close<br>to thirty years he has been bluff charged countless times<br>and not once been attacked! If a black bear is charging you<br>stand your ground and use your bear spray,if his intention<br>is to eat you he will run right through the spray and start to<br>maul you.You have to fight for your life against a black bear,<br>target the eyes,nose,kick the genital area,hopefully you have<br>a knife on you and use it against the bear,remember that your fighting for your life,fight with all your might!! Hopefully your<br>vigorous fight might get the bear to back off.<br>Regarding the use of bear spray,it would be a very wise idea<br>to buy two cans,and to practice with one so you will know<br>how to use it,see how far it sprays etc. Be prepared if you<br>are going into bear country<br><br>KEEP SAFE-DENNIS<br>

Dennis, thanks for the great info and I stand corrected on my bad info. I can see where the fetal possition does expose the individuals vitals.