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.