Hello, If you SUBSCRIBE to this channel you will get videos that are about Hiking the Appalachian Trail, Tips on Trail Life, Full-time RV Living and camping. I am honored that you are watching my video and look forward to hearing from you and some of your ideas for future content that you would like for me to cover in the videos.
Wow! I really enjoyed this video you did! I live in Michigan and my daughter has seen a black bear hanging around her house on and off the past 2 years. I'm thinking bear spray is needed. I have 2 grandsons who play outside. This Grandma is protective of her baby cubs😁
Im irish and we dont have bears anymore , but the thought of seeing a grizzly and just laying down and acting like a carcass is so crazy to me. i dont think i could resist my instinct to run and climb.
I don't know why I'm watching this and why I'm listening to every word so intensely as I live in London! The only bear I might bump into is Paddington Bear.
I was hiking in Tennessee and the mama and her cub were on the trail walking toward me and the cub just ran up to me, sniffed me, and ran back to it's mom after she made some kind of call at her cub. The mom picked her cub up and walked of the trail down into the valley very calmly. Almost as if she was telling her cub "Why the hell would you go up to him!? He could've killed you or something." "But mom...he looked fun..." Meanwhile I'm there like 'O Lord who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thine son is coming home to You today...'
One time my glasses were broken and couldnt see well. I went to pet a doggie i seen walking next thing i know my husband pushing me out of way like what the hell you doing thats a bear. Yes i tried to pet a bear cub. Thank god mama didnt kill me
@lilMissE I wouldn't talk calling someone a loser and trying to be funny... looking maybe but that's about it lilmessE. Lol. Next time if you ever go hiking remember that some of the info on here is incorrect actually you could lay down when encountering a black bear or stoop down.. but wait you're already stooped down in life by being a lowlife bully cause you yourself have no talent, originality, beauty or brains so go please lay down when you see a blk bear lol and have a good day and go fuck yourself lol
@lilMissE thanks for proving my point about you being dim. yes idk shit about bears lol it's a thing called sarcasm genius. really made me laugh. And I'm not commenting anymore so please don't be sad that I won't reply lol
I'm 73 yrs. old now and I've lived my entire life in some of the best bear country here in the mountains of Virginia. Some of my best roaming has been in the Appalachian Trail. Only two times have I heard a bear click its teeth at me; that time was when a cub climbed a tree right in front of me. The sow didn't charge but instead stood up on her two feet, shook her head now and again and as I said clicked her teeth. I talked to her gently and slowly backed away up the road I was on. Eventually I got well out of sight and that was that. Never saw either of them again. I'd say that nine out of every ten bears I've seen have ran from me, but a bunch of them have stopped to take a look at me then depart. I've also talked to a few of them. It seems to relax them.
i live in northern ontario in the summer and have run into many bears. i also talk to them and i think it does calm them. most run away when they see you. i think the ones that don't have their babies around somewhere.
Q + How can you tell if ts a black bear or a grizzly which is going to eat you after you run up a tree. / A= If its a black bear it climbs the tree to eat you, if it's a grizzly it pulls the tree down to eat you.
I live near the trail. I have many bears near my home. I love and respect them. My heart goes pity pat when I watch them, especially cubs. We get along, but I’m not stupid, well most of the time and hence the reason for this post. I know their behaviors. Same as you I don’t run. I don’t try to hide. I always open my coat and try to look like a big animal. I always make lots of noise when walking. I sing if the trail is quiet. My singing will scare the hell out of anything. With all of this said I stupidly surprised a momma and her cubs one night when I was exiting my house in a hurry. We were right on top of one another. Max of four feet distance! I was very lucky. It could have been another story very easily. I could have lost my life as I’m an old man and I was cornered on my deck. I would have had to get my keys out from a suit under an overcoat, and open the door, with two locks in the dark. Not cool. She knew me and just walked away with a grunt. I had the feeling she was disgusted by my stupidity. Ha ha. Thank goodness she knew me. Another mom might have been another story. In retrospect, as I said I was lucky. A fast exit from my house in pitch blackness was a dumb move on my part. Now I always, ALWAYS turn on the floodlights before I open the door and look. Lesson learned. One more lesson. I left my front door slightly open for a friend while I took a shower at the other end of my home. When I exited the shower I heard a crash. She came in my house most likely attracted by food smells, but left when she heard my shower stop. I caught a last minute glimpse of her going into the woods with my brand new bag of cat food. $28.00! Here’s my point. If you live in bear habitat areas it is difficult to keep food smells at bay and I need to be extra careful and look around. The smells can’t be eliminated in a home of course. Hope this helps somebody someday. Nice video. Well done. You have a new subscriber.
I've actually run into a Black Bear and she was chomping on berries. She looked at me and I looked at her. I said " it's cool" and slowly backed away. She was totally fine with it.
Black bears don’t attack if you get too close to there cubs or you get too close to them they will attack you for self-defense decides that they want to much
How to tell a black bear from a grizzly. If a bear climbs up a tree after you, it`s a black bear. If the bear pushes over the tree you are in, it`s a grizzly!
Dude the joke goes do you know how to tell if a black bear or a grizzly bear is chasing you you climb a tree if the bear climbs the tree and kills you it was a black bear if it stands on the bottom and Shakes You Out and kills you it was a grizzly bear
If you like hunting jokes here's a good one if people are talking about hunting accidents you say I accidentally shot one of my hunting partners and he died we did take him to the doctor the doctor said well guys you know he probably would have survived if you hadn't gutted him too
Here's another good hunting joke if you're hunting elk bring some Milk Duds or some mothballs those round chocolate candies drop them on the ground when no one's looking and then say hey look here some elk poop pick one up pop it in your mouth and say it's really fresh the elk is pretty close now
@@oldcountryboy A ranger once told me to always carry pepper spray and little bells on your gear to scare bears off. He also said you should look at the bear scat around you so you know what kind of bears are there. Black bear scat might contain a little fur, seeds and berries while grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.
I grew up in Grand County, in the rocky mountains. My experience with black bears was nothing to worry about. They are generally really peaceful wild animals when it comes to humans. They would come around every night during certain times of the year. At 13-14 years old I was within feet of them on many occasions and they mostly just looked at me like "Hey, I'm just here to raid your trashcan, hope your nights going good." Granted they got a little too comfortable, one even left its cub at my house and went up the street while I was just sitting on the deck with it's cub... I was nervous as to how the mother would react when it got back, but she ended up being just fine with it. Now with that said, I'm not saying go out and make a black bear homie. They are wild animals after all, but if you're alone in the woods or even on a quiet mountain town street, a black bear is so much better to see than a set of glowing mountain lion eyes, or a brown bear. Side note, raccoons will steal your sandwiches.
@@MML996 There are a lot of myths and just plain bad information that's ended up on park fliers that unfortunately gets repeated over and over. One of them is this nonsense about "Not looking them in the eye". This applies to Jane Fossey's Gorillas.and not challenging the head Silverback. IT has nothing whatsoever to to with North American Black Bears. I am in the woods almost every day as my wife does bird photography. During June (the mating month) and August (the month they fatten up) I often come across them on the trail. I always look them in the eye, stay calm and talk softly to them. They don't know what you are saying but they recognize from your tone you are not a threat. They usually leave or resume their activity after you aleviate their anxiety.
Just start calmly talking to the bear, tell him something like, “I’m just going to go put some quarters in the meter, I’ll be right back.” They understand this and will wait there for you. I have used this method and it works.
When I was 16 I was camping up in the Sylvania Wilderness way up nort' der yah der hey in the UP of Michigan. A black bear came through my camp at night. Didn't get my food, because I had it suspended, but she DID get all my toilet paper. I slept through the whole thing lol.
It’s true 99% of black bears will get out of the way of humans. But there can be that one very hungry bear that might be old or not getting enough to eat then he will stock you and eat you. I’ve known of this to happen in Alaska many times. In all the years I lived and roamed around the woods there I only had one encounter with a very aggressive bear. He didn’t live through the experience but if I weren’t armed I suppose I could have become his dinner.
I encountered a small black bear in Tennessee there were a lot of people behind me and the bear was walking towards the path then ran across it really fast when he noticed people.
Muskie Angler haha I’m an old Alaskan and I don’t much give a rats a** about grammar much less worry about grammar police. At least I didn’t become bear food.
This is the way I feel here in Florida when I'm on a hike and see a very large alligator. Stunning animals that will almost always ignore you and/or run away, but every once in awhile you come across an aggressive one in a shitty mood.
So true.... I am scared to death of alligators. I can hike with Moose, Bears, Mountain Lions and Bison......Hiking along the river banks of Florida scare me to death. Respect... Keep in touch
I’m from Florida. You’ve seen aggressive alligators on land? I feel like gators aren’t looking for trouble on land. I definitely have not seen that but maybe I’m not out on FL trails enough.
@@matthewgodwin4626 I'm also from Florida and yes, every once in awhile, alligators can get aggressive on land (mostly mothers protecting their nests). They can run around 30-35mph and are surprisingly good climbers. I've known several people like William 180 who prefer large mammals up North (everything's "up North" to us here, isn't it? lol) to all the crazy creatures we have here in FL
My friend was attacked by a gator last yr. While we were out kayaking in a wide river. It was unprovoked, unnerving and very weird. She survived w/ puncture wounds on her arm and mental/emotional trauma.
It would also be helpful to explore different bear encounter scenarios such as what to do if the bear doesn't go away or follows you when you start backing away. Also what to do if the bear charges you. If you come across a more curious or aggressive bear, it is important to show strength to the bear. Meaning make yourself look big, make yourself louder, take a couple steps toward the bear while yelling, even look for something like a rock or a stick to throw at the bear. Yes, this is very effective and I've used that method multiple times with bear encounters. Animals sense fear and if you show you're not afraid, they will usually retreat. If you are in a very remote wilderness area and the bear continues to stalk you, it is because you are being hunted and it is intending to eat you. At that point you have to persistently do your best to get out of this dangerous situation and fight back all you can. Don't lay down and play dead. That only works when the bear sees you as a threat. If the bear is following/tracking you, it is likely the bear sees you as food.
Yeah I gotta agree with the person above me, if you yell or throw things at a griz for example, it's gonna charge. And you can fight back all you want, it won't go your way. Most bears do not stalk humans for food, but more out of curiosity, back away and make noise. Let the bear know you see them. Fighting back is something you should only apply to black bears if they charge alone and you have no other option. Fighting a grizzly will only open up your good bits.
Yes, do not show fear but DO NOT BE AGRESSIVE. You can shoo a curious black bear by being commanding, just like you would with a dog: "GET!" You can do some things to confuse and intimidate, like taking your jacket off and swinging it around. They won't know what to make of it and will think twice about approaching. If that doesn't work, you can grab a large stick/log and bash it against a tree. This will display your capability without directly threatening. If that fails, then you might throw rocks or large sticks. It is extremely unlikely that a black bear would be stalking someone though. If that is the case, the bear is desperate and you should not stand your ground. You still don't want to show fear or aggression but you need to get the hell outta there and always keep that bear in your sight. Yes a black bear will usually flee before risking a fight but don't count on it. Aggression is a challenge, not a warning.
Bears have extraordinary abilities to pick up your scent from a great distance and their sense of smell is better than sight for tracking. So indeed if you’re being stalked as prey, it probably is because you’re the entree on the dinner menu.
I observed one important thing over and above the great information you gave is the us of situational awareness, constantly checking 360 as you progress down the trail. This posture is what I use no matter where I travel forest or city streets. Thank you!
I always wear bells when hiking to keep the bears away. I know if you come across some bear dung and it's smell sweet that is black bear as they like fruits and berries if you come across some with bells in it than that is a Grizz
Look up the tigers who tracked the nomadic tribes. The people were attacked by tigers so they started banging pots and pans as they traveled which scared the Tigers away. Pretty soon the Tigers figure it out that pots and pans banging was a dinner bell. Lol In my area I jingle my lure on my fishing pole. Sounds like a dog collar kinda. But its a 50/50 bet because you know the saying, " curiosity killed the cat". We've got cougars here too.
I have never been afraid of much.The thing I fear, is being ignorant in a dangerous situation. That "Popping" thing is worth its weight in gold. Thank you..its information like this that is life saving. Safe travels.
I survived a black bear in the middle of the night while sleeping. Thanks to my deaf dog who leaped and starting scrapping gave enough of a time to get up and charge back at the bear. Eventually the bear charged 3 or 4 and I stood my ground with a ax swinging. Once a bear a decides to attacks its hard to change their mind One of the intense nights out camping for me!!
Considering all of my black bear encounters I agree whole heartedly with what you have said. One thing I would add though is to watch out for odd behavior from a mature bear, indecisiveness, appears nervous, doesn't know what to do kind of thing. When I observed this while cycling with a group I got everyone to stop about 100m away, we watched the bear for 30 seconds or so and suddenly a cub popped out from the other side of the road, we all raced back up that hill getting away in pretty much record time! I always talk to the bears when I see them in a very calm voice. We size each other up for a bit and if he / she's off to the side of the trail that I'm on and their just happy picking berries or watchin what the silly human is doing I continue at a normal walking pace along the trail while talking to the bear. Closest that I've been was a bear looking around the front bumper of my truck while I was unloading garbage and refuse at a small cottage area dump. I talked to the bear while I continued doing what I was doing and when I was done unloading I looked at the bear and said, "well big fella, I gotta go, are you going to let me into the truck to leave or what?" I took one or two slow steps towards him and my door, totally in a non-threatening manner and he backed away and headed for the bush.
yes, this exactly. I feel like when we talk they actually try to translate what we're saying. It, possibly, perplexes them ... not sure. But they do get tripped-up on language just a tad. like regular talking (in the calm) no yelling
Back in the early 1990s i was moving into a condo out in the sticks of Western Massachusetts. It was a big old three story Victorian house divided into six condo units. My unit was the entire top level. Anyway, i was lugging up boxes of stuff from my girlfriend's little S-10 pickup truck. It was a warm summer night, the truck was parked in a dark parking lot next to a dumpster. I heard something or someone rustling around near the dumpster. I paid very little attention to that because i had a job to do. I walked right past the dumpster a few times bring those boxes in and up to the third floor. At one point i was coming back down the stairs and ran into one of my new neighbors. He asked me: "Did you see the size of that bear?" The thing is i didn't see the bear, but apparently, he was right there in the or by the dumpster while i walked back and forth by him a half dozen times. At that point, i decided to wait til daylight to finish unloading the truck. I did see the bear a couple times in the daylight after that. He would come by because sometimes that dumpster was a source of food. He was a big boy. He had to be at least 3 to 400 pounds. One morning my son alerted me that there were bears in the old dumpster. Back then i had one of those old Sony VHS camcorders. We went down to the front porch to video the bears. I still have that and other videos somewhere. In the dumpster was the big guy and two smaller younger adult or juvenile bears. On the video i captured the big guy holding and tipping a wine bottle to lap up the little bit that was still in it. And he carefully set it down on the ground standing upright. Just a few minutes later a neighbor's small dog came charging the dumpster barking aggressively. All three bears skedaddled out of the dumpster and off into the woods. We saw him one more time from a window of the condo. He came to visit the yard alone this time. He just found a spot on the front lawn where he just sat down and relaxed for a while. A friend had stopped by to visit, and he was just about to leave. But he decide to just hang out until the bear moved on instead. Eventually, the bear did move on, and that was the last time i saw him. There was a State Forest nearby, and people reported seeing a large black bear there a few times. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same bear. I imagine they do a lot of wandering in search of food. A park with camping and picnic areas by a lake would be another good spot for him to visit.
@@tonyprice2256 It begs the question what if the bear is not disuaded to run/walk away even after the guidelines are followed. The man offered some helpful hints, but a 5% risk of unfriendly bear hugs, remains a source of fear. A hike without bear spray is like a day w/o sunshine. He contradicted himself at first saying don't run away. That excites a bear & he/she is hardwired to chase, catch, & kill. They run much faster so dont bring on the pain. Later, he tells us to run hard, run fast if a bear starts making poping, smacking noises at you. He's really pissed q
I have extensive backcountry experience. The one thing I like and trust most about the person making this video - he’s humble enough to know what he doesn’t know (i.e. grizzly bears). I’m the same way about the hikes I plan. People without this trait take a lot of unnecessary risks.
Just make sure you have the gear for colder weather..... Colorado was unseasonable chilly for the middle of September, but it was still a lot of fun....
I've done tons of hiking in NH for decades and never saw even a glimpse of a bear, or coyote, or bobcat nothing but deer and the one time there was a racoon asleep in the middle of the trail. Thought he was dead for a second but he started moving after I walked by and scuttled off the trail. He was definitely just sleeping very odd
I shouted expecto petronum at a bear in NH and he ran the hell away . The next day my then girlfriend proposed to me. We have been married 10 years . True story .
A long time ago I was walking my dog, and I came face to face with a black bear. He was in some bushes, I stayed calm, pushed the bushes back in place, and slowly backed away. I was about 150 yards from my house. I distracted my dog and slowly headed home. I will never forget that day!
I’m watching this video because half an hour ago I saw a black bear on my yard. Actually my security camera warn me. I live next to Appalachian trail we do have black bears here. This video improved my knowledge about the black bear. Thank you.
"If you see a black bear just throw off your pack, charge it, and punch it in the face. It's just a black bear; you can take it." -Jack Daniel's Moral of the story: Don't drink and hike.
And put a portable electric bear fence around your campsite. There’s one out there weighing only 2.4 lbs and it’s really capable. Passive deterrence for a good night’s sleep.
Good content, appreciate the honesty of your knowledge with different types of bear. It was surprising to me that data shows that blackbear are actually more predatory than grizzly. Very rare but seems to be true. I personally myself would never hike the AT unarmed. More about the 2 leg predators.
Northern Wisconsin here! Our black bears especially this year and over the past two years have become unusually bold and having more trouble with them. The last two nights I'm working in my fifth wheel camper in my woodsy backyard, spent the night in my camper and had a bear approach last two nights however last night was a bit more extreme. In Medford a couple months ago a law enforcement officer and his wife had a bare encounter in the backyard and Mama Bear went right through their window to get at them chewed them up a little bit until he shot the bear in the house. More campers are experiencing bears, black bears, who are unusually bold and they return more aggressive. I've never known black bear to be as bold as they have become recently.
No food....destruction of natural habitat thanks to geoengineering going on....Look Up....!! The wild berries and insect life such as grubs are being decimated...as a result there is more desperation in the wildlife population.
I agree last yr and I live in Colorado in a small mountain town we had a unusual large amount of bears close to my apartment complex I mean it was a every day thing day and night and some would walk right up to you and we had several minor bear attacks one guy lounging in his hammock had one bite his arm it was superficial wounds but are local bear expert did a class on bear safety due to all the bear sitings and encounters I learned a lot it was helpful but you just never know so I'm scared but I have a Chihuahua who I have to take out early morning so I was seeing bears every day sometime two or three times a day and up close to,
Great video! I’m in central MN and came across a mama black bear and her two cubs when I was out trail running. I was cruising down a hill, rounding a corner, and BOOM, mama was right there on the trail with her two babies in a tree. My heart stopped for a second, I was so taken aback! Dang near blew my knee out from the screeching halt I came to! I calmly put both hands up, as if I were under arrest, didn’t make eye contact, and slooooowly backed away. It took a lot of willpower to not turn and RUN, but that wouldn’t have done me any favors. My friends always make fun of me for carrying bear spray around here because sightings are very rare in the metro, but this experience justified my purchase 😆 Thankfully I didn’t have to use it, but it gives me peace of mind to be prepared!
This just came up on my playlist, very good info. I live in a town with a lot of black bears and a lot of hiking trails so you can imagine that sooner or later you will encounter one. Our nearest outdoor supply sells "Bear Bells" , my husband and I each have one because as you say if they hear you they will usually run the other way. But sometimes you get an ornery one or a sow with cubs, then be careful, as we all know, do not get between mother and cubs and if you do by accident, slowly move away from cubs and start praying....loudly! I carry mace but to be honest I am more afraid of some of the freaks roaming the woods than I am animals. I was raised on how to live amongst the animals and respect them and don't be a Joe hero. Common sense will take you far, like a good pair of hiking boots.
@@ironheadfm yes, that would be correct, but i am sick to death of that f __ing political correct BS. i just say whats on my mind, people can like it or not, i don't give a rats ass.
Well I walked out my front door the other day and it was standing 15 ft away. I turned and walk back inside, and he left so we both had so good day here in Appalachia.
We live on a mountain. I was on our deck....huge black bear came from the top of the mtn....into our yard area. At first he did not see me. He was about 20 feet away. I was shocked, and stood up and said "Hey Bear". He stopped and we looked at each other for a few minutes. I did not move....the Bear slowly turned around and walked back up the mountain. Saw it one more time from a distance. The Bear was in a wild black berry patch.
I used to love hiking in bear country, looking for cubs to pet. They are so cute and cuddly. These days, I enjoy watching videos about bears from the comfort of my wheelchair.
I was out deer hunting, my wife and children stayed in camp. That afternoon a black bear, bout 350 pounds, came into camp. I fired a shot into the air and it ran off. It hid behind a tree, 10" diameter and peeked around one side and then the other. It figured there was no reason to be scared and started walking toward us. My wife and children were behind me. I fired another shot and it stood on its rear legs and held its forelegs up a bit. It then got back on all four legs and was coming toward us again. I shot a tree when it went by and splattered the bear's face with bark. It turned and ran uphill with great speed. It came back that night and looked inside our SUV's rear window, it seemed safer than sleeping in our tent. I aimed the rifle at its head, had my children cover their ears and open their mouths. My wife crawled forward and started the engine, the bear went away. People that believe bears are friendly are fools. They are wild and hungry and love to eat easy food. If they become acclimated to being fed by people their natural fear goes away.
You were very patient and calm, that's admirable. It's always essential to remember that when we're in a black bears, that they get the right of way, we're just camping, or spending time in the woods... but that's where they live... and we have to take responsibility to not have food laying around, which is usually the biggest problem... we present a huge temptation for an animal trying to locate food.
100% accurate, I live in north western NJ where we have a huge black bear population as a result of increased hunting restrictions ... they are more and more used to humans, thus less timid and aggressive Someone just got attached two weeks ago
Good talk. Beautiful animals. See them frequently here in PA. One thing to add to the don't crouch down point is also the 'play dead' thing doesn't work with Black Bears.
I just love these sweeties. I once happened across 2 youngsters in the large garbage containers at a site in the Smoky Mountains where we'd camped one Easter. The folks I was with were from the first college I went to, nice 'suburban to a big city' people who were utterly benighted on the realities of wildlife, whether inculturated to humans or not. The town I'm from is basically in the country, and I've been in touch with "all things natural" since I was 4 years old. I loved and studied everything that lived 'outside!' Well, I never stopped trying to communicate with living creatures irrespective of whether I could see their ears or not. For example, I was hard pressed at 5 to find the ears (tympanus) on frogs, and though it took awhile, I eventually found them on the injured or baby birds I'd find and bring home to raise. (No, I didn't know until I studied Ornithology in University that baby birds out of their nests should be left exactly where they are and that their mothers will feed them from the ground.) Hey, I was 4 and 8 and 11 when I brought those birds home, how was I supposed to know? In any case, I'd raise them by hand, by instinct, and they'd fly away later on. The same with wild baby bunnies. I'd even gather grown animals that I'd pick up for a day and bring home "for Ma to see," and then release an hour or so later. It would be years before I'd realize that I might be causing them stress and that they'd have difficulty with their own loved ones later on: ~TOAD WIFE TO~ ~LATE HUBBY~ "WHERE have you been?" "Oh, you've NO idea what I've just been through, so don't start!" "Don't start? I've had dinner waiting for over an hour?!" "LOOK! It couldn't be helped! Some human picked me up and played with me for an hour while I was on my way, OKAY??!!" "OH!" "Yeah, oh! Now do you understand?!! Where are my nuts? I need a drink!" No, Disney didn't pick up the North American Serial Rights to THAT episode. As for the two small cubs in the garbage containers, one was upended and stuck upside down in one and unable to get out, while the other was nosing around the outside, inspecting the ground and occasionally looking up at its sibling's feet. I in all my benighted wisdom thought well, they're NOT fearsome grizzlies, and I don't see momma bear anywhere, (dumb, really stoooopid!! THINK, you ignorant lugnut!!!) so I'll just sidle over nonchalantly making as little noise as possible so as not to startle them, and help the one that's stuck out of the can, right? I got this. So I get within armslength of this delightful teddy and guesssssss what? You Betch'em, Red Rider! Momma. Stood. Up. She not only heard me, she s m e l l e d my advent before I got there. How 'bout that, fool! Me: "Oh. I didn't see you there. I was just gonna hel---buuuut I'm just wishfully thinking, like when they say don't try this at home...NOT a good idea." Momma then dropped down to all fours, came out around the cans and blithely started to amble toward me, in no rush to accomplish her objective: ME-> GONE. I now realized my best advantage would be to confuse the mommy as best I could until she gave up. So, I did to her what I always did to squirrels to paralyze them and compel them to take heed of me and that I'm trying to get a message across. Squirrels, however, have a different sense of self than black bears. Oh, don't get me wrong, black bears appreciate the conversation, they just respond a little differently, a little slower than squirrels. I started to chatter at her, incessantly! Everything that one would ordinarily exchange or admire in his or her friends and colleagues came out of me in a swift, one sided parlance. "That's okay Mom I understand. Is your den far from here? Is this your first litter? You look kinda thin, Mommy, are you getting everything you need ? Huh? Well the reason I ask is cuz I could always go back to camp and put a couple sandwiches together for ya and maybe snag some fruit. Would that help? I suppose you're gonna wanna get some rest then. No by all means don't let me stop you, you go right ahead. Mind if I watch? Say how many siblings do YOU have? I have two brothers that are both older than me. What's your favorite color? Mine'9s purple. Do you like purple? You all get around on foot for the most part, or do you havva car for errands? I don't have one either. And I'm not in the market for one anyways. Speaking of markets, what's your favorite thing to munch on, just you and the kids on a Saturday night at home? Berries? Oh, I love raspberries! Do you havva a permanent partner who's your guiding light in this world or are you pretty much on your own? Oh that's a pity, but you're the stronger for it. Take it from someone who's been there. Tell me which trees are your particular trees. Are they Pine trees or Balsams or don't you have a given preference....." I kept this b.s. up for some 7 to 10 solid minutes while she slowly backed me outta the site, then she stopped and just stood there, as if to say, 'Its all right now, you can leave. But if you want to see us again come back anytime. We shouldn't be far away. And next time don't be afraid to sing out. 🐻 💖 🐦 I turned away and comfortably started back through the woods toward camp when an idea struck me. Now, ya gotta understand something. I'm a little pixillated. Folks used to call people like me "Touched." That's probably why I've never been afraid of anything in the wild, I have a far greater respect for them now at age 66 than I did when I was little, or when I tried that dumb stunt with the bears when I was 18, but I still love pranks when it comes to my fellow hominids. So, ya gotta remember back then, in 1973, compact cars were just that, small. Soooo,--I took off at a dead run and came barreling into camp, waving wildly and screaming, "There's a bear after me!!! It's HUGE and it's coming this way! Everybody scramble! Get ta safety now!" Have you ever seen 11 people crammed into an original model Toyota? It's impressive. 🤣
You better be a damn good shot and have perfect shot placement under extreme pressure or you will piss off a sow. I own a 10mm as well and I was glad I didn't use it when I was attacked (the charge happened so fast that I didn't have time to draw and aim). I got bit once and was left alone after she rightly assumed I was no threat. When that bear charges you, your IQ will go from 100 to 10 in a fraction of a second. There is no good way to practice at a range with a pistol under those circumstances. That one bite I got was enough to paralyze my arm for a month. Black bears are in the top 10 for bite force of all animals in the world and that one bite was the most pain I've ever experienced and I've had chainsaw accidents. Don't believe me? Go to my channel page and you can see the bear charge after my dog, who'd just been in a viscous fight with her. She came after me, neutralized me and then went back after my dog. You'll see my dog was as big as she was, but he was no match. She was still pissed off at my dog who'd retreated back into the garage. If I had shot her and just wounded her, she would have done to me what she did to him and I wouldn't be alive to type this. His wounds only healed after 2 months and 3 surgeries. Claws ripped his skin open, she pinned him on the ground and put about 30 bites into his back, trying to break his spine. My dog is no wimp either. He's 220lbs and strong as a gorilla, but the bear brought knives and he only had paws. Now, I carry a Benelli M4 with slugs and 00 buck because I have some confidence that I can hit a moving target with great force when my IQ is sitting at 10 under those circumstances.
(Just in case), Your one of the people who will a have an aggressive bear encounter, keep a few flares attached to your belt. Because bears sprays don't always work. I repeat, bear sprays don't always work. Flares do! No bear is going to keep coming at you when faced with a blast of fire. If you have to use a flare, Get out of the area ASAP and destroy then the flare.
Living at the foot of the Appalachian Trail I see them a lot. It’s wise to always keep your distance but usually they leave you alone. A loud noise or series of them usually spooks them. Black bears seem to be pretty twitchy. Grizzlies on the other hand I categorize under the “well, might be screwed here” category. We keep moving into their habitats and forcing them down to the base of mountains or even cities. Very, very good video.
Great informative video--thank you. I was sitting on the ground weeding by the garage, and a black bear came around the garage corner. We were about 10 feet apart. I was transfixed for a few seconds, then stood up slowly and backed away. He calmly and silently turned away and walked across the field next to the garage. It was thrilling and scary. Another time, I came home at dusk, parked my car and was walking toward my apartment on a stone path a little away from the apartments. I saw a large bear sitting at the edge of the woods, about 50 feet away. Then I noticed there were two cubs. As I backed slowly away from them, the momma bear gave a command and the cubs scurried up trees. That was amazing and so cool to see. I walked to my apartment as far away from them as I could. Thrilling.
Good advice. I'm from Northern Ontario so am accustomed to the black bears. They deserve a lot of respect because they can maim you without even trying but in general they will avoid any confrontation unless they are defending a kill, cubs, a den or they have been cornered, except the domesticated ones. The wild bears are actually less of a threat than the dump and town bears because they have not been acclimated to humans and remain cautious of the unknown. I once saw a black bear peel the door off a car at the dump because the people were feeding it chocolate bars through the window and when they ran out it still wanted more. I live in Vancouver BC now and last year I was outside my apartment building (middle of the city) having a cigarette late at night when I heard some deep grumbling, huffing and rustling in the hedge behind me. Without looking I could tell right away from the grumble and snorting that it was a bear and I was blocking it's only path to get across the property. It wasn't being threatening but it was just hanging around the bush right behind me about 6ft away. I surmised it was trying to get by me but it didn't want an encounter and was trying to figure out a way past so I moved a few yards away from the path and talked so it would know where I was. Sure enough, as soon as the bear knew I moved out of the way, it came out from behind the bush, gave me a casual look and sauntered away. He (or she, I wasn't about to ask for pronouns) was so close walking by that I could practically reach out and pet him (that would have been REALLY stupid though). I've seen and dealt with quite a few black bears growing up, on the property, in town, at the dump and in the bush but never within 6ft. As much as I don't fear them, that was much closer than I care to experience again, although that was one of the most spiritual moments in my life. When that bear looked at me as it strolled by, there was no aggression or fear from either of us. I just sensed gratitude and mutual respect. I'm glad it happened the way it did but I'm also very aware of how serious that situation potentially was. Coincidentally, I'm a Métis and on the native side my family is Ojibwe, from the Bear Clan of Manitoulin. The black bear is my spirit animal, so that encounter was pretty special. Don't be afraid, run, cower, etc because you will trigger their feral predator instincts, just like how a cat is compelled to chase mice or how a dog has a 6th sense for fear (most animals do). Be smart though. Don't be the idiot feeding the bear chocolate bars at the dump. Know that they are as cautious of humans as we are of bears and they don't want an encounter anymore than you do unless they are defending themselves. Brown, Grizzly, Kodiaks and Polar bears are a different story. They are much larger and they will stalk and hunt a human if they are desperate. Still, if you encounter one, you mustn't display fear. They will still respond to the same feral instincts and even though are much larger and are much more likely to prey on a human, unless they have already tasted blood, they will hesitate to take a risky encounter with something that they think could possibly hurt them so your best chance is to make them question if it's worth it to attack you. Unless they are starving they will choose self-preservation over curiosity. Don't challenge them though. Be fearless, not aggressive. Back away, don't run. They can run much faster than you anyway. Don't turn your back until they do. Don't climb a tree either. They can climb too and then you are trapped whether they climb after you or not. They can even pull a small tree down. Just don't go into grizzly territory (in BC interior it's grizzly) unless you are prepared with proper protection (like a shotgun) and pay diligent attention to your environment. Most deadly encounters are because the people were not paying attention to their surroundings and the bear didn't know they were there until they were too close or the person didn't hear the warnings to back off. Even grizzlies and other big bears are not known to hunt humans unless they are desperate or have been acclimated. I'd worry more about cougars (on the west coast at least) and wolves. They WILL stalk and hunt humans. They are purely carnivore/predators and they will ambush you. A bear is an omnivore/opportunist. Black bears particularly are more scavenger than predator.
Thumbs up! I don't know how similar black bears in the Appalachian Trail area are to those in the Sierra, but based on dozens of close bear encounters over decades, I fully agree with your recommendations and experiences. I've had a few exceptional experiences which may be worth noting. 1) Bear in labor: While snowshoeing in Spring at ~8300 feet elevation and deep snow, I noticed that the snow had melted in an unusual fashion around a tree (larger space existed below the surface instead of a wide conical shaped melt due to sun exposure). I walked towards it thinking there might be a thermal vent to explain why. I heard soft whimpering sounds and thought it might be a coyote den. But, there were no tracks in pretty soft snow. I reached the edge and looked down (about 8 feet from snow line down to the base of the tree). The tree had a hollow, rotted, "A" shaped notch in it that was blocked by a bunch of brown fur. Oh s***!, that is the back of a bear! But then, the most amazing thing happened. The bear lowered its head enough to peer through the notch and look at me. I INSTANTLY felt this profound exchange where I knew both that the bear was neither angry nor scared and that I had somehow conveyed to it that I posed no threat. It looked at me for a second as though it was saying 'can't you see I'm busy?', and turned back inside, ignoring me. It was panting and whimpering despite no tracks around its den. I'm sure it was in labor. I then made a point of loudly crunching with my snowshoes as I walked away so it knew I was leaving. 2) Bear stare-down: Sierra bears and I seem to have often 'discovered' one another at much closer distances than is required for them to hear me. As you said, most of the time, once we've gotten close, they sprint away. One Summer at ~9300 feet elevation I stumbled to within 20 feet of several large bucks. They darted away as I marveled at their size, horns and close proximity. I then heard more motion and assumed a deer had stayed put. Nope. It was a large black bear, standing its ground, staring at me from ~20 feet. I stood my ground, faced it (had a pack on) and assumed it would leave. Nope. I slowly grabbed a large stick and loudly whacked a tree to scare it. This caused it to move sideways to me about 10 feet, stop, lower its head and start licking its lips (perhaps smacking its jaws, but I don't remember hearing that). Now THIS was intimidating. I kept the stick for defense, continued facing it, but slowly started stepping backwards some 50+ feet before turning and walking away. Whew, that worked! I assume there was probably a cub nearby. So on the return, I took a different route, only to closely encounter yet another, smaller, honey colored bear. But this one sprinted away so fast that it likely got up to 30 MPH within a second. I was absolutely amazed at its acceleration. 3) Face to face at 1 foot: While climbing a small waterfall, I grabbed the rock above me and started climbing ~6 feet of rock to the next ledge. As my head crested the top, a bear was resting RIGHT there. It bolted away and I reflexively fell back. The waterfall probably helped the bear doze and mask my sounds. 4) Large bear pokes its head into my tent: While camping at a Yosemite campground in the 1970's, I left my tent screen open one night in order to keep the air fresh and cool inside. I heard the tent flap rustling and then saw a VERY LARGE bear sticking its head inside my small tent. All I could do was stay still. After a second or two, it left. Zipping up the screen seemed like a useless aid, but I did it just the same. The following morning, a ranger was in the grounds because a lot of people had reported a problem bear. The bear was STILL in the campgrounds. Rangers do things differently these days. But in the '70's, the ranger hurled some cantaloupe sized rocks at the bear. The most amazing thing was that the bear did not even flinch when the rocks bounced off of it. After a few rocks had hit, it lifted its nose higher, looked around as though with some disinterest, and slowly walked away. Uhh, Mr. ranger, you're gonna' need a bigger rock. 5) Bears like beer: While I did not see it, (in the 1970's) a person near my campsite reported that a bear had grabbed several of his beers. It would puncture a can with its teeth, then hold the can up high to drain its contents. (I assume the bear wasn't under age) I consider it a real privilege to encounter the bears, but I now usually carry bear spray.
Thanks for the good info. While my hiking the AT days are mostly in the past the Black Bear tips are useful as bears are frequent visitors in my neighborhood here in small town Western N. Carolina. They never seem to bother anyone, but do empty bird feeders and occasionally go through a trash can. Mostly very shy.
We live in Vancouver, Canada and we see black bears all the time. Our house is against the mountains and it’s common for them to walk past or be at our sons school. This is good advice that’s shared in this video. I agree with all of it.
Black bears are far more intelligent and far less aggressive than brown bears. William's advice is basic but correct. Fortunately, wild black bears do not attack humans unprovoked, except in a cub encounter. They are far more curious than mean. A brown bear, on the other hand, may decide that you'd make a nice lunch.
I have had many encounters within 3-5 feet. Talk with them. If they can leave they will. If cornered you may have a problem. I have picked berries with them right by me. They would move and keep picking. A sow with cubs is always a potential problem that you need to back away.
I had a close encounter with a bear backpacking in back country, in the morning my friend yelled to me there was a bear at her tent. She had water in the tent vestibule but no food or scented products but the bear was taking her water containers out, I jumped out of my tent with hiking poles for my only means of defense and told the bear to go away, it walked away from her tent and came up to me and stood about six feet away, i just talked nice to the bear, telling it to go away for about ten minutes, and then it did. There was a smaller bear up on the game trail but they left, we then hiked all day. In the evening while we were eating I heard as low snorting sound but maybe it was that popping sound and turned around and saw the bears staring at us, the smaller bear was making up and down motions and then came down, ran around our campsite, ran up to my tent and stared, then ran around in circles around the site. It was still light but getting dusk and we decided to just get the hell out of there, hiking out in the dark with headlights.
Hello, i live in eastern ky in the appalachian mts, i hike a lot, i have encountered many animals, grey foxes, coyotes, black bears, bocats, elk, never had any close encounters until recently, i had a close encounter with a passing through black bear, i was camping alone in a small tent, had a bear bag hung a good half mile away, no food in or around the tent, anyway, its dark out, got a fire going, i zip up in my tent and try to go to bed, i had heard breaking tree limbs all night so i knew something big was near, plus i had that gut feeling i was being watched/stalked, almost instantly as soon as i get in my tent and get in my sleeping bag a black bear is in my camp site, just feet from my tent, i here him breathing and his lumbering footsteps, had to be at least a 300 pounder, he circles my tent a couple times and lies down right beside my tent, at this point im not gonna lie, im scared as fuck, not armed, i had two machetes and a knife, suprisingly i dozed off and awoke at dawn, bear was gone, sometimes the bear bag dont lure them away, and sometimes a fire will not discourage them, my advice, if you are hilking alone and a bear comes into camp at night, just stay in your tent remain calm and quiet, do not get out and engage, always arm yourself if alone, if not with a gun at least bring a good size machete or a large knife, anything sharp, just in case, although i wouldn't call this a direct encounter it was still scary and was enough for me, i still hike and camp a lot, always will, your best tools are in your head, just dont get overcome with fear and do something stupid, bears are unpredictable, but as scary as they are id much rather deal with a single bear than a pack of coyotes or pack wild dogs, if that shit comes to your campsite while your alone, again, stsy in your tent, remain calm, have your weopon ready, coyotes get huge in my region and travel both alone and in packs and it is common to encounter them here, ive heard huge packs in the distance at night but never dealt with a pack up close, never hike alone without some sort of weopon or defense strategy, even the most seasoned outdoorsman can get caught in a sticky situation, it happens, if you are new to camping, understand that there are risks, you are putting yourself at natures mercy, as fun and peaceful as it seems, always keep that in the back of your mind, expect the unnexpected, thanks and stay safe folks.
Uhm, if a Bear is bothering you at night, you are too close to it's den. You've made it feel uncomfortable. Don't camp on animal tracks. Don't camp near a den.
I use to roll my whole body in honey. Then I roll in crispy fried bacon until I'm covered with these crispy bits. This way I make a lot of bear friends.
Was playing golf in Lake Tahoe last year and about to hit my second shot off the fairway when a brown mother bear and her two cubs just walked out in front and sat by the ball lol. They couldn't have cared less that I was there, but I stayed well enough away in the trees until they moved on. Was so awesome seeing them roll around and play on the fairway.
Bears love berries. The only time I saw black bear with cubs was when there fattening themselves up on berries in late summer .I decided to slowly put some distance between us .
I forgot an interesting point the Bear Aware team told us. These guys are great the are with the forest service I think, feds anyway. Black bear is less likely to attack but more deadly then the Grizzly. I know doesn't sound right but... The black bear gets you he/she intends to kill and makes sure you are not getting up again more or less shredding you. So if a black bear attacks you kill it or it kills you've not much choice there. The Grizzly is a gourmet he likes aged meat. IF the Grizzly if he attacks PLAY DEAD ASAP. He will put you in the hospital but if you convince him your dead, he will stop. If he decides your not going anywhere he may wonder off (make sure he does), when he does, make your way to the hospital you will need it. Better yet do put yourself in either situation. If you get a chance to listen to the Bear Aware guys it is well worth it. I hope the come back here some day. Another point of misinformation the cleared up (besides you can kiss bears) is Once an animal tastes human blood they have to be hunted down and killed as they will hunt humans. This is totally false. They argue the point but their bosses make them do it anyway, a shameful PR stunt. They hate doing it.
Now black bears are wandering through south Nashville. A few of my neighbors got video on their Ring doorbells. As if that wasn’t enough, a neighbor photographed a gray wolf in her back yard (gray wolves aren’t native to Tennessee)
It is indeed an informative video, and I thank you for sharing. While I have lived in Canada's far north, I have seen a few Polar bears from at distance. Likewise, I am very aware of black bears, and have encountered several. Not even under the most surprisingly close distance of approximately 15 feet or less, in dense forest/shrub did that bear or any other give a " Bluff " charge. BE AWARE , BE ALERT, BE PREPARED IN BEAR COUNTRY. I also, travel alone and have done so for over 35+ years .
tysm.i got it all ready( gears,tips,advices,etc..) i think, or hope so, last year,my very first trail hike/ bushcrafts adventure. i was so ready, until ived ACTUALLY saw a bear,with 3 cubs,casually walking,playing on top of those hills,during h.s. graduation celebration,in gatlinburg. i dont think i stand a chance,even against 1 of em cubs, and iant gonna be a walking buffet out there.
When I was 16 Dad took me an my brother ans sister to NC in the Fontana (SP) area. They were walking real slow so I went ahead a few miles. I found a great spot with berries and waited picking berries thinking Hmmm bears like berries maybe I should wait somewhere away from this bush I felt something touch my shoe. I looked to see 2 very small cubs at my feet wanting to play. Cute beyond belief, and before the brain kicked in I wanted to pick one up. Then the brain kicked into high gear cubs = Momma she will not be amused. I tried to move away they really wanted to play and followed right at my feet. Fear started to kick in I put that away in quick order. I started to talk to the cubs go away go to mom, like children they didn't listen. Then Mom came out of a depression about 60 yrds away. She was not amused and did a false charge. I put up my hands palms out she stopped and called. The cubs looked at her then me then back to her and continued the fascination with my shoes, At this point I was pleading with the cubs to leave, resigned to the fact this was my last minutes above ground. She yelled again the ran back to her, as I walked away I could hear her beating the tar out of my new friends. I knew nothing about bears at the time be apparently did the right thing. I now live in NW Montana the house is on a game trail bears all 3 kinds go through the yard to town for the fruit trees. When the sun goes down I will not go in the back yard you can not see bears in the dark. I have not see a grizzly yet did get a false charge in the front yard, Bill they are way bigger out here. Anyway I tossed up my hands and made loud cat sounds she ran, as soon as she turned I got inside the house. I've been stalked by a wolf or a cat. I came over a rise and 50' in front was a 250 lb. cat, another pucker moment. I think the key is to keep your head DO NOT let fear take hold they can smell it. In the case of the cat if I let fear take hold I would not be typing today. I have not seen a wolf out here but they are BIG their shoulder comes up to the top of a typical Barbed wire fence and they get 200 lbs. I noticed you didn't mention Bear Bells basically they only help the guy who is selling them his wallet to be more precise. Bears do not like the human voice talking is the best I guess. The Feds tell us we should shout "YO Bear, Hey bear" periodically as we walk. We lose a few tourist to bears and Buffalo each year, lost 5 to selfys one year. Wolves have treed people in a park of a small city (NO they are NOT our brothers). This is not a petting zoo. Buffalo may look kind of like a cow but they will stomp you into the ground before you snap that selfy. They are EXTREMELY fast. Bears can reach 35 mph, buffalo are up there maybe 45 mph I forget. We have seen a guy try to put their 2yr old on top of an elk for a snap shot, thankfully he listened, they don't always. Don't rely on a native to do anything but watch if someone does a stupid thing, they just my be bored and you are the excitement. A cowboy said to me when I approached a Long horn one time, "I do rightly think I'd get that close to an animal with 10 foot horns." I that is your warning you'll not get another and he will watch. I live 1.1 miles from wilderness when I cross the cattle grate I remind myself I'm on the menu not to be afraid but cautious, pay attention, a dog helps. One of the ranchers lets me borrow their dog for my walks. I love the silence out there sometimes forget where I am though, the dog remembers. Listed to this guy he is correct he knows what he is talking about. Remember that idiot on PBS kissing bears... he and his wife are dead for treating a wild animal like their brothers they are not and you are dinner. Ok that's my public service now I'll sit on the fence with my Indian friends and watch the next tourist take his selfy with the Buffalo or Moos there is not a lot of entertainment in these parts.
Thank you very much for sharing your story and your experiences that is awesome. you are very correct in your advice thank you and I hope that other subscribers will read your story and learn from it as well you are very correct I did not mention bear bells because I do not believe in them. Keep in touch.
I've had the same experiences with bears here in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Had a mama bear approach me while growling and quickly figured out that her babies were about 30 feet from me in a bush. I didn't know they were there until she warned me to get the hell back. I retreated slowly backwards until I couldn't see her anymore and took off on a fast walk the hell out of there.
As a bear Black bear guide and a guy who’s killed a bunch, and been around a bunch. 1 Carry bear spray and a 40 caliber or larger pistol in bear country. If you have to shoot at a angry bear get down on one knee and fire at it until it’s dead! 90 percent of people shoot at bears shoot and miss over their heads! So kneel down. Bear spray you blast the animal in the face and just before it gets to you in the charge Quickly move left or right! Then spray again. That works almost every time. Lastly if your getting bit, if it’s a starving male your pretty much dead. Stab fight claw fingers in its eyes. If it’s a sow with Cubs and you can’t do anything I said PLAY DEAD! I personally know a 12 year old girl who played dead and it dropped her and walked away. She’s a 20 year old beautiful woman today :-) just thought I’d add to this guys video.
I've seen black bears at a zoo when I was 15, very large beasts. You couldn't pay me enough money to dare violate their personal space, and I don't ever plan to do so. Especially after what happened to Timothy Treadwell, (RIP) his death was a tragedy that could've been avoided with more preparation and caution. Bears are bears, first and foremost, and people should always always always be fully prepared! Nature is beautiful but it's also dangerous.
Treadwell was eaten by a Grizzly, not a black bear. He was a fool in my opinion. Black bears are not nearly as aggressive, as this video states. And if you're ever knowingly going into bear territory, wear a bear spray canister and follow the advice given. They are amazing to see in person. Frankly, I'm a lot more worried about cougars/mountain lions when I hike than I am black bears.
@@WildWestGal I know he died by a grizzly I was saying in general I wouldn't dare mess around with a dangerous animal. I like the bears myself but I like to appreciate and admire them from a safe distance
@@WildWestGal Mountain lions are absolutely beautiful but terrifying. I love their appearance and I love how they go about doing what needs to be done to survive, very intelligent creatures
Listen, I get it if you’re anti gun. I don’t carry whole hiking for my own safety. I carry because I take my 8 and 10 year old with me. If I’m out and that bear sees 2 tiny people, it’s going to attack. Nothing crazy, 10mm Glock is what I like. It’s light, easy to carry and will get the job done if need be. It’s just being a responsible parent. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to them because I thought I could determine what a wild animal would do to me based off my behavior
I pray you never have that type of encounter. I completely understand wanting to protect your kids but I want all of you, including the bears, to live. God bless!!
If you want to go hiking with kids go somewhere safe , don’t shoot bears bears because your on there property , not the other way around . get a bear spray instead.
Thanks for sharing this info! I’ve been exploring the woods of New Hampshire since I was a kid and have never encountered a bear but I’ve always wondered what to do if I do see one
Situational awareness is key. One night at sunset I walked into a Gulley and was looking just at the ground. Some movement caught my eye and I looked up to realize I was 3 ft away from a full grown standing black bear. As soon a we made eye contact he looked away and I took my chance to exit. Think my feet were already moving. I guess we surprised each other or the fact I walked rt up to him confused him. Either way I was extremely lucky and always bring a flash light and fun in case life happens. Scares the shit out of me every time I think about being mauled in that dark gully . Guardians were working overtime that day.
West of the high plains, “black” bears come in other colors, including brown, cinnamon and even white. My first encounter with a cinnamon colored bear hiking near our home near Estes Park in the Colorado Rockies really startled me even though I knew there were no grizzlies in that part of the state. Bear ran off more startled than I was.
The most down to earth and sound advice I've heard on the subject. RUclips needs more people like you and not these idiots who don't know anything that google a top 10 list and gather a few pictures and use some lame editing to make a video. Thank you for the content!
I've had, and have seen several bear encounters in Yosemite. Each one was different and they all ran away or turned around, and didn't want anything to do with humans. The dumbest thing I ever saw was on the trail to Vernal Falls. Some tourist set it's daypack on a rock on the trail to take a rest, and a bear came out of the trees, grabbed the guys pack, and ran away with it. Then the tourist began to run after the bear!! I kid you not! As soon as he had gone a few feet he stopped and came back to the trail without the pack. Goodbye backpack, and that idiot was fortunate the bear didn't swat him a good one for trying to get back it's new prize!
Raise your arms to appear even larger. I remember this from when I was a kid learning about what to do around bears. That being said I have some black bears that come onto my forested land in the mountains right near the Appalachian trail.
The few times I’ve encountered bears was in the Smoky Mountains. The bears glanced at me and immediately ran away uphill. The ones I saw in the early 1990s looked so thin. There were a number of years where the mast crop was short and the bears were searching for food. Most times, a black bear will hear you and take off long before you even have a chance to see them.
Bear are different depending upon their exposures to humans. By me when I see one they usually run away. Those that don't I stare at it about 5 seconds then look away and do what I was previously. This tells the bear, or any animal, that I seen it and not interested in it or afraid of it. I do glance around in a manner I can keep an eye on it without directly looking at it. 20 plus years in bear country and no problems.
Thank you for the advice. I moved to Union County GA 1 1/2 years ago. I love it here. I'm new to bear country so thank you for sharing your wisdom. I look forward to hiking sections of the AT. I typically go hiking once a week on short day trips. I recently hiked a section of the Benton MacKaye Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness Area with a friend. I have yet to see a bear....but I look forward to the experience. Thanks for telling me what to do when it happens.
People underestimate black bears I saw one in the mountains of New Mexico that looked like a grizzly it was cinnamon colored and absolutely massive I was going up to a peak just slow rolling in my truck and I came around the corner and he was in the middle of the road and he stood up on 2 feet he was about 7 to 8 feet tall and anywhere from 500 to 700 pounds I screamed out an excitement and tried to scramble for my phone he hit all fours and ran into the bush it was pretty exciting though
![BRASIL vs. URUGUAY [1-1] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 12](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-hWBAuxF1eY/mqdefault.jpg)
Hello, If you SUBSCRIBE to this channel you will get videos that are about Hiking the Appalachian Trail, Tips on Trail Life, Full-time RV Living and camping. I am honored that you are watching my video and look forward to hearing from you and some of your ideas for future content that you would like for me to cover in the videos.
I don't think I'd shut up if I saw a bear be excited be talking to it lol there beautiful
what would happen if the human made the popping noise to the bear? would he take that as a challenge or would he respect it and run off?
JUST PAINT IT WHITE BRUH!
@@melissatodd1135 *they're 🤯✌
Wow! I really enjoyed this video you did! I live in Michigan and my daughter has seen a black bear hanging around her house on and off the past 2 years. I'm thinking bear spray is needed. I have 2 grandsons who play outside. This Grandma is protective of her baby cubs😁
If it’s black, fight back
If it’s brown, lie down
If it’s white, goodnight!
XAsInXylophone could you explain further?
@@cra2690 a saying on how to deal with bears, pretty much saying your chances
Kick it in the puce or balzzz
@@cra2690 He said you got a 98% chance with a blackbear, a 50/50 chance with a grizzly, a 0% chance with a polar bear.
Im irish and we dont have bears anymore , but the thought of seeing a grizzly and just laying down and acting like a carcass is so crazy to me. i dont think i could resist my instinct to run and climb.
I don't know why I'm watching this and why I'm listening to every word so intensely as I live in London! The only bear I might bump into is Paddington Bear.
Avi Gold well thank you very much for watching please subscribe to my channel I heard that those Paddington bears can get angry
well, I heard there are also pedobears in London, stay safe.
The only bear i might bump into in my country is my dad
Or at the pub , I hear there are lots of beers there.
Avi Gold am I a joke to you??? 😂
A man just got eaten in Prescott, AZ today. That's crazy. I don't even go to Phoenix without a gun.
Wow
I was hiking in Tennessee and the mama and her cub were on the trail walking toward me and the cub just ran up to me, sniffed me, and ran back to it's mom after she made some kind of call at her cub. The mom picked her cub up and walked of the trail down into the valley very calmly. Almost as if she was telling her cub "Why the hell would you go up to him!? He could've killed you or something." "But mom...he looked fun..." Meanwhile I'm there like 'O Lord who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thine son is coming home to You today...'
We must be related. You have no idea how many crazy things like that has happened to me. Miracle im alive.
One time my glasses were broken and couldnt see well. I went to pet a doggie i seen walking next thing i know my husband pushing me out of way like what the hell you doing thats a bear. Yes i tried to pet a bear cub. Thank god mama didnt kill me
Yea both of you are straight 🧢
That is adorable, scary, and hilarious.
@@froggergypsy4596 This is both terrifying and adorable! xD
I had a similar encounter with a squirrel once, the trick is to stay calm.
do not take off your backpack! try to appear larger than the squirrel!
Subbed
Some fella made big bucks singing about a squirrel that went berserk in a church!
@lilMissE I wouldn't talk calling someone a loser and trying to be funny... looking maybe but that's about it lilmessE. Lol. Next time if you ever go hiking remember that some of the info on here is incorrect actually you could lay down when encountering a black bear or stoop down.. but wait you're already stooped down in life by being a lowlife bully cause you yourself have no talent, originality, beauty or brains so go please lay down when you see a blk bear lol and have a good day and go fuck yourself lol
@lilMissE thanks for proving my point about you being dim. yes idk shit about bears lol it's a thing called sarcasm genius. really made me laugh. And I'm not commenting anymore so please don't be sad that I won't reply lol
I'm 73 yrs. old now and I've lived my entire life in some of the best bear country here in the mountains of Virginia. Some of my best roaming has been in the Appalachian Trail. Only two times have I heard a bear click its teeth at me; that time was when a cub climbed a tree right in front of me. The sow didn't charge but instead stood up on her two feet, shook her head now and again and as I said clicked her teeth. I talked to her gently and slowly backed away up the road I was on. Eventually I got well out of sight and that was that. Never saw either of them again.
I'd say that nine out of every ten bears I've seen have ran from me, but a bunch of them have stopped to take a look at me then depart.
I've also talked to a few of them. It seems to relax them.
i live in northern ontario in the summer and have run into many bears. i also talk to them and i think it does calm them. most run away when they see you. i think the ones that don't have their babies around somewhere.
I just pretend I'm bear hunting.
I won't see one damn bear.
For sure
LOL. That's funny. More often than not it's also true.
You know that's right...! 🙄🤔🤣
Ain't that the damn truth.
Seems to work with deer also
the best way to survive a bear encounter when hiking is to always take someone with you who does not run as fast as you run.
😂
Oh boy
Hilarious!!
Mother-in-laws like to hike.
Q + How can you tell if ts a black bear or a grizzly which is going to eat you after you run up a tree. / A= If its a black bear it climbs the tree to eat you, if it's a grizzly it pulls the tree down to eat you.
I love bears they are intelligent, curious and fun to watch
Just say "i need you to go" and when it's going say you're sorry and to have a nice day.
(Only works on canadian bears)
The MeanestKitten Good to know
@@William180 There's an actual video, The MeanestKitten is referring to. It's called "The most Canadian way to get rid of bears". /watch?v=6O33JRDumOM
You've seen the finnish way? That's not as polite.
yea they are probably more polite
@@bills7115 You think?
ruclips.net/video/z7_pVrIshxA/видео.html
Note to self , when a bear starts beatboxing , don’t try and rap over it .
First instinct 😂
I live near the trail. I have many bears near my home. I love and respect them. My heart goes pity pat when I watch them, especially cubs. We get along, but I’m not stupid, well most of the time and hence the reason for this post.
I know their behaviors. Same as you I don’t run. I don’t try to hide. I always open my coat and try to look like a big animal. I always make lots of noise when walking. I sing if the trail is quiet. My singing will scare the hell out of anything.
With all of this said I stupidly surprised a momma and her cubs one night when I was exiting my house in a hurry. We were right on top of one another. Max of four feet distance! I was very lucky. It could have been another story very easily. I could have lost my life as I’m an old man and I was cornered on my deck. I would have had to get my keys out from a suit under an overcoat, and open the door, with two locks in the dark. Not cool.
She knew me and just walked away with a grunt. I had the feeling she was disgusted by my stupidity. Ha ha. Thank goodness she knew me. Another mom might have been another story.
In retrospect, as I said I was lucky. A fast exit from my house in pitch blackness was a dumb move on my part. Now I always, ALWAYS turn on the floodlights before I open the door and look. Lesson learned.
One more lesson. I left my front door slightly open for a friend while I took a shower at the other end of my home. When I exited the shower I heard a crash. She came in my house most likely attracted by food smells, but left when she heard my shower stop. I caught a last minute glimpse of her going into the woods with my brand new bag of cat food. $28.00!
Here’s my point. If you live in bear habitat areas it is difficult to keep food smells at bay and I need to be extra careful and look around. The smells can’t be eliminated in a home of course.
Hope this helps somebody someday.
Nice video. Well done. You have a new subscriber.
"My singing will scare the hell out of anything" 😂😂😂😂 Me too! Kind regards from UK.
@@davey8914 Me too! My birthday gift to others is for me **not** to sing Happy Birthday! Best wishes!
Who cares about the cat food. Be happy it wasn't your cat
@@rossanavillar9011 I don’t care at all about the cat food. Lol
I've actually run into a Black Bear and she was chomping on berries. She looked at me and I looked at her. I said " it's cool" and slowly backed away. She was totally fine with it.
Nice
They certainly are not looking for trouble, just dinner.
she probably was canadian
Black bears don’t attack if you get too close to there cubs or you get too close to them they will attack you for self-defense decides that they want to much
@benjovi55 black bear lives matter
How to tell a black bear from a grizzly.
If a bear climbs up a tree after you, it`s a black bear.
If the bear pushes over the tree you are in, it`s a grizzly!
Dude the joke goes do you know how to tell if a black bear or a grizzly bear is chasing you you climb a tree if the bear climbs the tree and kills you it was a black bear if it stands on the bottom and Shakes You Out and kills you it was a grizzly bear
If you like hunting jokes here's a good one if people are talking about hunting accidents you say I accidentally shot one of my hunting partners and he died we did take him to the doctor the doctor said well guys you know he probably would have survived if you hadn't gutted him too
Here's another good hunting joke if you're hunting elk bring some Milk Duds or some mothballs those round chocolate candies drop them on the ground when no one's looking and then say hey look here some elk poop pick one up pop it in your mouth and say it's really fresh the elk is pretty close now
@@oldcountryboy A ranger once told me to always carry pepper spray and little bells on your gear to scare bears off. He also said you should look at the bear scat around you so you know what kind of bears are there. Black bear scat might contain a little fur, seeds and berries while grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.
@@brooklynsandman yeah I know I don't carry pepper spray I like my friend 357 Magnum never had to shoot one though
I am in the mountains in Colorado living in my truck camper this video will be of great help
I grew up in Grand County, in the rocky mountains. My experience with black bears was nothing to worry about. They are generally really peaceful wild animals when it comes to humans. They would come around every night during certain times of the year. At 13-14 years old I was within feet of them on many occasions and they mostly just looked at me like "Hey, I'm just here to raid your trashcan, hope your nights going good." Granted they got a little too comfortable, one even left its cub at my house and went up the street while I was just sitting on the deck with it's cub... I was nervous as to how the mother would react when it got back, but she ended up being just fine with it. Now with that said, I'm not saying go out and make a black bear homie. They are wild animals after all, but if you're alone in the woods or even on a quiet mountain town street, a black bear is so much better to see than a set of glowing mountain lion eyes, or a brown bear. Side note, raccoons will steal your sandwiches.
DONT TURN YOUR BACK ON A BEAR OR ANY WILD ANIMAL
100% correct, if you back up don't even stare at it directly. Wave you arms, look big and talk in a calm loud voice.
At these situations I just like to count numbers from 1 to 10 and further loud.
@@MML996 There are a lot of myths and just plain bad information that's ended up on park fliers that unfortunately gets repeated over and over. One of them is this nonsense about "Not looking them in the eye". This applies to Jane Fossey's Gorillas.and not challenging the head Silverback. IT has nothing whatsoever to to with North American Black Bears. I am in the woods almost every day as my wife does bird photography. During June (the mating month) and August (the month they fatten up) I often come across them on the trail. I always look them in the eye, stay calm and talk softly to them. They don't know what you are saying but they recognize from your tone you are not a threat. They usually leave or resume their activity after you aleviate their anxiety.
@@josephshields2922 Does your wife take pictures of eagles?
@@josephshields2922 good to hear your opinion.
Bears are so unpredictable you can never count on them to do the unexpected.
Except Polar bears, you can count on them just start eating you.
Just start calmly talking to the bear, tell him something like, “I’m just going to go put some quarters in the meter, I’ll be right back.” They understand this and will wait there for you. I have used this method and it works.
Okay then...... Keep in touch
The cub grabbing just one more apple before running was absolutely adorable.
When I was 16 I was camping up in the Sylvania Wilderness way up nort' der yah der hey in the UP of Michigan. A black bear came through my camp at night. Didn't get my food, because I had it suspended, but she DID get all my toilet paper. I slept through the whole thing lol.
It’s true 99% of black bears will get out of the way of humans. But there can be that one very hungry bear that might be old or not getting enough to eat then he will stock you and eat you. I’ve known of this to happen in Alaska many times. In all the years I lived and roamed around the woods there I only had one encounter with a very aggressive bear. He didn’t live through the experience but if I weren’t armed I suppose I could have become his dinner.
He will "stock" me? Where exactly? In the meat department? Snacks? I need to know these things man don't leave me hanging!!!
Apathetic Display haha sorry. Stalk you just before he eats you. Bears can’t spell either.
@@BamaMatters11 Grammar police are so unBEARable.
I encountered a small black bear in Tennessee there were a lot of people behind me and the bear was walking towards the path then ran across it really fast when he noticed people.
Muskie Angler haha I’m an old Alaskan and I don’t much give a rats a** about grammar much less worry about grammar police. At least I didn’t become bear food.
This is the way I feel here in Florida when I'm on a hike and see a very large alligator. Stunning animals that will almost always ignore you and/or run away, but every once in awhile you come across an aggressive one in a shitty mood.
So true.... I am scared to death of alligators. I can hike with Moose, Bears, Mountain Lions and Bison......Hiking along the river banks of Florida scare me to death. Respect... Keep in touch
@@William180 I start my AT thru-hike on March 16, I'm about to binge on all of your AT videos. I started following you on IG, too 👍
I’m from Florida. You’ve seen aggressive alligators on land? I feel like gators aren’t looking for trouble on land. I definitely have not seen that but maybe I’m not out on FL trails enough.
@@matthewgodwin4626 I'm also from Florida and yes, every once in awhile, alligators can get aggressive on land (mostly mothers protecting their nests). They can run around 30-35mph and are surprisingly good climbers. I've known several people like William 180 who prefer large mammals up North (everything's "up North" to us here, isn't it? lol) to all the crazy creatures we have here in FL
My friend was attacked by a gator last yr. While we were out kayaking in a wide river. It was unprovoked, unnerving and very weird. She survived w/ puncture wounds on her arm and mental/emotional trauma.
It would also be helpful to explore different bear encounter scenarios such as what to do if the bear doesn't go away or follows you when you start backing away. Also what to do if the bear charges you. If you come across a more curious or aggressive bear, it is important to show strength to the bear. Meaning make yourself look big, make yourself louder, take a couple steps toward the bear while yelling, even look for something like a rock or a stick to throw at the bear. Yes, this is very effective and I've used that method multiple times with bear encounters. Animals sense fear and if you show you're not afraid, they will usually retreat. If you are in a very remote wilderness area and the bear continues to stalk you, it is because you are being hunted and it is intending to eat you. At that point you have to persistently do your best to get out of this dangerous situation and fight back all you can. Don't lay down and play dead. That only works when the bear sees you as a threat. If the bear is following/tracking you, it is likely the bear sees you as food.
Yeah I gotta agree with the person above me, if you yell or throw things at a griz for example, it's gonna charge. And you can fight back all you want, it won't go your way. Most bears do not stalk humans for food, but more out of curiosity, back away and make noise. Let the bear know you see them. Fighting back is something you should only apply to black bears if they charge alone and you have no other option. Fighting a grizzly will only open up your good bits.
Yes, do not show fear but DO NOT BE AGRESSIVE. You can shoo a curious black bear by being commanding, just like you would with a dog: "GET!"
You can do some things to confuse and intimidate, like taking your jacket off and swinging it around. They won't know what to make of it and will think twice about approaching.
If that doesn't work, you can grab a large stick/log and bash it against a tree. This will display your capability without directly threatening.
If that fails, then you might throw rocks or large sticks.
It is extremely unlikely that a black bear would be stalking someone though. If that is the case, the bear is desperate and you should not stand your ground. You still don't want to show fear or aggression but you need to get the hell outta there and always keep that bear in your sight.
Yes a black bear will usually flee before risking a fight but don't count on it. Aggression is a challenge, not a warning.
Anyone can translate 'I am not food!' into bear? Would hate to yell in a language the bear doest know
Bears have extraordinary abilities to pick up your scent from a great distance and their sense of smell is better than sight for tracking. So indeed if you’re being stalked as prey, it probably is because you’re the entree on the dinner menu.
@@grizzlyblackpowder1960t
I observed one important thing over and above the great information you gave is the us of situational awareness, constantly checking 360 as you progress down the trail. This posture is what I use no matter where I travel forest or city streets. Thank you!
I always wear bells when hiking to keep the bears away. I know if you come across some bear dung and it's smell sweet that is black bear as they like fruits and berries if you come across some with bells in it than that is a Grizz
Look up the tigers who tracked the nomadic tribes. The people were attacked by tigers so they started banging pots and pans as they traveled which scared the Tigers away. Pretty soon the Tigers figure it out that pots and pans banging was a dinner bell. Lol
In my area I jingle my lure on my fishing pole. Sounds like a dog collar kinda. But its a 50/50 bet because you know the saying, " curiosity killed the cat". We've got cougars here too.
I heard that you should just toss them your picnic basket! Works for Yogi and BooBoo!
Ah bear bells, the most successful con scheme in America.
I have never been afraid of much.The thing I fear, is being ignorant in a dangerous situation. That "Popping" thing is worth its weight in gold. Thank you..its information like this that is life saving. Safe travels.
I survived a black bear in the middle of the night while sleeping. Thanks to my deaf dog who leaped and starting scrapping gave enough of a time to get up and charge back at the bear. Eventually the bear charged 3 or 4 and I stood my ground with a ax swinging. Once a bear a decides to attacks its hard to change their mind
One of the intense nights out camping for me!!
WOW
Considering all of my black bear encounters I agree whole heartedly with what you have said. One thing I would add though is to watch out for odd behavior from a mature bear, indecisiveness, appears nervous, doesn't know what to do kind of thing. When I observed this while cycling with a group I got everyone to stop about 100m away, we watched the bear for 30 seconds or so and suddenly a cub popped out from the other side of the road, we all raced back up that hill getting away in pretty much record time!
I always talk to the bears when I see them in a very calm voice. We size each other up for a bit and if he / she's off to the side of the trail that I'm on and their just happy picking berries or watchin what the silly human is doing I continue at a normal walking pace along the trail while talking to the bear.
Closest that I've been was a bear looking around the front bumper of my truck while I was unloading garbage and refuse at a small cottage area dump. I talked to the bear while I continued doing what I was doing and when I was done unloading I looked at the bear and said, "well big fella, I gotta go, are you going to let me into the truck to leave or what?" I took one or two slow steps towards him and my door, totally in a non-threatening manner and he backed away and headed for the bush.
yes, this exactly. I feel like when we talk they actually try to translate what we're saying. It, possibly, perplexes them ... not sure. But they do get tripped-up on language just a tad. like regular talking (in the calm) no yelling
Back in the early 1990s i was moving into a condo out in the sticks of Western Massachusetts. It was a big old three story Victorian house divided into six condo units. My unit was the entire top level. Anyway, i was lugging up boxes of stuff from my girlfriend's little S-10 pickup truck. It was a warm summer night, the truck was parked in a dark parking lot next to a dumpster. I heard something or someone rustling around near the dumpster. I paid very little attention to that because i had a job to do. I walked right past the dumpster a few times bring those boxes in and up to the third floor. At one point i was coming back down the stairs and ran into one of my new neighbors.
He asked me: "Did you see the size of that bear?" The thing is i didn't see the bear, but apparently, he was right there in the or by the dumpster while i walked back and forth by him a half dozen times. At that point, i decided to wait til daylight to finish unloading the truck. I did see the bear a couple times in the daylight after that. He would come by because sometimes that dumpster was a source of food. He was a big boy. He had to be at least 3 to 400 pounds.
One morning my son alerted me that there were bears in the old dumpster. Back then i had one of those old Sony VHS camcorders. We went down to the front porch to video the bears. I still have that and other videos somewhere. In the dumpster was the big guy and two smaller younger adult or juvenile bears. On the video i captured the big guy holding and tipping a wine bottle to lap up the little bit that was still in it. And he carefully set it down on the ground standing upright. Just a few minutes later a neighbor's small dog came charging the dumpster barking aggressively. All three bears skedaddled out of the dumpster and off into the woods.
We saw him one more time from a window of the condo. He came to visit the yard alone this time. He just found a spot on the front lawn where he just sat down and relaxed for a while. A friend had stopped by to visit, and he was just about to leave. But he decide to just hang out until the bear moved on instead. Eventually, the bear did move on, and that was the last time i saw him. There was a State Forest nearby, and people reported seeing a large black bear there a few times. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same bear. I imagine they do a lot of wandering in search of food. A park with camping and picnic areas by a lake would be another good spot for him to visit.
They do warn you you just have to pay attention to their actions.
@@tinaradlowski2184 Yes. As long as they don't see you as food, they will warn you with sounds and behaviors.
@@tonyprice2256 It begs the question what if the bear is not disuaded to run/walk away even after the guidelines are followed. The man offered some helpful hints, but a 5% risk of unfriendly bear hugs, remains a source of fear. A hike without bear spray is like a day w/o sunshine. He contradicted himself at first saying don't run away. That excites a bear & he/she is hardwired to chase, catch, & kill. They run much faster so dont bring on the pain.
Later, he tells us to run hard, run fast if a bear starts making poping, smacking noises at you. He's really pissed q
I have extensive backcountry experience. The one thing I like and trust most about the person making this video - he’s humble enough to know what he doesn’t know (i.e. grizzly bears). I’m the same way about the hikes I plan. People without this trait take a lot of unnecessary risks.
Don't take a selfie with a black bear.
YEA DON'T TAKE SELFIE WITH BEAR OR FART UP WIND LOL
IF YOUR FART SMELL LIKE ROTTEN EGGS IN THE FOREST, MIGHT SMELL GOOD TO BEARS AND WOLVES.
@@FUNKBOOGIE1 you seem to be a 12 year old with too much sugar and a broken caps button
@@JackeyBoyyy ? look who talking
😂😂😂🤣
No bugs, no people. I like the way you think.
Just make sure you have the gear for colder weather..... Colorado was unseasonable chilly for the middle of September, but it was still a lot of fun....
Same reason I like to hike in winter. It's scary to encounter a person on the trail it's like the wild west out there
I've done tons of hiking in NH for decades and never saw even a glimpse of a bear, or coyote, or bobcat nothing but deer and the one time there was a racoon asleep in the middle of the trail. Thought he was dead for a second but he started moving after I walked by and scuttled off the trail. He was definitely just sleeping very odd
I shouted expecto petronum at a bear in NH and he ran the hell away . The next day my then girlfriend proposed to me. We have been married 10 years . True story .
Greg W wow
Wtf
That's a king move. I would've married you too and I'm not even gay.
S imp
@@scott1853 that's debatable...
A long time ago I was walking my dog, and I came face to face with a black bear. He was in some bushes, I stayed calm, pushed the bushes back in place, and slowly backed away. I was about 150 yards from my house. I distracted my dog and slowly headed home. I will never forget that day!
Kelly Keefe Amazing story keep in touch
Um, distracted your dog. He would have smelled the bear, sweetie.
I’m watching this video because half an hour ago I saw a black bear on my yard. Actually my security camera warn me. I live next to Appalachian trail we do have black bears here. This video improved my knowledge about the black bear. Thank you.
"If you see a black bear just throw off your pack, charge it, and punch it in the face. It's just a black bear; you can take it."
-Jack Daniel's
Moral of the story: Don't drink and hike.
Wow
I got one better don't drink at all.
@@1ofhis518 i drink because of RUclips comments like this
TheNotoriousCheeto rofl
I’m a kid so I don’t think that would be good advise for me
I always run while screaming like a dying rabbit.
And put a portable electric bear fence around your campsite. There’s one out there weighing only 2.4 lbs and it’s really capable. Passive deterrence for a good night’s sleep.
Good content, appreciate the honesty of your knowledge with different types of bear. It was surprising to me that data shows that blackbear are actually more predatory than grizzly. Very rare but seems to be true. I personally myself would never hike the AT unarmed. More about the 2 leg predators.
Frank Spitzer Very well said my friend keep in touch thank you....
Maybe fake data
@@johnbaily8455
Fake data sure didn’t apply for the fatally mauled sleeping, camping man three weeks ago in Prescott, AZ.🌎🇺🇸🥹🥲💔
who only eats half of the snickers
I was actually just thinking that!
It happens to me. I try to eat 4 and can only get 3 1/2 down.
@@umyes4944 lol
@@umyes4944 😀
Northern Wisconsin here! Our black bears especially this year and over the past two years have become unusually bold and having more trouble with them. The last two nights I'm working in my fifth wheel camper in my woodsy backyard, spent the night in my camper and had a bear approach last two nights however last night was a bit more extreme. In Medford a couple months ago a law enforcement officer and his wife had a bare encounter in the backyard and Mama Bear went right through their window to get at them chewed them up a little bit until he shot the bear in the house. More campers are experiencing bears, black bears, who are unusually bold and they return more aggressive. I've never known black bear to be as bold as they have become recently.
No food....destruction of natural habitat thanks to geoengineering going on....Look Up....!! The wild berries and insect life such as grubs are being decimated...as a result there is more desperation in the wildlife population.
I agree last yr and I live in Colorado in a small mountain town we had a unusual large amount of bears close to my apartment complex I mean it was a every day thing day and night and some would walk right up to you and we had several minor bear attacks one guy lounging in his hammock had one bite his arm it was superficial wounds but are local bear expert did a class on bear safety due to all the bear sitings and encounters I learned a lot it was helpful but you just never know so I'm scared but I have a Chihuahua who I have to take out early morning so I was seeing bears every day sometime two or three times a day and up close to,
Do you think it's because they might be associating humans with food (like when people don't secure their garbage or tourists giving food)?
I'm not sure ... but I do know that more of their natural habitat is being disturbed in so many ways.
Likely a number of reasons.
@@raveninavaniam9438 yeah that's there as well
Great video! I’m in central MN and came across a mama black bear and her two cubs when I was out trail running. I was cruising down a hill, rounding a corner, and BOOM, mama was right there on the trail with her two babies in a tree. My heart stopped for a second, I was so taken aback! Dang near blew my knee out from the screeching halt I came to! I calmly put both hands up, as if I were under arrest, didn’t make eye contact, and slooooowly backed away. It took a lot of willpower to not turn and RUN, but that wouldn’t have done me any favors. My friends always make fun of me for carrying bear spray around here because sightings are very rare in the metro, but this experience justified my purchase 😆 Thankfully I didn’t have to use it, but it gives me peace of mind to be prepared!
Right, I don’t know how u wouldn’t run. It’s crazy to me to just sit there and chill. I could never.
I just make sure I take someone with me that I can out run problem solved
That could work to .......I guess. LOL...Thank you for watching my video.
The bear might be hungrier than you think!
that works unless you have bacon in you pocket
LMAO 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@bills7115 slow guy always carries the bacon. common knowledge
Grizzly is a whole different bear attitude.
As I’m watching this, my ring floodlight sent me a notification ... black bear in backyard ...
Grey Goose 4x4 that is amazing..... good stuff... keep in touch
This just came up on my playlist, very good info. I live in a town with a lot of black bears and a lot of hiking trails so you can imagine that sooner or later you will encounter one. Our nearest outdoor supply sells "Bear Bells" , my husband and I each have one because as you say if they hear you they will usually run the other way. But sometimes you get an ornery one or a sow with cubs, then be careful, as we all know, do not get between mother and cubs and if you do by accident, slowly move away from cubs and start praying....loudly! I carry mace but to be honest I am more afraid of some of the freaks roaming the woods than I am animals. I was raised on how to live amongst the animals and respect them and don't be a Joe hero. Common sense will take you far, like a good pair of hiking boots.
Nicely said, thank you ......keep in touch
@@William180 Thank you, always a pleasure to speak with someone else who loves and respects the outdoor life!
The problem is if a human in the past tried to hunt it. If it's scared of humans it could potentially attack.
If i encounter a black bear, i don't make any racist comments to piss him off.
Norm Hodgkinson .
I just call them bears..Not Blacklabel..
Do not say "black bear"! More politically correct would be "bear of color"
@@ironheadfm yes, that would be correct, but i am sick to death of that f __ing political correct BS. i just say whats on my mind, people can like it or not, i don't give a rats ass.
blm=Bear Lives Matter !
@@ITILII Yes they do ! and probably more-so than . . . . . . well, you know.
Well I walked out my front door the other day and it was standing 15 ft away. I turned and walk back inside, and he left so we both had so good day here in Appalachia.
We live on a mountain. I was on our deck....huge black bear came from the top of the mtn....into our yard area. At first he did not see me. He was about 20 feet away. I was shocked, and stood up and said "Hey Bear". He stopped and we looked at each other for a few minutes. I did not move....the Bear slowly turned around and walked back up the mountain. Saw it one more time from a distance. The Bear was in a wild black berry patch.
I used to love hiking in bear country, looking for cubs to pet. They are so cute and cuddly. These days, I enjoy watching videos about bears from the comfort of my wheelchair.
Keep in touch my friend....
I was out deer hunting, my wife and children stayed in camp. That afternoon a black bear, bout 350 pounds, came into camp. I fired a shot into the air and it ran off. It hid behind a tree, 10" diameter and peeked around one side and then the other. It figured there was no reason to be scared and started walking toward us. My wife and children were behind me. I fired another shot and it stood on its rear legs and held its forelegs up a bit. It then got back on all four legs and was coming toward us again. I shot a tree when it went by and splattered the bear's face with bark. It turned and ran uphill with great speed.
It came back that night and looked inside our SUV's rear window, it seemed safer than sleeping in our tent. I aimed the rifle at its head, had my children cover their ears and open their mouths. My wife crawled forward and started the engine, the bear went away.
People that believe bears are friendly are fools. They are wild and hungry and love to eat easy food. If they become acclimated to being fed by people their natural fear goes away.
Very well said....thank you for sharing that story. Thank you for watching my video and please keep in touch.
You were very patient and calm, that's admirable. It's always essential to remember that when we're in a black bears, that they get the right of way, we're just camping, or spending time in the woods... but that's where they live... and we have to take responsibility to not have food laying around, which is usually the biggest problem... we present a huge temptation for an animal trying to locate food.
Thats why you never leave food where it can attract them AND especially dont feed them as some idiots do!
100% accurate, I live in north western NJ where we have a huge black bear population as a result of increased hunting restrictions ... they are more and more used to humans, thus less timid and aggressive
Someone just got attached two weeks ago
They are not “wild”! They are generally predictable. “The most dangerous thing you can encounter in the woods is another human”
Good talk. Beautiful animals. See them frequently here in PA. One thing to add to the don't crouch down point is also the 'play dead' thing doesn't work with Black Bears.
I just love these sweeties. I once happened across 2 youngsters in the large garbage containers at a site in the Smoky Mountains where we'd camped one Easter. The folks I was with were from the first college I went to, nice 'suburban to a big city' people who were utterly benighted on the realities of wildlife, whether inculturated to humans or not. The town I'm from is basically in the country, and I've been in touch with "all things natural" since I was 4 years old. I loved and studied everything that lived 'outside!' Well, I never stopped trying to communicate with living creatures irrespective of whether I could see their ears or not. For example, I was hard pressed at 5 to find the ears (tympanus) on frogs, and though it took awhile, I eventually found them on the injured or baby birds I'd find and bring home to raise. (No, I didn't know until I studied Ornithology in University that baby birds out of their nests should be left exactly where they are and that their mothers will feed them from the ground.) Hey, I was 4 and 8 and 11 when I brought those birds home, how was I supposed to know? In any case, I'd raise them by hand, by instinct, and they'd fly away later on. The same with wild baby bunnies. I'd even gather grown animals that I'd pick up for a day and bring home "for Ma to see," and then release an hour or so later. It would be years before I'd realize that I might be causing them stress and that they'd have difficulty with their own loved ones later on:
~TOAD WIFE TO~
~LATE HUBBY~
"WHERE have you
been?"
"Oh, you've NO idea
what I've just been
through, so don't
start!"
"Don't start? I've had
dinner waiting for
over an hour?!"
"LOOK! It couldn't be
helped! Some
human picked me up
and played with me
for an hour while I
was on my way,
OKAY??!!"
"OH!"
"Yeah, oh! Now do you
understand?!! Where
are my nuts? I need
a drink!"
No, Disney didn't pick up the North American Serial Rights to THAT episode.
As for the two small cubs in the garbage containers, one was upended and stuck upside down in one and unable to get out, while the other was nosing around the outside, inspecting the ground and occasionally looking up at its sibling's feet. I in all my benighted wisdom thought well, they're NOT fearsome grizzlies, and I don't see momma bear anywhere, (dumb, really stoooopid!! THINK, you ignorant lugnut!!!) so I'll just sidle over nonchalantly making as little noise as possible so as not to startle them, and help the one that's stuck out of the can, right? I got this. So I get within armslength of this delightful teddy and guesssssss what?
You Betch'em, Red Rider! Momma. Stood. Up. She not only heard me, she s m e l l e d my advent before I got there. How 'bout that, fool!
Me: "Oh. I didn't see you there. I was just gonna hel---buuuut I'm just wishfully thinking, like when they say don't try this
at home...NOT a good idea." Momma then dropped down to all fours, came out around the cans and blithely started to amble toward me, in no rush to accomplish her objective: ME-> GONE. I now realized my best advantage would be to confuse the mommy as best I could until she gave up. So, I did to her what I always did to squirrels to paralyze them and compel them to take heed of me and that I'm trying to get a message across. Squirrels, however, have a different sense of self than black bears. Oh, don't get me wrong, black bears appreciate the conversation, they just respond a little differently, a little slower than squirrels.
I started to chatter at her, incessantly! Everything that one would ordinarily exchange or admire in his or her friends and colleagues came out of me in a swift, one sided parlance.
"That's okay Mom I understand. Is your den far from here? Is this your first litter? You look kinda thin, Mommy, are you getting everything you need ? Huh? Well the reason I ask is cuz I could always go back to camp and put a couple sandwiches together for ya and maybe snag some fruit. Would that help? I suppose you're gonna wanna get some rest then. No by all means don't let me stop you, you go right ahead. Mind if I watch? Say how many siblings do YOU have? I have two brothers that are both older than me. What's your favorite color? Mine'9s purple. Do you like purple? You all get around on foot for the most part, or do you havva car for errands? I don't have one either. And I'm not in the market for one anyways. Speaking of markets, what's your favorite thing to munch on, just you and the kids on a Saturday night at home? Berries? Oh, I love raspberries! Do you havva a permanent partner who's your guiding light in this world or are you pretty much on your own? Oh that's a pity, but you're the stronger for it. Take it from someone who's been there. Tell me which trees are your particular trees. Are they Pine trees or Balsams or don't you have a given preference....."
I kept this b.s. up for some 7 to 10 solid minutes while she slowly backed me outta the site, then she stopped and just stood there, as if to say, 'Its all right now, you can leave. But if you want to see us again
come back anytime. We shouldn't be far away. And next time don't be afraid to sing out. 🐻 💖 🐦
I turned away and comfortably started back through the woods toward camp when an idea struck me. Now, ya gotta understand something. I'm a little pixillated. Folks used to call people like me "Touched." That's probably why I've never been afraid of anything in the wild, I have a far greater respect for them now at age 66 than I did when I was little, or when I tried that dumb stunt with the bears when I was 18, but I still love pranks when it comes to my fellow hominids. So, ya gotta remember back then, in 1973, compact cars were just that, small. Soooo,--I took off at a dead run and came barreling into camp, waving wildly and screaming,
"There's a bear after me!!! It's HUGE and it's coming this way! Everybody scramble! Get ta safety now!"
Have you ever seen 11 people crammed into an original model Toyota?
It's impressive. 🤣
In the woods I carry a 10mm with hard cast lead bullets. Black bears are doing videos on what to do if they encounter me.
You better be a damn good shot and have perfect shot placement under extreme pressure or you will piss off a sow. I own a 10mm as well and I was glad I didn't use it when I was attacked (the charge happened so fast that I didn't have time to draw and aim). I got bit once and was left alone after she rightly assumed I was no threat. When that bear charges you, your IQ will go from 100 to 10 in a fraction of a second. There is no good way to practice at a range with a pistol under those circumstances. That one bite I got was enough to paralyze my arm for a month. Black bears are in the top 10 for bite force of all animals in the world and that one bite was the most pain I've ever experienced and I've had chainsaw accidents. Don't believe me? Go to my channel page and you can see the bear charge after my dog, who'd just been in a viscous fight with her. She came after me, neutralized me and then went back after my dog. You'll see my dog was as big as she was, but he was no match. She was still pissed off at my dog who'd retreated back into the garage. If I had shot her and just wounded her, she would have done to me what she did to him and I wouldn't be alive to type this. His wounds only healed after 2 months and 3 surgeries. Claws ripped his skin open, she pinned him on the ground and put about 30 bites into his back, trying to break his spine. My dog is no wimp either. He's 220lbs and strong as a gorilla, but the bear brought knives and he only had paws. Now, I carry a Benelli M4 with slugs and 00 buck because I have some confidence that I can hit a moving target with great force when my IQ is sitting at 10 under those circumstances.
im going to take a wild guess here... you also wear a maga hat when walking in the woods?
@nonmilagno grew up in it. its only that serious if you are really afraid, other wise its not that serious.
(Just in case), Your one of the people who will a have an aggressive bear encounter, keep a few flares attached to your belt. Because bears sprays don't always work. I repeat, bear sprays don't always work. Flares do! No bear is going to keep coming at you when faced with a blast of fire. If you have to use a flare, Get out of the area ASAP and destroy then the flare.
Living at the foot of the Appalachian Trail I see them a lot. It’s wise to always keep your distance but usually they leave you alone. A loud noise or series of them usually spooks them. Black bears seem to be pretty twitchy.
Grizzlies on the other hand I categorize under the “well, might be screwed here” category.
We keep moving into their habitats and forcing them down to the base of mountains or even cities.
Very, very good video.
Great informative video--thank you. I was sitting on the ground weeding by the garage, and a black bear came around the garage corner. We were about 10 feet apart. I was transfixed for a few seconds, then stood up slowly and backed away. He calmly and silently turned away and walked across the field next to the garage. It was thrilling and scary. Another time, I came home at dusk, parked my car and was walking toward my apartment on a stone path a little away from the apartments. I saw a large bear sitting at the edge of the woods, about 50 feet away. Then I noticed there were two cubs. As I backed slowly away from them, the momma bear gave a command and the cubs scurried up trees. That was amazing and so cool to see. I walked to my apartment as far away from them as I could. Thrilling.
Good advice.
I'm from Northern Ontario so am accustomed to the black bears. They deserve a lot of respect because they can maim you without even trying but in general they will avoid any confrontation unless they are defending a kill, cubs, a den or they have been cornered, except the domesticated ones. The wild bears are actually less of a threat than the dump and town bears because they have not been acclimated to humans and remain cautious of the unknown. I once saw a black bear peel the door off a car at the dump because the people were feeding it chocolate bars through the window and when they ran out it still wanted more.
I live in Vancouver BC now and last year I was outside my apartment building (middle of the city) having a cigarette late at night when I heard some deep grumbling, huffing and rustling in the hedge behind me. Without looking I could tell right away from the grumble and snorting that it was a bear and I was blocking it's only path to get across the property. It wasn't being threatening but it was just hanging around the bush right behind me about 6ft away. I surmised it was trying to get by me but it didn't want an encounter and was trying to figure out a way past so I moved a few yards away from the path and talked so it would know where I was. Sure enough, as soon as the bear knew I moved out of the way, it came out from behind the bush, gave me a casual look and sauntered away.
He (or she, I wasn't about to ask for pronouns) was so close walking by that I could practically reach out and pet him (that would have been REALLY stupid though). I've seen and dealt with quite a few black bears growing up, on the property, in town, at the dump and in the bush but never within 6ft. As much as I don't fear them, that was much closer than I care to experience again, although that was one of the most spiritual moments in my life. When that bear looked at me as it strolled by, there was no aggression or fear from either of us. I just sensed gratitude and mutual respect. I'm glad it happened the way it did but I'm also very aware of how serious that situation potentially was.
Coincidentally, I'm a Métis and on the native side my family is Ojibwe, from the Bear Clan of Manitoulin. The black bear is my spirit animal, so that encounter was pretty special.
Don't be afraid, run, cower, etc because you will trigger their feral predator instincts, just like how a cat is compelled to chase mice or how a dog has a 6th sense for fear (most animals do).
Be smart though. Don't be the idiot feeding the bear chocolate bars at the dump. Know that they are as cautious of humans as we are of bears and they don't want an encounter anymore than you do unless they are defending themselves.
Brown, Grizzly, Kodiaks and Polar bears are a different story. They are much larger and they will stalk and hunt a human if they are desperate. Still, if you encounter one, you mustn't display fear. They will still respond to the same feral instincts and even though are much larger and are much more likely to prey on a human, unless they have already tasted blood, they will hesitate to take a risky encounter with something that they think could possibly hurt them so your best chance is to make them question if it's worth it to attack you. Unless they are starving they will choose self-preservation over curiosity. Don't challenge them though. Be fearless, not aggressive. Back away, don't run. They can run much faster than you anyway. Don't turn your back until they do. Don't climb a tree either. They can climb too and then you are trapped whether they climb after you or not. They can even pull a small tree down. Just don't go into grizzly territory (in BC interior it's grizzly) unless you are prepared with proper protection (like a shotgun) and pay diligent attention to your environment. Most deadly encounters are because the people were not paying attention to their surroundings and the bear didn't know they were there until they were too close or the person didn't hear the warnings to back off. Even grizzlies and other big bears are not known to hunt humans unless they are desperate or have been acclimated.
I'd worry more about cougars (on the west coast at least) and wolves. They WILL stalk and hunt humans. They are purely carnivore/predators and they will ambush you. A bear is an omnivore/opportunist. Black bears particularly are more scavenger than predator.
Thumbs up! I don't know how similar black bears in the Appalachian Trail area are to those in the Sierra, but based on dozens of close bear encounters over decades, I fully agree with your recommendations and experiences. I've had a few exceptional experiences which may be worth noting.
1) Bear in labor: While snowshoeing in Spring at ~8300 feet elevation and deep snow, I noticed that the snow had melted in an unusual fashion around a tree (larger space existed below the surface instead of a wide conical shaped melt due to sun exposure). I walked towards it thinking there might be a thermal vent to explain why. I heard soft whimpering sounds and thought it might be a coyote den. But, there were no tracks in pretty soft snow. I reached the edge and looked down (about 8 feet from snow line down to the base of the tree). The tree had a hollow, rotted, "A" shaped notch in it that was blocked by a bunch of brown fur. Oh s***!, that is the back of a bear! But then, the most amazing thing happened. The bear lowered its head enough to peer through the notch and look at me. I INSTANTLY felt this profound exchange where I knew both that the bear was neither angry nor scared and that I had somehow conveyed to it that I posed no threat. It looked at me for a second as though it was saying 'can't you see I'm busy?', and turned back inside, ignoring me. It was panting and whimpering despite no tracks around its den. I'm sure it was in labor. I then made a point of loudly crunching with my snowshoes as I walked away so it knew I was leaving.
2) Bear stare-down: Sierra bears and I seem to have often 'discovered' one another at much closer distances than is required for them to hear me. As you said, most of the time, once we've gotten close, they sprint away. One Summer at ~9300 feet elevation I stumbled to within 20 feet of several large bucks. They darted away as I marveled at their size, horns and close proximity. I then heard more motion and assumed a deer had stayed put. Nope. It was a large black bear, standing its ground, staring at me from ~20 feet. I stood my ground, faced it (had a pack on) and assumed it would leave. Nope. I slowly grabbed a large stick and loudly whacked a tree to scare it. This caused it to move sideways to me about 10 feet, stop, lower its head and start licking its lips (perhaps smacking its jaws, but I don't remember hearing that). Now THIS was intimidating. I kept the stick for defense, continued facing it, but slowly started stepping backwards some 50+ feet before turning and walking away. Whew, that worked! I assume there was probably a cub nearby. So on the return, I took a different route, only to closely encounter yet another, smaller, honey colored bear. But this one sprinted away so fast that it likely got up to 30 MPH within a second. I was absolutely amazed at its acceleration.
3) Face to face at 1 foot: While climbing a small waterfall, I grabbed the rock above me and started climbing ~6 feet of rock to the next ledge. As my head crested the top, a bear was resting RIGHT there. It bolted away and I reflexively fell back. The waterfall probably helped the bear doze and mask my sounds.
4) Large bear pokes its head into my tent: While camping at a Yosemite campground in the 1970's, I left my tent screen open one night in order to keep the air fresh and cool inside. I heard the tent flap rustling and then saw a VERY LARGE bear sticking its head inside my small tent. All I could do was stay still. After a second or two, it left. Zipping up the screen seemed like a useless aid, but I did it just the same. The following morning, a ranger was in the grounds because a lot of people had reported a problem bear. The bear was STILL in the campgrounds. Rangers do things differently these days. But in the '70's, the ranger hurled some cantaloupe sized rocks at the bear. The most amazing thing was that the bear did not even flinch when the rocks bounced off of it. After a few rocks had hit, it lifted its nose higher, looked around as though with some disinterest, and slowly walked away. Uhh, Mr. ranger, you're gonna' need a bigger rock.
5) Bears like beer: While I did not see it, (in the 1970's) a person near my campsite reported that a bear had grabbed several of his beers. It would puncture a can with its teeth, then hold the can up high to drain its contents. (I assume the bear wasn't under age)
I consider it a real privilege to encounter the bears, but I now usually carry bear spray.
I use a bell on my gear. It rings as I walk. In over 40 years of solo hiking I've never had a problem with bears.
❤❤ thanks i needed this information
Fun fact: Bears sometimes Will tunnel in to the ground when frightened and can use this to sneak up on their prey
Thanks for the good info. While my hiking the AT days are mostly in the past the Black Bear tips are useful as bears are frequent visitors in my neighborhood here in small town Western N. Carolina. They never seem to bother anyone, but do empty bird feeders and occasionally go through a trash can. Mostly very shy.
We live in Vancouver, Canada and we see black bears all the time. Our house is against the mountains and it’s common for them to walk past or be at our sons school. This is good advice that’s shared in this video. I agree with all of it.
My Mom lives in PoCo, she has black bears in her yard every year. They're not dangerous if you understand them.
Black bears are far more intelligent and far less aggressive than brown bears. William's advice is basic but correct. Fortunately, wild black bears do not attack humans unprovoked, except in a cub encounter. They are far more curious than mean. A brown bear, on the other hand, may decide that you'd make a nice lunch.
Nice
Black don't attack
Brown will munch you down!
Noted
@@sowutsurpoint that's racist
Sacrificial Lamb got it... handle koalas and polar bears the same way as not to offend an activist. Give them all eucalyptus, problem solved.
iloveyour sacredcow A koala is not a bear!!!
Seeing a bear of any color doesn’t bother me, it’s a horny Bigfoot that I’m worried about!
LOL
I have had many encounters within 3-5 feet. Talk with them. If they can leave they will. If cornered you may have a problem. I have picked berries with them right by me. They would move and keep picking. A sow with cubs is always a potential problem that you need to back away.
That must have been very surreal to experience
@@shadw4701 You bet! Scary too! But dont panic
I had a close encounter with a bear backpacking in back country, in the morning my friend yelled to me there was a bear at her tent. She had water in the tent vestibule but no food or scented products but the bear was taking her water containers out, I jumped out of my tent with hiking poles for my only means of defense and told the bear to go away, it walked away from her tent and came up to me and stood about six feet away, i just talked nice to the bear, telling it to go away for about ten minutes, and then it did. There was a smaller bear up on the game trail but they left, we then hiked all day. In the evening while we were eating I heard as low snorting sound but maybe it was that popping sound and turned around and saw the bears staring at us, the smaller bear was making up and down motions and then came down, ran around our campsite, ran up to my tent and stared, then ran around in circles around the site. It was still light but getting dusk and we decided to just get the hell out of there, hiking out in the dark with headlights.
Hello, i live in eastern ky in the appalachian mts, i hike a lot, i have encountered many animals, grey foxes, coyotes, black bears, bocats, elk, never had any close encounters until recently, i had a close encounter with a passing through black bear, i was camping alone in a small tent, had a bear bag hung a good half mile away, no food in or around the tent, anyway, its dark out, got a fire going, i zip up in my tent and try to go to bed, i had heard breaking tree limbs all night so i knew something big was near, plus i had that gut feeling i was being watched/stalked, almost instantly as soon as i get in my tent and get in my sleeping bag a black bear is in my camp site, just feet from my tent, i here him breathing and his lumbering footsteps, had to be at least a 300 pounder, he circles my tent a couple times and lies down right beside my tent, at this point im not gonna lie, im scared as fuck, not armed, i had two machetes and a knife, suprisingly i dozed off and awoke at dawn, bear was gone, sometimes the bear bag dont lure them away, and sometimes a fire will not discourage them, my advice, if you are hilking alone and a bear comes into camp at night, just stay in your tent remain calm and quiet, do not get out and engage, always arm yourself if alone, if not with a gun at least bring a good size machete or a large knife, anything sharp, just in case, although i wouldn't call this a direct encounter it was still scary and was enough for me, i still hike and camp a lot, always will, your best tools are in your head, just dont get overcome with fear and do something stupid, bears are unpredictable, but as scary as they are id much rather deal with a single bear than a pack of coyotes or pack wild dogs, if that shit comes to your campsite while your alone, again, stsy in your tent, remain calm, have your weopon ready, coyotes get huge in my region and travel both alone and in packs and it is common to encounter them here, ive heard huge packs in the distance at night but never dealt with a pack up close, never hike alone without some sort of weopon or defense strategy, even the most seasoned outdoorsman can get caught in a sticky situation, it happens, if you are new to camping, understand that there are risks, you are putting yourself at natures mercy, as fun and peaceful as it seems, always keep that in the back of your mind, expect the unnexpected, thanks and stay safe folks.
Uhm, if a Bear is bothering you at night, you are too close to it's den. You've made it feel uncomfortable. Don't camp on animal tracks. Don't camp near a den.
That's harrowing!!! You're a very lucky guy. Two suggestions, at least carry bear spray( if not a firearm) and don't watch the movie BackCountry.
I use to roll my whole body in honey. Then I roll in crispy fried bacon until I'm covered with these crispy bits. This way I make a lot of bear friends.
They will probably just eat you lol
Was playing golf in Lake Tahoe last year and about to hit my second shot off the fairway when a brown mother bear and her two cubs just walked out in front and sat by the ball lol. They couldn't have cared less that I was there, but I stayed well enough away in the trees until they moved on. Was so awesome seeing them roll around and play on the fairway.
Bears love berries. The only time I saw black bear with cubs was when there fattening themselves up on berries in late summer .I decided to slowly put some distance between us .
Good stuff... keep in touch
I forgot an interesting point the Bear Aware team told us. These guys are great the are with the forest service I think, feds anyway. Black bear is less likely to attack but more deadly then the Grizzly. I know doesn't sound right but... The black bear gets you he/she intends to kill and makes sure you are not getting up again more or less shredding you. So if a black bear attacks you kill it or it kills you've not much choice there.
The Grizzly is a gourmet he likes aged meat. IF the Grizzly if he attacks PLAY DEAD ASAP. He will put you in the hospital but if you convince him your dead, he will stop. If he decides your not going anywhere he may wonder off (make sure he does), when he does, make your way to the hospital you will need it.
Better yet do put yourself in either situation. If you get a chance to listen to the Bear Aware guys it is well worth it. I hope the come back here some day.
Another point of misinformation the cleared up (besides you can kiss bears) is Once an animal tastes human blood they have to be hunted down and killed as they will hunt humans. This is totally false. They argue the point but their bosses make them do it anyway, a shameful PR stunt. They hate doing it.
Now black bears are wandering through south Nashville. A few of my neighbors got video on their Ring doorbells.
As if that wasn’t enough, a neighbor photographed a gray wolf in her back yard (gray wolves aren’t native to Tennessee)
Re-grey wolves, they were there before your kind got there.
@@petermelville5524
No, grey wolves are not native to middle Tennessee. Red wolves are, but not grey
Thank you. This is the best black bear advice I have seen on RUclips.
Ruth thank you very much and please keep in touch.
It is indeed an informative video, and I thank you for sharing. While I have lived in Canada's far north, I have seen a few Polar bears from at distance. Likewise, I am very aware of black bears, and have encountered several. Not even under the most surprisingly close distance of approximately 15 feet or less, in dense forest/shrub did that bear or any other give a " Bluff " charge. BE AWARE , BE ALERT, BE PREPARED IN BEAR COUNTRY. I also, travel alone and have done so for over 35+ years .
tysm.i got it all ready( gears,tips,advices,etc..) i think, or hope so, last year,my very first trail hike/ bushcrafts adventure.
i was so ready, until ived ACTUALLY saw a bear,with 3 cubs,casually walking,playing on top of those hills,during h.s. graduation celebration,in gatlinburg.
i dont think i stand a chance,even against 1 of em cubs, and iant gonna be a walking buffet out there.
When I was 16 Dad took me an my brother ans sister to NC in the Fontana (SP) area. They were walking real slow so I went ahead a few miles. I found a great spot with berries and waited picking berries thinking Hmmm bears like berries maybe I should wait somewhere away from this bush I felt something touch my shoe. I looked to see 2 very small cubs at my feet wanting to play. Cute beyond belief, and before the brain kicked in I wanted to pick one up. Then the brain kicked into high gear cubs = Momma she will not be amused. I tried to move away they really wanted to play and followed right at my feet. Fear started to kick in I put that away in quick order. I started to talk to the cubs go away go to mom, like children they didn't listen. Then Mom came out of a depression about 60 yrds away. She was not amused and did a false charge. I put up my hands palms out she stopped and called. The cubs looked at her then me then back to her and continued the fascination with my shoes, At this point I was pleading with the cubs to leave, resigned to the fact this was my last minutes above ground. She yelled again the ran back to her, as I walked away I could hear her beating the tar out of my new friends. I knew nothing about bears at the time be apparently did the right thing. I now live in NW Montana the house is on a game trail bears all 3 kinds go through the yard to town for the fruit trees. When the sun goes down I will not go in the back yard you can not see bears in the dark. I have not see a grizzly yet did get a false charge in the front yard, Bill they are way bigger out here. Anyway I tossed up my hands and made loud cat sounds she ran, as soon as she turned I got inside the house. I've been stalked by a wolf or a cat. I came over a rise and 50' in front was a 250 lb. cat, another pucker moment. I think the key is to keep your head DO NOT let fear take hold they can smell it. In the case of the cat if I let fear take hold I would not be typing today. I have not seen a wolf out here but they are BIG their shoulder comes up to the top of a typical Barbed wire fence and they get 200 lbs.
I noticed you didn't mention Bear Bells basically they only help the guy who is selling them his wallet to be more precise. Bears do not like the human voice talking is the best I guess. The Feds tell us we should shout "YO Bear, Hey bear" periodically as we walk. We lose a few tourist to bears and Buffalo each year, lost 5 to selfys one year. Wolves have treed people in a park of a small city (NO they are NOT our brothers). This is not a petting zoo. Buffalo may look kind of like a cow but they will stomp you into the ground before you snap that selfy. They are EXTREMELY fast. Bears can reach 35 mph, buffalo are up there maybe 45 mph I forget. We have seen a guy try to put their 2yr old on top of an elk for a snap shot, thankfully he listened, they don't always. Don't rely on a native to do anything but watch if someone does a stupid thing, they just my be bored and you are the excitement. A cowboy said to me when I approached a Long horn one time, "I do rightly think I'd get that close to an animal with 10 foot horns." I that is your warning you'll not get another and he will watch.
I live 1.1 miles from wilderness when I cross the cattle grate I remind myself I'm on the menu not to be afraid but cautious, pay attention, a dog helps. One of the ranchers lets me borrow their dog for my walks. I love the silence out there sometimes forget where I am though, the dog remembers.
Listed to this guy he is correct he knows what he is talking about. Remember that idiot on PBS kissing bears... he and his wife are dead for treating a wild animal like their brothers they are not and you are dinner. Ok that's my public service now I'll sit on the fence with my Indian friends and watch the next tourist take his selfy with the Buffalo or Moos there is not a lot of entertainment in these parts.
Thank you very much for sharing your story and your experiences that is awesome. you are very correct in your advice thank you and I hope that other subscribers will read your story and learn from it as well you are very correct I did not mention bear bells because I do not believe in them. Keep in touch.
I've had the same experiences with bears here in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Had a mama bear approach me while growling and quickly figured out that her babies were about 30 feet from me in a bush. I didn't know they were there until she warned me to get the hell back. I retreated slowly backwards until I couldn't see her anymore and took off on a fast walk the hell out of there.
As a bear Black bear guide and a guy who’s killed a bunch, and been around a bunch. 1 Carry bear spray and a 40 caliber or larger pistol in bear country. If you have to shoot at a angry bear get down on one knee and fire at it until it’s dead! 90 percent of people shoot at bears shoot and miss over their heads! So kneel down. Bear spray you blast the animal in the face and just before it gets to you in the charge Quickly move left or right! Then spray again. That works almost every time. Lastly if your getting bit, if it’s a starving male your pretty much dead. Stab fight claw fingers in its eyes. If it’s a sow with Cubs and you can’t do anything I said PLAY DEAD! I personally know a 12 year old girl who played dead and it dropped her and walked away. She’s a 20 year old beautiful woman today :-) just thought I’d add to this guys video.
I've seen black bears at a zoo when I was 15, very large beasts. You couldn't pay me enough money to dare violate their personal space, and I don't ever plan to do so. Especially after what happened to Timothy Treadwell, (RIP) his death was a tragedy that could've been avoided with more preparation and caution. Bears are bears, first and foremost, and people should always always always be fully prepared! Nature is beautiful but it's also dangerous.
Treadwell was eaten by a Grizzly, not a black bear. He was a fool in my opinion. Black bears are not nearly as aggressive, as this video states. And if you're ever knowingly going into bear territory, wear a bear spray canister and follow the advice given. They are amazing to see in person. Frankly, I'm a lot more worried about cougars/mountain lions when I hike than I am black bears.
@@WildWestGal I know he died by a grizzly I was saying in general I wouldn't dare mess around with a dangerous animal. I like the bears myself but I like to appreciate and admire them from a safe distance
@@WildWestGal Mountain lions are absolutely beautiful but terrifying. I love their appearance and I love how they go about doing what needs to be done to survive, very intelligent creatures
@@somehuman7482 Ditto!🙂
Listen, I get it if you’re anti gun. I don’t carry whole hiking for my own safety. I carry because I take my 8 and 10 year old with me. If I’m out and that bear sees 2 tiny people, it’s going to attack. Nothing crazy, 10mm Glock is what I like. It’s light, easy to carry and will get the job done if need be. It’s just being a responsible parent. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to them because I thought I could determine what a wild animal would do to me based off my behavior
I pray you never have that type of encounter. I completely understand wanting to protect your kids but I want all of you, including the bears, to live. God bless!!
First off nice choice on the gun and I completely agree with you and understand
If you want to go hiking with kids go somewhere safe , don’t shoot bears bears because your on there property , not the other way around . get a bear spray instead.
I think the vast majority of people are anti-gun as far as walking around the streets with it with minimal regulation.
I would use my 30-30 lever action. Since I'm Canadian Handguns can only be used at shooting ranges.
Carry a large black garbage bag in your pocket. Take it out and shake or flap it to startle the bear. It also makes you look bigger.
Thanks for sharing this info! I’ve been exploring the woods of New Hampshire since I was a kid and have never encountered a bear but I’ve always wondered what to do if I do see one
Situational awareness is key. One night at sunset I walked into a Gulley and was looking just at the ground. Some movement caught my eye and I looked up to realize I was 3 ft away from a full grown standing black bear. As soon a we made eye contact he looked away and I took my chance to exit. Think my feet were already moving. I guess we surprised each other or the fact I walked rt up to him confused him. Either way I was extremely lucky and always bring a flash light and fun in case life happens. Scares the shit out of me every time I think about being mauled in that dark gully . Guardians were working overtime that day.
The best defense against black bears or any bear for that matter is to always hike with someone that runs slower than you
West of the high plains, “black” bears come in other colors, including brown, cinnamon and even white. My first encounter with a cinnamon colored bear hiking near our home near Estes Park in the Colorado Rockies really startled me even though I knew there were no grizzlies in that part of the state. Bear ran off more startled than I was.
Depends on the season. All black bears are cinnamon in spring. Its called the "cinnamon stage".
The most down to earth and sound advice I've heard on the subject. RUclips needs more people like you and not these idiots who don't know anything that google a top 10 list and gather a few pictures and use some lame editing to make a video. Thank you for the content!
I've had, and have seen several bear encounters in Yosemite. Each one was different and they all ran away or turned around, and didn't want anything to do with humans. The dumbest thing I ever saw was on the trail to Vernal Falls. Some tourist set it's daypack on a rock on the trail to take a rest, and a bear came out of the trees, grabbed the guys pack, and ran away with it. Then the tourist began to run after the bear!! I kid you not! As soon as he had gone a few feet he stopped and came back to the trail without the pack. Goodbye backpack, and that idiot was fortunate the bear didn't swat him a good one for trying to get back it's new prize!
Additional safety precaution: always hike with someone that you can outrun.
Jmaninaz1 yes that does work very well.....ha ha I’m not sure if I can put that on video.
@@William180 not with a griz they will always chase the runner.
;)
Raise your arms to appear even larger. I remember this from when I was a kid learning about what to do around bears. That being said I have some black bears that come onto my forested land in the mountains right near the Appalachian trail.
Only raise your arms to appear larger if it actually makes you appear larger than a grizzly. That being impossible, back away slowly.
The few times I’ve encountered bears was in the Smoky Mountains. The bears glanced at me and immediately ran away uphill. The ones I saw in the early 1990s looked so thin. There were a number of years where the mast crop was short and the bears were searching for food. Most times, a black bear will hear you and take off long before you even have a chance to see them.
Me in australia watching this:
spiders crocodile sharks snakes and venomous octopus: *am I a joke to you?*
JTC TV much respect to you my friend... I’m am scared of crocodiles / alligators....
William 180 you have survived bears in real life. Much respect to YOU good sir
JTC TV keep in touch my Australian friend.
Don't forget Dropbears
The thing i fear the most in canada is Moose . We have alot of Moose around here and they get very big
Absolutely....... Thanks for watching my video
In BC I fear cougars
Shar Roon I’ve had two experiences with cougars and I’ll never forget them I was petrified.....Keep in touch thank you
I was bitten by a moose once... (Python, Monty)
@@birdhouse8057 including the majestik moose , a moose once bit my sister..
Thank you for being very honest and informative, I encounter many back bears on some of my work sites and they are still new creatures to me.
Bear are different depending upon their exposures to humans. By me when I see one they usually run away. Those that don't I stare at it about 5 seconds then look away and do what I was previously. This tells the bear, or any animal, that I seen it and not interested in it or afraid of it. I do glance around in a manner I can keep an eye on it without directly looking at it. 20 plus years in bear country and no problems.
Thanks for your information.
Thank you for the advice. I moved to Union County GA 1 1/2 years ago. I love it here. I'm new to bear country so thank you for sharing your wisdom. I look forward to hiking sections of the AT. I typically go hiking once a week on short day trips. I recently hiked a section of the Benton MacKaye Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness Area with a friend. I have yet to see a bear....but I look forward to the experience. Thanks for telling me what to do when it happens.
People underestimate black bears I saw one in the mountains of New Mexico that looked like a grizzly it was cinnamon colored and absolutely massive I was going up to a peak just slow rolling in my truck and I came around the corner and he was in the middle of the road and he stood up on 2 feet he was about 7 to 8 feet tall and anywhere from 500 to 700 pounds I screamed out an excitement and tried to scramble for my phone he hit all fours and ran into the bush it was pretty exciting though
You can definitely run. Just make sure its with someone slower than you.