For the approximate 90 min - 2 hours it took me to solo break down and hang the elk, I was constantly chasing off this bear. I mean every time I looked up, there he was - so I would chase him off, only to look up again minutes later and he had returned from a different direction. Many times he was only 18-20 yards away - basically 3 quick bear bounces.
Needless to say, I was very nervous as I was solo, but I wasn't overly concerned as I've been told black bears are big sissies. Which he more or less was, as he could have killed me numerous times.
Question: Next year, this situation could happen again, but it could be I find the elk at dark and need to quarter it in the dark. Having had this encounter, I will be extremely nervous/petrified as I will not be able to see 20 yards at night. Plus the bear was so quiet, I never heard him.
What suggestions are there to ease my concerns? Carrying spray wouldn't ease my mind as the bear would be on me before I saw it in the dark. Do I even need to fear black bears?? If yes, how do you solo quarter/hang elk in the dark without concerns? I am hoping to hear that black bears are definitely sissies and I should not be concerned
I appreciate your input.
Bears are wild animals that are high on the food chain and they do kill for food. That being said I would just get a bear tag for the area you plan on hunting in.
Any suggestions for feeling more at ease while quartering in the dark (solo)?
Heeventually walked off very slowly. It turns out he was with a lady friend and he was preoccupied with her. If he was alone it may have been different. Dont know.
I suggest u respect them and dont thi k u can always scare them off. Be alert be prepared with spray imo..
Good luck
In my experience, the bears out west are not nearly as scared of you as bears in the Appalachian region. They just seem to slowly wander off, versus running like here. So, while I've never seen what you describe, I've definitely seen ears out there that just don't seem bothered by my presence. I'd say it isn't likely to happen again. I don't know what else to say other than be prepared. God Bless
Black bears like the one you describe are generally trying to size you up to see if they can scare you of the kill, When you encounter the rare sociopath it's a bad deal. Statistically they are more dangerous than grizzlies, but that's mostly because they are everywhere and sometimes become predatory toward humans.
My hunting partner did have a bad experience with one that sized him up for a meal. He got into a big spruce and it finally left, but since then I carry bear spray always when in the woods, and when going into track an elk or butcher one I have the S&W as well.
The only time we were nervous was when my buddy shot a 7+ foot 350 pound black bear at our bait station. We started gutting and realized that we had another 10 bears trying to come in and get on our bait. So we built a litter and moved it about 1/4 mile away from the bait. That wasn't far enough, more bears, so my buddy quickly cut the hind quarters off and I carried the whole carcasss minus the 2 hind quarters 3/4 mile to our truck. I managed to do it fine untill 100 yards from the truck where while crossing a big I had my left foot sink in to the knee and I fell face first into the grass and water. I was lucky my friend was only a couple steps behind because I could not have gotten my face out of the water myself with that load pushing my head down. He was able to yank the pack up enough for me to get my hands to push up and get my face out of the water. Then he helped me stand up to finish the pack out.
Having all those bears within 10-15 yards of us was not fun and my buddy had his 44 magnum with him, but that pistol would not have been enough to deal with that many bears if things went wrong!! That is the only time in 28.years of all our hunting we have had any bear problems, bait site or not!
And, if you can, just have some pepper spray out and on your hip just in case you do have an issue if you don't have a pistol backup.
Patrick
I would think this scenario falls under the "self-preservation" banner. Shoot to save life and limb.
I suppose you could always light up your surrounding working area. Personally, it is not something that I worry about. Is there the possibility that something could happen? Sure, but I'm not going to worry about it till it does....then the bear would have to skinned after the elk.
Just in NJ some college guys were in some woods they see a bear and run this triggered a predatory type attack leaving one person dead !
Elmer, I did the radio trick once, and a bear chewed up my radio. Apparently he didn't like the station!
Tough decision but I don't see myself walking away from my legally taken carcass. Also, a bear with that sort of demeanor is a menace. Bears I've encountered (except campground bears) move out when humans are encountered.
Everyone brings weapons now.
If I have my bow (which I always do)...I don't consider myself in a risky situation around black bears when hunting solo.
The last two guys I hunted with were severely paranoid around bears. I have video of my hunting partner from last year hollering at a black bear at about 10 yds and throwing a puny little stick at it...it's hilarious!
Grizzlies...that would be a whole different story!
Best of Luck, Jeff
In your situation I would give it a pass or two unless it was acting aggressive after I made it clear I wasn't dinner. Another approach after that and I would kill it without hesitation tag or not.
Does anyone else carry a 357 or is like bringing a knife to a gun fight when it comes to bears?
But I always have an any-weapon bear tag, too, to avoid the very expensive and potentially life-ruining felony charges that are highly possible if shooting one without a tag (or shooting one with a gun on an archery tag - VERY sticky).
bowhunter, my camp/tent gun is a S&W M&P .357 titanium-scandium DAO with laser grip. Weighs 14 oz loaded with five cartridges. It's a great unit but I'd rather trust my life to bear spray in a bad situation. Statistically, from documented studies, your chances of surviving or deterring a bear attack are significantly higher with spray than a gun.
BigRed - the rest of the story is I moved the quarters into various trees 75 yards away. I kept a close eye on the left behind quarters as I walked 75 yds with each quarter. I was certain the bear would run in and drag off a quarter while I was hoisting another quarter into a tree. I didn't bother to cut off the antlers as I just wanted out of there.
Funny thing, after my last run at him (while moving quarters) - he never returned. But note I did chase him many, many times over nearly 2 hours. He was likely as tired of the game as I was.
I came to the carcass the next morning (24 hours after the encounter) and it hadn't been touched. All that chasing and the bear didn't even return for a meal. I proceeded to cut off the antlers, but was still nervously looking around. It takes a long time to saw off antlers with a cheap folding tree saw- very nerve wrecking!
I wasn't as scared during the encounter as I was after - which is why I wrote this post. As I relive the event, it just seemed odd the bear never ran away. Every other bear I've encountered ran off quickly. This one just stared at me as I yelled and finally would move off when I ran at him. I always had to run at him, he never moved until I charged (so thankful now that he didn't charge back!) And even then he just trotted out of sight. He never made the "I'm getting out of here" mad dash.
Which was the purpose of my post. Although definitely nervous, I wasn't overly scared at the time, but maybe I should have been. I wanted bowsiters to calm my fears if I would need to ever quarter in the dark. I did see multiple bears in this area, so if successful next year, I will definitely have this experience wheeling in my mind - and darkness would elevate those thoughts.
Thanks - bowsite members, you did calm my fears. I will take some precautions. I like the radio idea and will take a look at bear spray - although it seems expensive and bulky. It sounds like nobody has had to use spray (or pistol) on black bears, so maybe it is more of a comfort tool.
But after reading your stories, I also feel like maybe I was little lucky for two hours on that Monday morning of Sept. 15th.
Thanks in advance for your input.
elkmtngear's Link
The SLIP System- combination elk decoy/ trekking pole/ bear-stabber ;^D
Best of Luck, Jeff (Bowsite Sponsor)
The odds aren't high you will be killed but then again no one wants to be that statistic.
Almost all of them are predatory and almost all of them have to do with the person being in their camp or around food.
Your situation was extremely dangerous. Any bear who doesn't move on after being pushed away should be dealt with until they have left.
As many have said, get a bear tag and you will never have an issue.
Otherwise bear spray or 12 gauge will get them moving quickly.
cnelk's Link
See short vid clip
I also had a trail camera on the carcass. A bear came in right after dark. I realize this pic wont ease your fears tho :)
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out-of doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with him in case of an encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirel fur. Grizzly Bear sh!t has bells in it and smells like pepper.
It's almost a guarantee that bears will visit the carcass within 24 hrs where we hunt.
But we've never had them mess with the hung and bagged quarters in 15 years (we always try to move them a good distance away from the carcass).
Bears are certainly opportunistic when it comes to "harvest season"!
Best of Luck, Jeff
Your trail cam pic is exactly my reason for the post - I'd definitely be more afraid of the eyes in the dark, not knowing the surroundings, etc.
I realize few people are actually killed by black bears... but I would be pretty upset at just a mild mauling....
Won't go into any long stories (yeah, I know...) but the bears I've had encounters with either left in good time, or let you know there was an issue. Huffing, popping, lunging at you or bluffing. Clearly aggressive behavior.
It would be interesting to know what human encounters that bear had experienced. Could be that was the second or third or how many elk kill sites it had dealt with and just waiting for you to leave, it had first dibs. Didn't seem to make an effort to drive you off or show aggression?
If the bears aren't hunted, more and more will be acclimated to humans and kill sites. I can see it getting to be a real issue in time.
Nighttime. Dark. You know what a black bear looks like in the dark?
EVERYTHING.
He reminded me of my dog trying to steal meat when I butcher deer in the garage. Easing his way ever closer between scoldings.
Elkmtngear, Str. Arrow - I agree, throwing sticks doesn't do any good - just humors them.
For "Peace of Mind" I would carry bear spray. A good quality brand! If it happens again make sure he is downwind and walk right at him and hit him in the face!
Several years ago on a Spot & Stalk Bear hunt on Vancouver Island I shot a good bear with my bow and it did a very loud and long death moan. Within 30 minutes of shooting that bear we had two other big boars coming in to explore. We scared one off by yelling as we were dragging my bear down the mountain to the logging road. The 2nd bear remained shadowing us and when we reached the logging road we thought he had left. As we were loading the bear into the back of the pickup truck I looked up and he was in the middle of the road 5 yards from me. I yelled (not sure out of being startled or what I left in my pants!) He just stood there.....I slowly reached into my pack that was also in the back of the truck and got the pepper spray out. He just stood there slightly rocking back and forth like he was making his decision to just go for it when I hit him right in the face. I was worried that he was so close when I sprayed him he would run me over. He spun where he stood and barreled off the road into the thick bush. He looked to be a very old large bear....the one I shot was 19.5" and I guessed this one was bigger....maybe the dominant male in the area?
It seems if they get the smell of blood no matter how much commotion you make is not going to scare them off.
Get the big can of spray. It only has 7 or 8 seconds of spray time, and that will seem awfully short. But it's more than the small can. Practice with one that has gone beyond the expiration date, or buy one of the practice cans. Practice shooting from the hip, without taking it out of the holster. It's VERY instructional to pattern the stuff. SPRAY DOWNWIND!
The gun gives a greater sense of security in the tent at night. You can't really use spray on a bear coming in your tent, because you will spray yourself.
Another case for a gun: I had a bear stalk me once, in the middle of an open park. I had to swap spray for gun in my dominant hand when he turned to come at me from upwind. (He turned away at the last second.)
While butchering solo, I talk, yell, whistle, try to sound like a gang of people. Sometimes I build a fire to add a "man" smell. Check for glowing eyes regularly. Begin hollering 1/4 mile away when returning for meat, you don't want to surprise one.
At least you saw the bear. Here's what you might not see: a mountain lion. Bears are soundless, but lions are both soundless and invisible. I had a cat claim my bull two years ago. I pick them up on trail cameras, but almost never see them myself. I see bears all the time. The best reason to pack heat might be for the thing you haven't yet seen.
The worst I have ever been hurt, while on a bear hunt, was when my buddy rolled the vehicle we were in 3 1/2 times on the way to bait. Your chances of getting hurt is far more likely traveling to and from your hunting area, than it is by a bear when you are there! FACT!!!
Have a great bow hunt. BB
