What would you do???
What would you do in this situation???
Watch these Black Bear encounters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8Sf8DIMUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PWHNIbS8cE
Looks like actors in both films behaved appropriately. 99% of the time black bears may just run away upon seeing a human but it's these examples of the 1% that worry me!
I don't see the need to have the camera out for a moment(s) like that, I'd like my hands free so I have the option to deploy the .40 caliber bear spray if necessary. Wow, very close encounters...
“If there’s one thing the AT teaches, it is low-level ecstasy—something we could all do with more of in our lives.”
I've never had a black bear do anything but run. It would be scary to have one that doesn't fit the pattern, for sure, but I think the proper response is to hold your ground and not retreat, isn't it? Retreating only triggers a response in the animal to pursue.
In the first vid IN CANADA the BLACK bear encounter is out in the open and as we become aware later it was very close to a large parking lot/truck stop likely with discarded human trash that has food odors/food scraps/trash cans attracting the bears. Based only on what was seen, BEFORE the BLACK bear got so close at around 14-15 secs in if I was one of the two joggers I would have grouped tightly together side by side with one arm around the other person's waist like one much larger object making much louder raucous sounds then they did while shouting, clapping hands, stomping feet, waving arms/ jackets vigorously WHILE STANDING OUR GROUND BEFORE the BLACK bear got SO CLOSE. BEFORE the bear got so close I may have even walked in unison TOWARDS THE BEAR AGGRESIVELY doing all the things suggested keeping the large loud object formation. It was obvious in the vid the ground was littered with small rocks which they had ample opportunity to pick up while keeping that large LOUD object formation BEFORE THE BLACK BEAR GOT SO CLOSE TO THROW at the bear WHILE STANDING OUR GROUND to keep it from approaching as close as it did. INSTEAD, they got caught up began going backwards rather early and while on the move turning sidewards MOVING APART thinking THEY HAD TO FIND A MUCH LARGER ROCK. At that point the bear was already close, within 15 ft, and in pursuit mode. With black bears in that situation out in the open would have been aggressive towards the bear not go into a defensive posture particularly as early as they did.
Bear starts pursuing it's time to throw the rock, camera, Nalgene, shoe(you know you're close to the vehicle on clear maintained level trail), etc. NOT to fatally harm the bear but to deter it.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
The second video is lacking early footage. It's in thick underbrush quite possibly not even on or near a trail. It's harder to tell what happened, what led up to the beginning of the footage. Did the man approach the bear based on the noises he first heard behind him assuming to seek out a moose or was the bear in pursuit or at least curious and it approached at first? Did the man startle the bear originally in thick undergrowth and THEN became curious and testing the man? The bear may have been feeding or seeking food when the hiker, its seems this was a solo hiker, kind a skinny looking one at that, had the encounter.
I disagree with the narration. It was from 1990. The bear DID NOT seem to be pursuing the man in typical efficient quick as possible predator going after easy prey fashion. Th bear is unnaturally appraching the man though. To me this is the more dangerous situation of the two encounters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PExlT-5VU-Y
Link to an expert talking about being smart around bears.
This is a really good video, I've seen it before.Originally Posted by somers515
There's no reward at the end for the most miserable thru-hiker.
After gear you can do a thru for $2,000.
No training is a substitute for just going and hiking the AT. You'll get in shape.
You just ain't right !!!
Perhaps this needs to be in it's own thread but I noticed the advice in the video by this expert includes carrying bear spray in no uncertain terms but I know most on whiteblaze say it's unnecessary.
Also i noticed that a lot of the advice on the NY/NJ trail conference website about bears is made fun of by this expert (getting hands in air to look bigger and slowly backing away).
I suppose the answer may be that this expert is really focusing more on hiking in the West but in NJ a hiker was killed by a black bear last year and it makes me nervous to ignore an expert's strong insistence on bear spray even it weighs 10 ozs.
I took so much from this presentation. The information presented became the basis of my bear encounter thinking ever since I first watched it. I especially liked the first 14 mins or so and so aptly describes my black bear outlook.
Dr Tom Smith said don't go into bear territory without a bear deterrent. I alternately define deterrent not just in terms of bear spray or gun though.
The video, which is excellent, was done by a bear expert who was focusing on Grizzlies. On the east coast we only have Black bears which are an extemely different species both in size and in temperament. Blackbears have a natural fear of humans (with very rare exception) and unlike grizzlies, black bears do not normally aggressively protect their young. In fact, of the very few fatal black bear attacks (less than an average of one per year in all of North America) 90% of the fatal attacks involve a young Male bear.
If carrying bear spray makes you feel more comfortable on the trail then by all means do so, everyone has a different opinion of what is appropriate for self defense and it's nobody's business but your own whether or not you carry it. However the majority of hikers do consider it unnecessary in black bear country.
Last edited by Sarcasm the elf; 11-08-2015 at 23:06.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
In the first video, they should have started throwing rocks when the bear began approaching. Rangers use rubber bullets to drive bears away from campgrounds, teaching them that when they are around people, they get hurt (but not damaged). If that didn't do anything, then dropping a piece of clothing or a water bottle can distract the bear.
We've had a lot of encounters with bears. In most cases, the bears ran. In NH a bear was hanging out near the trail. It would alternate between a shelter (Ethan Pond) and a nearby campsite, stealing food. When it approached while we were cooking dinner, we threw sticks at it and it backed off. It returned that night, got our food from the tree where it was hung, knocked down another tree that had food next to the shelter, and spent a couple of hours circling our tent and the shelter, looking for more. In Alaska, a pair of black bears appeared right behind us. They were young, like the bear in the first video, and curious, but stressed. We backed up slowly and it eventually headed into the woods. We left the area. (But not running as the two did in the first video, which isn't a good idea.) In California, a black bear paced us, about 20 yards below the trail, for half a mile or so. It didn't get aggressive, but its lack of fear was worrisome. We lost him at a road crossing, but we continued for a few hours before setting up camp.
In the first video, they should have started throwing rocks when the bear began approaching. Rangers use rubber bullets to drive bears away from campgrounds, teaching them that when they are around people, they get hu If that didn't do anything, then dropping a piece of clothing or a water bottle can distract the bear.
We've had a lot of encounters with bears. In most cases, the bears ran. In NH a bear was hanging out near the trail. It would alternate between a shelter (Ethan Pond) and a nearby campsite, stealing food. When it approached while we were cooking dinner, we threw sticks at it and it backed off. It returned that night, got our food from the tree where it was hung, knocked down another tree that had food next to the shelter, and spent a couple of hours circling our tent and the shelter, looking for more. In Alaska, a pair of black bears appeared right behind us. They were young, like the bear in the first video, and curious, but stressed. We backed up slowly and it eventually headed into the woods. We left the area. (But not running as the two did in the first video, which isn't a good idea.) In California, a black bear paced us, about 20 yards below the trail, for half a mile or so. It didn't get aggressive, but its lack of fear was worrisome. We lost him at a road crossing, but we continued for a few hours before setting up camp.
Yeah I'd pretty much crap in my pants.
The group in NJ ran from bear and got seperated. The person killed was apparently the slow one, metaphorically speaking.
Had they stuck together and stood ground, theres a very very high likelihod the dead man would still be alive.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 11-09-2015 at 00:53.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
