Tengas, Fenwick, and Marryat photo by Alpago |
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 frogmorton |
Fishing with Bears |
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Master Guide
Posts: 277 (06/14/09 00:47:08) |
With 15,000 bear encounters last year east of the Mississippi and the bear population doubling since '86, places like Great Smokey Mountain National Park and other great eastern fisheries are becoming more dangerous to anglers. Other than fishing with a fat, slow friend what precautions can you take? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_re_us/us_bear_encounters
Last Edited By: frogmorton 06/14/09 01:15:30.
Edited 1 time.
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Golfswithwolves.clarksclassicfl... |
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Sport
Posts: 17 (06/14/09 09:19:45) |
Bears tend to be unpredictable and variable in their moods, and can easily become quite grumpy and irrascible if you disturb them. They are almost impossible
to control. They will eat any food that you leave out and can easily do harmful things or destroy your equipment. They crash about and disturb the fish. All in
all, they are a lot like old fishing pals except that they don't pass as much gas in the truck. So although we need our fishing pals and must adjust to
them, I suggest avoiding bears. I hope this helps.
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 CreationBear |
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Master Guide
Posts: 324 (06/14/09 10:22:35) |
I spend an unconscionable amount of time alone up in the GSMNP, and had rather see a bear (or nice timber rattler) than catch a trout. (Happily, it's not
usually an either/or.
 ) About the only "precaution" I take is trying to
avoid those situations where a bear might be surprised by my presence. It's not often of course that you will sneak up on a bear--they've good hearing
and a bloodhound-quality sense of smell--but if they're busy digging up yellowjacket nests and otherwise distracted, or if they're in the creekbed with
you where the rushing water makes it hard to hear, you can get a little too close. There have been several times when I've been making my way up a
rhododendron-choked creek with the breeze in my face and smelled a bear in pretty close quarters up ahead...at which
point, I do my best Robert Plant imitation as I cast. Apparently, if you can remember a few lyrics from "Misty Mountain Hop" (even if in a quavery
falsetto) you'll be safe from bears.
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wacokid54 |
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Master Guide
Posts: 608 (06/16/09 10:58:13) |
A long time ago I read an article that speculated that most black bear attacks, especially those that result in severe injury or death, are carried out by
large, dominant boars that are either being predatory or dominant. And that all the bear attack behavior that a human can perform won't matter one bit; if
you cannot elude him or kill him he will kill you. That is food for thought as the bears expand their territory and lose some fear of humans that hunting used
to instill. My only bear encounter was very up close on a spring day of turkey hunting in southern Colorado. I was in full camo, and suprised a cinamon
colored bear at about 30 feet in a thicket. We stared at each other for what seemed like a very long time. My gun was slung across my back and not quickly
available. He/she broke the staredown and jumped off the bank of a gully and out of sight, but went no further. I unslung my 10 guage, racked a shell into
the chamber, and took off like a scalded dog.
So, as far as precautions would go, making noise as you go along will give the bear a chance to evade you if so inclined ( I was moving silently on a damp earth trail in full camo, and the wind was wrong for the bear to scent me). Bear spray or a Bear Tickler (.44 Magnum, mine is a Ruger) if it gets personal. Pepper spray is not just for grizzly bears. It is very interesting that more people have been killed by black bear than by grizz since 2000. The animal rights folks that work hard to end or curtail bear hunting will certainly not be sharing that statistic. wacokid54 |
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troutist |
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Sport
Posts: 25 (06/17/09 21:19:26) |
We recently (3 nights ago) had a bear attack( or incident as the NC Wildlife Biologist called it ). It was in a residential area in Black Mtn, NC. (near
Asheville). It was reported that a mama bear and a cub wandered into a lady's driveway. Her dog, a 15 lb maltese, I believe, started barking and went
towards the bears. The lady ran out of the house towards this incident to try and rescue her dog. The mama bear took a swipe at the dog which resulted in no
injuries. She also pawed the owner who was taken to the hospital and later released with just minor injuries. Now, what does that show? Black bears are very
unpredictable. The biologist was right in calling it an incident, not an attack, as the mama bear could have inflicted serious injury or death to both the dog
and human. With new young cubs, mama bears are especially protective of them.
From what I've read, black bears are really more dangerous than grizzlies for one reason. A black bear will not stop an attack once it starts until you either kill it or hurt it enough that it retreats. However, many grizzly attacks have been thwarted by the victim lying in the fetal position and not moving. The grizz might take one bite or swipe with a paw, but will in many cases just leave. There's alot of folks that say we have a bear problem here in WNC. That's wrong. We have a PEOPLE problem in that we have overdeveloped the area causing the black bear to expand his domain. Frankly, I'm more worried about bumping into a hornet's nest than a black bear. We have 3 bear hunting clubs in my area and I'm glad they are here. They still don't harvest enough bears - not for lack of trying, I'm sure - as the population is growing and more encounters are happening. Bear sprays seem to be effective, but have heard if you have nothing and one is attacking you, attempt to punch it in the nose as hard as you can as its the most sensitive part of this animal. Frankly, I'd rather not try to prove that point....The only firearm I carry in my vest is a .22mag mini-revolver. I'd hate to depend on it for much, but it does make a very loud noise and fire will shoot out of its short barrel perhaps being a deterent. Again, I'd hate to try and prove this point, also... |
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Arctic Grayling |
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Master Guide
Posts: 379 (06/17/09 23:59:28) |
I'll take an encounter with a black bear any day over an encounter with a brown bear.
My odds in killing a black bear with a .44 are much higher than those of killing a brown bear, which are probably pretty slim. Most of the black bears I have seen take off as soon as they spot you. I did read about one black bear that seemed to be stalking people. I think that bear was destroyed by Fish & Game. |
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