Stumbled upon a bear den??

[silver15tacoma]

Anyone else have stumbling upon a bear den experience? Had my first this last week. I was hunting elk in Arizona and walked up on what looked like a bear den to me.
Walking past I heard some rustling inside of it and could barely see a pair of eyes. I bombed back to the truck to grab a flashlight so I could confirm my suspicions.

As I am walking back to the den I see a small chocolate cub outside of the den that then rushes back inside. I point my flashlight inside the den and see the biggest black bear I’ve ever seen looking back at me. Definitely didn’t get as close as I did originally haha. Mama Bear definitely wasn’t happy. Jaw snapping and all.

If you look closely you can see her eyes and a faint outline of her head. She’s facing broadside left to right. Definitely one of my craziest wildlife encounters. Also ran into 4 cougars in one group on this hunt haha

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Florida in Ocala National Forest…. Have found a few over the years. Bear was in it when I poked my head in. It was as surprised as I was

 

[Muleyczy]

Cool finds! I’ve never found one but I’m typically looking

 

[Bubblehide]

Yes, I rode an Arab mare to 5' of a 400 plus pound black bear sleeping in a tangled of brush. He (it was a boar) jumped up and ran about 50'. I asked her to chase him, and ran him up the mountial a few hundred yards.

 

[limpet]

I’ve found a few here in California. Mostly in the spring after they leave. There a hole a the base of the hemlock and redwood stump that we could here movement in and the dog was letting us know about it.

 

[kpk]

I think my buddy and I walked right past a couple grizzly dens a few years ago. Couldn't see them until we were basically on top of them with quarters on our backs. We were maybe 20 yards away so not close enough to see in, but they looked exactly like this pic and it's a very high density grizzly area. Maybe @grfox92 has stumbled upon the same ones?

Pic from Google for reference.....

 

[longrangelead]

I found one over the summer. I put a camera on it to see if the bear comes back. gonna check it this weekend.

 

[Cervid]

Found one at a state (east coast) pheasant release site of all places. Dog pointed it for a few minutes while I struggled to get there through the thickest thorn bushes I’ve seen in my life. Then he started barking at it. When I got there I didn’t see any pheasants but I did see the hole. Didn’t know what was down there so I gave it a good poke with the butt of my shotgun (have found pheasants/grouse in holes before as well as small game that was in season), was very surprised to find that I had just poked a bear. Took a picture and then when it came out made an extremely slow escape back through the thorn bushes. (Can barely make out its nose in the pic)

 

[Nine Banger]

Also ran into 4 cougars in one group on this hunt haha