What was your scariest bear hunting encounter in the wild?

[GundamBarbatos]

Very curious to hear other people’s experiences! Especially with those grizzlies.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Trying to get to the classifieds?

 

[GundamBarbatos]

Trying to get to the classifieds?

Yes what else am I supposed to post about lol.. I’m just here to buy stuff.

 

[WeiserBucks]

You don't need to start a pile of new posts. Contribute to existing threads based on your experience.

 

[Taudisio]

Just last week my dad hit a black bear right at last light. I trailed it into 10’ tall blackberries and jumped it. I caught up to it as he got tangled up in the brush and he was snapping his teeth at me. I put two 9mm rounds through its shoulder. I had to check my drawers.

 

[GundamBarbatos]

You don't need to start a pile of new posts. Contribute to existing threads based on your experience.

It says you must have 10 posts unless replying to threads counts as well. Anyway I do think this could be an entertaining thread all bs aside.

 

[BearGuy]

Buddy and I accidentally walked up on our friends elk carcass from the week prior during bow season. Grizzly sow with a cub came up over the hill right in front of us about 40 yards. Bows were dropped, guns were drawn, and bear spray almost deployed. Luckily the bears ran away but a sow with a cub on a kill site had our hearts pumping pretty good.

 

[S-3 ranch]

I technically wasn’t bear hunting, but was hunting moose on the Alaska coast
Near the Naknek river , and woke up to hear something walking around the tent , then heard it growling and chomping its teeth, BEAR ! Oh Crap !
It walked up to about 5 feet from the tent and chuffed a bunch, we had loaded guns ready, but it was determined to stick around even though we were yelling “ hey bear , and other choice words “ finally we heard it walking away, and slept on pins and needles all night , next morning we very loudly and carefully crawled out of the vestibule of the tent , and found a very large wormy pile of bear scat next to the tent,( marking territory) we saw other bears but they didn’t come close to camp , when the otter pilot came we told him about it and he said their was a boar that had been pestering the other hunters and stealing meat and food
The Alaska game department decided that it was a nuisance bear , and probably dispatched it after we had gone home
But I never want to be that close to a bear ever !
Imo anyone who carries a large caliber pistol or spray as bear protection is fooling themselves, they are freaking huge, enormous beasts with huge egos , that warrant carrying a shotgun with slugs .

 

[medvedyt]

haines in alaska while fishing salmon. a sow with 2 cubs was teaching her cubs how to catch salmon from the fishermen lines ... a guy side side of us decided that his salmons worth to not giving up ... the sow made a bluff charge and a growl and got the salmons for her cubs ... i had the 357 out of the chest holster as i was not very happy about the situation ... a trooper came because someone called them and the trooper was not impressed by the guy that was not willing to give up his fishes and she thank me for not shooting lol ...

btw the most hilarious is that the state of alaska trusted me more to have an open carry that my own country ...

 

[Maverick1]

1. Got charged by a black bear. It stopped about 10’ away because there was a steep ravine between us.
2. Elk hunting over a water hole, solo. I was setup about 20 yards away. Mid day two grizzlies came in and started fighting. Tore the heck out of the woods. Full on rampage. Growling, snapping, everything you can imagine. They happened to go at it on the other side of the waterhole.
3. Hunting partner shot a black bear in the shoulder. It went into the thick stuff. We followed the blood trail and it was still alive the next day. Not a good experience.
4. Packing meat out in the dark a couple of hours after quartering the elk. Blood soaked pants, shirt, and hands. Wearing backpack with load of fresh meat. Happened to hike past a tree that a bear had climbed up. It let me know I was not welcome. Pitch dark, hiking by headlamp. I picked up the pace quickly. Not an enjoyable hike.
5. Camping in the Tetons. Grizzly sow and cubs came through the campsite looking for scraps. They were about 20 yards away and seemingly had no concern that humans were still in camp.
6. Archery elk hunting in thick grizzly country. Came upon a hunter killed moose carcass. It had been dragged and covered up with debris by a grizzly bear. Big tracks all around. Promptly left the scene.
7. Shot a bear over an elk carcass. (It is legal, calm down). 400 pound black bear came in towards the carcass from an unexpected direction. It passed by me and I released the arrow at 4 paces away. It wheeled around and ran right past me back the way it came. I was hunting from the ground. Quite the rush.
8. Had a bear trample my tarp in the middle of the day while I was out elk hunting. I came back after dark to see the damage. It left muddy prints all over my tarp. Slept a bit uneasy that night. Packed up the next morning and relocated camp a couple miles away.

 

[vladkgb]

In Montana, camped in a tent by the river with a meat pole close by that someone set up previously. A grizzly came by in the middle of the night, making barking noises, sniffing around the tent, I left my 10mm in the truck like an idiot, my buddy had his, we turned on the head lamps and yelled, we heard him run off and splash in the river. We changed spots.

 

[MDR]

I haven't had a scary experience while bear hunting, but on the way in for a sheep hunt we'd crossed a lot of water super early in the day and I had to go. A few panicked and simultaneously drowsy steps up on shore and to the bush line I go to take a leak, it was a photo finish getting unzipped just in time. A second or two later I hear huffing and teeth clacking together somewhere just on the other side of the brush....not even a pot of coffee administered by IV can lead to the level of wakefulness as you realize there is an upset bruin a few feet away from you while you're unzipped with your gun and bear spray safely tucked away at the bottom of the canoe.

On the hike in it turned out to be one of the thickest blueberry patches I've ever seen. Making jam with every step.

 

[todd h]

I was moose hunting in Alaska with a buddy , we had spotted a moose about a mile away and decided to make a play on him.
we had to cut through a wooded section to get there, my buddy was about 30 yards ahead of me ,thick spruce,
I heard a roar/growl and saw grizzly going straight at my buddy he yelled and started to run, bear turned and came straight at me , gun slung over my shoulder , he ran past me and I could have touched his back 2 feet max
we think he must have been bedded in the spruce and we surprised him
way too close!!!
forgot all about the moose at that point