# Anyone encounter Bears while on the trail?



## grullagirl (Apr 30, 2012)

I am going to ride on some new trails this spring and it is in bear country! Yikes! lol I am a little worried about running into one and not sure what to do if i see one? I heard that if you put a bell on your horse it will deter bears? Anyone know if this is true? Please tell me about your experiences with bears on the trail!


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

I used to live in far north Alberta and we had bears wandering through our backyard and street! I had trails behind my house and would run my dogs in them, but I did put a bell on them and made a pile of noise.....it's better for a bear to hear you coming from a long ways away and take heed and run away, rather then to have you sneak up on it and startle it, that is when they usually attack or get angry!

I've never encountered a bear on my horse, but I'm sure plenty of others here have some useful advice

Outdoors stores/camping store usually carry Bear bells


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

I live in bear country - the MI Black Bear is 'relatively' shy, which means noise and 'bear bells' on a trail would most likely deter it as they typically don't want to encounter humans. They climb on the deck looking to see if I've un-wittingly left the bird feeder out, (I bring it in every night), and roam about at will, but not usually at a time when we are out and about around the house or on our property. Both of my mares have lived up here for most of their entire lives, so even if one roamed around outside the pasture fence, they'd unlikely feel threatened. I'm a Naturalist, and it's part of my job to do a huge amount of hiking, so I carry bear spray with a whistle attached - if I see a bear on the trail, it would be 'whistle first', and they'd likely scoot in the opposite direction. If it's a sow with a cub nearby, I'd likely face agression, so that's where the spray comes in. In all these years of carrying it, I've only used the whistle thus far


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

I use to ride in the smokeys a lot. Supposedly, there are a lot of bears (black) in there. You were then required to sleep in bear protection shelters when camping, and had to "map out" your trip for the forest people before you went in. I never saw one whilst riding there - which is reported to have many. Friends/family I rode w there said that a horse can smell a bear and will get spooky. Now, I do not know if that is true or not. I know a lady here that in fact now puts a bell on her horses as a measure to alert bears (she does this _after_ the fact). She lost her horse (had to go to the hospital) for a day during a camping trip. The horse spooked pretty badly, she was thrown, and the horse stepped on and broke her leg - the bear did not attack her (or her horse) when it clearly easily could have. Her horse ran off and they were unable to retrieve it immediatley _and_ care for and get her to a vehicle. I think it is highly unlikely that a bear would attack you...I think the more likely scenario as the one described - it will spook your horse. _Supposedly,_ the bell annoys them and they will essentially stay out of hearing distance - which is all you really need to prevent coming right up on one and having your horse spook. I have ridden w people that used them (bells), I find them _highly_ annoying, myself.


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## Mochachino (Aug 14, 2012)

Bells and I have a headphone in one ear and sing really loud....that would scare away just about anything.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

The bells don't annoy them! It is strictly a matter of the letting the bears KNOW where you are. They can hear the bells and know that you are coming down the trail.

Black bears for the most part are shy and will usually run away if you give them a chance. Especially if you are riding in an area that allows hunting. Grizzlies are another matter and don't spook as much. And almost all Grizzlies in the lower 48 are protected from hunting. So they don't have the same fear of humans that the black bears have developed.


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## bbsmfg3 (Aug 12, 2010)

First of all you need to know how to tell Grizzly scat from Black Bear Scat.

Grizzly scat has bells in it. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All joking aside, we've ridden in bear country in the Rocky Mtn every year since 1998. Encounter many bear, both too close to be comfy and at a distance. Yes, the bells will help. Last thing you want to do is surprise a Momma griz with cubs. That's dangerous. But, remember they don't want to be close to you anymore than you want to encounter them. 

If you should happen to have a close (less than 25 ft from you) and it is not a sow with cubs, you have to be the aggressor, YES AGGRESSOR. In the bear kingdom size is dominant. You and your horse are much larger then they are, normally, not always but 95% of the time. There are some larger.
What does aggressor mean? It means you chase if off. Get your bear maze out and take the safety off of it. Be sure you know how to use it. Directions are on the can. Stop your horse, don't wait more than a few seconds, then turn your horse so it faces the bear. Then ask your horse to take a couple very slow steps toward the bear. Mace ready. If the bear does not move, a couple more slow steps. Never been any closer than this, so I don't know the next step. I've been within 10 feet of them and the first 2 steps usually does it, they leave.

Now if it's a sow with cubs, that is totally different. Only had this happen a couple of times. The sow will protect those cub(s). Very, very slowly, back you horse, DO NOT TURN AROUND, until she stops having a canary, then just stand there, DO NOT MOVE. She'll want to get out of there worse than you do.

Most of the time this will never happen, if they hear you coming, they leave the area.

And DO NOT TRY AND OUT RUN THEM, they can reach speeds over 40 mph for short distances in bad terrain. You don't have a prayer if you run.


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

bbsmfg3 said:


> First of all you need to know how to tell Grizzly scat from Black Bear Scat.
> 
> *Grizzly scat has bells in it. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
> 
> .


:rofl::rofl:


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

Painted Horse said:


> The bells don't annoy them! It is strictly a matter of the letting the bears KNOW where you are. They can hear the bells and know that you are coming down the trail.
> 
> Black bears for the most part are shy and will usually run away if you give them a chance. Especially if you are riding in an area that allows hunting. Grizzlies are another matter and don't spook as much. And almost all Grizzlies in the lower 48 are protected from hunting. So they don't have the same fear of humans that the black bears have developed.


Well, probably- it would make sense that it is merely the "unnatural" sound of a bell that alerts them you are "coming" whereby avoiding suprising them or your horse. I find it interesting, though...since they should be able to smell you coming in-as-much as they have an incredible sense of smell.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I've spent my life out in the woods fishing, 4 wheeling, riding motorcycles, horse back riding, hunting, etc. Only bears that I didn't see the backside of hightailing it the away was those off in the distance. They are more afraid of you than you are of them.


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## Thunderspark (Oct 17, 2012)

Last spring we (about 10 riders) out riding in the national park here, black bears are common. We had only been riding about 10 mins. and my friend points up in a tree by the lake we were riding along......there was a cub up the tree......first thing I thought was "where's Mom?"!! We all started hollaring and making noise and the mom was ahead of us on the trail running away from us.....a ways down she cut back into the bush, she probably back tracked to her cub.......a couple of the ladies we were riding with ride there all the time and they said to make noise, talking, whatever (bells if you want) that will let any bears know we are coming and they usually head into the bush.......shortly after I was leading and we ran into a HUGE bull moose!!!
Funny but I never noticed the horses get worried when we ran into those.....we've also come across 4 coyote cubs running down the trail in front of us and zipped into the bush, foxes, tons of deer, elk....it's great to see the wildlife like that while out riding!


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## Paintlover1965 (May 22, 2009)

Have encountered black bears twice when riding the trails in the last five years. On one occasion my horse Joey and I were galloping up a hill and I saw what I thought was a large black dog to the left of us. Upon closer look I realized that what I thought was a dog turned out to be a black bear, once I saw their profile. The bear looked at us then turned in the opposite direction and took off. Joey and I turned back in the direction we came from too and I whispered to him that he had my permission to trot quickly down the hill. I'm glad the bear wasn't really interested in us but it was nice to get that close to one.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Haven't run into a bear while riding, yet. (I see one maybe every 2-3 years while hiking.) Friends have, and have never had any problem. The horses do sometimes get a little edgy when we run across fairly fresh bear scat.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

Also, take a friend who has a fat out of shape horse and outrun em......your sure to be safe:lol:


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

Missy May said:


> :rofl::rofl:


In Alaska we said the way to tell the difference between a black bear and a brown bear, is to climb a tree, the black bear will come up after you, the brown bear will just push the tree over.

When we were in bear country we made alot of noise, up there the bears are more interested in easy to catch food like fish and berries, all they want to do is eat to gain weight and expend the least amount of energy possible. Up there you can usually smell them before you see them, especially during salmon season they smell like rotten fish.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I've only ever run into bears while hiking. I almost bumped into one once when I was hiking too quietly. Scared the Dickens out of each other.


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## tbstorm (Dec 16, 2010)

Black-fight back
Brown-hit the ground 

Meaning if its a black bear make lots of noise to scare it away, wave your arms etc etc. Brown bear hit the ground play dead and be very still. Dont climb trees black bears will climb up after you and brown bears will just shake you out. This is just what my parents told us because its not uncommon to have black bears wandering down our street or in our back yard.


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## tbstorm (Dec 16, 2010)

Sorry i forgot to write about what i was told to do if im on a horse. I was told to get off as fast as possible at the first sight of a bear, not to think just to get off. We had to practice how fast we could get off when we were younger.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

It's a thrill to see bears and one of the reasons I love to ride in the Cherokee.

We usually see them in the spring of the year and not so much in the fall as they're hunted down here in most places (not in the smoky's) and usually don't hang around long. Hunting keeps them honest with a high fear of man so they want to get away from you more than you want to get away from them. Most problem bears come from places where they are not hunted and have no fear of man.

Count yourself as one of the fortunate few if you get to see one.


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

Saw one on horseback and one crossing the road while driving. Hubby and I while riding down a trail wondered why our horses were looking off to their left. We stopped and saw a big bear. We were like oh sh*t a bear, um what do we do, but it was so cool seeing one and the horses were alert but calm, so we just watched it look up at us a run down a path it probably previously traveled on.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

I have lead packtrips in Yellowstone, Colorado and Wyoming wilderness and have ridden in both Grizzly and Black Bear country for the better part of the last 20 years. I have also spent the same amount of time on foot photographing both bears as well. I have encountered bears on the trail several times and luckily have not encountered a situation where we got between a sow and cubs...at least not on horseback. 

Wildlife photographers have a saying..."only food runs". The big thing is to stay calm, stay put and try to enjoy the experience. It is most likely that the bear will take off at the sight of you but in case it doesn't I would recommend staying put or moving SLOWLY in the same direction you were going angling away from the bear. Give it an escape route and it will likely take it. If it feels as if you are pressing it or cornering it, the possibility is there it may charge and even if it is a bluff...you horse may not think so! 

There are few instances where a bear attacked a group of people on food numbering four or more, even sows with cubs. Anytime we go into an area that is bear infested (certain lakes in the Yellowstone high country during cutthroat spawning season) we try to go in groups of four or more. Confronted by such overwhelming odds a bear will typically skedaddle as opposed to fight it out. The biggest risk you run in bear country is two fold...getting bucked off if your horse freaks at the sight of a bear and bears coming into camp, especially if you don't keep a clean camp.

The only caveat to the above is if you are unlucky enough to stumble really close to a bear on a kill. Then all bets are off. I would ride as steady and well trained a mount as possible that I know I can handle if things go south and keep my eyes and ears peeled. Being alert and staying in groups, especially in thick cover is your best defense. I could tell stories about all kinds of wildlife encounters both on horse and off after 20+ years as a wildlife photographer and hunting guide.

Cheers!
Les


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

Wildlife is difficult to photograph. I have a rebel 2 that I play around with kit lenses. I sure wish I could afford better lenses and a full frame. Lighting is another learning process for me....You can rent lenses can't you? Sorry for hijacking the thread!


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> I've only ever run into bears while hiking. I almost bumped into one once when I was hiking too quietly. Scared the Dickens out of each other.


 
Too bad there isnt a picture of your face in that exact moment you realize you snuck up on a bear. Bet it would have been a classic. :wink: I think my heart would have dropped out of my chest if that happened to me.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

goneriding said:


> Wildlife is difficult to photograph. I have a rebel 2 that I play around with kit lenses. I sure wish I could afford better lenses and a full frame. Lighting is another learning process for me....You can rent lenses can't you? Sorry for hijacking the thread!


Wildlife photography is all about get close to your subject (either optically or physically) and understanding behavior and habitat. I would recommend lenses in at least the 200mm range if not higher. There are several good places online I have worked with for rentals Rent professional cameras or camera lenses for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Leica and Pentax and LensRentals.com - Rent Lenses and Cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Leica, and more . I have several workshops that I lead for horse and wildlife photography and if you google my name it will lead you to our workshops. 

Wildlife photography is a fun hobby, but like horses, it can get expensive. Better yet, try horses AND photography. Glad I make money off both! 

Cheers!
Les


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

wetrain17 said:


> Too bad there isnt a picture of your face in that exact moment you realize you snuck up on a bear. Bet it would have been a classic. :wink: I think my heart would have dropped out of my chest if that happened to me.


I have a photograph of a grizzly bluff charging a group of tourists after they got too close to him on an elk kill in Yellowstone. Unfortunately I had too long of a lens on and all I got was the bear jumping...you don't get to see the tourists scattering like flies while peeing themselves. Really funny thinking back on it now but not so funny at the time. Or the time... After 20+ years photographing widllife professionally, I got stories but I am not going to hijack this thread...

Cheers!
Les


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## bbsmfg3 (Aug 12, 2010)

If you have your heart set on seeing lots of bear, expecially grizzly, just ride the center Teton Mountain in mid August. You will see many bear every day, and a lot of them a lot closer than I liked. Never again will we ride these mountains in mid August.

Now for pictures, don't have any of the close encounters, too busy staying a live, and scared to death.


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

Gorgeous bit of wilderness there - awesome photos! But yeah, I would_ not_ return for a hike or on horseback that time of year. That's why God gave us brains


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## TheOtherHorse (Aug 5, 2012)

A black bear crossed the trail just ahead of us at Big South Fork last summer. It stopped and looked at us, our horses stopped and looked at it, and then it slowly walked off into the woods again. No big deal. Well, my horse thought otherwise-- I could feel her heart pounding through the saddle, but she was really good and stood quietly. It was pretty neat.

Now, a Grizzly would scare me a bit more, or a mom and cubs... :shock:


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## Crescent (May 2, 2012)

I went to Brooks falls last year (I was not on a horse) we literally were within 5 ft of a probably 1100 pound grizzly bear that was just lumbering down the trail. What we did was to say "Hey bear come get us!" of cource the bear never even glanced our way but it was a pretty amazing experience. We also fished with a bear 10 ft behind us which actually charged my uncle because he had a fish on our reply was to scream (neer scream at a bear unless it is young and stupid) at it and it just acted like a dog. Brooks bears see a ton of people and are not scared worth a bit but their beauty,strenght, and just their way of being are amazing. Look up Brooks falls on explore.com so amazingi! I don't see why bells would be necessary after 2 visits to Alaska and probably over 100 bear encounters (Alaska apparently is overrun by bears!) I have never needed to use bear spray. But I would have it just incase! just make a lot of noise.


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

Wow, great pictures gbsmfg! I can't get a good picture of anything and thats w no bears around. 

I have only ever seen a _single_ bear and I have riden in bear country many times.  How unlucky is that? I got a picture of the one and only little black bear I saw whilst camping in the smokeys (on family property). I was a kid (no digitals) it was morning (horses all tied) and foggy, I saw it and grabbed my camera and ran toward it to take a picture, it stood up, and I and manage snap one before my cousins insisted I come back or else....I think I remember the word "behind" . I still have the photo somewhere - it is blurry, blurry...but I was still sooo proud of it! My crappy pic taking skills started pretty young. 

I actually have never thought about bears whilst riding...good thing, it would just make me paranoid.


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

LesandLily said:


> I have a photograph of a grizzly bluff charging a group of tourists after they got too close to him on an elk kill in Yellowstone. Unfortunately I had too long of a lens on and all I got was the bear jumping...you don't get to see the tourists scattering like flies while peeing themselves. Really funny thinking back on it now but not so funny at the time. Or the time... After 20+ years photographing widllife professionally, I got stories but I am not going to hijack this thread...
> 
> Cheers!
> Les


 
You should post that picture.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

wetrain17 said:


> You should post that picture.


A quick back story...this bear had been hanging in this area of Yellowstone feeding on an elk carcass that had been killed by wolves. After the wolves were kicked off, he took over. He was kind of grumpy and didn't like all of the attention he was getting so he moved the carcass across the river (creek) and continued feeding over the course of about 3 days.

On the day we were here a BIG group of tourists began to form and with each successive wave, the new ones would move closer to the bear than the last group. Kind of a leap frog effect. The last group got to within about 60 feet of the bear on the carcass with the small river between them. At one point parents were sending their little kids (3-6 years old) running back to the cars in the parking lot with instructions to "go get daddy, he needs to see this". 

There were several photographers there and we were all telling the people that they were getting too close. Several people gave us dirty looks and one person even said "mind your own business, he isn't going to do anything". After about 1/2 hour the bear got up and walked down to the river and put his head down like he was going to take a drink. At this point he was about 25 feet from the group of 20+ people on the bank. Being close to wildlife is all about learning to read their body language and his was saying back up and leave me alone. As a group, the photographers (us) were even farther back then the tourists all backed up as a group, giving this guy plenty of room as he was asking for.

I was one of the first to set my tripod back up and as I turned he jumped off of the bank and into the river in one big jump. He did this with a loud roar and popping his teeth. He was so close he sprayed the closest people with water. Once in the water he swung his head and swatted the water. He was ****ed! At the jump the group began to scream, scatter and run and luckily someone in the group had the good sense to tell everyone to stand still (remember, only food runs). Luckily he then turned around went back to his carcass, figuring he'd made his point. 

Unfortunately I had a 600mm lens on and only was able to get the bear. I wished I had a shorter lens that could have gotten the group in it too as they were just out of the frame to the front of the bear. At one point as we were all walking back to the car the lady who sent her little kid back for "daddy" made the comment..."how could they let an animal like that out here. He could have hurt somebody". Really lady?

Anyway not the greatest picture in the world but a great experience and a good story.

Cheers!
Les


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

**Head, Desk** Yuppies and wildlife just don't mix, ever. Thanks for sharing


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Yeah, great pic and story. Reminds me of the one time I visited Yellowstone. I was biking, and came over a hill to see a bunch of cars scattered over both sides of the road, and nothing moving. Figured there'd been an accident, and hurried down to see if I could help. Got closer, and I could see a ring of tourists, elbow-to-elbow and two deep, surrounding a buffalo with cameras out. Now I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I do think I'd worry more about a charging buffalo than a black bear.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

jamesqf said:


> Yeah, great pic and story. Reminds me of the one time I visited Yellowstone. I was biking, and came over a hill to see a bunch of cars scattered over both sides of the road, and nothing moving. Figured there'd been an accident, and hurried down to see if I could help. Got closer, and I could see a ring of tourists, elbow-to-elbow and two deep, surrounding a buffalo with cameras out. Now I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I do think I'd worry more about a charging buffalo than a black bear.


Yeah, black bears are pretty harmless, with caution of course. Grizzlies worry me but they are pretty predictable and give lots of body language...usually. However, bison are just grumpy and mean and scare me WAY more than either of the bears. I have actually been charged by bison while horseback. Now that will make your butt pucker!

Cheers!
Les


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

It is common sense to me, either you have it or you don't. It baffles me how stupid people can be, and they have absolutely no respect for nature. Um excuse me detached from the world city people but when you go out into nature, you become part of the food chain, you are not on top! 

The lack of knowledge and connection with nature that people lack is sad.

Nice picture Les!


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

goneriding said:


> It is common sense to me, either you have it or you don't. It baffles me how stupid people can be, and they have absolutely no respect for nature. Um excuse me detached from the world city people but when you go out into nature, you become part of the food chain, you are not on top!
> 
> It is incredibly sad the lack of knowledge and connection with nature people have.
> 
> Nice picture Les!


Well, ya have to admit it can be kind of funny. I loved the bear story above, too funny!!! I live in major mega rattler country. If in my domain - I shoot them. I do not enjoy it, and I say a prayer for them. However...I have met several people that indeed came from the city that decided to catch the poor dears and "relocate" them (probably in my back yard) - _many_ of them got bit. Now, that isn't funny....but I just can't help but laugh.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Great bear story!

Guess this is what you get when most the animals city folk see are behind bars. They get the sense that animals are not dangerous at all.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Missy May said:


> However...I have met several people that indeed came from the city that decided to catch the poor dears...


Oh, that reminds me of another good "city people" story. A good few years back (maybe late '80s?) I was backpacking in Yosemite, starting from the valley floor. With a mid-afternoon start, you reached the first camping spot above Nevada Falls about evening. Unfortunately, it's close enough to the Valley for groups to make it an overnight party trip (hauling beer &c), and that day a car club from LA had decided to do just that.

Well, along about 10 PM, they'd gotten well into the beer, and decided they were going to put out bait and catch a bear. So they put out some food, quieted down a bit (thankfully!) and waited. Sure enough, before too long, along came a bear attracted by the food, and they jumped out to catch it. It turned out that Mr or Ms Bear was more than a match for the whole club


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## Crescent (May 2, 2012)

Here is a picture from brooks to show how close you get to these Kodiak bears! If you look by the left of the picture you can see my dads arm! No zoom!








_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

That's one animal I've never got a photo of. Never seem to have a camera with me when I bump into them. I used to go up to Alaska a lot. Mostly fishing, occasionally bear hunting while fishing. My only serious encounter was with a Grizzly in Alaska while fishing. He was seriously offended with our presence and if we had not thrown a few salmon at his feet in an offering, we may have had a serious incident.

I've encountered Grizzlies in Yellowstone in the back country around Mary Lake as we rode horses in. For the most part, those bears disappeared as soon as they discovered us.

I have much more experience with the buffalo. We see them so often that we become a little casual to their presence. I always try to keep a enough distance that if one becomes riled, I have enough space to get my horse up to speed to make up for the quick first those critters have. And we have had a few buffalo charge us. Luckily they don't pursue you very far. If you get out of their way quickly, they are happy to return to being lazy.

If you out number them, The bison will usually move away.









Sometimes in the winter months we just ride right upon them in the fog.


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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

I have nothing at all worthwhile to input towards the conversation, as the most likely I am to come across wildlife is a rat BUT I am loving these stories and photos!


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

A few years ago, I was starting my young gelding. We would often go for rides after work, and occasionally, I would misjudge our distance and be returning to the trailer well after dark. 

On one of these evenings, We were coming up the trail in the dusk as the sun had gone behind the mountain. We kicked out a young moose. I recognized him, because I had frequently seen him in this same area of the trail and he had broke off one side of his antlers. I had nick named him Lefty. Since he only had his left antler.

My young gelding had really been dogging it. It was taking a lot of encouragement from me to keep him moving forward. He was slowing down and spooking at every shadow lurking in the dark along the trail. And it was getting dark and I wanted to be back at the trailer. I was getting frustrated with how much effort it was taking to try and keep him moving.

As we spooked this young bull moose. He jumped right out on the trail and took off at a brisk gait. My gelding seeing this horse size animal trotting up the trail, lost his fears and decided he better keep up and he would be left behind. Of course the closer we got to the moose, the faster he went. Pretty quick we were doing a really fast foxtrot up the trail. It was great for me, Since I could work now on holding him to the smooth gait I was trying to develop and now have to worry about motivating him to move forward.

After a several hundred yards, the moose tired of this pursuit and abandoned the trail and ducked off into the heavy brush. But my gelding could still hear him crashing through the thick stuff and kept moving forward at a brisk gait. It was enough excitement to keep him moving briskly the rest of the way back to the truck.

I've been tree'd by an angry moose, So I'm sure this is not the correct thing to do with all of them. But in this case it was exciting to see that moose just a horse length or two ahead me moving up the trail.


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## bbsmfg3 (Aug 12, 2010)

*Another bear story*

This happend in 1999, our second trip to the Rockies. We were in the Tetons, riding the center mountain.
Never realized we'd get with 10 ft of a huge griz.

In anticipation of a close encounter, we asked the locals what you do with a close encounter of this type. Now this is a solo bear, and not one with cubs. 

The locals said if this happens you have to be the aggressor. The hair is still up on the back of my neck, and I'm thinking be the aggressor, ok, nothing else I can think of right now. I'm on a 16.3 hd horse and this bear is bigger than we are. So, I turn his head toward the bear and ask him to take a couple of steps toward the bear, and I can just hear him thinking "are you sure you want to do this?" He takes the steps toward the griz and the bear gets down and walks up the mountain. Now who trained who here.

We go a short distance down the trail and come up a solo hiker. No gun, no maze, no nothing except he is white as a sheet, and I'm sure he needs his diaper changed. As it turns out there were two bears at that location, one on each side of the trail. He said he was sure he was done for. He got down on all fours crawled a short distance, took a picture and headed down the trail.

We had not gone very far and the wife said he is trying to catch us. Sure enough he is running full bore down the trail to catch us. And he says " I'm not going to let the cavalry out of my sight until we get off of this mountain"


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## LisaG (Nov 11, 2012)

bbsmfg3 said:


> We go a short distance down the trail and come up a solo hiker. No gun, no maze, no nothing except he is white as a sheet, and I'm sure he needs his diaper changed. As it turns out there were two bears at that location, one on each side of the trail. He said he was sure he was done for. He got down on all fours crawled a short distance, took a picture and headed down the trail.
> 
> "


He was too scared to control his bowels, but not too scared to snap a pic!

We have lots of black bears, and I've bumped into them more than I'd like, but haven't had any incidents. Fall seems to be the worst time to run into them, especially if the berry crop has been poor. One year I stopped going for walks entirely because they were all over the place, and because my crazy dog tries to chase them.

I've only seen a bear a couple times on horseback, and the horses were fine, fortunately. I think they probably see and smell bears all the time in the pasture, so they're relatively used to them. I would be a lot more concerned about getting dumped by the horse than anything a black bear might do (even with cubs). That being said, I'm not going to walk up and shake hands either.

Bear bells are probably a good idea, but then you miss out on all the other wildlife! I love to give a coyote or a deer a little chase across the field or down a trail.


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## bbsmfg3 (Aug 12, 2010)

*And then there is plain stupidity*

Been several years back. Really do not remember where we were. We were up in the lower elevation mountains. High enough to be cool for the bears. Riding along a trail with a lot of down fall on either side of it, and about 50 yards from the shore line of a large lake. You've heard of the fur flying!! Not ours but that of a a couple of bear cubs that came running up the bank and climbing a tall, but small diameter, fur tree. They are up there raising one barrel of ruckus. And momma griz is down at the shore line equally being noisy. Before she got up the bank, we high tailed it back down the trail and made our way around her in the worst down fall I've ever ridden, but it was much better than trying to shake hands with mad momma. The trail head was about a 1/2 mile from where we encounter the cubs, but seemed like miles going thru the down fall. Finally got to the trail head, and there were some orientals there to take pictures of wildlife. We told them about momma griz and warned against going down that trail. As we were loading the horses in the trailer we looked over and down that trail they went running. Every wonder why humans get attacked? Shear stupidity.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

bbsmfg3 said:


> Every wonder why humans get attacked? Shear stupidity.


Yeah, evolution in action


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