Advice for dealing with bears from a former spert.

Thomas Linton

Thomas Linton

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Jun 16, 2003
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"Don’t Play Dead
You have always heard the rule that you should play dead if you ever happen to come face to face with a bear. However, this could get you killed in an instant! If you do see a bear nearby, use those legs to back away and run for your life!"

Survival tips by Nancy Smith of Sport Preacher

:rolleyes:
 
That's the rule when the grizzly is actually making physical contact....good luck backing away then fight a grizzly and you will jack it full of adrenaline and it will tear you to pieces
Always fight a black bear....it is usually a predatory attack and will eat you while you lay there
Used to be an alpine backpacking guide in British Columbia....grizzly and blackberry plus cougar
 
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Don’t ever try sneaking up on a bear—grizzly, Black, polar, or brown. Knowing is half the battle.
 
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Brad "the butcher" said:
That's the rule when the grizzly is actually making physical contact....good luck backing away then fight a grizzly and you will jack it full of adrenaline and it will tear you to pieces
Always fight a black bear....it is usually a predatory attack and will eat you while you lay there
Used to be an alpine backpacking guide in British Columbia....grizzly and blackberry plus cougar
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That is what I understand as well with Grizzlies. Black bears pretty much want to kill or eat you if they attack. So if you have the chance close encounter with a Black or brown phase black bear, fight back if possible.

Just read a story about a guy in New Mexico who was attacked by a brown bear. His dogs were running it and had it "treed". The bear attacked. He shot with a Glock 20 (10mm) but didn't really have the proper ammunition loaded in the gun for the event. He was with others who I believe called for help immediately and they helicoptered him out of there afterwards.

Don't run from a predator as it may trigger an attack response.

A couple Black Bear photos from Smoky Mt NP taken earlier this year.
DSC03422ceed.jpg DSC03553cen_edited-2ed.jpg
 
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Brown bear - "Grizzly"
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: U. arctos
Binomial name
Ursus arctos
Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
15, see text


Brown bear range map
The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a bear that is found across much of northern Eurasia and North America.[2][1] It is one of the largest living terrestrial members of the order Carnivora, rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which is much less variable in size and slightly larger on average.[3][4][5][6][7]

The brown bear's principal range includes parts of Russia, Central Asia, China, Canada, the United States, Scandinavia and the Carpathian region, especially Romania), Anatolia, and Caucasus.[1][8] The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries."
 
Thanks for the news release. I wasn't aware of this.

Added: I am just about ready to start my regular fall visits to the park which I will do a couple times a month until January based on previous years. Frequency depends on what I see and so forth. I like to catch the deer rut and see what ever black bears are wandering around.
 
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I live in Alaska and it is amazing the kind of BS advice people give. Bears will outrun you, the only exception is traveling across a hill where the uneven terrain ruins their stride. That is a special case and it should be noted they can run up and down hill faster than you can. Running is not needed, just back off and go around.
 
It is my understanding that Grizzlies usually attack to either protect young or territory. I live in an area with tons of black bears, and they do attack humans as a food source if nothing else is available. IMO, playing dead with a black bear is a bad idea.....
 
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It is easy to pretend that I would do anything except run screaming like a frightened little girl.... but I doubt I would do anything else if backing away slowly didn’t work.
 
We have black bears in our neighborhood. I get home late at night from work and my mailbox is at the bottom of our driveway. I'm always aware of my surroundings.
 
Brommeland said:
It is my understanding that Grizzlies usually attack to either protect young or territory. I live in an area with tons of black bears, and they do attack humans as a food source if nothing else is available. IMO, playing dead with a black bear is a bad idea.....
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Black bears do not attack groups of people (3+) and are famous for eating people alive. If confronted by a black bear having more people will tend to intimidate them and if attacked fight back as they probably are planning to eat you. A brown bear will attack groups of people 12+ and you should lay face down with your hands over your head with dominant hand underneath the weak hand. Bears see the mouth as a primary threat when fighting other bears and tend to attack the face and mouth. Lying face down you want to protect your neck and ears with your arms as much as possible with the dominant hand on the bottom to protect it as much as possible. You should remain as quiet as possible. My neighbor knew a geologist that had his group attacked and one of the woman with the grouped was mauled and kept screaming which kept agitating the bear who was going to leave, but kept returning to maul the screaming woman.
 
Does anyone believe black bears can smell fear or confidence? Most of the cues mentioned in attacks are vocal or visual, but their most developed sense is smell—from what I’ve read.
 
Yonose said:
Does anyone believe black bears can smell fear or confidence? Most of the cues mentioned in attacks are vocal or visual, but their most developed sense is smell—from what I’ve read.
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They would probably smell my soiled pants.

n2s
 
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