Advice for dealing with bears from a former spert.

I remember a story from a native woman up here. Her grandmother came across a black bear. I am guessing while berry picking ? as they did that a lot up there, but I'm guessing. What I know for a fact though is what the old woman did upon meeting the bear. She slowly backed away while facing it and spoke to the bear gently in her Cree language. She got away without incident. And this sounds a fair bit like some of the approaches discussed previously. Maybe the variables where just lined up in her favor in that scenario. I generally go by empirical evidence myself. And there is documentation of black bears killing and feeding on people here in Saskatchewan. I follow these threads sometimes simply because I don't want to be attacked and try to gather a common sense consensus to get me home in one piece.
 
... And there is documentation of black bears killing and feeding on people here in Saskatchewan. I follow these threads sometimes simply because I don't want to be attacked and try to gather a common sense consensus to get me home in one piece.
In the Southeast US, I'm not very concerned about encountering a black bear. In fact, I tend to hope that I do see one in the woods. Just don't want them too close. Every now and then, I am very close or under 20 yds from a black bear. It's a photo opp for me. Black bears will scavenge a body if you die in the woods. I always enjoy the bear threads for entertainment mostly.
 
In the Southeast US, I'm not very concerned about encountering a black bear. In fact, I tend to hope that I do see one in the woods. Just don't want them too close. Every now and then, I am very close or under 20 yds from a black bear. It's a photo opp for me. Black bears will scavenge a body if you die in the woods. I always enjoy the bear threads for entertainment mostly.

You did better than me buddy. The most I saw were tracks or a flash of fur shooting through the bush at a distance. Once in a blue moon a bear would wander into town and get tranq'd or baited into a transport cage. Perhaps my yelling before entering dense bush skidaddled most off. I admit a fear of a natural environment bear encounter. But it was never enough to stop me from going in. I dragged a huge Elk antler shed out once, and spooked up a moose. So I did play in their back yards. Mainly while metal detecting old fur trade post sites. I tried to get bear spray once but punk kids were using it to assault people on the streets were I lived, to rob them. It was gone for a while, then I just forgot about getting it.
 
I'm not shocked that someone being calm and sure of themselves would easily talk to a black bear and come to no harm. I think most of the cases in Sask of black bears attacking are either poorly documented (bear scavenging a heart attack vic for example) or people being antagonistic and not realizing that they are facing either a habituated or cornered bear, but I've not heard enough to know for sure. Its rather rare as far as I know. We dealt with black bears around Clear Lake in Manitoba a lot in Riding Mtn National park. Sometimes they would fall asleep in front of cabin doors or under the steps to the kitchen. Never any real problem, just don't run. Local ecology also matters, naturally well fed bears are not too big a deal, but bears fed for a few months off poacher baits, or otherwise habituated, they get scary. I had an uncle try to keep bees, the bears liked those. Once the bees were gone, so were the bears. I think I saw one around the farm in just over 10 years, but we knew they were around, just lots of space for them to be without them getting squeezed into our area.

Bears are like any other big animal, you have to know how to read them, bulls, horses, pigs, and dogs try to communicate. I think people more come to grief when they think they know what's going on but ego gets in their way. Of course we did have a bull who'd tell you he was pissy, about three seconds before he charged. So sometimes you gotta just be quick! My grandad always said you have to listen, and since he was deaf, you can guess what he really meant.
 
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.

It was a normal black bear, on a ranch just a few miles outside of town here.
We don't have brown bears / grizzlies in New Mexico, but the black bears here do come in all different colors. Blonde, dark black, brown, cinnamon...

Black bear attacks are extremely rare and I've heard some extenuating circumstances as to why that bear attacked. One of the factors, as told in your version of the story, his dogs may have been harassing and terrorizing the bear.
Another possible factor, as heard in some local versions of the story, the bear had been hanging around the ranch house for a while and getting food there.
 
It was a normal black bear, on a ranch just a few miles outside of town here.
We don't have brown bears / grizzlies in New Mexico, but the black bears here do come in all different colors. Blonde, dark black, brown, cinnamon...

Black bear attacks are extremely rare and I've heard some extenuating circumstances as to why that bear attacked. One of the factors, as told in your version of the story, his dogs may have been harassing and terrorizing the bear.
Another possible factor, as heard in some local versions of the story, the bear had been hanging around the ranch house for a while and getting food there.
I figured it was a brown phase Black Bear. I knew there weren't any grizzlies in New Mexico. I feel certain there may have been extenuating circumstances and in most cases, it was the human's fault.
 
I figured it was a brown phase Black Bear. I knew there weren't any grizzlies in New Mexico. I feel certain there may have been extenuating circumstances and in most cases, it was the human's fault.

If either of the stories were true (I don't personally know the man, but know people who do), that his dogs were out of control and attacking the bear and/or it had been getting fed at the house... Maybe he was even searching for bears, off-season, with a pack of trained dogs to scout hunting locations. As much as I hate to say it, but maybe sometimes people are asking for it.

It was quite an event though. The bear had bit his leg and would not let go. He shot it multiple times, killing it eventually, while it was still attached. They could not break the bear's mouth grip so they cut it's head off and hauled the man, with the bear head attached, to the hospital.
 
Sport preacher?

She must be talking about running from the Chicago Bears defense in the NFL.
 
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