Are You Prepared for a Bear Encounter?

[Aanta]

Unusually good advice in that text linked by the OP jedishrfu. To sum it up again: Retreat slowly if there's no threat. But if it is, stand your ground firmly. I meet bears several times a year, and consider them generally not dangerous. The image of bear crap by Keith McClary was a good example that berries can pass trough only partially digested - species identification from the crap is not possible as this also happen for the Brown bear, Ursus arctos which is identical to "Grizzly bear" same species - the Kodiak bear is however a little different and a subspecies Ursus arctos middendorffi.

 

[Jodo]

What to do when you encounter a black bear deep in the woods and you have probably 20 trout in your basket strung around your neck...

Happened to me the summer of 2003. It is a 5 hr expedition where I fish brook trout. I was half way down with a strong wind to my face. On a dog leg 90 degree corner of the brook I hugged a tree on the edge of the water to clear this corner ( very deep corner ). As I cleared the tree quite happy I did not fall in...I was face to face with Mr Bear. Literally.

Good news is the bear turned and ran away. Bad news is I threw my basket full of fish and ran the other way.

Note to self. Never go into deep woods alone.
I told this story to a game warden. He claims bears don't normally attack humans. He did have 1 warning for me. He claims bears have no facial expression. The bear may seem harmless and friendly but if it got close enough to you it might swat your head off without showing any aggression or rage.

I live in East coast Canada. Black bears are very common here but we have a golden rule about bears. If there is a bear anywhere close to humans you should shoot it. Bears dislike humans and if they get close to you ( not by accident ofc ) it means that bear is no longer afraid of humans. We call that a "problem bear" in these parts.

 

[Jarvis323]