Northwest Fishing Reports

Maybe the next time your by the fire on your summer campout this question will pop into your head,just before paranoia sets in and you start hearing all kinds of unfamiliar sounds. I know this is the hunting forum but who not better to ask then the people who are out in the woods all times of the year.

Ever since we were young,we've always been instructed to play dead if ever attacked by a bear. The chances of a bear attack is so rare anyway. But as some one who is camping with the family all the time. I thought I should try to figure this out anyway. I've heard this "myth" if you will from tons of people. Playing dead is the best thing to do if attacked by a grizzly bear.However,if attacked by a black bear...you are suppose to make as much noise as possible and fight it. Because the black bear intends to make a meal out of you.

Anyone else hear this?
Is it true?
Should I call The Mythbusters?:-"

And yes,I own a firearm....

Yes I have heard all the myths, either "play dead" or "wave your arms and make noise". Do either of them work? Hell if I know. What I do know is, I am not going to do the "play dead" or "make noise" bits if I am in arms reach of my "peace maker" :thumright

gpc wrote:Yes I have heard all the myths, either "play dead" or "wave your arms and make noise". Do either of them work? Hell if I know. What I do know is, I am not going to do the "play dead" or "make noise" bits if I am in arms reach of my "peace maker" :thumright

Im with you gpc.If in reach of the 30 06 or the 44 the only noise I will making is click click boom.

Kevinb, I don't know either for sure. The best advice that I can give is don't get into that situation. Up in Northestern Pond Oreille co or north of Priest Lake if I am fishing w/o a gun I always make niose as I make my way through the brush. When camping up there we seal our food, even then we get black bears snooping around and so far (knock on wood) they boogie when we yell at them. I have seen alot of blackies in my life, I have seen only two grizzlies one at the dump and one while hunting balck bears. Yet I am still more afriad of grizzlies.

P.S. I am moore concerned about finding my self between a Cow Moose and her calf(s).

The best thing out can do when faced with a bear is to run. That way you only have to be faster than one of your friends!

eustace wrote:Kevinb, I don't know either for sure. The best advice that I can give is don't get into that situation. Up in Northestern Pond Oreille co or north of Priest Lake if I am fishing w/o a gun I always make niose as I make my way through the brush. When camping up there we seal our food, even then we get black bears snooping around and so far (knock on wood) they boogie when we yell at them. I have seen alot of blackies in my life, I have seen only two grizzlies one at the dump and one while hunting balck bears. Yet I am still more afriad of grizzlies.

P.S. I am moore concerned about finding my self between a Cow Moose and her calf(s).

I'm not really worried about this but just curious. I hear different stories on what to do with a black bear "attack" not so much of the encounter. I have encountered black bears on the Olympics but at safe distance. I'm not sure if they knew I was there or not. Just trying to get myself a little more educated about outdoor survival practices I guess.

I have seen on t.v. the best thing to do is give them a picnic basket and they will leave you alone. Cartoons are what happens in real life right?

whenever my family is camping we have at least one gun with us, hell somtimes if we are real hungry we WANT a bear to sneak into camp.

.454 casuall---- we will see who is playin dead!

My daddy always told me that the average man can run just a little faster than the average bear so he said all you have to do is and not look back, because it would slow you down, until you collapse. By then you have either outrun the bugger or it does not matter.

He also swore that big foot lived around Colville, because he father saw it there and it was fightin' words to saw granddad was nuts!

The average bear can reach speeds of 30mph:-"

I've been getting a few PM's about this and I know people are trying to be helpful. I want to be CLEAR,I have no fear of bears. Its a question about right or wrong info,basically if you do one or the other. You seal your fate. So which one is it? Who knows? I think anyone who spends time in the wilderness would want to know. As stated previously,I own and carry a firearm when I'm outdoors. Even if my family and/or friends are armed themselves. I would still want to know in the case of a black bear attack. IMHO a firearm also brings a false sense of security. Not jumping anyone at all and I appreciate the info.

lskiles wrote:I come from a long line of hillbillies and there is an old "remedy" for the situation.

When the bear attacks stand your ground and growl as load as you can. He will in turn growl back. When he opens his mouth real wide you reach your hand in as far as you can, grab his tail and yank him inside out.

haha,....good stuff

I watched a show a few days ago on "Animal Planet". Can't remember the name of the program, but it was basically about an older guy who is a renowned expert with bears. In particular the Grizzly. This gentleman has done extremely large amounts of research on bears in Canada and in Russia.

What made this program interesting, he was trying to prove humans and bears can live together and there be no fear of the bear themselves.

This guy went to Russia, found some bear cubs someone had trapped, and bought them from the Russian government. He was also given space out in the middle of nowhere to raise these cubs. Yeah, I know...sounds like the typical "raises bear from cub, turns bear loose in the wild" type story, however it was interesting, because he raised them acting as the surrogate mother bear.

He taught them to hunt, taught them to fish by catching trout and salmon and placing them into a section of the river that the bears could fish from. He would catch salmon and turn the fish loose in a lake and let the bears chase down and eat them.

He also wanted the teach the bears he was in fact their mother. To do this, he needed to make them understand he was going to protect them just as a mother would. In this particular area, there were several wild adult bears...not just the two young ones. He would essentially stand up to full grown grizzlies to protect the cubs. He had no weapons other than a walking stick and a can of pepper spray.

In one instance a large male charged the cubs, and this guy stepped between the cubs and the male...gave it a shot of pepper spray which made the bear turn and high-tail it out the area.

Is there a point to this? Not really, but it did open my eyes to the possibility to the fact bears aren't going to attack at random just because they have a pool going with their fellow bears. I can only speak for myself, but on the off chance I happen to cross paths with a bear, I don't think I would have the discipline to lay there, play dead, and let a bear "taste" me.

I would have to venture a guess, but I'd be willing to bet I'd be running around in circles, arms flailing about, screaming like a wounded banshee! Hopefully, this in of itself is enough to either thoroughly confuse, or scare the holy hell out of it. If that should not work...the muzzle flash from a large caliber handgun should do the trick.

kevinb wrote:The average bear can reach speeds of 30mph

One thing to remember...you don't have to be able to outrun the bear...just whoever you happen to be with!


Chad

leahcim_dahc wrote:I watched a show a few days ago on "Animal Planet". Can't remember the name of the program, but it was basically about an older guy who is a renowned expert with bears. In particular the Grizzly. This gentleman has done extremely large amounts of research on bears in Canada and in Russia.

What made this program interesting, he was trying to prove humans and bears can live together and there be no fear of the bear themselves.

This guy went to Russia, found some bear cubs someone had trapped, and bought them from the Russian government. He was also given space out in the middle of nowhere to raise these cubs. Yeah, I know...sounds like the typical "raises bear from cub, turns bear loose in the wild" type story, however it was interesting, because he raised them acting as the surrogate mother bear.

He taught them to hunt, taught them to fish by catching trout and salmon and placing them into a section of the river that the bears could fish from. He would catch salmon and turn the fish loose in a lake and let the bears chase down and eat them.

He also wanted the teach the bears he was in fact their mother. To do this, he needed to make them understand he was going to protect them just as a mother would. In this particular area, there were several wild adult bears...not just the two young ones. He would essentially stand up to full grown grizzlies to protect the cubs. He had no weapons other than a walking stick and a can of pepper spray.

In one instance a large male charged the cubs, and this guy stepped between the cubs and the male...gave it a shot of pepper spray which made the bear turn and high-tail it out the area.

Is there a point to this? Not really, but it did open my eyes to the possibility to the fact bears aren't going to attack at random just because they have a pool going with their fellow bears. I can only speak for myself, but on the off chance I happen to cross paths with a bear, I don't think I would have the discipline to lay there, play dead, and let a bear "taste" me.

I would have to venture a guess, but I'd be willing to bet I'd be running around in circles, arms flailing about, screaming like a wounded banshee! Hopefully, this in of itself is enough to either thoroughly confuse, or scare the holy hell out of it. If that should not work...the muzzle flash from a large caliber handgun should do the trick.

kevinb wrote:The average bear can reach speeds of 30mph

One thing to remember...you don't have to be able to outrun the bear...just whoever you happen to be with!


Chad

Good stuff Chad, I saw this show....but it sucked only because that guy was doing some awesome work and then those Russian poachers broke into his place and then killed the bears.

That part did suck...

The guy did have an understanding of bears well beyond my comprehension. He didn't act fazed one bit when interacting with the "other" bears. I bet he had one heck of an adrenaline rush though.

Someone told me once that bears have shorter front legs than hind legs,, and therefor if you run down hill they will fall over themselves if they give chase. I don't know about that?? but it always made a fun visual when I think about it.

It is my humble opinion that a person does'nt real have a choice. The bear is the one that decides whether to run or attack. whether or not you are screaming, bang pots, etc.

If you (you meaning anybody) are in known bear country and our concerned, carry a gun.

Just hope you can drop everything and pull your weapon, while maintaining your composure, as growling snarling bear (traveling 30 mph) approaches, and fire a killing shot...


The Bear decides.

Just realize that even if you are packing a gun sometimes it won't matter much even if you happen to get a kill shot on the bear. I have read numerous stories of people being killed even after the bear should be dead. So the stories go that the person made a kill shot but the bear continued attacking for another 30 secs. to a min. out of adrenline and it didn't matter much gun or not and the person died. Never shoot a bear if it is facing you (unless it is already charging) because it's instinct is to charge, and guess what you are directly in it's path. Personally I prefer the comfort of a gun, .44 mag to be precise, but the fact is sometimes it just plain doesn't matter. Just as I thought, with a black bear you fight back and with a griz you play dead. I have heard that the bear pepper spray works amazingly well, so that is an option. Here is the best site that I could find on the two different bears comparatively. Hope this helps.

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-grow ... ttack.aspx