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Bear came through our camp

9K views 83 replies 40 participants last post by  Jager78 
#1 ·
We were camping in the Angeles Forrest when my wife woke me and said a bear was going through our cooler. I looked out of the tent and saw the bear with his front claws through our cooler tearing into a gallon of milk. Unprepared at the time as this was a while ago, I now have quite an impressive gun collection. At the time my family was in danger and all I had was a CZ75 9mm. I fired a shot in the air and the bear took off faster than I thought a bear could move.

That being said, I was talking with my father and we can't decide which would have been more effective at that range, a 12 gauge with slugs, or a 30-06. I would like your opinions as I think they are both extremely lethal. This was a Black Bear, not a Grizzly.
 
#44 ·
Gold rush placer gold miners often planted apple trees & grape/berry vines around their cabins. Wise not to camp close to that kind of bear bait when its getting ripe.

This could be you.

 
#45 ·
Bears Love Beer!

years ago we were camping in Kings Canyon and bears would come through the campsite every day. Then the rangers would follow banging on pots and pans and yelling the bears always ran. Now I have heard of a few instances where black bears have attacked but it is generally rare. but seem like bear spray would be best of all.. During that week actually 6 days we saw 9 bears..
 
#52 ·
The only time I have read of someone getting killed by a black bear was several years ago in Colorado a guy shot a bear with a shotgun. The guy was standing in the doorway of his Trailer and all he had to do was go back inside and close the door. Even yell or shoot at the ground to scare the bear off. But no, the guy shot the bear, wounded it and then the black bear killed the
guy....



Really? I live in Colorado and I'm not finding anything like you've indicated???
 
#72 ·
The only time I have read of someone getting killed by a black bear was several years ago in Colorado a guy shot a bear with a shotgun. The guy was standing in the doorway of his Trailer and all he had to do was go back inside and close the door. Even yell or shoot at the ground to scare the bear off. But no, the guy shot the bear, wounded it and then the black bear killed the
guy....

Really? I live in Colorado and I'm not finding anything like you've indicated???
Yes, really. I don't make things up and if I can back up and prove what I write then I do. Good that you question though since I also don't believe even half what I read on the net.
And why real life experience is much better than anything one might read in a book or on the net.

Here is what I could find after searching for quite a few minutes. Maybe there is the newspaper article somewhere on the net that I read back in 1993 but here is what I found ( with not too many details though ) which should help prove what I wrote in my previous post >

post 33: "Colorado - 24 year old logger Collin McClelland was attacked and killed in his camper in Fremont County, Colorado on August 10, 1993. Shots were fired at the bear but apparently only slightly wounded the animal."

from this site > http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/wildlife/mammals/black-bear-attacks-fatal.html

I like this quote from that link also >

"The fact is attacks on humans by Black Bears is extremely rare, in fact only 52 known fatal Black Bear attacks have happened in North America in the last 100 years, but they do happen. Your best defense is a little understanding of bears and their habits and being aware of your surroundings when visiting or living in bear country."
 
#54 ·
Yeah, maybe 4 or 5 a year in the US and Canada combined, all types of bear combined. If we just look in the contiguous 48 it drops to about one a year. If we eliminate grizzly areas and deaths from captive bears from that, we're looking at one fatality every other year. All this effort to fight off bears that are such low probability threats.

OTOH, just in 2014, 83 people died from falls in the backcountry. Where are all the threads on this? Shouldn't we be putting 83 times as much effort in avoiding backcountry falls? Nope. It just ain't sexy.

http://outsidebynature.com/main/2014-backcountry-fatality-statistics/#tables
 
#58 ·
Here is a video of one that attacked me and I had to fight him off for five minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_sWQ5UT3sQ


Ok, he attacked my trail cam. I wasn't there. I left a couple minutes on ahead of the attack so people could see the area in sunlight. One of them (I have a bunch of bears on the property) stole another camera which I still haven't found. I have since put them in metal boxes secured by a chain. Somewhere I have a video of one trying to get the camera but he gave up after a couple minutes.
 
#59 ·
Shooting a gun into the air can result in a felony charge in California.

Next time, just yell at the bear. He'll probably run just as fast. Save your bullets for the rare instance when the bear actually does charge -- you may need every last one, not because bears are armor plated, but because it's harder than most people expect to hit a bear that's charging at you and harder still to hit them somewhere vital.

Also, hang your food from a tree. Bears are not usually a problem even in most campsites (and I worry about campground bears much more than I worry about them in the back country), but I could tell you horror stories about mice all day long.

ETA: If you want to avoid bears avoid campgrounds. Also solves a lot of other problems.
 
#61 ·
I used to camp in and around the cedar swamps of northern Michigan and there's no shortage of black bears in that area.

Bears have an incredible sense of smell, even an empty cooler that recently had food in it can attract a bear.

We made it a point to have our camp kitchen at least 20 yards away from where we slept. We hung all food and coolers up in the trees, as well as our gas stove because of the food smells. We used paper plates which we burned in our cooking fire pit.

As long as you're careful and mindful of what you're doing, you shouldn't have any issues with bears, raccoons, etc. as added precaution we always had at least one 12 gauge on hand.
 
#68 ·
Years back out of Grants Pass Oregon, far down a rugged 4 WDL road near the Rogue river doing a preliminary retracement of an old patented mining claim boundary. I parked my Jeep Cherokee. Which had a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken & side dishes (I bought that morning for my lunch & dinner) in it I intended to eat later in the day.

Not realizing the back seat passenger window was down about a 1/4 or 1/2 inch. Hit the auto lock switch on the drivers door, took my GPS & went to work.

Before noon headed back to the Jeep to eat lunch, about 100 yards from the Jeep saw something BIG moving around INSIDE the Jeep. Stepped behind a tree, drew my sidearm & watched, at 1st thinking it was human.

Well, it wasn't human, it was a black bear. I just stood there patiently, waiting for it to exit the Jeep. After about 10 minutes getting impatient, I finally yelled loudly to make my presence known to the bear & it quickly exited out the back seat passenger side window & hightailed it into the brush.

End result, the bear had eaten the fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, coleslaw & tore up the back seat trying to get at the MRE's, dry crackers & canned goods I had stored underneath the seat. Once home, had to have the rear side window replaced & I replaced the back seat bought used from U-Pull-It.

It was my fault, not the bears. I must have inadvertently left the rear passenger side window down slightly, as that was where the bear found the opening, then got his claws in enough to pull/claw/bust the window out & gain entry.

If that window had been closed tight, I don't think the bear would have managed to get in.
Oh well, lesson learned at my expense.
 
#74 ·
Or falls. Falls are the number one cause of backcountry death. Often we don't pay attention to where our feet are or try to scramble up dicey terrain. I once went on a weekend backpack trip and when I came back there had been a landslide on the trail which was carved into a cliff. Avery the dog scrambles across it with ease. No way to anchor a safety line. I figured there was a 99% chance of my crossing it okay but if I didn't, it was 50 feet of screaming death onto the rocks below. I returned by a different route. THAT is how to survive in the wilderness.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...es-runner-Danelle-Nellie-Ballengees-life.html
 
#75 ·
I doubt that closing the windows would have made a difference. Bears bust thru windows or even rip off car doors if they think there MIGHT be a snack inside. Even cars where there was no food at all, they'll go after an empty cooler. Seen it happen in parks a lot of times. Some rangers recommend leaving the windows open so the bear doesn't destroy the car to get in. All you have to do then is replace the seats.
 
#76 ·
Saw a picture once where a black bear got into a closed and locked car. He simply stuck his claws in the crack at the top of the door and peeled it open like a banana.

Someone earlier mentioned that the bear got in his car because he left the window cracked, and it reminded me of that picture. Cracked window makes no difference if they want in.

Bears are unbelievably strong. I still need to repair a steel tube gate that a bear bent all to hell last fall because he wanted to get in and get the livestock feed. Seeing the gate all mangled up like that, you realize the power of those animals. It's enough to send a shiver up your spine. They are that strong and yet can sneak up behind you without making the slightest sound.

.
 
#78 ·
Black bears are one thing, Grizzlies are a differing story..
If you ever have a "Griz" charge you.
You better have your ducks in a row, otherwise you are DEAD.
We weren't hunting it, IT WAS TRAILING US. (or the horses we were on)

 
#81 ·
Long ago, camping in Colorado with wife#2, a bear came through in the middle of the night. She freaked out! Her thought was to frighten it away with fire, which she was going to get by burning the tent~!

All of the food was inside the car, but apparently the Coleman stove smelled good. The bear banged and banged on it trying to get it open ... ( I doubt we could have made any more noise banging on pots than the bear itself made! )

Anyway, it moved on. I suspect it visited this busy campground every night.
 
#84 ·
Lesson to be learned here

1. Secure your food at least 50 ft up a tree

2. Do not assume that Bears are cuddly human loving creatures or that they are the scourge of man

3. If you are in bear country know how to ward off bears, carry bear spray or a firearm that will stop a bear (.45ACP, .44MAG, .454 Casull, 12GA, .45-70, etc.)

Basically know your surrounding/enviroment and always be prepared!
 
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