[911er]

I was out for a 10 mile bike ride back in late June. Now, I have seen plenty of bears before but I've always been in my cage (car or jeep). This is the 1st time I have seen one while out in the open without any sense of security. I would normally have felt OK with that but, I was without any defense except for a lil pocket knife I keep on my keychain. No weapons because I was on GOV property.

Distance was approx. 200'
Bear was approx 250 lbs

This bear stood in the roadway and kept looking at me for close to 2 minutes. It finally walked away. So I turned my bike around and headed another way. Guess what I ran into. Yup, another Black Bear. Lucky for me this one was only 80 lbs, which made me think, "Oh DAMN, was that the Momma Bear I just saw". I took off like a Bat out of H*** .

Just thought I'd share my experience. And yeah, I know I could have gotten that bear to move by waving my arms and making myself looking bigger but like I said, it wasmy first time seeing and being so close to a bear without the safety of my vehicle. I was able to take a picture though. I had just texted my waife and told her I was on my way home. Enjoy the Pic !!

 

[leaftye]

It's nice that you saw some bears. There's little reason to be scared of them if you're smart...like keeping food out of your tent and not getting between a momma bear and her cub. I've had a few chances during the last few months to get up very early in the morning and chase bears out of the kitchen area of our group campground and another chance to hike closely up to a bear and take a few pictures...I'll post pics of the latter sometime later. The bear I got pictures of is very cinnamon.

 

[justin_baker]

No reason to be scared. Black bears are nothing like grizzlies. You can usually scare them off and an actual attack would be very odd.
Don't run if it charges you though, it's usually a bluff charge.

 

[kenpofan]

No reason to be scared. Black bears are nothing like grizzlies. You can usually scare them off and an actual attack would be very odd.
Don't run if it charges you though, it's usually a bluff charge.

Respectfully I must disagree Black Bears (Ursus americanus )
attack on par with the dreaded grizz..
per this list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

 

[leaftye]

Respectfully I must disagree Black Bears (Ursus americanus )
attack on par with the dreaded grizz..
per this list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

Respectfully, the author of that Wiki entry disagrees with you. I discussed this topic with the author a few months ago and you should be able to find that discussion via a Google search.

 

[911er]

I talked to a game warden and he told me to make myself as big as possible. Still, my 1st sighting outside of my car I was still frozen in fear. I'm sure my next sighting or confrontation with a black bear will be more easily handled. I've started a small business selling knives, survival, camping and personal defense weapons mostly due to my experiences here and I plan on purchasing a very large can of pepper spray from one of my suppliers just to be on the safe side.

 

[Admiral Nelson]

Black bears are very shy creatures in the wild and usually only attack when (1) rapid (2) old, starving (3)protecting their young (4) they have lost their fear due to idiots feeding them.

I'm in eastern NC and bears are the last thing I worry about when outdoors, when they see you or get your scent, they scoot. Beware of a mother and cubs, that is a potential danger....never get between a mother and cubs. Most fatal black bear attacks are in the Canadian Northwoods where they rarely encounter humans. If a black bear attacks you, fight like hell, they consider you a meal, unlike a grizzly which it is advised to play dead. Around here I worry more about wild dog packs and rattlers than bears. Eastern black bears are much more shy than bears in the western part of NC, I think it'd due to idiot tourists feeding them from cars. Same thing goes for gators, out in the wild the big ones stay away, the ones near towns and people are the most dangerous for the same reason.

 

[911er]

I'm in eastern NC

I live in ENC also. But only a few miles north of my residence is called ""Bear Alley. It's a location where nuisance bears are brought and dropped off, hoping they don't stay nuisances. A 400 lb black bear was killed last year during hunting season. Can't wait to see what I get this year.

 

[Jungleboy]

Awesome!:thumb:

 

[Admiral Nelson]

I live in ENC also. But only a few miles north of my residence is called ""Bear Alley. It's a location where nuisance bears are brought and dropped off, hoping they don't stay nuisances. A 400 lb black bear was killed last year during hunting season. Can't wait to see what I get this year.

Sounds like a bear skin rug and an annual bear BBQ might be warranted for the inconvenience.

 

[azb]

Respectfully I must disagree Black Bears (Ursus americanus )
attack on par with the dreaded grizz..
per this list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

Look at that list and see how many of those people east of the Mississippi that were attacked by black bears were either handling, training, or otherwise keeping in captivity the bears that attacked them. Add in the people that did really stupid crap, like cover their kid in honey so the bear would pose for a picture, and you have very few black bear fatalities out east. I think 2 people in the last hundred years have been dragged out of their tent and eaten.

Az

 

[Braddooooooock!]

I run into bears that are within 50 feet, in the woods, when they don't even know I'm there (most dangerous scenario) and don't feel very threatened. You have a bike. You turn the bike around and pedal the pedals. Black bears are cool. It's not a big deal.

 

[30WCF]

Nobody has said it yet so I will…..

Great job of getting that picture with shaking hands and all ! :thumb:

 

[MSC58]

Black bears are probably a lot less dangerous than Browns, but believe me under the right conditions they definitely get your attention. I was solo hiking a couple years back when I ran into this guy. I came around a corner into the edge of a small clearing where he was sunning himself. We clearly surprized each other. The first thing I saw was a big bear butt jumping up in front of me and running ten meters off before he stopped and turned around, probably irratable at my disturbing his sunbathing. I'd been so lost in my thoughts that I'd come within spitting distance of him before either of us realized the other was there. So much for situational awareness, for both me and the bear. And of course it had to be one of the few times that I was hiking without a weapon, not that it would have mattered, but it would have made me feel better. With my heart seriously pumping I started walking down the trail, before I rememembered that I had a camera around my neck. I had to sneak back to get some pictures, but none as good as I could have got if I'd remembered the camera earlier.