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Who Here Knows about Black Bears?

Cynthia White said:
...I'm from the south. A rifle or a shotgun?
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I'm willing to have someone tell me I'm wrong, since I don't know squat about dealing with bears, but my inclination would be a shotgun (12 gauge, maybe 20 gauge) with the first two shells loaded with buckshot or a bit smaller, then the rest of the tube loaded with slugs. If the first two shots don't convince the bear to leave, then the slugs would hopefully handle the presumably extremely upset bear. Mossburg makes a decent "home security" style shotgun for a reasonable price.

If I was really trying to defend against (and kill) a bear at a relatively close range, my other choice would be a large caliber (.44 Mag or .45-ish) handgun.

I'd be reluctant to use a rifle unless my closest neighbors were a few miles away.
 
Use a gun only if you really want to piss the bear off. They are built like tanks and even seasoned hunters will tell you even if you hit a bear in the heart they can still keep going for 20 minutes not knowing that they are dead. The best thing to do is call the Dept of fish and wildlife and the RCMP and let them deal with it. Bullets can bounce off their skulls.

I drove over a black in my pick up once ( ran out in front of me ) when I lived up in northern BC and I was scared to leave my PU truck as I didn't know if i killed it or not (no body) . I went to the DFO and they told me that semi trucks drive over them all the time up north ( northern BC) and they just go into the bush and lick their wounds and are back at it again the next day.

Blacks will kill you for fresh meat Gizzlys will maul you and stuff you under a log or bury you as they like seasoned meat. You can play dead with a griz not with a black and blacks can climb trees faster than you can. Grizzlys just knock them down. Oh and don't run as they think it is a game and both can run like hell especially down hill through trees and even faster in a clear cut. Pepper spray just ticks them off and if you are that close to use it I am sure that you will have soiled yourself anyways.

Best to beat a couple of old pans around that will scare them more. Unfortunatly once they find the food ( garbage ) they will be back again and again and small yappy pets are just something in their way of the food.
 
Frank Fusco said:
Snow ??? :eek:

Temp was 101 on my porch yesterday!

BTW, like deer, bears can become habituated to human presence. If it continues to be a nusiance, do call the game department to have it relocated. I would have a good pepper spray handy at all times too.
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Mt Washington had the most snow than any other ski hill in the world last year and they were actually open for skiing still on July 1st this year. Hard to belive isn't it. But that is the beauty of Courtney area. Ski in the morning garden and play golf in the afternoon. ( no not on the ski hill :rofl:)
 
I would recommend a firearm ONLY if you are willing to put in the time and effort to master its use. Sadly, most folks are not.

Bears are not bullet proof. They die quickly if hit in the proper place. It is when the shooter fails in their responsibility and misses the vital zone that things get interesting with bears (and any animal).

Keep your yard clean and you should be fine.

Here is some info from an outfit where I worked almost 24 years that may prove helpful. Your http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livingwithbears.main
 
I recommended pepper spray because Cynthia is fond of animals. I don't know what Canadian laws are regarding the shooting of pest critters. Don't know if Cynthia even has a gun.
From her post it sounds like the bear is small and a pest not (yet) a threat. I wouldn't shoot it if at my house.
But, if it were to become a threat I would not hesitate to shoot. Any gun big enough for the task would be suitable. In my house, with modern guns, it would be .44 mag. revolver, 12 ga. shotgun with buckshot or a 30-06 rifle.
BTW, a member on a gun/shooting forum said he used to do population control of bears from a tree stand and shot them in the head with a .22 lr. Tops of skulls are thin on most animals.
 
Drew Watson said:
Use a gun only if you really want to piss the bear off. They are built like tanks and even seasoned hunters will tell you even if you hit a bear in the heart they can still keep going for 20 minutes not knowing that they are dead. The best thing to do is call the Dept of fish and wildlife and the RCMP and let them deal with it. Bullets can bounce off their skulls.

I drove over a black in my pick up once ( ran out in front of me ) when I lived up in northern BC and I was scared to leave my PU truck as I didn't know if i killed it or not (no body) . I went to the DFO and they told me that semi trucks drive over them all the time up north ( northern BC) and they just go into the bush and lick their wounds and are back at it again the next day.

Blacks will kill you for fresh meat Gizzlys will maul you and stuff you under a log or bury you as they like seasoned meat. You can play dead with a griz not with a black and blacks can climb trees faster than you can. Grizzlys just knock them down. Oh and don't run as they think it is a game and both can run like hell especially down hill through trees and even faster in a clear cut. Pepper spray just ticks them off and if you are that close to use it I am sure that you will have soiled yourself anyways.

Best to beat a couple of old pans around that will scare them more. Unfortunatly once they find the food ( garbage ) they will be back again and again and small yappy pets are just something in their way of the food.
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or just more food?

I was at a guest ranch up in the Sierra's a few years back... the ranch is a few miles from Yosemite and the rangers there would catch bears that are annoying the guest or getting a little too aggressive and release them in the wild up above this ranch.... one night at a cook out, we had about 20 guests and ranch staff around a big roaring fire and a bear came ambling out of the woods and into the corral area where we were... he checked out the fire to see what was cooking, checked the tables to see what was left over and just generally was making himself at home.... one of the guests went into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of big pans and started banging them... the bear charged him... he threw the pans at the bear and cleared the corral fence in a single bound.... the owner was trying to work his way around the edge of the corral so he could get to his cabin and his rifle... by then the bear lost interest in the party and ambled on up the trail.... that was the closest I've ever been to a bear in the wild... it was close enough for me.

We used to see them raiding the garbage cans at Camp Curry in Yosemite all the time, but Camp Curry is wooden cabins with locks on the doors....
 
To reply to a few comments:

No I don't have any guns, but I did grow up around guns and would have no trouble using them if necessary.

Shotguns and rifles are not hard to get up here. Handguns are trickier.

I am not thrilled with the idea of shooting anything, but on the other hand, I don't want a bear walking into my house either--I often leave the doors wide open when we're home.

No Frank, it was a large Black Bear. When both of our dogs started barking furiously, he/she turned and left and went over a 4' fence that had 3' of deer fencing on top of it. He mangled all the deer fencing, which now has to be fixed.

He didn't get any food here but we do have lots of berries on the property, and we do keep a large BBQ on the patio.

I talked to our next-door neighbors yesterday, and they said it was the first bear they've seen on the property in 20 years. So I guess I'll wait and see if it's going to be a persistent problem.
 
Cynthia White said:
To reply to a few comments:

No I don't have any guns, but I did grow up around guns and would have no trouble using them if necessary.

Shotguns and rifles are not hard to get up here. Handguns are trickier.

I am not thrilled with the idea of shooting anything, but on the other hand, I don't want a bear walking into my house either--I often leave the doors wide open when we're home.

No Frank, it was a large Black Bear. When both of our dogs started barking furiously, he/she turned and left and went over a 4' fence that had 3' of deer fencing on top of it. He mangled all the deer fencing, which now has to be fixed.

He didn't get any food here but we do have lots of berries on the property, and we do keep a large BBQ on the patio.

I talked to our next-door neighbors yesterday, and they said it was the first bear they've seen on the property in 20 years. So I guess I'll wait and see if it's going to be a persistent problem.
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Large? Get a big gun to have handy. I would call the authorities pronto.
My sister, who lives in Colorado in a mountain area once had a black bear tear open the back door of her house and raid the refrigerator. Colorado is, essentially, an 'enlightened', wuss, movie star run state and she would have gotten in big trouble if she shot it. That even means if it was attacking a human. :eek: Leave the bears alone is the law there. Bad.
 
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Barry Stratton said:
Is there is anything in your yard to attract the bear again. Bird feeders? Dog food?? Grease in a grill??? Compost pile???? If there are any of these, the bear may be back.

Bears are constantly looking for food and once they find a source, they keep coming back for more. If your yard is "clean", it shouldn't be back, especially since your dog chased it away. It is probably a young male looking for a new home, and since all the good spots in the wild are taken by older bears, he is cruising the neighborhood.

Here are some pictures from my old stomping grounds for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.adn.com/2011/05/05/1847113/2011-bear-sightings.html
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hey barry someone up there needs to go back to bear identification class:) picture no. 60 isnt a grizzly its a brown color phase black bear:)
 
You have company from a distance. A friend in West Virginia told me he has had a black bear visit his trash can the last 2 days. I told him it would be like a dog--as long as he fed it, he would have a daily visit from his new "best friend". .:rofl::rofl:
 
Had a bear eat my toothpaste and gatorade powder on a backpacking trip in yosemite once. Caught the thief in the act....


bear1.JPG

bear4.JPG

bear2.JPG

bear3.JPG
 
Barry,
I lived in Anchorage for seven years and fished the Russian River three days a week during salmon season and ice fished the Russian lakes in the winter. Never saw a bear in town and only saw one at the river. There must have been a bear explosion since I left in '76.
 
Frank Fusco said:
The one that came up when I clicked the link was definitely a griz sitting on a rock in the river.
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Photo 1 is a grizzly sitting on a rock in the river. Photo 60 is what Larry and I are talking about. I just looked, it is still a cinnamon bear:D

Has your bear been back yet Cynthia??

And yes Ted, bears galore. So many in places they have bear predator control hunts.
 
Frank Fusco said:
Thief? You were in his home. If I found a stranger in my bedroom/bathroom I would be curious also. ;)
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Hah! Never thought of it that way. We did have our food stuff stored up high in a bear hang between two trees. He ended up pushing over one of the trees the following day and got our food.

The pizza when we got out of there never tasted so good...
 
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