Hello guys , i hope every body is ok and ready for Christmas, Baking is done , gave away some for friends and did send up some to NJ
for friends. I was waiting for my tree delivery yesterday and 5 minutes after i got home a black bear showed up by front door. She was here with cubs for half hour or so and killed my garbage can. I had to call the Sheriff out because don't want to leave and i was worried about the delivery guys. I'm two miles from that bear attack was on tv 2-3 weeks ago. Always some excitement. I went to buy a gun today and will go for the license next week. See you guys soon and Marry Christmas to All.

Be careful, black bears are quicker than youd think an animal of that size would be. Glad you're ok. Had my own encounter with a black bear a couple summers ago. I was face to face with a black bear in Pennsylvania. I was in the mountains doing heli portable drill rig operations. He was no more than seven feet from me when he exploded out of the bushes and went up a tree. Funny thing about that story is i spooked him yet i was the one in need of a tree! Lol. Glad you're safe sam

Hi Sam we have a lot of bears here where I live, and it is not uncommon to see them. I have always been amazed a the speed and quickness they have. HD if you saw that one go up a tree then I'm sure it was faster than you would have thought possible. Whatever you do, and no matter how cute even a small one might look, don't mess around they can hurt you. Sam are they going to try and catch your bear to move it away. That's what they do here if they get to be a nuisance.

Welcome to the forum Sam! Merry Christmas to you.

They say the difference between a black bear and a grizzly is that the black bear will climb up the tree after you, and the grizzly will tear the tree down.

bellsaj wrote: They say the difference between a black bear and a grizzly is that the black bear will climb up the tree after you, and the grizzly will tear the tree down.

That would be about right Bell!

That and a black bear is more likely to run away from you unless it's a mama with her cubs while a grizzly is fiercely territorial and will likely attack anyone who happens to get too close

If you are buying a gun to protect yourself from a bear, do not buy too little gun. 454, 44 mag, 45 long colt. That's about all I would trust in the handgun department. Honestly, a 12ga with 00 buckshot, of better yet a high quality slug is ideal. I hesitate to suggest several rifle calibers, but if they are at that distance, that's called hunting.... If a rifle is more your speed, a 300 win mag, .338 win mag, 7mm mag, or the old trusty 30-06 outta get the job done. It's just that these bullets have the potential to travel great distances, so in even a semi urban environment, they can be disastrous.

Good luck and be safe. You will also need to practice quite a bit, because in a defensive situation with a bear, you aren't going to have a lot of time to think it through.

Take it easy and Merry Christmas.


(Welcome to the forum btw. Feel free to come see us at the Jolly Roger anytime. We'd love to have you)

If you do shoot at the bear, you better be sure it's going to hit good because if it's only 100fet away you most likely won't get another chance to shoot.
They may look big and clumsy but they're not. They're fast and deadly. The head looks big and seams to be an easy target but remember that the brain isn't bigger than a tennis ball.

They are beautiful and intelligent animals. It's unfortunate that we even end up in the situations. If the bear to be used for for food, fur, and so on then I'm fine with hunting them, and being thankful for what it provides. I just hate that we can't coexist together when "use" of the animal is not the goal. But, when anything sees you as it's prey, and can follow through with it, then you gotta do what ya gotta do.

Jacklpe wrote: They are beautiful and intelligent animals. It's unfortunate that we even end up in the situations. If the bear to be used for for food, fur, and so on then I'm fine with hunting them, and being thankful for what it provides. I just hate that we can't coexist together when "use" of the animal is not the goal. But, when anything sees you as it's prey, and can follow through with it, then you gotta do what ya gotta do.

And never ever ever, ever ever ever, ever ever EVER, try to go hand to hand with a bear unless you are just simply that bad a##. Ive only heard of two people to have done this and lived to tell the tale. One killed a grizzly with his bare hands, the other got surprised by a kodiak bear i think it was and had to use his hunting knife to win and survive. And that guy has the scars to back up his story.

I am simply that bad ass.... This is because I am a Jackalope. You almost never see us, because we can't be killed or captured. We are so rarely even seen, because of our incomprehensible speed, that just claiming to have seen one of us will brand you for the rest of your life as a liar and a fool. We are mortal, but when we die, we have our own funeral and bury ourselves. Our body is so potent in the ground that a great forest will immediately grow over our resting place. The ones you see mounted are only a taxidermists trick made so that he can imagine what we look like. The mere fact that you know I exist speaks volumes of your personal fortitude and good fortune! Bear schmear... But you humans should be careful.

Jacklpe wrote: I am simply that bad ass.





Just kidding

Lol jack in my bear encounter i had my bear grylls knife strapped to my left shoulder and my radio mike clipped to my right shoulder strap on my pack. The bear grylls was out before i keyed the mike and i reached for both at the same time. If it had attacked i wasnt going down without a fight

HD, I edited my reply. Make sure to read why I am so awesome!

Oh so the forest i was in the day before my encounter, that was your auntie? Then that must mean the forest i was in the day i had that encounter was your uncle. My bad jack, i peed all over those forests. I didn't know man

I have had two encounters with bears (that I know of) first time the bear was only 25 feet away. Both times I had my trusty 30-06 with me. Never fiered a shot. I did aim at it and would have pulled the trigger hadn't the bear chosen to run in the opposite direction.

I said that I know of because although they are big, they can hide in plain sight and you will walk right past it without knowing that you did.

We don't have black bears or grizzlies. We have the brown bear. Its closes relativ is the grizzly but they rarely get as big as the grizzlies other then in captivity.

Brown bears are no joke...'at all


HD, no Uncle Bob and Aunt Gertrude were long gone. It's just that they fertilized so well that massive forests sprang up overnight. Feel free to pee where've you need to.... Except where a Jackalope may cross your path. Then, you would be wiser to try to pee into the wash of a 747 from 2 feet behind the engine.