I was hiking through the northern end of the park last week and stayed at Tricorner Knob on the 11th. The wildlife management ranger and his intern had been there since the 9th and told me there was a large bear in the shelter on the 10th. He estimated it to be between 330 to 350 lbs. he said the bear came in at about 7:30 PM to the area of the cables and his intent was to dart it but he realized the darts he had did not have enough drugs to put down a bear of that size so he hit it with a bean bag from a 12 guage shotgun. The bear came back about 1:30 AM and stole some hikers cook kit off the bench and woke everyone up. There were about 12 people in the shelter that night. On the 11th the shelter again had about 10 people but the bear did not show. The ranger said that a bear had been reported at Pecks Corner also on the 11th but when I stayed there on the 12th we saw nothing.

so ranger dude darts it and it goes to sleep. then what?

Yeah that was my first question. He's hardly going to drag a 350# bear off into the woods.

male or female ?

Ranger dude darts the bear then determines if the bear has been tagged and has been a problem before. He then takes hair and blood samples and some basic measurements then as the bear wakes up he lights firecrackers squirts it with water and trys to give the bear a negative experience for being at the shelter. He said we could all join in on the harrassing part, you know humiliate the bear, make it write bad checks that sort of thing. They will not kill the bear unless it is deemed dangerous by attacking a person or if it comes into the sleeping section of the shelter. Under the porch type roof and around the tables are fine but if it reaches the bunks then they have to file a ton of paperwork to get permission to kill the bear. once permission is granted they bait the bear back in and then pow! Dead Bear! He said it is not uncommon to have to dart a bear more than once but they feel it is better to try and condition it this way than to kill it outright. I agree. he also said that hikers could help by running off bears when they encounter them at campsites by yelling and throwing rocks. If more hikers would stand up to the bears they would become wary of people quicker. He thought the bear was a male.

...he also said that hikers could help by running off bears when they encounter them at campsites by yelling and throwing rocks. If more hikers would stand up to the bears they would become wary of people quicker. He thought the bear was a male.

I heard a piece on NPR a couple of years ago about a program in the Sierras (possibly in Lone Pine) to educate the local population to run bears off the dumpsters and bird feeders and whatnot by shouting and throwing things, much as you would do with a bad dog. They said it was very effective and had drastically reduced the number of bears having to be captured and/or killed.

He said we could all join in on the harrassing part, you know humiliate the bear, make it write bad checks that sort of thing.

You've just become a must-read for me......:D

Thanks! I'll be here all week. try the veal, and remember to tip your bartenders and waitresses...they are working hard for ya!

You've just become a must-read for me......:D

I agree, I couldn't stop laughing when I read that part about the bad checks! :)

When you get a check returned and it says Non Sufficient Funds....are they referring to you or your bank?

I was hiking through the northern end of the park last week and stayed at Tricorner Knob on the 11th. The wildlife management ranger and his intern had been there since the 9th and told me there was a large bear in the shelter on the 10th. He estimated it to be between 330 to 350 lbs. he said the bear came in at about 7:30 PM to the area of the cables and his intent was to dart it but he realized the darts he had did not have enough drugs to put down a bear of that size so he hit it with a bean bag from a 12 guage shotgun. The bear came back about 1:30 AM and stole some hikers cook kit off the bench and woke everyone up. There were about 12 people in the shelter that night. On the 11th the shelter again had about 10 people but the bear did not show. The ranger said that a bear had been reported at Pecks Corner also on the 11th but when I stayed there on the 12th we saw nothing.
Mmmmmm....eatin' size!

Couple of years ago the same shelter was having bear problems but we did not see a bear. Though on our hike through the park we did see 8 bears in total.

I just hiked the AT section through the Smokies and never saw a bear......grrrrrr

In 2004 I spent a long night alone in that shelter, with bears walking around outside it all night. I could hear their footsteps, but couldn't see them because there was a tarp across the opening. Some trail maintainers told me people had left a big bag of trash hanging from the bear cables, which had gotten the problem started.

ok.. a couple of things questionable about this story.

a) black bears in the Smokies grow to a size of about 200 lbs. There have been a few cases of 'extremely large' black bears reported in the park weighing in around 250. 330-350 is highly unlikely.

b) problem bears that are tagged can easily be identified on site. they dont have to be darted to identify. The tags are punched in their ears and are visible from quite a ways off. If it were a problem bear, a ranger (and likely every hiker in the shelter) would have been able to see the tag.

c) The dart gun isnt a shotgun, it is a rifle. sort of like a .22. I find it hard to believe that the ranger carried both a dart gun AND a shot gun into Tri Corner Shelter.

d) Rangers arent generally the ones that terminate a problem bear. Rangers usually observe the bear's behavior to determine if it needs to be initially tagged, tagged a second time, or if the bear gets it's 'third strike' assigned. A bear that has 3 strikes is called into headquarters and hunters are brought in to kill and remove the bear. Hunters usually wont kill a bear near a shelter, backcountry campsite, a trail. They dont want a stray hiker to accidently get injured.

Of course... this is not to say that the story isnt accurate. I am just saying that it is questionable. It is also possible that the ranger was jerking your chain a bit. some have been known to exagerate a bit to try to scare hikers into staying further away from bears. There has been a lot of bear activity reported this year, and the rangers may be taking extra precautions to reduce bear/people encounters.

Thank goodness for OXygen.--Kinnickinic

The dart gun was a large handgun type weapon. The 12 guage was a stripped down pump action with a metal frame stock and the forearm grip was painted orange. He was not alone, he had an intern with him and had also packed in a large snare to trap the bear if he felt that would have worked better before darting. He was assigned to the shelter to monitor and deal with the bear as he saw fit (other than killing it) from Tuesday through Friday morning. He said this bear was way too large to snare. The ranger did not say if he saw a tag on the bear's ear, and I didn't think to ask. Three hikers that i encountered on the trail that were there the night it showed said it was definately the largest bear they had ever seen. The ranger has worked in the smokies as a wildlife management ranger for 21 years, so if he said the bear was 330 to 350 lbs I tend to believe him. I like you have only encountered bears in the 150-200lb range when in the park before so this bear is definately a rare occurance.

I was at Tricorner on 6/16. On the way there going north, saw photos of someone took heading south of bear from the night before at Tricorner. I'm no expert but it was a BIG bear. We had a bear at Mt Collins that was a problem (see other post) which I got a real close look at. I'd say the one we saw was #200 and this one was bigger. From what I understand, with a little shouting and yelling they we able get the bear to leave without comming back that night.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=861433#post861433

I just hiked the AT section through the Smokies and never saw a bear......grrrrrr

Don't feel bad, I didn't see a bear til I got to the Whites in NH when I did my thruhike.