Saw my biggest bear near Tray!

[Incahiker]

I just got back from an overnighter. I started off later then I wanted on the sunday before labor day and got to the top of rocky mountain here in Georgia, the mountain before Tray Mountain. I found a great camping site on top of the mountain and had my tent set up and everything. I took a look around and found another camp site about 50 yards away that had old bean cans and all other kinds of trash thrown into the camp fire. I didn't like that, food = bears hanging around. I went back to my campsite to get a bag to put the trash in and all of a sudden my dog is agitated about something. She keeps looking into the bushes and I think nothing of it because she is always hearing things. Then, a huge bear comes walking out of the bushes right into the clearing, not even 20 yards away. I yelled to it and it stops and looks around a couple of times, then it walks again, very slowly. I yelled again and I think it finally noticed me. It looked at me for a couple of very long seconds, then turned its head and just walked fast out of there. It didn't bolt like most bears do. Usually if I see a bear they bolt out of there and are just a blur. But this one just barely jogged. But the thing was that this thing stood chest high on all 4 legs and I am 5'-10". That was a mighty big bear and it was fat and plump!

I am sad to say that this is the 1st time that I actually broke down my camp and retreated from the area :(. I figured that some of the smell from the half burned cans next door would cause it to linger all night, and I would be paranoid as hell at every twig snap. I climbed halfway down the mountain and ran into some other hikers camping and ended up joining them for the night, lol... A bear that size hanging around me all night had me think twice about this one and I chickened out.... that sucks, I have never done that before. I have seen plenty bear while hiking and getting close to my camping spot. But this bear was in the camping area and the size of the bear moved me on.. lol. I still had a good time though.

[Pedaling Fool]

What kind of dog and how big is it? Did the dog bark loudly when the bear walked into the clearing?

[4eyedbuzzard]

The closer you get to a bear, the bigger they look. :D :-?

I had one right outside my tent door in GSMNP many years ago. Heard some movement, zipped open the tent and its face was right there :eek: The bear went "woof" and bolted. It was 10 feet tall and weighed 1000 lbs;) I SWEAR!

In hindsight, after my pulse dropped below 200 beats per minute, I reckon it was a 250 - 300 pounder or so, but up close it was quite the experience.

I've seen some 400+ lb black bears though and they are as big as the one you saw. Definitely an animal to be respected.

[Incahiker]

My dog is about the size of a beagle. My dog doesn't bark, it just looks in the general direction of where the sound is coming from and just investigates. I kept seeing her over near the shrub and she wouldn't leave the area alone with her ears all perked up. She would come back to me when I called but immediatley would go back to the area and look at me like "Hey, come over here you dope, I got something to show you" I just ignored her until the big old bear came walking out of where my dog just was. My dog just stood there looking at the bear and didn't move the whole time. She wasn't scared though, no tail between the legs, but she kept her distance. After I let the bear know we were there we both watched it quickly walk off back into the shrub.

I measured its height by directly comparing it to the shrubs and small trees that it brushed up against and remembering how much of the tree it covered up. I stood next to the tree and it covered an area that was chest high. The sucker was huge!! I have seen many bears, but this one looked like a giant. The odd thing was it was silent, I didn't hear it come and didn't hear it go, just saw it.

[shoe]

I wonder if it's the same bear I saw when I was ona dayhike a couple of weeks ago.
I did the AT/Rocky Mountain Loop androunded a bend, first I saw a smaller/baby then saw the big one. Same thing, just kind of meandered up the hill.
I don't have any idea how big it was as I didn't get that close.
I did get some far away video though.

[Razor]

I observed the bear all spring. His normal hang was the rock cliffs 3/4 of the way up the other direction but they have a wide range and it would be predictable to see him there. Thr important thing is -he is used to seeing humans. Give him respect and note that bear activity all over Georgia this year was more noticeable than in recent years.please be prepared to deal with bear activity all along the trail all over the 78 miles of Georgia

[IronGutsTommy]

when do they usually hibernate for the winter? and when do they emerge in the spring? guess i could google it, but thought someone might know. doing a winter sobo thru, so just curious

[IronGutsTommy]

sucks you chickened out but kudos to your dog, he might have brought the bear sighting on earlier than would have happened without the dogs vigilance, like after you were tented in and nestled down for the night. dogs rock

[daddytwosticks]

IronGutsTommy...I could be wrong, but bears down in this vicinity do not "hibernate" like they do way up north. :)

[IronGutsTommy]

yeah i meant farther north, like the whites in october , new england area in nov and dec.

[Incahiker]

Ya it does suck that I vacated that camp site, it was beautiful and someone had already put all the firewood in the fire for me too. I figured it was for the better if I found another site as I wouldn't be able to sleep all night. I was gonna get the trash at the next campsite when the bear popped out and then I completely forgot about what I was doing and focused on packing up my stuff and heading down the mountain, lol. I will let him have that mountain all to himself, I declare him King of Rocky mountain :D. I slept all night with coyotes surrounding my tent and that was neat, but this thing was like a grizzly bear, that was not neat when it was so close to me ;).

[Bronco Carl]

I was trout fishing in the Talluah river which is west of Clayton Ga a couple of weekends ago. While standing and casting a very large bear walked into the stream about 20 feet up stream, looked then walked to the other bank and went up the mountain. It was also one of the biggest I have ever seen in Georgia. It was well fed and stunning. The area I was in was a very active bear area this year.

[4eyedbuzzard]

when do they usually hibernate for the winter? and when do they emerge in the spring? guess i could google it, but thought someone might know. doing a winter sobo thru, so just curious
Black bears don't technically hibernate. They just slow down a lot, technically a torpor. They den beginning anywhere from about Nov 1 on, and are typically done by mid-March to April. Timing depends upon whether they are male or female (females, especially pregnant ones usually go into hibernation before the males), food abundance, snow cover and temperatures, etc. They'll usually den at lower elevations on southern facing slopes. They do get up sometimes during the winter (they can wake quickly) and can be out and about especially if it is warm, disturbed, and/or food becomes easily available.

[Wise Old Owl]

Uhh where is the photo? Relax and enjoy nature-then yell.

[Incahiker]

Ya, I know, they typical excuse of no picture, but my wife had the camera so that she could take some pictures of the art she painted and put them on her website, so that was a no go. Plus I find when I take a camera I never take a picture of anything anyways because I am too busy enjoying everything and I just don't like breaking out the camera. Funny considering I used to be a photographer and owned every L lens that Canon had made.

Lol, I didn't actually yell at the bear, like screaming at it at the top of my lungs :D, I just said "Hey Bear" in your typical fashion. I was enjoying nature a good deal, but it was one of those things where you listen to your intuition and move on. I enjoy seeing bears while hiking, and have saw about 6 so far including the other one, but they just usually bolt and they are never near the size the recent bear. This one being in the spot I chose to camp at was a little different.

[daddytwosticks]

Incahiker...I would have done the same thing you did. :)

[wlknthewoods]

You absolutely did the right thing. Unfortunately, idiots like the one who left the trash endanger not only other hikers but the bear.