Bear Hunting concerns?

[Bear Cables]

We are hiking Winding Stair to Deep Gap starting Oct 16. According to the NC wildlife site our hike falls within Bear Season. Has anyone had encounters with hunters along this stretch?

[moldy]

Yes, you will see bear hunters on the AT. Bear hunting in NC works like this. Old guys slowly drive the roads through gaps in the Appalachians. They have a dog that is trained to sound off at the slightest hint of bear. When the dog sounds off, they stop the truck and get out with the dog. If a bear has crossed the road in that spot that dog will be able to tell. On the radio they then call for the dogs. Another truck shows up with 4 or 5 dogs, all with sat nav tracking devices. The dogs are turned loose and the old guys listen to the direction that they go. Then the truck with the young guys and 4-wheelers is directed to an intercept point. The 4 wheelers have radios and will go to the top of a ridge line and wait. The old guys track the dogs with the sat nav receiver to locate the position. As the bear gets gets worn out he will come to bay or tree and the dogs will stop. This location is detected on the sat nav and the young guys with 4 wheelers are directed to this location on the radio. When the 4 wheeler trail runs out, the young guys head off on foot to the barking dogs to kill the bear. You will notice that the AT is a big 4 wheeler trail along the ridge tops. As far as your hiking experience, you will hear dogs and 4 wheelers, you may encounter young guys with guns just sitting at spots along the AT awaiting the radio call. You may see lost dogs with radio collars. There is no real danger to you, most hunters don't even put a round in the chamber until they get to the bear in a tree. It's best not to say anything dispairaging to the armed teenagers. The bear hunters have a long history of a poor relationship with hikers. Just smile and say, have a nice day, even though they are dragging a dead bear down the Appalachian Trail.

[Sugarfoot]

I hiked this section in late October/early November a few years ago and witnessed exactly what Moldy describes. Play it safe and wear blaze orange!

[Bear Cables]

So not much concern that I would be mistaken for a bear, but wear the orange to be sure and be kind to hunters....got it

[SouthMark]

We met some bear hunters at Deep Gap Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. They were very nice and we had a long talk. They were delighted to talk with us about there hunting style. They usually do not shoot the bears. They just let their dogs tree them and then take photos of them.

[yellowsirocco]

We met some bear hunters at Deep Gap Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. They were very nice and we had a long talk. They were delighted to talk with us about there hunting style. They usually do not shoot the bears. They just let their dogs tree them and then take photos of them.

That sounds awesome. The way they hunt just seems like cheating, but if you are doing it 'catch and release' style it is not a big deal.

[Northern Lights]

We came across a hunter October 2 yrs ago. We heard the dogs before we saw the hunter. He stopped us to see if we could help him identify where his dogs yelps were coming from. The dog sounded like he was dieing, not sure if that is normal for hunting dogs. But I wasn't holding out much hope for the dog.

[kayak karl]

So not much concern that I would be mistaken for a bear, but wear the orange to be sure and be kind to hunters....got it
always wear orange during hunting season. an upset hunter that didn't bag anything all week may just shot an any animal he sees move. it has happened. in Jersey they have shot dogs, cows, chickens and people. i know this is rare, but i say better safe then sorry.
KK

[rickb]

always wear orange during hunting season. an upset hunter that didn't bag anything all week may just shot an any animal he sees move. it has happened. in Jersey they have shot dogs, cows, chickens and people. i know this is rare, but i say better safe then sorry.
KK

Accidents are not just about being mistaken for an animal.

Even when the hunter knows exactly what she is aiming at, you want to be visible the in background when the prey animal is between you and the muzzle of her gun.

This is all the more important in areas/seasons where rifles are used, and the hunters are not shooting down from a tree stand.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Wear blaze orange? YES...!! YES...!! YES...!!

Unfortunately, some hunters will shoot at anything, especially it it's moving. Do NOT dress is dark clothing or display any white clothing, handkerchiefs, etc. (you could be mistaken for a white tail deer - it DOES happen).

Play it safe. Don't become a statistical fragment...!! Your family wants you back alive.

[pyroman53]

I hiked a week each year for the past 4 years during bear season and saw a couple dozen hunters, talked to a few, and never had a problem. Its a big enough mountain to share. Had a couple of their dogs spend a rainy night in the shelter with us, but they had enough sense to stay there when we walked out the next morning in the rain. I called their owner (taken from the collar) to let him know where his dogs were. Met another dog owner trying to track his dog (directional signal, not sat location). He was parked up near Newfound Gap overlooking Cherokee and he could just barely hear a slight signal from the dog's collar. He was distraught worrying about his dog but kind enough to explain the what and how he was doing with the elctronics.

[map man]

You ask, "Has anyone had encounters with hunters along this stretch?"

I was hiking for nine days in October 2010 with two buddies, covering the ground between Springer and Winding Stair Gap in nine days. On the seventh evening, with two days left to hike, for logistical reasons we wanted to be camped close to our vehicle so we set up our tents that night about a hundred yards back into the woods from the Deep Gap trailhead.

Around midnight I woke up to the sound of a pickup truck pulling in to park at the trailhead. Dogs barked in the back of the pickup. For the next couple hours the guy in the pickup banged on the back of the cab every ten minutes or so yelling "shut up!" at the barking dogs.

About two in the morning another pickup pulls in. More dogs. Dogs in that pickup barking at the dogs in the other pickup and vice versa. Around three another pickup with dogs pulls in and that starts a steady stream of new arriving pickups for the rest of the wee hours until sunup. Not a lot of sleep to be had that night.

When we got out of our tents at first light there were close to a dozen pickups parked anywhere they could at or near the trailhead. All the pickups had dog kennels in the beds and at that point the dogs were piling out of the kennels and pulling at leashes. Lots of hunters yelling at dogs. I watched one hunter "correct" one of his dogs by giving the dog a kick to the ribs with the side of his boot. We talked to one of the guys there and he told us it was the opening day of bear hunting season in North Carolina. We watched a long line of hunters with straining dogs lurch down a side trail to the AT heading down a draw heading mostly south from the trailhead.

The last two days on the trail as we hiked we heard dogs barking and yelping in the distance from time to time. I was a little nervous because all the hiking clothes I had with me were understated colors like green, khaki and grey, and I was wishing I had something bright and florescent (or blaze orange).

I learned some lessons. Don't camp near a trailhead no matter how remote and isolated you think it is (and those of you who have been to Deep Gap know it's pretty remote). Get yourself some blaze orange stuff if you are hiking in the woods in October and November.

[Hoop]

We are hiking Winding Stair to Deep Gap starting Oct 16. According to the NC wildlife site our hike falls within Bear Season. Has anyone had encounters with hunters along this stretch?


I was on the stretch from WS to NOC week before last (11th ,12th ,13th); yes, I saw two groups of hunters, one with dogs.

[Drybones]

Yes, you will see bear hunters on the AT. Bear hunting in NC works like this. Old guys slowly drive the roads through gaps in the Appalachians. They have a dog that is trained to sound off at the slightest hint of bear. When the dog sounds off, they stop the truck and get out with the dog. If a bear has crossed the road in that spot that dog will be able to tell. On the radio they then call for the dogs. Another truck shows up with 4 or 5 dogs, all with sat nav tracking devices. The dogs are turned loose and the old guys listen to the direction that they go. Then the truck with the young guys and 4-wheelers is directed to an intercept point. The 4 wheelers have radios and will go to the top of a ridge line and wait. The old guys track the dogs with the sat nav receiver to locate the position. As the bear gets gets worn out he will come to bay or tree and the dogs will stop. This location is detected on the sat nav and the young guys with 4 wheelers are directed to this location on the radio. When the 4 wheeler trail runs out, the young guys head off on foot to the barking dogs to kill the bear. You will notice that the AT is a big 4 wheeler trail along the ridge tops. As far as your hiking experience, you will hear dogs and 4 wheelers, you may encounter young guys with guns just sitting at spots along the AT awaiting the radio call. You may see lost dogs with radio collars. There is no real danger to you, most hunters don't even put a round in the chamber until they get to the bear in a tree. It's best not to say anything dispairaging to the armed teenagers. The bear hunters have a long history of a poor relationship with hikers. Just smile and say, have a nice day, even though they are dragging a dead bear down the Appalachian Trail.

As a life long hunter, I hate to say it, but moldy is right on with this discription of bear hunting, not much of what I'd call sport in it. I did the Art Loeb last week end and we saw a lot of hunters on the road and a few of those "old guys" walking looking for where the action was...nothing to worry about unless you're a bear.

[Alligator]

There were a lot of posts in this thread that were not addressing the question at all. Try to remember that forums with different color backgrounds have other rules. The white background here is for Straight Forward, rules are in the sticky for the forum. Thanks.