I've encountered 11 bears in GA over the past couple of years. Mostly around Unicoi Gap and Low Gap. Never any issues - they run off as soon as they see me.
"A lot of people ask me if I were shipwrecked, and could only have one book, what would it be? I always say 'How to Build a Boat.'"
- Steven Wright
oooh a Bear!!!!
Dark Side of The Moon says...
I asked this fool why he did that and he explained that the bear would have seen us a food and attacked us. I chastised this fool and told him that He needs to read up on bears and that he ruined a nice viewing experience for himself and the group. (I was really pissed).[/quote]
He is a edumacated fool - book smart, no real experience. It's a shame, but many people would have made the same mistake. The whole point of hiking is to see new things that nobody else would see. Let it go, and next time leave your lawyer behind, you don't need to pack one for the AT.
Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 12-22-2007 at 19:20.
bears
Having lived in the poconos for 20 some years in Tobyhanna, and now in east tn. have came real close to many bears while hunting fishing or picking huckleberrys, never had one to charge me yet. knock on wood.. have had them on the patio etc. just use common sense, and remember they are a wild animal, do not make eye contact and do not provoke them, and do not feed them or they will follow you home
My friends and family worry about me going into the woods with the bears, except my wife. She just asks if my life insurance is paid up.
bears
you know you dont have to outrun the bear if you can outrun your hiking partner
He is a edumacated fool - book smart, no real experience. It's a shame, but many people would have made the same mistake. The whole point of hiking is to see new things that nobody else would see. Let it go, and next time leave your lawyer behind, you don't need to pack one for the AT.[/QUOTE]Originally Posted by mark swarbrick
Hi Mark, I agree - No lawyers on the trail!!! (at least with me) BTW, A buddy of mine lives over in Newtown as well. Right by Tyler SP.
.....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....
A bare, a bare, oh I see A bare, I start to run toward the bare, I've almost caught the bare, ............... poof ...............aw shucks, it was just a bare dream. :d
taking the high roads and the low roads
Take a drink out of your flask of courage juice and tackle the bear. Think of the rug you could make!
Have your camera out and ready to take a picture of the bear, bears fear cameras and can sense them from miles away. Of course if the lens cap or your thumb is in a position to ruin a picture of the bear, it will loiter and do various unbelievable tricks for you...
Like others have said: Get your camera out.
Is that a yeti?
Nice john, incredible photo!!!
I had a similar experience as DSoTM except I wasn't with the guy. I came around the bend in the trail and this guy was running toward me totally freaking out . . . saying he'd just seen a bear. Why, he had two dogs as big as a Carolina black bear and one of them attacked me!I broke away from his dog and hurried up the trail toward where he was pointing but the idiot had obviously totally spooked the bear. Either that or he was on drugs and thought he saw a bear!
I've seen many bears over the years. I feel sorry for them as they run at high speeds, through briars and small trees just to get away from me. You should hear the wood cracking! That's gotta hurt. So much for LNT.
I took a pic in alaska of the back of my lens cap. I titled it "the bear I almost saw".
nous défions
It's gonna be ok.
Ditch Medicine: wash your hands and keep your booger-pickers off your face!
Look out for the BEAR
A few years back my son bought a small stuffed black bear toy in Gatlinburg.
We went on a short hike to Clingmans Dome, from the car parking area one day.
Every so often we would stop and we put the stuffed toy in the bushes along the way and exclaim to a passing tourist, .............LOOK OUT FOR THE BEAR!
Some folks just about jumped out of their shoes when they saw the stuffed toy hiding in the bushes. HEHE
I have hiked the GSMNP for many years, black bear population density is intense there. Have had more encounters than I can count. I have met a few belligerent bears, though never met a one that wouldn't flee me if I raised my voice. So my only complaint is that I have never been able to capture a proper picture of a black bear (I'm talking trail here, Cade's Cove doesn't count). I have pics of boomers, huge salamanders, many a deer who were totally unimpressed by my presence, and even the largest timber rattler I have ever seen outside of a zoo. But to this day myself and my hiking buddies have managed nothing better than a fuzzy pic of a female moving quickly away from us. They are just too durn spooky to get a good pic of. I agree, use good sense - also try to get that camera up in time, and good luck getting a pic before it scoots!
I live near the GSMNP and spend a lot of my time in the park. This past spring and summer I went pretty much every week and there were few times I didn't see one or more bear. Although I'm local to the park I'm as much a tourist as anyone else everytime I enter...simply put, tourists are bad for bears (period) myself included.
I have seen people do very stupid, foolish and thoughtless things around bears and the fact that there are not more reports of injuries to said stupid people speaks volumes about the good nature of the bears. Each year unknown numbers of bears are destroyed simply due to exposure to idiot humans who have no respect or understanding of nature or wildlife. I think it's good that people are affraid of bears.
If they fear them that should mean that they will take steps to avoid coming into contact with them such as bear bagging, not cooking too close to camping areas, securing food and scent items and not littering or feeding wildlife. I wish more people were affraid of bears or atleast respected them. Yes, the Smokies have a dense population of bears and that is sad considering the density of dense people who visit each year.
Some of you people have got to be kidding me. Advice straight from the place where you read it, .......thanks.
???
i advise sleeping with your food
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