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Hiking with bears

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/4870065824

August 08, 2017, 04:18 PM
tanner
Hiking with bears
Geez, I'd probably crap my pants.




Geoffrey Glassner, a 74-year-old hiker, kept his cool while a grizzly bear and her two cubs followed him down a trail, according to Inside Edition. Geoffrey had just walked away from his camp in Alaska's Katmai National Park, and as soon as he did, the family of bears almost stopped him in his tracks.

He started walking backwards away from the bears, and he took out his camera to record them. The camera was shaking, but he remained calm, knowing that scaring the bears could lead to life-threatening consequences.

Geoffrey was hoping the cubs would wander off the trail, and their mother would follow along. "My biggest fear was that they would get close to me and mama bear thought I was a threat and would attack me," he told Inside Edition. Finally, the cubs did leave the trail when they found a river. Geoffrey, who sounded relieved, recorded them as they got closer to the water and thankfully, further from him.

http://www.countryliving.com/l...-follow-hiker-video/



August 08, 2017, 04:40 PM
comet24
I've seen many black bears hiking including ones with cubs. Everyone of them has run away. Never felt I was ever in danger. Many times they have been in trees and I don't know they are there until I here them sliding down.

Now a grizzly with cubs following me would have freaked me out a little.


_____________________________________

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. Jack Kerouac
August 08, 2017, 04:52 PM
tatortodd
The good news is that it was Katmai National Park, and visitors are there to see bears and fish for salmon. It's fly-in or boat-in only so nobody is nonchalantly entering a one of the highest densities of brown bear in the world. In other words, I'm not surprised the videographer knew how to handle the bear encounter.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
August 08, 2017, 04:57 PM
Jimbo54
Like comet24, I've come across black bears a number of times while hiking and hunting in the northwest and they always take off, more afraid of me than I of them. The only grizzly I've seen was a few hundred yards away in a clearing and I just stayed still and watched him till he ambled off. The incidence in the video would definitely fall into a different category for sure. I'm glad he stayed cool and level headed.

Jim


________________________

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning" -Catherine Aird
August 08, 2017, 05:17 PM
Ryanp225
That's just about open fire distance for me.
I aint getting Revenant'd.
August 08, 2017, 05:23 PM
H&K-Guy
Nope. And hell nope. With a 12 gauge of nope, loaded with nope shot.

H&K-Guy
August 08, 2017, 05:30 PM
greybeard9
I couldn't back up, I'd be tripping over my overflowing diaper.




"In the age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness." - Saul Bellow
August 08, 2017, 05:35 PM
lastmanstanding
I've had numerous black bear encounters around here but nothing life threatening. Except for maybe the time I almost let one in the house by mistake. That could have taken a different direction.

But a mama grizz with cubs at that range is flirting with disaster. He's lucky the cubs didn't get curious and try to run to him to investigate. At one point in the video it almost looked like that's what was going to happen.

A mama grizz with cubs is probably the most dangerous thing you can run into in the wild.


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
August 08, 2017, 05:41 PM
Copefree
I'd be perma-pucked. And I'd have have 10mm or 45-70 at the ready.


_______________
Mind. Over. Matter.
August 08, 2017, 06:00 PM
Bisleyblackhawk
What's the old saying..."everything that does not kill you only makes you stronger...except for bears, they will kill you"...

That would be a terrifying situation to say the least! Eek


********************************************************

"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches
Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may
And theres a cowboy in the jungle"
Jimmy Buffet
August 08, 2017, 06:23 PM
Fenris
Not for all the Gold in China.




God Bless and Protect our Beloved President, Donald John Trump.
August 08, 2017, 06:39 PM
6guns
I'd prefer to hike with beers. Cool




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August 08, 2017, 06:51 PM
Browndrake
Wow, that would get the old ticker going. I don't think I could have held it together as well as he seemed to. One little trigger in that bear's mind and say good night, you're all done.




Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.
- 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

August 08, 2017, 09:08 PM
konata88
I know it's unlikely but that's the kind of pucker situation that gets me spooked when I hike/bike.

I was doing some biking around Paulina Lake -- very woodsy forestry area. Nothing making noise but me. And of course, couldn't carry anything. I got spooked and turned around after awhile.




"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
August 08, 2017, 09:50 PM
Fredward
I live with Ms, Fredward. I can tell you that your are safe if you DON'T POKE THE BEAR!
August 10, 2017, 08:23 PM
Sunset_Va
I would not know how I would have done in that situation.

While staying at the Windsong in Seward ,Ak, I often went walking. One moring the creek across from the hotel looked inviting, so I went across the road, and did some exploring. I was not out f sight of the hotel,but began to get jumpy , so I returned back to the hotel area.


The creek ran parallelto the hwy, with a few twists and turns for the most part.

A few years later, a friend was showing me photos of his trip to Alaska, and in one photo there was a HUGE grizzly wading in the creek. My friend told me they saw the bear in the creek from the hotel, and stayed at the front of the hotel taking photos.

I asked him where in AK:
Seward
Then I asked what hotel:
Windsong


美しい犬
August 10, 2017, 09:08 PM
TomS
Aren't the cubs cute? I want one.

How do you keep them from aging?


Best regards,

Tom


I have no comment at this time.
August 10, 2017, 09:10 PM
arfmel
I'm not that good at walking backwards fast. I'd have been SOL.
August 10, 2017, 10:58 PM
YooperSigs
Had a black bear on my patio recently. He let me take his picture. In exchange for emptying the bird feeder.


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
August 10, 2017, 11:10 PM
corsair
Those damn cubs, just kept on wandering and following...