Always scary when something woofs or snorts at you close by before you see them too.

Had a squirrel run across our path from brush to the trees, between us and the dog, at home, not in the wilds. Stupid thing had us both jumping,
A squirrel   

We got over it pretty quick. Not so much a wild bear woof maybe, or a crazy moose snort. Those can have you thinking things over for a while.

On my last Quetico trip I was almost involved in a bear attack.  I was going down the Cache River on one of the portages I came over a ridge and headed down a steeper path and suppressed a bear laying in a blue berry patch.   The bear woofed at me twice and ran away.  I almost had a heart attack.  Would that qualify as a Bear Attack?

wow, starts bringing back everything I read in the book Bear attacks, causes and avoidance.

Everything I have read in your post Mat confirms what I have read. That bears are very protective of a kill and will behave much like a dog and can be over protective of their food. Walking up on a kill is just bad luck. Jogging down a trail in Grizzly country (or mountain biking down a trail) is plain dopey salmon season or not.

The city slickers in NJ who were out for a hike and had a blackie follow them..... They may not have been as clueless as you might think. In this case I doubt it was the running that provoked the attack. One of the first signs a black bear is predatory is if he (usually a male and often subadult) starts following. I find it amazing though that the bear was unafraid of 5 people. Obviously for them to break into a run was that the bear was likely more than just curious and exhibited an inclination of being aggressive. The other thing the author was correct on is most fatal black bear attacks are east of the Mississippi. I, for one, don't take them lightly packing spray and wearing a fixed blade. Tough way to check out......... 

I happened across a post on a hunting forum regardign a fatal bear attack near Dubois, WY.  Since I had just driven thru Dubois on my way back from Yukon, I wondered how close to where I'd camped (Togwotee pass - N.F. free camping)  had it happened.  well, one thing led to another and here's what I found recently. 

September seems to be a bad time to be in the grizzly woods.  I've read of many encounters in that area south of "Jellystone" - Yogi and Boo Boo know that a gunshot means a likely deer carcass, just like Kodiak island and others in Alaska - bears will come running to a gunshot.


first attack near Dubois        9/5/14
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   fatal attack - no gun or bear spray - in an area noted for its concentration of bears and hunting.   "The victim’s remains were found adjacent to two deer carcasses bears had been feeding on. No bear spray or firearms were found at the scene, Hunter said."

second attack near Dubois        9/22/14
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The attack happened Sunday afternoon when two elk hunters surprised a female grizzly with two cubs just north of Dubois.  Wyoming Game and Fish Department Regional Wildlife Supervisor Jason Hunter said Monday the bear bit one of the hunters on the side. He says the hunters then fended off the animal with bear spray


9/16/2014  - fatal attack

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not much detail - that guide may be a fast runner


9/6/2014 fatal, west of Calgary - I drove this highway on the way back from yukon - I camped in the same vicinity, and remember the name Picklejar Creek - a really nice drive thru there.

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"the hunter had done nothing wrong, he just crossed the path of a grizzly feeling protective of both her cub and a recent deer kill"


fatal black bear attack   9/21/14  clueless city slickers

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"Police said in a Sunday release that the five men, all from Edison, had been hiking together in the 576-acre nature preserve on Sept. 21 when they encountered a black bear that began following them."
"They became frightened and attempted to flee the area," said West Milford police Lt. Keith Ricciardi in the release. "During the confusion the group became separated as they ran in different directions."
"According to the release, four of the five men were able to reconnect with each other following the bear encounter, and they began searching for Patel. When they couldn't find him, they contacted police at approximately 3:44 p.m. The township's Search & Rescue Team was dispatched to the scene, and immediately began to search the area that police describe as "heavily-wooded." The team found Patel's body at approximately
"Evidence at the scene indicated that the victim had been attacked by a bear," states the release. "A bear was located at the scene and immediately euthanized."

8/14/14 - la de da, think I'll go hiking along a stream full of spawning salmon in Grizzly country and let my dogs run loose
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Thea Thomas was hiking on Tuesday along the Heney Ridge Trail in Cordova, a remote and sparsely populated coastal fishing community southeast of Anchorage, near a stream in which salmon were spawning when two dogs she had with her ran ahead.
The dogs soon sprinted back to her chased by a bear, which she estimated to be between 6 to 7 feet, reared on its hind legs. She told the Alaska Dispatch News she was bitten about seven times, the worst to her back and inner thigh.


Now this is an old incident from 2004, but it was September, and near Dubois - Togwotee pass is a nice place to camp on the way to or from Yellowstone - free, and up high enough to be cool in summer.  I've camped there 3 times.  This year, coming back from Yukon, I loaded the shotgun and kept it handy in the back of the pickup (same as I did on highway 40 near Picklejar Creek area)


"about a seconds worth of spray left"
Speckhals, a 46-year-old ski patroller and quality controller with Evans Construction, and fellow Evans employee and full-time skier Tom Foley, said the grizzly they battled was persistent and backed off only when there was about a second’s worth of spray left in the can of deterrent. Speckhals gave credit to Foley, who carried his can of spray on his hip, for rushing into the fray and saving his life.

"Within two weeks another bear attack on an elk hunter resulted in a crushed skull. That hunter recovered, as did the other two men—a hunter and a hiker—who were involved in bear attacks last fall. "


all of these are pretty common occurances - always joggers in AK
7/7/14 - the third grizzly mauling in AK as of date of this article
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jogging on a trail thru thick brush, headphones on, no bear spray, a trail near a stream soon to be full of spawning salmon - from the article


common for hunters to have issues with grizzlies too, claiming a downed deer or elk, or the carcass leftovers - read about that in WY almost every year

last year I bumped into black bears near elk carcasses 5 or 6 times - once a bear was sleeping behind a tree about 4' away from me and jumped up that close, another time it was a sow and 2 cubs within 20 feet, but they had an easy escape rout and ran off, another time it was a bear sleeping on a shelf - it jumped up at 15' and ran off - archery hunting, I dont' carry a pistol nor bear spray while hunting, but keep a 9mm in camp - you just take your chances.  but those grizzlies, man, you don't want to take any chances hiking in thier country during hunting season or salmon spawning season

AT the minimum ALL workers in bear areas should have Bear Spray, and IMHO a solo/tandem team should have access to a good pump action 12 gauge loaded with 00 buckshot/slugs, and know how to use it.

Larger groups maybe a few designated "shooters" would do.

As rare as fatal bear attacks maybe, when its YOUR arse getting mauled, the idea of being to well prepared or overreacting to the situation isn't what's going thru your mind.

Bears are getting hungry again - this one couldn't be deterred from his goal: several video interviews at the link

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CTVNews.ca Staff, May 8, 2014 10:51:00 PM





A Suncor employee killed by a bear at an Alberta oilsands site was with a group of co-workers when the animal attack occurred, a union official said Thursday.

CTV Calgary has confirmed the victim's identity as Lorna Weafer.

The 36-year-old was an instrument technician who was doing electrical work near Fort McMurray when the bear attacked her Wednesday afternoon.

"It was ... seven people that were working in a group area and she was attacked by this bear out of that group and dragged off," Scott Doherty, a spokesman for Unifor, told The Canadian Press on Thursday.

"People tried to stop it and do everything they could. Obviously they are fairly horrified at what they saw and witnessed."

Doherty said the union does not believe the workers were carrying bear spray. Another union official told CP that the victim's co-workers blasted air horns in an effort to scare the bear away, but that didn't work.

A spokesperson for Alberta Fish and Wildlife told CTV Calgary that it doesn't look like the bear was provoked. So far, officials are calling the attack predatory.

The RCMP said it killed an adult black bear in the area after the attack. Tests are being done to determine whether it was the same bear that attacked Weafer.

"This has been a very difficult and tragic time for the Suncor family," company spokesperson Sneh Seetal told CTV. "Fort McMurray is an incredibly close-knit community."

Doherty said there needs to be a full investigation into what happened.

Suncor said it's working with Alberta wildlife officials to find out why the attack occured. The company also says it offers "bear safety awareness training" to its employees "on a regular basis."

The union, however, says that training is not extensive.

This was the first time since 1991 that someone in Alberta was killed by a black bear. Experts say fatal bear attacks in North America are very rare.

Alberta Environment estimates there are more than 40,000 black bears in the province. They start to come out of winter hibernation at this time of the year.

In 2011, 145 bears were shot in Alberta to reduce the number of bears who were getting too close to populated areas, attracted by garbage.

What NOT to do with a bear:

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And the story combines bears AND beers 

Quote:


I bought the jogger alarm because I'm a solo paddler and 2x portage.
I didn't like the idea of leaving my food pack unattended especially on long portages and hanging every portage would be a pain in the rear.
I put my jogger alarm in a secure side pocket of food pack and tie short line to branch and then pull pin cord on the alarm.
I figure if a bear grabs pack and the alarm blaring in his face fails to detour him, the pack will be easier to find in the woods.

When in camp, I hang my food pack and take alarm in tent along side my bear spray.
I'd set alarm off as 1st response if bear comes into camp/ tent, then bear spray.

Thanks for your comments. We do keep a really clean campsite and I've never seen a bear out camping. I did grow up on the edge of Quetico so I have certainly seen a lot of bears! The only time we've had a bear come to our campsite was at a "well used site" in Algonquin, and it ripped the bottom of our food pack while we slept (only got a bag of oatmeal). Clearly a late night with the food pack "not quite" high enough! We always carry pepper spray and I really enjoyed listening to the biologist's interview about his walk back to the truck with the bear! I was thinking pepper spray is for when a bear is really close (and prayer and brown pants would also be helpful). Air horn could be for a nuisance bear on a portage who's trying to go after your food pack (we do split our food up just in case). I totally understand the concern about hearing horns from miles away and I appreciate all of your feedback.

I don't want to hear air horns going off either (false alarms), but I can understand the concern about being alerted if a nuisance or God forbid a predatory bear is coming into camp?

I've mentioned my little personal alarm set-up before. It's basically a jogger alarm that takes a 9v battery and is about the size/weight of a deck of cards.
Pull the lanyard and it sets off a sound like smoke detector.

Beauty of this set-up is with a little ingenuity it can be rigged to hanging/stashed food packs in such a way that only a big critter like a bear could set it off, no false alarms.
You could even rig it with some fishing line like a perimeter trip wire set-up.
Keep the trip line high enough off the ground so little critters wouldn't set it off.

Keeping a clean camp is very important and since 99+% of bears are just looking for a free meal, that is the best defense against losing a food pack.
For that small % of bears that see YOU as the meal, then a early warning of their presence, especially at night might be helpful.

I'd still get  a can of good bear spray, one for each tent in party. Cheap insurance IMHO.

I'll bet that biologist that used if effectively to avoid a mauling/death won't say "What's the odds of that happening again" and go without it next time out.

He'll pack a bigger can next time I bet.